Five of Scotlands leading arts companies have been officially designated national performing companies and brought under the direct control of the Scottish Executive. Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet (pictured), the Royal National Scottish Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the National Theatre of Scotland, previously under the sponsorship of the Scottish Arts Council, adopted their new status at the beginning of April.
The Executive has set criteria for each company to achieve high quality performance, touring, education, and outreach programmes, and has described the move as a means of ensuring best value for taxpayers money. The five companies combined revenue grant funding totalled £19.8m in 2006/07, rising to £23m in 2007/08.