“Scotland has surprised critics and the arts sector by pledging to increase culture spending by 10% to £166.8m over the next year to offset ‘significant UK Lottery cuts,’ ” writes Christy Romer in Friday’s (12/15) Arts Professional (U.K.). “Creative Scotland’s budget will increase by £6.6m each year for the next three years, specifically to support the Regular Funding program, and the Scottish Government will contribute £10m …’ The proposals are made in Scotland’s Draft Budget for 2018-19, with funding increases across the country supported by changes to income tax that will see higher earners paying more. The announcement will come as a relief to the arts sector which has for months been preparing for cuts. Creative Scotland … put out repeated warnings that the number of Regularly Funded Organizations will fall and that successful organizations should expect a cut…. Scottish Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said she was pleased by the developments, stressing she has been ‘working relentlessly’ to ‘mitigate the impact of the reduction in UK lottery money.’ … Final decisions on Regular Funding 2018-21 will be issued by the end of January.”
Posted December 21, 2017
