Letters to Ministers - April 2023
On 14 April 2023, we wrote to the Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, and First Minster to congratulate them on the appointment/continuation of their roles.
Each of the letters can be read below.
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Dear Christina McKelvie MSP,
Thank you very much for your letter of 6 April to Joseph Peach.
I’m writing to congratulate you on your appointment as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, and to introduce myself as the newly appointed Director of Culture Counts.
Culture Counts is a network of arts, heritage and creative industries organisations, advocating for the development and protection of culture as fundamental to our common future. Our members include Scotland’s major representative bodies and networks, unions, National Performing Companies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, Local Authority ALEOs, and some larger companies and events. We work to represent the shared interests of our members to elected representatives and officials.
In recent months, we have engaged closely with Scottish Government on policy development. We have had close involvement in the development of National Planning Framework 4, Scotland’s Culture Strategy, the National Partnership for Culture’s Measuring Change Group, as well as the Government and Creative Scotland’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and our recovery.
We are part of regular meetings between Scottish Government, Creative Scotland and Culture Sector Partners and we also work with members of the Scottish Parliament. Culture Counts acts as secretariat for the Cross-Party Group on Culture and Community, which focuses on the social value of culture as well as the Cross-Party Group on Creative Economy which focuses on economic impact. As well as this, we work with relevant parliamentary committees. Recent examples include the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Committee’s pre-budget scrutiny, and the Economy and Fair Work Committee’s Town Centres report.
We also lead an EDI Co-Learning Working Group with our core members to examine how to improve EDI in our organisations. This project is a partnership with Paul Hamlyn Foundation with the aim of improving diversity within the cultural sector.
Looking ahead, there is no doubt that culture, heritage and creative industries face serious challenges. The impact of Brexit on import and export of goods and services, lasting effects of the pandemic on both audiences and workforce and ongoing inflationary pressures in the context of long-term standstill culture investment have caused a funding crisis within the sector. While the decision to reverse a planned cut to Creative Scotland is welcome, there remains much to do to resolve the crisis and ensure the stability and resilience of the sector.
Within these challenging circumstances there are also opportunities – in the Scottish Government’s refresh of the Culture Strategy action plan, planned International Culture Strategy, % for Culture and Transient Visitor Levy schemes.
In the recent leadership election, we warmly welcomed the newly elected First Minister’s commitment to culture, particularly his commitment to recognise the value of culture and the arts across a range of policy areas – including economic growth, education, climate change and social justice. Embedding culture across policy making will be key to securing and developing its essential contribution to Scottish society and economy.
Over a number of years, Culture Counts have built close and collaborative relationships with your ministerial predecessors, the re-appointed Cabinet Secretary, and Scottish Government culture, heritage and creative industries officials. I very much look forward to continuing this relationship with you as we work towards our shared goals. I would be delighted to meet with you to discuss how we can best work towards these aims.
Yours sincerely
Lorraine Anderson
Director
Culture Counts
c/o Federation of Scottish Theatre 30b Grindlay Street
Edinburgh
EH3 9AX
14 April 2023 -
Dear Angus Robertson MSP,
I’m writing to congratulate you on your re-appointment as Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, and to introduce myself as the newly appointed Director of Culture Counts.
As Scotland’s network of arts, heritage and creative industries organisations, we advocate for the development and protection of culture as fundamental to our common future. Our members include Scotland’s major representative bodies and networks, unions, National Performing Companies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, Local Authority ALEOs, and some larger companies and events.
In recent months, we have engaged closely with Scottish Government on policy development. We have had close involvement in the development of National Planning Framework 4, Scotland’s Culture Strategy, the National Partnership for Culture’s Measuring Change Group, as well as the Government and Creative Scotland’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We have also been working with the relevant parliamentary committees. Recent examples include the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Committee’s pre-budget scrutiny, and the Economy and Fair Work Committee’s Town Centres report.
I understand that Culture Counts has previously enjoyed a close relationship with yourself, and your former Ministers and officials. I very much look forward to continuing this relationship with you as we work towards our shared goals.
Looking ahead, there is no doubt that culture, heritage and creative industries face serious challenges. The impact of Brexit on the import and export of goods and services, lasting effects of the pandemic on both audiences and workforce and ongoing inflationary pressures in the context of long-term standstill culture investment have caused a funding crisis within the sector. While the decision to reverse a planned cut to Creative Scotland is welcome, there remains much to do to resolve the crisis and ensure the stability and resilience of the sector.
Within these challenging circumstances there are also opportunities – in the Scottish Government’s refresh of the Culture Strategy action plan, planned International Culture Strategy, % for Culture and Transient Visitor Levy schemes.
In the recent leadership election, we warmly welcomed the newly elected First Minister’s commitment to culture, particularly his commitment to recognise the value of culture and the arts across a range of policy areas – including economic growth, education, climate change and social justice. Embedding culture across policy making will be key to securing and developing its essential contribution to Scottish society and economy.
I would be delighted to meet with you to discuss how we can best work towards these aims. Yours sincerely
Lorraine Anderson
Director
Culture Counts
c/o Federation of Scottish Theatre 30b Grindlay Street
Edinburgh
EH3 9AX14 April 2023
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Dear Humza Yousaf MSP,
I’m writing to congratulate you on your appointment as First Minister, and to introduce myself as the newly appointed Director of Culture Counts.
Culture Counts is a network of arts, heritage and creative industries organisations, advocating for the development and protection of culture as fundamental to our common future. Our members include Scotland’s major representative bodies and networks, unions, National Performing Companies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, Local Authority ALEOs, and some larger companies and events.
We work to represent the shared interests of our members to elected representatives and officials.
In recent months, we have engaged closely with Scottish Government on policy development. We have had close involvement in the development of National Planning Framework 4, Scotland’s Culture Strategy, the National Partnership for Culture’s Measuring Change Group, as well as the Government and Creative Scotland’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
We are part of regular meetings between Scottish Government, Creative Scotland and Culture Sector Partners. We also work with members of the Scottish Parliament. Culture Counts acts as secretariat for the Cross-Party Group on Culture and Community, and the Cross-Party Group on Creative Economy, as well as working closely with relevant committees, particularly the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Committee.
We also lead an EDI Co-Learning Working Group with our core members to examine how to improve EDI in our organisations. This project is a partnership with Paul Hamlyn Foundation with the aim of improving diversity within the cultural sector.
During the recent leadership election, we warmly welcomed your support for the Culture Sector contained within your insightful statement.
Looking ahead, there is no doubt that culture, heritage and creative industries face serious challenges. The impact of Brexit on import and export of goods and services, lasting effects of the pandemic on both audiences and workforce and ongoing inflationary pressures in the context of long-term standstill culture investment have caused a funding crisis within the sector. While the decision to reverse a planned cut to Creative Scotland is welcome, there remains much to do to resolve the crisis and ensure the stability and resilience of the sector.
Within these challenging circumstances there are also opportunities – in the Scottish Government’s refresh of the Culture Strategy action plan, planned International Culture Strategy, % for Culture and Transient Visitor Levy schemes.
There is high importance attached to all of the commitments you made in your statement, particularly in recognising the value of culture and the arts across a range of policy areas – including economic growth, education, climate change and social justice. Embedding culture across policy making will be key to securing and developing its essential contribution to Scottish society and economy.
Over a number of years, Culture Counts have built close and collaborative relationships with culture ministers, cabinet secretaries and officials. I very much look forward to continuing these relationships as we work towards our shared goals.
If useful, I would be delighted to meet with you to discuss how we can best work towards these aims.
Yours sincerely
Lorraine Anderson
DirectorCulture Counts
c/o Federation of Scottish Theatre 30b Grindlay Street
Edinburgh
EH3 9AX14 April 2023