Exclusive:Garbage singer Shirley Manson backs demands for SNP Government to honour £100m arts promise

Arts industry leaders are uniting for a new campaign demanding the Scottish Government "follow through" on promises of £100 million in new investment for the sector.

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

They are warning arts workers are facing "burnout, stress and existential threats to their work and livelihoods" due to a lack of clarity over future support for the arts in Scotland.

Garbage singer Shirley Manson.

Edinburgh's festivals, the Scottish Music Industry Association, the Scottish Book Trust, Publishing Scotland, the Federation of Scottish Theatre and the Scottish Contemporary Art Network are all joining forces for the campaign, which will urge the Government to finally confirm “essential increased investment” for the next few years.

Actor David Hayman. Picture: Anne Binckebanck | BBC

Launched to coincide with the countdown to the Scottish Budget announcement next month, which is expected to be the most important for the arts industry for at least seven years, the Invest In Culture campaign aims to highlight culture as "an engine for economic growth, a foundation for social wellbeing and a cornerstone of our national identity".

The campaign - which will demand the government sets out a “coherent timeline” for how the promised £100m will be delivered - will urge "everyone who values culture to add their voices and advocate for investment into the sector".

Playwright Rona Munro. Picture: Greg Macvean

Singer Shirley Manson, actor David Hayman Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones, playwright Rona Munro and artist Nathan Coley are among the initial backers of the campaign, along with the organisations Artlink, Craft Scotland, Culture Counts, Culture and Business Scotland, Publishing Scotland, and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.

The Invest In Culture campaign will highlight how Scotland has slumped to the "bottom of the league table" for arts spending in Europe, with culture now allocated just 0.56 per cent of the Scottish Government Budget compared to a European average of 1.5 per cent.

The new campaign has been launched weeks after national arts agency Creative Scotland was forced to delay crucial long-term funding decisions for three months after the Government refused to commit any funding to the programme, despite first making the £100m last October as part of a commit to “more than double” arts spending in Scotland.

Responding to the launch of the campaign, First Minister John Swinney said he wanted to ensure the country had a “strong and well supported arts and culture sector,” but warned that the government was having to “wrestle” with wider financial challenges.

He said: “It is such a precious part of who we are, and the type of country that I want to lead, that we’ve got a vibrant arts and culture sector.

“It’s a priority for us in the budget to try to ensure that we support the sector as effectively as we can.

“I think everyone is aware of the challenges that we’re wrestling with in the public finances, but we’ll certainly be doing all that we can within the budget to make progress on arts and culture funding and particularly recognise the importance of longer-term financial stability, which has been difficult for us for a number of years because we’ve only had one-year budgets available to us.

“I hope that by the spring we will have greater clarity on expenditure over a longer period of time, which might enable us to get more certainty to the arts and culture sector in the years to come.”

Creative Scotland, which last allocated funding across the industry in 2018, will be left facing a funding gap of nearly £50m to meet demand if it is left on "standstill funding” when the Scottish Budget for 2025-26 is announced next month.

Ministers have repeatedly promised to roll out an additional £100m annually in new arts funding by 2028, which would coincide with the final year of Creative Scotland's planned "multi-year" programme.

Just £25m has been pledged for culture by the Government for the next financial year. However, ministers have not given a breakdown for how this will be allocated.

Shirley Manson said: "The arts must be protected at all costs inside of a flailing capitalist system. They are fundamental to educating and fostering a healthy, joyous community and culture.”

David Hayman said: “The arts bring immeasurable benefits to any society while at the same time bringing millions of pounds of revenue into the public coffers. It is a no-brainer. It is value for money in anyone’s book.

“Through theatre, literature, music, film and dance we tell the stories that reflect who we are, stories that reflect the health and vibrancy of our country, that reflect and release the potential of our youth and give shape to the dreams of our people.”

Rona Munro said: "You cannot have a healthy society without a healthy culture. We are always, now, talking in terms of survival, pleading for money, over and over we have to justify our value. 

"In a world without drama, music, art and all other creative activity our value would, too late, become horribly apparent. 

"The creative arts are where communities come together, to see each other, to argue, to communicate, to grow, to express the invisible and intangible things that are part of our shared lives. 

"That is activity that should be vibrant in every school, every community hall, every venue, every corner of the nation. But it can’t be in all those places without subsidy. If you want a healthy community, subsidise it.”

Rod Jones said: "Art in all forms is crucial to growth, well-being, joy and life. To be truly artistic, relevant and unimpaired, art is not always commercial so government support and funding is crucial to growing a healthy arts scene, nurturing and developing new and existing talents to showcase what incredible artists Scotland can and has produced.”

Creative Scotland, which gets around a third of the overall culture budget of £196m, has been targeted for in-year budget cuts at least three times over the past two years.

Its chief executive, Iain Munro, warned the Scottish Parliament’s culture committee in September that it was working with a number of organisations who were “in crisis and only cliff-edges” due to uncertainty over their future funding.

Robert Kilpatrick, chief executive of the Scottish Music Industry Association, said: “Scotland’s cultural sector is more than just a nice to have. It’s a cornerstone of our national identity, an engine for economic growth and a foundation for social wellbeing. It needs committed, sustained investment over the long term.

“The strength of our sector lies in its people, and right now many of those people are facing burnout, stress and existential threats to their work and livelihoods."

Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: “I’m hugely grateful for the encouragement from across the culture sector for increased arts funding, which the Scottish Government has already begun to deliver.

“The cultural sector is integral to Scotland’s identity as a country and that’s why we remain committed to investing at least £100 million more annually in the sector by 2028-29, despite the UK budget providing no additional funding for culture.

“Further details will be set out in the Scottish Budget on 4 December but it remains our aim to provide a further increase for the arts and culture in 2025-26, building on the £15.8 million increase in this year’s budget, which will inform Creative Scotland’s multi-year funding awards in January.”