Scottish Executive opens consultation on draft Culture Bill but proposals will not be implemented before May elections.
The Scottish Executive has published a draft Culture Bill with proposals to encourage local authorities to introduce local cultural entitlements and to abolish the Scottish Arts Council (SAC). However, a final decision on whether the Bill will become law will not be taken until after elections to the Scottish Assembly this May. If the elections result in a defeat for the governing Labour party, it is likely that the Culture Bill will be radically revised or even abandoned by the new administration. Labour and the Scottish National Party (SNP) are currently running neck and neck in opinion polls leaving the May elections too close to call.
The Executive is now inviting comments on the Bill with a consultation period running until the end of March. A key element of the Bill, and its most contentious aspect, is its recommendations for the relationship between the Scottish Executive and Creative Scotland. It states that Creative Scotland will play a central role in delivering the Executives wider cultural policy, and the draft Bill includes the power for the Scottish Ministers to give directions to Creative Scotland which they must follow. Wording is included to argue that Ministerial influence will not be used to intervene in decisions that are essentially about artistic judgement, like which theatre companies or films are considered good enough to be awarded funding. However, no specific safeguards are included in the Bill to prevent such an eventuality. Last year, SACs decision to remove funding from several theatre companies, including 7:84, was strongly criticised by politicians and was discussed in the Scottish Parliament. In response to the draft Bill, Green MSP Chris Ballance said, It has always been accepted that arts funding decisions should be at arms-length from politicians. The Bill tears that principle up. This is a power-grab by a centralising government. Creative Scotland will be independent but only if it does what its told by government.
The Bills statements on local cultural entitlements have also been criticised by opposition MSPs for not providing dedicated central funding to ensure access to culture for all. Under the proposed legislation, Scottish Ministers will issue guidance to local authorities requiring them to develop local cultural entitlements, which are defined as specific types of cultural activity or services that authorities will seek to make available to each person in their area who wishes to access [them]. Local authorities will be expected to consult with the public about what entitlements they would like to see provided. Stewart Maxwell, the SNPs culture spokesperson, said, It is farcical that after almost eight years, the sum of Labours efforts is a consultation on a draft bill which cant even be implemented before the elections in May. The SNP has begun to put forward proposals for cultural funding including an additional £2m for an Edinburgh Festival Expo Fund to promote Scottish work at the Edinburgh Festivals.