Scottish culture budget to rise by £15.8m

The Scottish Government has announced it will increase funding for culture and heritage by £15.8m in its 2024/25 budget.

The government said the boost, which brings total spending on culture next year to £196.6m, is “the first step” toward its pledge to invest an additional £100m more in arts and culture by 2028/29.

In 2025/26, funding for culture will be increased by a further £25 million.

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Included within the £15.8m increase for next year is the restoration of £6.6m of cuts made to 2023/24 Creative Scotland’s budget. In September, the government controversially reduced its support to the funding body by 10%, asking it to use its financial resources to maintain its investment levels.

Creative Scotland is set to receive £75.6m in 2024/25, up from £64.5m this year but still £600,000 less than in 2022/23.

The government has also said it also will provide a further £6.6m to offset Creative Sctoland’s shortfall in National Lottery funding, as well as a three per cent inflationary increase for National Performing Companies and £800,000 to “sustain the V&A Dundee”.

Elsewhere, Scottish Cultural Collections will receive £91.9m, up from £87.9m, while culture and major events staffing will see a £100,000 increase in spending to £3.6m.

'A very small first step'

Jack Gamble, Director of the Campaign for the Arts, said that the restoration of Creative Scotland's budget was "a relief"

He added: "But despite the First Minister’s recent pledge to ‘more than double’ investment in culture, next year’s overall culture budget will be 6% smaller than in 2022/23 in real terms. Once the cuts to Creative Scotland have been remedied, there is only £2.6m of new cultural investment.

"The Deputy First Minister called this 'the first step on the route to investing at least £100m more in arts and culture by 2028/29', but £2.6m of new investment is a very small first step, given the very big threats to arts access in Scotland.

"Amid a perfect storm of challenges for artists and organisations, the Scottish government needs to go much further, much faster.”