SNP leader pledges to double Scottish culture budget

Scotland's budget for arts and culture will be doubled within the next five years, leader of the Scottish National Party Humza Yousaf has said.

Speaking at his party's annual conference yesterday, Yousaf said the commitment will mean an additional £100m a year for the sector by 2028.

He added that the move was a "clear signal" of his ambition for culture in Scotland.

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"Our nation is rich in culture and the arts. Culture is a reflection of who we are, and who we hope to be as a people," he said.

"We don’t just value culture and the arts for the economic impact they bring, we value them for their own sake, for the joy they bring the world."

The pledge comes just weeks after a controversial decision by the Scottish government to proceed with plans to cut funding for Creative Scotland by £6.6m from £63m to £56m – a reduction of more than 10% – despite previously abandoning the proposals.

Stabilise the sector

David Watt, Chief Executive of Culture & Business Scotland, said there has been a "chronic lack of investment" in arts and culture in Scotland for some years, and that the funding commitment will go some way to rectifying that.

“The First Minister’s pledge to double investment in Scottish culture over the next five years will, we hope, help stabilise the sector and gradually restore it to good health, while also making a key contribution to our collective national aspirations, socially, civically and economically speaking.

“This positive investment will also go some way to generating a more positive cycle and help to secure the further investment that the industry needs to meet its full, exponential potential.”

The Culture Counts network of Scottish arts, heritage and creative industries organisations also welcomed the announcement.

"An additional £100m closely aligns with the amount that Culture Counts has been calling for on behalf of the culture workforce and audiences in order to secure a sustainable future for the culture sector and meet the strategic ambitions," a statement put out by the network said. 

"We look forward to seeing the detail of this and would urge the government to direct it to where it is most needed and bring as much as possible of this investment forward into the budget for 2024/25 to prevent the tipping point that many of our much-loved organisations face next year."