Independent Review of Creative Scotland

Annex C: Evidence-gathering process

The analysis of the Scottish Government’s survey on the culture sector’s support needs informed the remit and recommendations of this Review.^[125] The survey was publicised by the Scottish Government through its key stakeholders, within Scottish Government culture debates,^[126] and was promoted through the Scottish Government’s culture social media ‘X’ account. The survey received 754 responses from organisations and individuals. The survey took place before the outcome of Creative Scotland’s Multi-Year Funding was known, which likely impacted on respondents’ views on funding.

Following the publication of the remit of the Review, nine in-person sessions were held in June and July. These were in Aberdeen, Dumfries, Dundee, Edinburgh (two sessions), Glasgow, Inverness, Orkney and Selkirk. Of the 195 participants, 38% said that they were attending as an individual, 58% attending on behalf of an organisation and 4% attending as both individual and organisation.

The sessions were advertised through a Scottish Government press release,^[127] Creative Scotland’s newsletters (which reach over 11,000 people), and by email sent from the secretariat of the Review to 200 organisations and individuals representing or operating in all 16 of the creative industries. This included enterprise agencies, trade unions, other culture funders in Scotland and representatives from local authorities.

Organisations were encouraged to promote the opportunities to engage with the Review. As participation was voluntary and some within the sector may not have been aware of the Review or had the time to participate, the results cannot be taken to reflect the views of the entire sector, and there may be some parts of the sector that are under or over-represented. It is also likely that that there was a greater response from people who held strong views on the subject area. The secretariat monitored representation and reissued invites to sector organisations that were under-represented to ensure awareness and encourage participation.

Recognising that roundtables could not be held in every part of Scotland, and in response to demand, three virtual sessions were held in July. Seventy people attended these additional sessions, of which 17% said they were attending as an individual, 77% as representing an organisation and 6% attending as both individual and organisation.

Attendees at the in person and virtual sessions were from 13 of the creative industries.^[128] The majority of attendees (45%) were from the performing arts, visual arts and music.

In addition to hearing from youth organisations, the Review engaged directly with young people to ensure their voices were heard. Working with Moniack Mhor and Sistema Scotland, 20 young people attended three virtual sessions.

The Chair and Vice Chair met with the Chair and Chief Executive of Creative Scotland, attended the Creative Scotland Board on 24 July 2025 and 19 September 2025 and met with each of the Creative Scotland senior leadership team. To hear the views of Creative Scotland staff, 60 staff below director level were selected at random to attend one of three virtual sessions. Thirty-two staff attended these sessions.

All participants of sessions hosted by the Review were provided with a privacy notice to explain the use of their data and gave their consent to take part. The participants were told that their contributions would inform the Review, without revealing their identity or affiliation. Participants were also asked if they had any access needs so that we could reduce or eliminate barriers to access.

Festivals Edinburgh and PACT arranged separate sessions with 18 representatives from their organisations, Edinburgh International Festival hosted a meeting with eight key representatives from the culture sector, and the Scottish Contemporary Art Network helped organise a virtual meeting, attended by 16 people, to help the Review hear from voices that are traditionally marginalised.

In addition to the survey and roundtables people were able to submit their views or additional information by email. This was in recognition that some individuals could not attend sessions, that the points made at them may have needed additional detail, and to encourage views from those who prefer to communicate in writing or wanted to raise sensitive issues privately. Over 90 submissions were received. These were submitted on the basis that they would not be published by the Review to respect those who wished to contribute anonymously. Some contributors may have chosen to publish their submissions.

Meetings were also held with representatives from the Scottish Government and Parliament, and individuals and organisations not in receipt of funding from Creative Scotland. These included:

• the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture
• the Convener and members of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee of the Scottish Parliament
• public sector bodies and agencies
• the Creative Scotland sponsorship team within the Scottish Government
• representatives from the Scottish Government international offices
• representatives from the trade unions that operate within the culture sector including BECTU, Equity, Musicians Union, Scottish Artists Union, Society of Authors, Society of Playwrights, STUC and Writers Guild
• arts, culture and creative sector individuals and organisations who had never applied for, or who had not been successful in applying for funding from Creative Scotland

This Review comes on the back of several consultations and evidence-gathering processes and reports. These were reviewed to inform the remit, engagement and recommendations of this Review.