Scotland has never been short of critics willing to harangue politicians? treatment of the arts. Is this criticism justified, ask Stephen Fitzpatrick and Claire Downs, or are there grounds for genuine optimism that the arts can flourish in a still maturing, devolved Scotland?
Whilst to some, Scotland?s artistic and political worlds may appear entirely separate, they seem fated to collide every time the thorny issue of finance arises. Ultimately politicians, whether at central or local level, determine how much or how little of available resource is directed towards the arts. So do the facts bear out accusations that the arts are viewed as a ?Cinderella? sector, always last in the queue when it comes to the allocation of public monies?
The politics of money
The 2004 Spending Review provides a key measure of current political commitment to the arts, though the Scottish element of that process won?t be known until later this month. The Chancellor Gordon Brown recently announced an extra £230m for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) ? equivalent to a 2.3% increase per year in real terms. Is this an illustration of the UK Government?s commitment to the arts? No, say critics such as Arts Council England, which maintains that funding looks ?pretty poor?(1) in spite of this apparently generous settlement. In response, politicians might well be inclined to argue that when it comes to funding, the arts sector represents not so much a tough audience, as an impossible one.
These same politicians (at least in private!) will point to the harsh political realities of life. Resources are finite and the arts are competing with other areas of public spending that determine the outcome of elections. No MORI poll has ever identified arts policy as the key to electoral success. Whilst many politicians acknowledge that the arts are hugely important in and of themselves, the reality is that they stand a greater chance of attracting funding where they demonstrably contribute to higher political priorities such as health improvement, social inclusion, education and reducing offending behaviour.
In Scotland, politically astute arts professionals have seen this approach pay dividends, particularly at local government level. Recent research indicated that Scottish local government collectively spends more on cultural provision than the Scottish Executive itself (2). In fact, the average Scottish citizen would appear to have relatively few grounds for complaint when it comes to arts spend. Overall public spending on the arts is considerably higher in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK; in 2001/02 spending was £31 per person in Scotland, in comparison with £23 in Wales, £21 in Northern Ireland and £18 in England. Even allowing for statistical foibles, that evidence sems fairly conclusive.
Cultural review
Measured on funding alone, the arts appear to be faring relatively well within a devolved Scotland. Further succour for arts professionals of an optimistic bent has been provided by the First Minister, Jack McConnell, who used his ?state of the nation? St Andrew?s Day address in 2003 to stress the contribution the arts can make to his vision of a Smart Successful Scotland. His speech was followed by the Scottish Executive?s announcement in April 2004, of a root and branch review of cultural provision in Scotland. Launching the review, the Culture Minister stated that: ?cultural activity is central to all aspects of our lives ? it can revitalise us individually and as a community?(3). In fact, whilst some sceptics have decried the culture review as all talk and no action, a more positive interpretation is that it presents an unprecedented opportunity to secure the arts? place at the heart of Scottish policy thinking.
The review will be taken forward by an independent Culture Commission chaired by former Scottish Arts Council chair, James Boyle. The scope of the Commission?s remit is daunting, stretching far beyond the arts per se, to incorporate every aspect of cultural provision. Most notably the Commission has been charged with defining how the rather vague, but undoubtedly ambitious concept of ?cultural rights? for every Scottish citizen, would translate into practice. All of this has to be reported back to Scottish Ministers by June 2005, exactly one year after the Commission was established. Welcome to the world of politics where a different concept of time applies!
As a confirmed supporter of the arts, Scottish local government is committed to doing all it can to ensure that the culture review delivers tangible benefits to Scotland?s communities. COSLA has already provided considerable support to the independent Commission. It has also established a Task Group in partnership with the local government professional association VOCAL, which over the period of the review will develop a local government view of how culture provision in Scotland should develop over the medium to long-term. This work will be deliberately practical in its focus, seeking to translate high level aspirational thinking into on-the-ground arts-based provision within communities. The Task Group?s work will be shared with the independent Commission.
Hope for the future
Faced with the evidence set out in this article, are critics justified in accusing politicians of having limited commitment to the arts? ?Yes and no? is perhaps an appropriately political response to this particular question. Next to heavyweight issues such as housing, health and education, the arts will always be the underdog, pursuing political attention more in hope than expectation. However, there are clear signs that the arts are moving up the policy agenda in devolved Scotland. Innovative work is being done by arts professionals across the country and politicians at both local and national level are taking note. Perhaps there is hope yet for a happy marriage between politics and the arts.
Stephen Fitzpatrick and Claire Downs lead on cultural policy for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the umbrella organisation for Scottish local government. e: claire@cosla.gov.uk
(1) Samantha Ellis (2004) ?Chancellor puts ?tight squeeze? on arts?, The Guardian, July 15
(2) Susan Galloway (2004) ?Public Spending on the Arts within the UK: A Centre for Cultural Policy Research Briefing Paper?, Glasgow University, April
(3) Frank McAveety, MSP, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, (2004) Cultural Policy Statement, April 22