Campaigners warn access to Scottish culture ‘gravely at risk’
Campaigners have warned Scottish arts organisations will “cease to exist” without an urgent injection of public funding.
The Scottish Government has been urged to deliver on a promise to “more than double” arts spending amid claims that access to the arts is being put “gravely at risk” due to a lack of investment.
The Campaign for the Arts group claimed “jeopardy has become all too commonplace in the Scottish culture sector” due to increasing funding pressures on festivals, events, venues and organisations.
Creative scotland has warned it is only able to support around 30 per cent of applications to its “open fund” due to the level of demand and has a projected funding gap of around £47 million for long-term funding support ahead of a long-awaited round of decisions in the autumn,
Arts spending in Scotland has increased by just £2 mover the past two years, despite the impact of inflation and rising costs on organisations.
The Campaign for the Arts, which claims there has been a six per cent real-terms cut in arts funding over the past two years, has spoken out days after organisers of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe called for a crisis summit and claimed its level of funding support had become a “national embarrassment”.
Fringe Society chief executive Shona Mccarthy is demanding the Scottish Government, its funding agencies and the city council rethink their approach to the event amid warnings it is becoming “almost impossible” to deliver.
Campaign for the Arts director jack gamble said :“the scottish government’ s new international strategy describes Scotland’ s festivals as‘ world-leading’ and a key cultural asset. Yet the chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society has this week warned that funding pressures are making the festival ‘almost impossible’ to deliver.
“It is a disaster not only for the Scottish Government’s international culture strategy, but for the people of Scotland that something as internationally significant as the Fringe is facing this level of jeopardy due to inadequate funding. Access to the arts is gravely at risk due to years of under-investment in Scottish cultural organisations.
“This year’s culture budget is actually six per cent smaller in real terms than it was in 2022/23. Organisations can’t runonwarmwords–theyneed cold cash, or they will cease to exist. In the last three weeks alone, Glasgow’s book festival, Aye Write has been cancelled, and Short Circuit and MAP Magazine have announced permanent closure. How many more organisations will be forced to shut down, how many more opportunities shut off, before the Scottish Government grasps this emergency?”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Despite the challenging financial situation faced by the UK, Scottish ministers have increased culture sector funding by £15.8m to almost £200m this financial year, as the first step to achieving the first minister’ s commitment to invest at least£100m more annually in culture and the arts by 2028/29.”
Organisations can’t run on warm words – they need cold cash, or they will cease to exist Jack Gamble, above