Crisis talks as arts body reviews cuts
● Creative Scotland forced into an emergency board meeting over criticism
An emergency board meeting has been called by Creative Scotland as the under-pressure arts quango scrambles to “review” funding cuts.
Crisis talks will be held after the organisation was met with scathing criticism for cutting the longterm funding of 20 companies.
Options to instead support affected bodies will be looked at in a potentially embarrassing backflip.
Under-fire arts quango Creative Scotland has been forced to hold crisis talks to “review” controversial funding cuts, it emerged last night.
An emergency board meeting is to be held within days to “take stock” of the fall-out from moves to strip 20 companies of long-term funding.
The Scottish Government has revealed that the summit has been called to “review certain decisions,” raising the prospect of an embarrassing climbdown for the quango.
The board will be looking at various options for continuing to back the affected organisations, but any rethink will not affect any awards made to 116 other companies last week.
An announcement is expected to be made next week on the outcome of the talks, which follow an intervention from culture secretary Fiona Hyslop, suggesting the shake-up had been badly handled.
Creative Scotland has been accused of making a mockery of an official Year of Young People instigated by the Scottish Government by targeting children’s theatre companies for cuts. Theatre companies working with disabled performers and women have also been among those to lose out.
Creative Scotland has been criticised for imposing 100 per cent cuts on some companies despite receiving an extra £16.6 million from the government in its most recent budget settlement.
Ms Hyslop has pointed out an extra £6.6m was allocated to the quango to meet a predicted shortfall in lottery funding and maintain “the same level of funding for regular funding organisations”.
Creative Scotland pegged its long-term funding budget at £99m, but decided to impose 100 per cent cuts on 20 companies and offer brand new deals to 19 others.
It has defended the removal of several theatre companies from the three-year funding programme by insisting they will be able to bid for part of a new £2m touring fund, expected to be up and running from 2019, and offered transitional support in the meantime.
Pressure mounted on Creative Scotland at the weekend when Ms Hyslop intervened to say a lot of “angst and worry” could be avoided if the quango was “clearer” about its support for the theatre sector.
Creative Scotland chief executive Janet Archer said: “We are listening carefully to everything everyone is saying. We’re doing that through oneto-one meetings with organisations and correspondence directly with us.
“Given the strength of views being presented, we will be bringing forward the Creative Scotland board meeting, originally scheduled for 15 February.
“At this meeting, we will be taking stock of the decisions made regarding organisations not included in the regular funding network and the options available. We will make a further announcement as soon as we can next week.”
A spokesman for Creative Scotland said: “Funding decisions taken by Creative Scotland are independent of the Scottish Government.
“We understand it is speaking to affected organisations about their future funding, and will shortly convene a special meeting of its board to review certain decisions.”
“We are listening carefully. We will be taking stock of the decisions made and the options available”
JANET ARCHER
Creative Scotland chief executive