Executive to be cultural caretaker as it takes on arts funding

MINISTERS are expected to take direct control over the funding of Scotland's major art companies this week in the biggest shake-up of Scotland's cultural establishment since devolution.

Patricia Ferguson, the arts minister, will unveil the Executive's approach to the arts on Thursday, giving her long-awaited response to last year's Cultural Commission report into Scotland's artistic future.

She is expected to announce that the national companies, Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, the National Theatre of Scotland, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, will no longer be funded by the Scottish Arts Council.

Instead, the arts companies expect to be funded directly by the Executive, but only after safety provisions have been agreed to prevent civil service interference.

The Scottish Arts Council is likely to be scrapped in its current format, being combined with Scottish Screen into a unified Culture Scotland body with an overview on all the arts, including film.

Ministerial sources revealed last night that the amalgamation of the two existing arts bodies and the central funding of the art companies would be key parts of the Executive's package.

James Boyle, the former controller of Radio 4, chaired the Cultural Commission and a central part of his report was an appeal for 100 million of Executive funding to ensure a healthy future for the arts in Scotland.

It is understood that ministers have been reluctant to make such a commitment, aware that they would have to take money away from other budgets if they were to find that level of funding for the arts.

Ms Ferguson is expected to find some more money for the arts but it is not likely to be anywhere near the 100 million she was asked to provide. She is expected instead to stress the need for efficiencies and economies, emphasising that a reduction in the number of Scottish arts quangos - with the amalgamation of Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council - should provide savings for actual artistic programmes.

The minister is also expected to announce her intention to impose a statutory duty on local authorities to provide arts and culture. This would take the form of a "cultural right" for every individual in the country to have arts provided in their area.

It is not clear how this would work but it does raise the interesting possibility of a council being taken to court by an individual who felt the local authority was not providing enough culture. One way in which the scheme could work practically would be with the use of "culture vouchers" for schoolchildren.

The Cultural Commission's 500-page report was published last June and it has taken seven months for the Executive to respond to it.

Ms Ferguson is not expected to announce the Executive's backing for a new junior minister dedicated to the arts. This would increase the size of the Scottish Executive still further at a cost to the taxpayer while not bringing any more money for actual artistic efforts.

Senior members of the Scottish Arts Council know what the Executive's approach will be but a spokesman remained neutral, simply stating: "Whatever the minister should say next week, the Scottish Arts Council has always maintained that it will support the best solution for the arts in Scotland."