Culture Budget 2022-23 Key Takeaways
The Scottish Budget is the Scottish Government’s proposed spending and tax plans. The 2022-23 budget was presented to Parliament by Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy, on 9 December 2021.
We’ve summarised the key takeaways from the budget for Scotland’s arts, heritage and creative industries.
This was the first budget of the Parliamentary term. It brings a new portfolio for culture called ‘Constitution, External Affairs & Culture (CEAC)’.
The portfolio “engages at home and internationally to enhance Scotland’s reputation, increase economic success, prosperity and wellbeing, and promote Scotland as a great place to live, visit, work, study and do business.”
The budget announced spending plans of £370.5 Million on the CEAC portfolio. This is a £21 Million cash terms increase on last year’s budget.
We’ll explore more specific spending details later in this post. But here are the top level budget totals for culture from the past 3 years.
Evolving Headings
The portfolio in which culture sits has changed over the last few years. In the 2022/23 Budget, culture is part of the Constitution, External Affairs & Culture Portfolio (CEAC).
That title aligns with Angus Robertson’s role as Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture. And the Scottish Parliament’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee.
In 2021/22 culture was included in “Economy Fair Work & Culture” and in years prior was in “Culture, Tourism & External Affairs”.
These changes to portfolios make comparing previous budgets difficult. For example, the detail of what is included in the heading ‘Culture & Major Events’ has evolved since 2018-19.
We’ve explored some of that detail below, comparing the key budget lines for culture from the past 5 years, using Scottish Government Budget data.
Real Terms Comparisons
As with any economic data it’s important that value is adjusted to take into account the effects of inflation.
Using an estimate of what the value of items would have been in different years, based on the general rate of inflation, we’ve compared the Real Terms changes in spending across some culture portfolio budget headings.
We’ve compared what the 2018-19 budget would be in 2022-23 prices using the Scottish Parliament’s real terms calculator.
Further Reading
The Scottish Government’s Corporate Report includes further detail on the Culture Budget. You’ll also find a foreword by Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy.
Stay Informed
The Culture Counts Journal brings you up-to-date with policy-making across the arts, heritage and creative industries.