Robertson orders review of Creative Scotland as he releases £6.6m of withheld funds

The Scottish Government has ordered a review into Creative Scotland months after it became embroiled in controversy over the funding of an explicit film project and weeks before it is due to announce a long-awaited three-year funding round.

In March, culture secretary Angus Robertson intervened after the body, which hands out arts funding on the government’s behalf, awarded almost £85,000 to film project Rein, which was billed as a “magical erotic journey through a distinctly Scottish landscape”.

There was an outcry after it emerged that the film would be more explicit than originally thought, with the project seeking participants to engage in “non-simulated” sex and “hardcore” acts, leading Robertson to tell parliament that the project should never have been funded.

Creative Scotland later withdrew its support for Rein and announced that the bulk of the money the project had been awarded had been recouped.

As part of this year’s Programme for Government, which was unveiled today, Robertson said a review would now begin to ensure Creative Scotland’s “operations and structure are optimal to the needs of the culture sector”.

It will be the first review carried out since the organisation was established in 2010 and is designed to assess how £100m of additional funding promised by former first minister Humza Yousaf last year “can be maximised to support sustainability in the sector and in participation in the arts”.

“Scotland’s culture is world renowned and it remains integral to our nation and our economy,” Robertson said.

“Over the past 14 years, Creative Scotland has had a significant role in supporting that role, distributing £65m of public funding in the last year alone.

“With the sector having faced a number of new and enduring challenges since then, the time is now right for us to ensure Creative Scotland’s remit and functions remain relevant, in line with our commitments to invest at least £100m more annually in the arts and culture by 2028-29, and to continuous improvement across all our public bodies.

“It is routine for public bodies to undergo reviews throughout their lifetime, and while that process is ongoing we are clear that we expect the organisations involved to take forward their business as usual. Creative Scotland is no different and they will be carrying on with their important work throughout.”

It comes after Creative Scotland last month announced that its Open Fund for Individuals would be closing to new applicants after the government failed to confirm £6.6m in funding that had been allocated for the current financial year.

The sum was initially cut from the body’s budget in December 2022 before being reinstated in February 2023 and cut again seven months later. Yousaf made his £100m pledge one month after that, though arts bodies have complained that there is still no clarity on when or how that money will filter through to the sector.

The Open Fund is used to support authors and other individuals working across the creative industries, with many holding on-stage protests against its closure during the final days of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival.

Creative Scotland chief executive Iain Munro said at the time that the closure was “unavoidable without the funding from the Scottish Government being available”.

Robertson said that “following a period of necessary due diligence” the £6.6m would now be released to the arts agency, with the sum including £3m for the Open Fund as well as £1m for Screen Scotland and £1.8m for youth music.

Creative Scotland is due to announce the results of its delayed multi-year funding round for organisations next month.

Though awards from the fund are supposed to be made on a three-year basis, organisations have been on standstill funding packages since 2018 while costs have risen dramatically in the intervening period on the back of the pandemic and soaring inflation.  

In April, Munro said the organisation was taking forward applications from 281 organisations with a combined ask of £87.5m but warned that, without the additional funds promised by Yousaf, it would be unlikely to be able to support them all.

“The applications we have received in stage two of the Multi-Year Funding Programme are testament to the enormous cultural and creative potential that exists in Scotland,” he said at the time.

“However, as we have emphasised consistently, our budgets remain extremely limited, and we anticipate being able to fund only a proportion of the organisations which have applied.

“Our decisions will depend on the budget made available to us by the Scottish Government in the coming financial year and beyond.

“While we welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to increasing funding for culture by £100m over the next five years, and the intimation that £25m of this will be allocated in the 2025-26 financial year, we await confirmation of what this means for Creative Scotland’s budget.”

Speaking after today’ announcement, Munro said he welcomed the news on the £6.6m and “looks forward to hearing more detail” on the review.

“We welcome the continued commitment to provide an additional £100m in funding for culture and will work with the Scottish Government on the effective allocation of that funding, to the benefit of culture and creativity in Scotland,” he said.

“We also welcome today’s confirmation of £6.6m, originally committed to Creative Scotland by the Scottish Government at the start of this financial year, reinstating budget removed in the previous year.

“We continue to see unprecedented levels of demand for the Open Fund for Individuals and will process the high volume of applications we have received. With the budget now confirmed, we will work to re-open this fund.

“We are sure today’s confirmation of the release of this funding will be welcomed by the creative community of Scotland.”