Progress towards set up of Creative Scotland

13th November 2007

Speaking in Parliament, Minister for Culture Linda Fabiani said:

"The Creative Scotland Bill will establish the amalgamated body which will cultivate and support the best of Scottish arts and creativity and will build on the successes of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen.

"I believe that government should not arbitrate on artistic decisions. That is why Creative Scotland and artists themselves will have the freedom and power to determine their own creative direction.

"This body will have a licence from the Government to take risks - to stimulate controversy and challenge accepted thinking. I believe its efforts will inspire and support a culturally cosmopolitan Scotland - one which attracts and retains increasing numbers of talented people.

"Scottish Ministers are committed to widening access and participation to culture for everyone in Scotland. Our national cultural bodies are part of that drive to widen cultural access. We want to ensure that areas all across Scotland are involved and Richard Holloway has already visited local authorities to discuss aspirations for the national-local relationship.

"We have a rich and powerful culture in Scotland that we want to see celebrated both here and around the world - I know that Creative Scotland, the national cultural bodies, local authorities and interested bodies will work in partnership to champion this."

Richard Holloway, Chairman, Joint Board of Scottish Screen and Scottish Arts Council said:

"We welcome the Minister's support for Creative Scotland and her confirmation that the Bill will establish it at the heart of our public life. We are glad that she has calmed the anxieties of many in the sector by confirming her commitment to the principle of artistic independence.

"Her statement that Creative Scotland will have to take risks, if it is to be creative and enterprising, reflects our own ambitions for the new agency: we know that creative leadership is as much about finding new ideas and ways of doing things as it is about supporting the best examples of existing work.

"We look forward to developing our leadership role for the creative industries. Her exhortation to work collaboratively with all of Scotland's cultural leaders for the benefit of the country also reflects planning and consultation that we are already engaged in, particularly with local authorities and the recently-appointed Scottish Broadcasting Commission.

"The formation of Creative Scotland offers us an unrivalled opportunity to place creativity at the heart of the nation's life and we intend to rise to the challenge."

The Creative Scotland Bill will be introduced to Parliament early next year.

The Chair and joint board of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen are continuing to develop a plan and infrastructure for Creative Scotland.

Creative Scotland will be the Government's Non Departmental Public Body (NDPB) and will be accountable to Ministers.

The Creative Scotland Bill will endorse Creative Scotland's autonomy in providing support and encouragement to creative practitioners and artists.