Culture & Creative Industries Infrastructure Fund Proposal

Culture Counts has written to Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary Economy, Fair Work and Culture. The letter provides an outline of our ideas and proposals for the Scottish Government to successfully support Scotland’s cultural sector, industry and wider society through the Covid-19 crisis and beyond.

Outline

The cultural sector has consistently shown that it can deliver for Scotland’s sustainable well-being economy and we are seeking significant investment in order to secure over 120,000 jobs and related skills.

New Zealand, a country of similar size to Scotland, recently announced a fund of $175million for arts and culture; equivalent to £88million. Given our similarities to New Zealand we would encourage a similar level of investment, reflecting our larger size and greater number of cities, to repurpose and develop the sector from where we are and into 2022.

Proposals

Culture and Creative Industries Infrastructure Fund
To avoid mass unemployment, a talent drain and a widespread loss of infrastructure across the cultural and creative sector, we propose that the Scottish Government invest in a Culture and Creative Industries Infrastructure Fund.

In setting out our investment ideas, we acknowledge that the Scottish Government are already aware of the economic and social benefits of re-purposing or redeployment versus unemployment; particularly on a mass scale.

The proposed fund opening in September 2020 (in preparation for current schemes ending in October) administered by non-departmental public bodies and arms-length external organisations would support organisations and individuals working across the public, private and third sector to effectively re-deploy people including freelancers into three key value areas of Skills; Place; and Innovation over a period of twenty-four months.

Read more about our proposals, and the letter in full at the link below.