A company limited by guarantee with a new board and chief executive will take Creative Scotland into its final phase of transition, following an announcement by Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond. The process to establish the new body, which will eventually replace the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) and Scottish Screen, was stalled in June by Opposition parties, when MSPs cited concerns over the funding strategy, clarity of roles and potential overlap with other bodies. Culture Minister Linda Fabiani declared herself to be “100% committed to establishing Creative Scotland to bring benefit to our arts and cultural sector”. She pointed out that despite the Creative Scotland Bill’s earlier failure, “the Scottish Parliament has unanimously endorsed [its] principles”, adding that she “will not compromise on either the timetable or the integrity and values of Creative Scotland”. Establishing a company is seen as a quick route to breaking the current deadlock, side-stepping the need for parliamentary approval.
The new arrangements will also undergo further Parliamentary scrutiny through the Public Services Reform Bill. This will also enshrine the arm’s length principle in legislation. Labour MSPs believe that the Creative Scotland Bill could have been reintroduced, had changes been made in June. Labour’s spokesperson Malcolm Chisholm MSP accused the First Minister and the Minster for Culture of “[refusing] to answer… legitimate questions over the past two weeks” and of “postponing parliamentary decisions until an indefinite time next year, after the establishment of Creative Scotland in April”. Outside the Parliamentary session, he added that “this damaging delay in Parliament giving a view means that Creative Scotland will in effect be set up without reference to Parliament, except retrospectively”. David Stewart MSP has now tabled a question: “To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the latest estimates it has received about the costs of establishing Creative Scotland,” which are believed to be in the region of £7m.
The new board of directors and chief executive of Creative Scotland are expected to be in place by April 2009. By February 2010, the organisation should have attained the status of a statutory body. Until then, the Joint Board of the SAC and Scottish Screen will retain the responsibility for the Transition Project. Its programme of work will include “development of the relationships Creative Scotland will form” and “presentation of the outline plan for Creative Scotland’s future activities”.