Vocal opposition to the establishment of Creative Scotland, the new body which will merge the activities of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, continues despite a carefully targeted consultation process within the arts sector and cross-party support from the Scottish Parliament. A letter signed by 66 artists and educators has called for “the resignation of Ewan Brown, Peter Cabrelli and Chris Masters from the board of Creative Scotland on the grounds of their inability to fully discuss this key issue of democratic society with politicians, civil servants and wider communities”. Brown currently chairs the board of Creative Scotland 2009 Ltd, the company set up to facilitate the move to develop Creative Scotland as a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB). The letter, signed by a range of artists and a number of leading academics from the Universities of Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dundee and Abertay, states that “Creative Scotland is being forged by bankers and businessmen who are evidently insensitive to, or ignorant of, the broad implications of cultural policy” and calls it “a largely opportunistic political and bureaucratic exercise in a country which suffers from significant democratic deficits”.
Michael Russell, Scotland’s Minister for Culture, has announced that the expected cost of establishing Creative Scotland will be just over £3.3m. He has also restated that the cost will be met from Government and not from frontline grants to the arts, “as a clear signal of my commitment to our artists and creators”. The statutory NDPB will be formally established as planned in 2010, and will aim to “encourage and sustain artists and creators of all kinds; ensure that their work is accessible to all; ensure that as many people as possible can participate in creative activities; [and] extend and increase the wider benefits of arts and culture, including their contribution to the promotion and development of our unique national culture and its wider place in the international sphere”. Russell has also announced that Creative Scotland will support an arts officer dedicated solely to working with partners on delivery of the National Gaelic Arts Strategy. This post will be funded jointly by Creative Scotland and Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the national body which works to promote and develop the use and understanding of Gaelic.