Scottish arts funder accused of ‘big city bias’

Scotland's arts funding body has been accused of bias toward the country's major cities.

New figures for 2022/23 show that Creative Scotland spent the equivalent of £50.85 per person on arts projects in Edinburgh and an average of £39.75 per resident of Glasgow.

Dundee – Scotland's fourth biggest city by population – received £24 per person.

However, across the Kingdom of Fife – one of Scotland's largest council areas by population – just £3.15 per person was spent.

Fife Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie said that “big city bias” needs to be addressed.

He said: “The differences in spending are stark. Some variation between different parts of the country is to be expected, but if you live outside of Scotland’s biggest cities you will rightly be feeling short-changed."

He added that spending by both Creative Scotland and the tourist body Event Scotland should be reviewed.

A Creative Scotland spokesperson said: “The reach of the work through Creative Scotland and Screen Scotland extends across the whole country, and our funding routes are devised to help people from all parts of society to bring their ideas to life."