SAC to be stripped of powers as Scottish Executive scoops up national companies.
The remit of the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) is set to diminish following the announcement of a new cultural strategy for Scotland by Scottish Culture Minister Patricia Ferguson. Scotlands major performing arts companies will be taken under the direct control of the Scottish Executive, and a new cultural development agency, Creative Scotland, will be formed by merging SAC with Scottish Screen. The new organisations remit will include the delivery of a new approach for recognising and growing talent, though the extent to which it will retain broader strategic responsibilities has not been specified. Other new measures include the introduction of legislation to require local authorities to provide concrete local cultural entitlements for every person, including access to information about the local areas cultural heritage, free access to live performances, or the chance to take part in a community art project. Cash will be allocated to support a new match-funding sponsorship initiative proposed by Arts & Business, and further funding will be found to investigate the potential for a national box office.
In total, an extra £20m per year from April 2007 has been pledged by the Executive to underpin the new strategy. Annual cultural spend was planned to increase from £187m this financial year to £214m in 2007/08, but the additional money announced means that this figure will now rise to £234m. No announcement has been made as to how the additional £20m will filter through to the arts sector, and discussions have yet to take place about SACs funding role under the new strategic plans.
The Ministers announcement was based on a new paper by the Scottish Executive, which responds to the outcomes of last years Cultural Commission Review of the arts in Scotland. It sets out a vision for the strategic direction of future cultural policy and identifies the initiatives, legislation, investment and infra-structure changes thought necessary to realise that vision. The national Government will assume responsibility for cultural provision in three areas: recognising and nurturing Scotlands cultural talent; promoting Scotlands Cultural treasures in the care of the National Collections; and making the best of performing activity available through the work of the national performing arts companies.
The move to control the funding of the national performing companies has been justified on the grounds of creating consistency with the museums and galleries sector, where the National Galleries of Scotland, the National Museums of Scotland and the National Library of Scotland already fall under the direct control of the Executive, and the National Archives of Scotland, the Scottish Screen Archive, and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland are set to join them. The funding of five performing arts companies Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, the National Theatre of Scotland, the Royal National Scottish Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and their associated youth companies has already been identified as moving under the direct control of the Executive. However, the door has been left open for others to join them. Explicit criteria will be set to define the status of a national performing arts company, and the Minister has made it clear that such criteria will be broad enough to cover both adult and youth companies that achieve the highest artistic performing standards, and that funding will be increased for the companies which qualify, beyond the level currently made available through SAC. The national performing companies will be expected to work towards the joined-up programming of events and performances, and encouraged to adopt a common services arrangement to discharge their supporting functions such as marketing, press, and estates strategy. The Chairs and Chief Executives of Scotlands national performing arts companies have welcomed the plans: We are entirely supportive of the direction the Minister has outlined in relation to the future funding and management mechanisms for the national performing arts companies& We look forward to a fruitful and creative partnership with the Scottish Executive, and the SAC through the transition period&
SAC has issued a statement welcoming additional resources for culture, but stating that the Minister is aware of our view that support for the national performing companies must not come at the expense of the wider sector. The most vocal support for Scotlands plans has come from the Welsh Assembly Government. Culture Minister, Alun Pugh, said, Extending access to the arts to all Scottish citizens while, at the same time, directly funding the main National Performing Arts Companies is very close to the Assembly Government agenda& There will be a new relationship between these companies and the taxpayer, and in return for benefits there will be new obligations to tackle issues of access head on.