Greater funding for the arts in Scotland

The Scottish Arts Council will today ask the Scottish Executive for an extra £4m for 2002-03 to realise aspirations outlined in the Executive’s National Cultural Strategy and to establish a Scottish National Theatre.

The response to consultation on the Scottish Executive’s draft budget for 2002/3, which offers the arts standstill funding with no allowance for inflation, seeks to show how an increased budget can deliver artistic excellence alongside public policy objectives.

Tessa Jackson, Scottish Arts Council Director, said, "The National Cultural Strategy shows how effective the arts can be in promoting individual creativity as well as delivering benefits in education, social inclusion, and urban and rural regeneration. However, achieving these aims requires practical resources as well as good intentions. The Scottish Arts Council must ensure that Scotland remains at the forefront of developments in the arts, and greater funding can help us halt reductions in arts provision and deliver better value for the people of Scotland."

In return for an additional £4m, the Scottish Arts Council will seek to deliver:

• a Scottish National Theatre with stronger infrastructure for drama in Scotland (£1.2m);
  
• greater development of existing organisations and activities (£1m);
  
• the Modernising Government agenda through improved internet and digital technology, such as online funding applications, better information provision, opportunities for artists to collaborate within and outwith Scotland, greater scope for work in new media (0.5m);
  
• increased opportunities for international working, both by supporting Scottish artists who travel abroad, and by supporting international visits to this country so that audiences in Scotland can enjoy the best of worldwide excellence (0.5m);
  
• the National Cultural Strategy commitments to education, social inclusion and increased access to the arts (0.5m);
  
• increased support for creative industries with the economic benefits this brings (£0.3m).

Notes to editors

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Arts Council