The Scottish Government

This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007

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Scotland spends £500 million on culture

05/08/2005

Scottish councils spent £509 million - or £100 per person - on culture in 2003/04 and this is expected to increase to £522 million - £103 per person - for 2004/05, according to new research published today.

In the first in-depth and independent survey of its kind, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Cultural Statistics in Scotland 2004 found that over half of all cultural expenditure in Scotland in 2003/04 was on sport (27.4 per cent or £139 million) and parks and open spaces (23.5 per cent or £119 million).

Other expenditure components in 2003/04 were:

• 19.4 per cent (£98.8 million) - libraries (all costs directly associated to the library service)
• 10.5 per cent (£53.6 million) - community and recreation (expenditure on halls and community centres, and community festivals)
• 7.7 per cent (£39.3 million) - heritage and museums (expenditure on heritage, museums and galleries, and acquisitions)
• 6.5 per cent (£33.0 million) - the arts (expenditure on theatres, concert halls, art centres, visual arts facilities, art development, arts festivals, and major one-off arts events)
• 2.6 per cent (£13.2 million) - tourism (expenditure on tourism policy, marketing and development, visitor centres, and promotion)
• 2.1 per cent (£10.6 million) - miscellaneous (expenditure on foreshore, zoos, flower shows etc.)
• 0.3 per cent (£1.7 million) - archives (all costs directly related to the archive service)

Culture Minister Patricia Ferguson today welcomed publication of the research. She said:

"I welcome this survey which will give a picture of cultural service provision across the country. It will also show the impacts of spending and investment which will help local authorities ensure that everyone across Scotland has access to quality cultural services."

Commenting on the latest statistics, Julian Mund, associate director of information services at IPF, CIPFA's support services company, said:

"This initiative succeeded thanks to the support of the Scottish local authorities, the Scottish Executive and the cultural agencies in Scotland. It provides an excellent reference for determining over £500 million of spend on culture, comparing with other authorities, and, most importantly, should help authorities to continue improving cultural services."