Arts centre warns against Scottish Government cuts

The director of a leading arts venue in the highlands of Scotland has voiced concerns over cuts to the Scottish Government’s arts and culture budget.

Charlotte Mountford, Lyth Arts Centre Director, penned a letter to Members of Scottish Parliament representing the Highlands and Islands, which calls for a reversal of the cuts to funding body Creative Scotland.

"Myself and my colleagues are calling for a reversal of the cut which is a relatively small amount (£6.6m of the overall Scottish Government budget of £59.8bn) which will have a disproportionately negative impact on a whole range of outcomes including jobs, the wellbeing of Scotland’s people and communities, and on the economy in general," the letter reads.

Lyth Arts Centre is Scotland’s most northernly mainland arts centre and has focused on delivering arts-based wellbeing activities after noticing a steep decline in its local community’s wellbeing since Covid.

The centre is not currently one of Creative Scotland’s regularly funded organisations, of which the funding body has said it expects to be forced to reduce in the wake of cuts to its budget.

A Scottish Government spokesperson told the John O’Groat Journal: "When the Scottish Government is facing difficult decisions about funding, the time is right for Creative Scotland to draw on the lottery reserves available to them".

The comment echoes remarks made by Scotland’s Culture Secretary Angus Robertson, who previously defended the decision to reduce the funding.