Pre-budget scrutiny evidence to the Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee

This morning (Tuesday 29 September) Culture Counts gave evidence to the Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee’s pre-budget scrutiny ahead of the 27-28 Scottish Budget.

The evidence session can be watched back in full here, and contained contributions from Culture Counts, National Theatre of Scotland, Museums Galleries Scotland, Scottish Contemporary Art Network, Federation of Scottish Theatre, St Magnus Festival and the Traditional Music and Song Association.

The session covered a range of areas in relation to both Scottish Government’s spending plans for the upcoming financial year, as well as the longer-term picture around the policy and funding environment for culture.

Our written evidence was centred around the key reccomendation that the 2027-28 budget sets a dedicated Grant in Aid (GiA) allocation for Creative Scotland's Open Funds, or similar future funding mechanisms, and that this allocation is maintained as a permanent feature of subsequent budgets.

Our full written submission to the parliament is available here.