Question mark over Scotland’s culture budget

The budget for the transition of Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen into the new body, Creative Scotland, has been revised upwards from £700k to £1m, but should rise no higher, according to Linda Fabiani, Scotland’s Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture. Conservative MSP, Elizabeth Smith, said that speculation in the media had estimated the cost of merger at up to £7m, but Fabiani dismissed these reports as “spurious and [having] no basis”. She added that “detailed transition costs will be presented to Parliament in the financial memorandum to the forthcoming public services reform bill at the appropriate time”, but refused to discuss any further detail. Other concerns raised by the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee of the Scottish Parliament included funding for Scottish language and traditional arts. The Minister asserted that she was committed to funding these areas, but was still working to determine how much money might be available.