Scotland on brink of 'cultural depression' without government funding, Creative Scotland warns

The Usher Hall is one of Edinburgh's best-known cultural venues.

Creative Scotland’s chief executive has warned the country is on the brink of a “cultural depression” era without urgent intervention from the Scottish Government.

Iain Munro has told MSPs that “nationally and internationally significant” organisations are teetering on the “cliff edges” of financial collapse.

He said there would be huge public concern if the identity of the organisations facing serious financial problems was made public.

Demonstrators protest outside the Scottish Parliament against cut in arts funding by the Scottish Government. Picture: Lisa Ferguson | Lisa Ferguson

Speaking at the Scottish Parliament, he called for an urgent roll-out of £100m of promised new investment from the Scottish Government to secure the future of the industry and avoid “the cold winds of a cultural recession blowing through.”

Mr Munro told the Scottish Parliament that levels of “financial and human” resilience in the arts industry had plummeted to “rock bottom” due to uncertainty over future funding support.

Iain Munro is chief executive of Creative Scotland (Picture: Kat Gollock) | Kat Gollock/Creative Scotland

Mr Munro was speaking at Holyrood’s culture committee ahead of the planned announcement next month of Creative Scotland’s next long-term funding programme, which the Scottish Government has still not confirmed a budget for, despite announcing the new £100m investment last October.

Creative Scotland warned last month that the arts industry was facing the prospect of years of “managed decline” and revealed it had been targeted with new funding cuts as part of a new Scottish Government squeeze on “non-essential” spending.”

Culture secretary Angus Robertson has since announced a review of how the arts industry is supported, which will include a review of Creative Scotland’s “remit and functions.”

Theatres, arts centres, festivals, venues and organisations are awaiting decisions on £87.5 worth of applications, which Creative Scotland is expected to decide on over the next few weeks. Is facing a projected funding gap of nearly £50 million if it has to make the decisions based on a standstill funding settlement and has warned it may have to fund “far fewer” organisations because of the impact of rising costs since the last round of decisions six years ago.

Speaking at the culture committee, Mr Munro said: “We are working very hard behind the scenes with a number of organisations who are in crisis and are on cliff edges. That is increasingly happening.

“The resilience within the sector, financially and human, is essentially at rock bottom.

"I’m not going to name any organisations, but people would be very concerned to know they are. 

"They are significant organisations, in different communities and parts of the sector in terms of what they represent. Some of them are nationally and internationally significant.

"That is the reality of the challenges which have been eroding the business models of these organisations for some time.

"We are doing all we can within available resources to be flexible with partners and support organisations to continue to survive, but we want to get them to a position of being able to thrive.

"That reinforces the money being part of the equation, the importance of the £100m and the importance of the support that we want to be able to provide through our multi-year funding programme in particular.

"At the moment, we’re trying to corral our resources with partners to enable people to survive, but the unlocking of those resources will be transformational. It is about planning confidence for the future.”

Mr Munro was asked about the implications for the industry if the promised £100m is not delivered quickly enough and organisations lose their Creative Scotland.

Mr Munro said had been expressing concern for more than two years about what he could see “coming down the track” if Creative Scotland was left on standstill funding when key decisions had to be taken.

He added: “Were current circumstances to continue, I think we would see the cold winds of a cultural recession blowing through.

"It would compromise and undermine the ability to confidently move forward in the way that we all have an ambition to.

"We can see the opportunity through the £100. That is why it is so fundamental. Without it, we can see the potential decline of the sector and all that it delivers.

“There is a really positive case for investment here. For a relatively modest sum of money in real terms, it would be absolutely transformational. It would ensure that we are not at risk of managing decline.

"For as long as the pressures and challenges are spoken about, and we are not seeing enough of that £100 flowing materially, it is overshadowing all the great work that continues to go. It is happening despite the challenges and it is not sustainable.

"I have optimism about the £100m genuinely being able to turn things around. We are on the cusp of it.

"When we are resourced well and appropriately, we know what to do and we do it well.”

Meanwhile Mr Munro insisted Creative Scotland’s “hands were tied” over the controversial closure of its open fund for individuals last month.

He insisted concerns had been repeatedly raised with the government that it would run out of money to decide on applications if it did not receive £3m in government funding that it had earmarked in its budget in March.

He added: “I’m very sorry about the upset that was caused. It is regrettable that it happened, but we had no alternative.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government is increasing funding to the culture sector by more than £15 million this financial year, as the first step on the route to investing at least £100 million more annually in culture and the arts by 2028-29.

“In 2025-26 we aim to provide at least an additional £25 million for the arts and culture.”