Today saw the publication of an open letter signed by several leading cultural organisations, including FST, which set out a hope that the Government will continue to recognise the value of funding the arts.
Set against a background of funding uncertainty as Scotland awaits the UK Government’s Budget announcement with trepidation, the letter states:
‘We have now arrived at a tipping point where even a small cut to Creative Scotland’s Grant-In-Aid, alongside reductions in Lottery and local authorities, will devastate Scotland’s cultural infrastructure. Damage to this infrastructure, developed with the aid of public investment over the last fifty years, will be irreversible.
Conversely, a very small increase in funding would allow the core infrastructure of arts and culture in Scotland to survive and to thrive.
The argument for investment is strong. The arts and culture sector is one of the most efficient and dynamic in the country. In 2015/16 RFOs attracted £109m of extra investment from non-public sources and created 1.62 million public participation opportunities. In 2015, 92 per cent of adults in Scotland participated in a cultural activity and Scotland’s creative industries contribute £4.6bn gross value added (GVA) to the Scottish economy, supporting 73,600 jobs.’