Budget Scrutiny 2024-25: Funding for Culture

Overview

The Committee agreed to take a cumulative approach to budget scrutiny over Session 6, focusing on the culture spending portfolio. This inquiry follows on from the Committee’s previous pre-budget scrutiny for 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Questions:

1. In our pre-budget report last year, the Committee described the operating environment of the culture sector as facing a “perfect storm” of long-term budget pressures, reduced income generation, and increased operating costs. How has this evolved over the last 12 months? What impact has the Budget for 2023- 24 had on the culture sector?

2. Our report also concluded that that this crisis provides an opportunity to accelerate innovative solutions to the budgetary pressures within the sector. What progress has been made on this in the last 12 months? And at a time of limited resources, what other innovative approaches could the Scottish Government take forward to support the culture sector?

3. The Committee called for the forthcoming refreshed Culture Strategy Action Plan to provide a clear and strategic sense of how the Scottish Government is working to ensure a more sustainable future for the sector. How should the refreshed Culture Strategy Action Plan help to inform future budgetary decisions within the culture sector?

Why your views matter

The Committee wants to hear from individuals, groups and businesses operating within the culture sector. These views help the Committee to make recommendations to the Scottish Government ahead of its Budget for 2024-25.