Scottish Government to legislate for the merger of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen.
Plans for a new cultural development body for Scotland moved closer this week, with the announcement by the Scottish Government that it is to introduce legislation to establish Creative Scotland and dissolve the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) by statute. The announcement comes in the wake of a consultation report into the Draft Culture (Scotland) Bill, which was published in December last year. The consultation revealed that respondents were predominantly in favour of establishing the new cultural agency from the merger of the Scottish Arts Council with Scottish Screen. Whilst almost two-thirds of respondents felt that there should be a single national cultural development body, concerns remained over the exact form the new body would take, with consultees calling for clarification of its remit and role within the sector. The Government has now announced that the new agencys statutory remit will be to promote understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the arts and culture in all sections of society. It will also be expected to identify, develop and support talent and excellence; to work across all creative sectors to realise the benefits of the arts and culture; and to develop national good practice advice on strategic matters, including ways to develop the voluntary cultural sector.
A controversial aspect of the original draft Bill, drawn up under the previous Scottish Executive, was a proposal concerning the relationship between the Executive and Creative Scotland, which called for the power for the Scottish Ministers to give directions to Creative Scotland which they must follow. Key amongst the findings of the consultation was the strong view that the arms length principle should be retained, and that Ministerial power of direction should not interfere with artistic judgement. Speaking in January of this year, Stewart Maxwell, the then Shadow Sport, Culture and Media Minister, indicated the likely direction a Scottish National Party (SNP) government might take, saying, It is absolutely essential that our arts have the freedom to decide their own artistic direction without having to look over their shoulder to government. We want an independent arts sector, and remain utterly opposed to direct government intervention in the arts. This is a principle which must not be broken.
No decisions have yet been made about the remaining sections of the draft Culture (Scotland) Bill, a key element of which is a set of proposals relating to local cultural services and activities, how they are organised by local authorities and how people participate in them. Changes in legislation are proposed to permit ministers to issue guidance to local authorities about what will be known as local cultural entitlements. The guidance would include a quality assurance framework document to help local authorities review and improve their cultural provision. Local authorities that took part in the consultation were generally warm in their responses, reflecting a belief that the profile of local delivery could be improved under the proposals, and that a new quality assurance framework would be instrumental in decluttering the landscape of performance assessment. Ministers will now be considering how to take these proposals forward and may legislate for them at a later date.