Setting up new culture body will cost £3.3m, says Russell

Published on Thursday 2 April 2009 22:18

THE new national body responsible for culture and the arts will cost £3.3 million to set up, MSPs were told yesterday.

More than 1 million of that will go on voluntary redundancy payments, Mike Russell, the culture minister, said.

A bill to set up Creative Scotland, inheriting the tasks of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, fell last year after MSPs complained they had been misled over the financial implications.

Yesterday, Mr Russell told MSPs: "The 3.3 million represents our rigorous present best estimate of the full costs that arise because of the transition.

"It is, in essence, an establishment cost for a new body and we should see it in that positive light."

He said he had already met with trades unions to discuss the costs, kicking off a "detailed period of consultation" before the issue comes back before parliament as part of the forthcoming Public Services Reform Bill.

Mr Russell assured MSPs that the cost would not come from front-line grants to artists.

He confirmed that the broadcaster Sheena McDonald had been appointed to the board of Creative Scotland, and that an arts officer dedicated to working on delivery of the National Gaelic Arts Strategy would be supported by the new body.

Mr Russell said the creative industries sector made a "huge cultural and economic impact" in Scotland, contributing to more than 5 billion of turnover and supporting 60,000 jobs.

The minister also announced that a working group was to be created to set out a strong future for Scottish literature. "I believe that literature is an area where we are underachieving in terms of national policy," he said.