The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
The arts skating on thin ice when furlough ends
Creative sector puts its concerns over future to Holyrood Culture Committee
Scotland’s cultural and creative industries are facing a “cliff edge” when the furlough scheme and other financial support ends, MSPs have been told.
Holyrood’s Culture Committee heard from representatives of the music, theatre and museum sectors that the various support schemes have helped reduce the “scarring” on their industries but that without ongoing support they will be “decimated”.
Concerns were raised that people working in the arts industries – particularly the self-employed – are also more likely to be “falling between the gaps” of the support available.
People missing out on the financial backing was also likely to have a negative impact on Edinburgh’s festivals when they are able to resume, MSPs heard.
Julia Amour, the director of Festivals Edinburgh, said: “We sit at the intersection of a huge range of interdependencies in the system: artists, freelance producers, venues, companies who are presenting work, and so on.
“There’s a huge range of the schemes that some people have been able to draw on, but also really important gaps that have left out other people – particularly individuals in freelance positions.
“They fall between the stools in terms of being able to apply for the self-employed grant or the furlough assistance.
“That’s a great worry to a lot of us because we can’t function without that pipeline working really well.”
Nick Stewart from the Music Venue Trust said that “trade is rapidly diminishing” and problems were being compounded by the Scottish Government’s ban on music and sound from televisions in bars, pubs and restaurants.
Describing October 31 as “an absolute cliff edge” because of the ending of the UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the final date for sector-specific support, he said: “There must be a plan or we’re going to see mass closures.”