By Keith Aitken in Edinburgh | 10 April 2014
Scotland’s much-criticised cultural quango has published a ten-year plan aimed at radically restructuring public support for the creative industries and boosting the incomes of those who work in the sector.
Creative Scotland, formed in 2010 from the merger of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, was plagued from the first with accusations from leading lights in the arts community of an overly corporate approach, poor financial decision-making, and a lack of empathy towards Scottish culture. Its first chief executive, Andrew Dixon, and chair, Sir Sandy Crombie, both resigned.
The revamp, announced yesterday, has been overseen by Dixon’s successor, Janet Archer, and informed by extensive consultation across the cultural scene. It proclaimed a fresh start by greatly simplifying the funding process, putting grants on a less hand-to-mouth basis and forging new criteria for awards.
The key change aims to create a new stability in support for Scotland’s arts companies, by establishing an immediate £90m fund against which they will bid for three-year support packages, in place of the previous ad hoc mix of annual, project and longer-term core funding.
There is also a reduction in the number of funding streams from 300 to three; and five main strategic targets for the coming decade, underpinned by 15 medium-term priorities.
These lay particular stress on artistic excellence, experimentation, digital content, community engagement and environmental responsibility. Further public engagement is planned via a series of open meetings across the country and a new website.
The plan, Unlocking potential, embracing ambition, envisages an enhanced role for Creative Scotland as an advocate for the creative sector, committed to raising both the incomes of those employed in it and the profile of the sector as a vibrant contributor to the Scottish economy.
Archer said the strategy provided ‘a vision and a set of clear ambitions for arts and creativity in Scotland’.
She added: ‘I’m particularly pleased that the plan has effectively been “crowdsourced” – bringing together more than 1,000 voices from across the arts, screen and creative industries.’
‘Our plan is bold and it is vital that we work in partnership with people and organisations across Scotland to deliver its ambition.’
