Independent Review of Creative Scotland

Theme 1: Creative Scotland’s purpose, functions and structure

In gathering evidence from a range of sources, this Review concludes that a strong national body for the arts, culture and creative sector is needed. It is also clear that improvements are required if Creative Scotland is to fully deliver its remit as a funder, advocate, influencer and a body that supports development of the sector. The legislation on which Creative Scotland is based provides sufficient flexibility to enable it to carry out all these functions.

Creative Scotland’s functions and remit

The Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 sets the general functions for Creative Scotland:^[16]

a) identifying, supporting and developing quality and excellence in the arts and culture from those engaged in artistic and other creative endeavours

b) promoting understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the arts and culture

c) encouraging as many people as possible to access and participate in the arts and culture

d) realising, as far as reasonably practicable to do so, the value and benefits (in particular, the national and international value and benefits) of the arts and culture

e) encouraging and supporting artistic and other creative endeavours which contribute to an understanding of Scotland's national culture in its broad sense as a way of life

f) promoting and supporting industries and other commercial activity the primary focus of which is the application of creative skills

In addition, the Act explicitly requires that subsection (c) must be exercised “with a view to increasing the diversity of people who access and participate in the arts and culture.” See Annex B for the full legislative basis.

Recognising that the sector covers a broad range of individual and organisations, Creative Scotland is expected to support the needs of a hugely diverse sector.^[17] The sector has also evolved over time, not least in response to the challenging period of COVID-19 and Brexit, within a wider context of the cost-of-living crisis and global change.

Creative Scotland appears to have adopted a narrow interpretation of the full breadth of opportunities within its remit, leading to gaps in provision. In particular, many contributors to the Review highlighted the lack of support for the commercial development of the creative industries especially following Scottish Enterprise’s adoption of a missions-based approach.^[18] Some also said that rather than being rewarded for commercial acumen, Creative Scotland awards less funding to those generating income which acted as a disincentive.

Creative Scotland said that the context at the time of the establishment of Creative Scotland means that it needs to be mandated to support the creative industries.^[19] The Scottish Government’s aim in creating Creative Scotland was to have a national body that evolves in response to the changing sector,^[20] and uses its position as national advocate and development body to ensure that there is promotion and support for all industries and their commercial activity where the primary focus is the application of creative skills.^[21]

Whilst the explanatory notes to the Act provide some examples of the industries Creative Scotland should be supporting (for example architecture, computer and video games, and publishing),^[22] the list is not exhaustive and can be assumed to be intended to evolve to include those areas that have emerged since 2010. The Creative Industries Framework Agreement,^[23] whilst out of date (see theme 2), requires of Creative Scotland that it provides ‘research, intelligence, support and advocacy’ across the ‘creative industries’ and leads ‘co-ordination activity in developing the creative industry sector.’ As such, there is adequate provision for Creative Scotland to support creative industries such as gaming.

The remit of Creative Scotland, as set out in legislation, remains relevant to the needs of the sector. The functions provide sufficient direction whilst providing scope for Creative Scotland to adapt its support in line with the emerging needs of the sector. Nevertheless, there is a general view that Creative Scotland should make improvements to better support the sector. Additional specificity in legislation with an overly prescriptive remit would limit opportunities to adapt in a changing environment, and limit the flexibility required to support the development of an evolving sector. Instead, the national body should use its evidence of the needs of the whole sector and its importance to society to engage with core funders and partners to explore how best to collectively support the sector (see theme 5). There is also a need for Creative Scotland to be more adaptive to the changing context within which it operates. For example, Creative Scotland’s activity in response to COVID-19 was highly praised,^[24] and it was hoped that this level of dynamism to adapt to the developing needs of the sector outwith an emergency would have continued. Other national organisations were regarded as having changed with the times.^[25]

Recommendation 1: Creative Scotland’s remit offers broad flexibility in the delivery of its functions; however, its interpretation of the remit has sometimes constrained its execution of these functions. The Board and Executive should reassess their understanding in light of evolving sector needs.

Recommendation 2: The Scottish Government should work with national bodies to ensure alignment of public sector support for the creative industries and develop a refreshed Creative Industries Framework Agreement.

Roles

Creative Scotland’s annual plan sets out its interpretation of the legal functions, notably that it supports ‘culture and creativity in Scotland as a development organisation, a funder, an advocate, and as a public body that seeks to influence others to increase opportunity and maximise the impact our resources can offer.’^[26] These roles are all important in developing, protecting and preserving a healthy arts, culture and creative sector.

Many who engaged with the Review felt that the four roles complement one another. They highlighted that the hands-on knowledge from development and funding makes Creative Scotland best informed to advocate on behalf of others and influence. They felt that splitting the roles would risk fragmenting the voice and support of the sector in Scotland. Several saw funding as a development activity.

From the feedback heard by the Review there is an uneven split across delivery of Creative Scotland’s roles. Most saw Creative Scotland primarily as a funder, though Screen Scotland was seen to play a greater role in advocacy and development for the film and TV sector. For example reference was made to Screen Scotland’s research into the economic value of Scotland’s screen sector.^[27]

Despite Creative Scotland’s focus on funding, individuals and organisations across the country called for more funding and longer-term support. Whilst some suggested more funding was needed across the sector, others wanted their art form (for example AI, audio, comedy, copyright, digital innovation, gaming, illustration, publishing, technology and translation) to be given greater priority. Some respondents to the Scottish Government’s survey questioned to what extent the national body should represent community-led amateur music groups who are mainly self-funded and deliver wider social impact. Other forms of support, such as marketing, promotion and business development, were also raised. Additional areas of support would inherently require a different approach to resourcing, though not necessarily solely by Creative Scotland.

A few suggested that the advocacy and funding roles should sit in different bodies. This stemmed from concerns that Creative Scotland had confused advocacy with lobbying. There was also confusion in the sector as to how a national body balances government expectations and sector needs. Some felt this meant that Creative Scotland cannot act as an effective advocate for the sector as it is being ‘controlled by the Scottish Government,’ with many in the sector noting the difficult balance between Creative Scotland’s role as distributor of Scottish Government funding and also advocating with government on the sector’s behalf.

A strong national agency should be able to advocate for the sector using its data and intelligence to influence policy. Creative Scotland’s ambitions should be built on its intelligence, with strong leadership to create and embrace opportunities. This reduces the risk that the arm’s length principle is eroded through directions and siloed priorities that may not be in line with the long-term vision for the sector.

There is a gap in terms of consistent and powerful advocacy for culture and its importance to society. Having good quality sector data and effective systems and processes to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and experiences would help maximise the advocacy role (see recommendation 26), ensuring that representation goes beyond the individuals and organisations which Creative Scotland currently funds. This could also support cross-sector learning.

Recommendation 3: Creative Scotland should expand its intelligence gathering and, working with others, provide advocacy and development for the whole sector, ensuring representation goes beyond funded individuals and organisations.

There is an appetite for more development support, particularly given the move to missions by Scottish Enterprise.^[28] Some felt that the development role should continue to sit with Creative Scotland given the linkage with funding. Others felt that enterprise bodies were better placed to do this. Many praised the regional knowledge and partnership approach adopted by South of Scotland Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, noting their strong focus on the use of data and investment in networks for the regions. It was suggested Creative Scotland should strengthen partnership working (see theme 5).

Several expressed concern about the lack of a talent pipeline (for example in dance and broadcasting), whilst others (for example within the TV sector and theatre) said that there were too many graduates for available roles. Creative Scotland could work more effectively with education establishments as well as Skills Development Scotland (or its successor) to ensure alignment of education and training with the expected needs of the sector. See also theme 5 and recommendation 31.

Recommendation 4: The roles of advocacy, development, funding and influencing should remain unified within a single national body which has stewardship of the promotion of the arts, culture and creativity. Creative Scotland should review its internal structure to ensure its four roles are appropriately resourced and executed.

Application of remit

Given the breadth of the sector it is perhaps not surprising that people both within and outwith Creative Scotland have varying views of what the organisation currently does and what it should be doing.

Some felt that a national body should be directed to support all the creative industries,^[29] with an expansive approach to include any future emerging industries and art forms.

There were some suggestions that Creative Scotland’s remit should be reviewed in light of the UNESCO recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist (1980).^[30] Critics argued that the current prioritisation of funding for individuals, particularly through the Open Fund, is insufficient and misaligned with this international standard and that greater recognition of professional artists and culture workers is required.

Written contributions to the Review reported that Creative Scotland “has always struggled to fulfil its remit” partly due to capacity and partly knowledge. Achieving Creative Scotland’s remit was seen by some as being unrealistic given its breadth and available resources, especially since local authorities and Scottish Enterprise no longer provide the same support to the sector putting more pressure and expectations on Creative Scotland.^[31]

Operating model

Creative Scotland’s operating model merged the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen to deliver a more cost-efficient structure to deliver its functions. It established shared services for finance, HR, marketing and communications, research, and business support.

Pooling resources is in line with public sector reform principles.^[32] It provides greater value for money by enabling more funding to be directed at the sector. Public support for Scotland's art, culture and creative sector comes from a complex matrix of local, national and UK public bodies to support a wide variety of art forms and activities (see Annex D). There are opportunities for greater cooperation between national agencies to reduce overheads, improve programming and, for instance, plan better use of assets. Shared arrangements with other agencies, such as Architecture & Design Scotland, could help provide greater efficiency and alignment. Integrated data systems with other parts of the sector would also facilitate greater intelligence-sharing, sector support, and audience development.

Recommendation 5: Creative Scotland should work with others to provide economies of scale and improve outcomes.

It is routine for public bodies to make their operating model readily available but Creative Scotland does not do so. It is therefore difficult to comment on the model.

Theme 5 highlights the importance of regional intelligence to allow Creative Scotland to more effectively fulfil their functions. Regional support should be built into the operating model.

The organisation’s structure indicates a sectoral approach, with its largest directorate organised into art form teams sitting separate from Screen Scotland. This is not reflected in the structure of funding streams which are, in the main, art form agnostic, with the exception of screen.^[33] Given recent changes in the funding being distributed by Creative Scotland and wider sectoral changes there is an opportunity for Creative Scotland to consider its operating model and supporting structure.

Screen Scotland, which is part of Creative Scotland, was often highlighted as a successful arm of Creative Scotland. However many see it as a separate body that lacks parity of esteem. Some suggested that greater equity for Screen Scotland within Creative Scotland is needed to enable it to operate more effectively. There were also suggestions that further delegation of responsibility was needed to enable the Screen Scotland teams to work more effectively with their clients.

Given the benefits of working as part of an organisation representing the entirety of the culture sector, Screen Scotland should remain part of Creative Scotland. However it is important that Screen Scotland can influence wider Creative Scotland decisions and have a degree of autonomy that enhances its ability to support the screen sector (see theme 2 and recommendations 13 and 16).