The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

Culture is central to all aspects of our lives. It relates to how we live, our languages, our beliefs, our recreation and the environment around us. It can enhance our education, the social activities of day-to-day lives and our general sense of well-being.

In 2003 the First Minister delivered a St Andrew's Day address in which he stated that culture cuts across all Portfolios and can make a difference to the success of each. He stated that Ministers must, "use arts and culture to achieve more effectively their policy objectives. It's not about the arts and culture being a different policy objective."

Since that time, Scottish Ministers and officials across the Scottish Executive have met regularly to explore a host of strategic ways to use cultural activity in policy delivery by all Departments. For example arts and culture are explicitly mentioned in a number of strategies such as the Regeneration Policy Statement, the National Transport Strategy, the National Planning Framework and the Strategy for a Scotland with an Ageing Population.

This approach demonstrates the understanding that the Scottish Government has of the potential for culture to transform people's lives and it demonstrates cross-service planning for culture which local authorities will be expected to undertake once the Culture (Scotland) Bill comes into force.

The Scottish Executive invests around 1% - £234m for 2007/08 - of its total budget directly in culture. As this report shows, in 2006 this was more than matched throughout the Scottish Executive by the work and support of cultural activity by all Portfolios, and we have seen spending on cultural programmes and initiative rising in recent years.

This report presents a brief overview of cultural initiatives within each Portfolio in the past year, including Portfolio spending on culture:

• Health and Community Care
• Communities
• Environment and Rural Development
• Justice
• Transport
• Education and Young People
• Enterprise and Lifelong Learning
• Finance and Public Service Reform
• Summary of each Portfolio's financial contributions to culture

Note: Images in the report - unless otherwise stated - come from the Information Exchange - www.scotlandistheplace.com/infoexchange; and the logos direct from the organisations concerned.

HEALTH AND COMMUNITY CARE PORTFOLIO

"A healthier Scotland must be holistic; it must be about the health of the body, and the health of the mind too."
First Minister, St Andrew's Day 2003

Culture is central to the well-being of Scotland's citizens. Evidence has shown that incorporating arts and culture into the health and community care settings has proven to be beneficial to people. This is particularly the case in mental health care, where the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-Being has substantially invested in programmes which support and use cultural activity.

This section contains a selection of key initiatives supported by the Health and Community Care Portfolio:

ArtFull ¹ is a joint initiative between the Scottish Executive's National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-Being, the Cultural Policy Division, and the Scottish Arts Council. Artfull aims to: help promote learning about how best to support mental well-being through arts activity; and to help improve, through the arts, the quality of life and inclusion of people with mental illness and/or mental health problems in order to help promote and support inclusion and recovery.

The National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-being is providing funding over the years 2004 to 2007 to the Mental Health Foundation to run the Arts Therapy and Mental Health programme.

Blairbuie Woodland Project (Reforesting Scotland) at Argyll and Bute Hospital is regenerating a woodland, to provide health and training opportunities for all sections of the immediate and wider community and aims to engage with inpatients with mental health problems from hospitals in the Argyll and Clyde area and with people referred to the service via Scottish Association for Mental Health services in the local area. This project is also receiving funding from, amongst others, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Forestry Commission.

The National Programme is also funding a 3 year research project at Glasgow University, through the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, to explore well-being and culture in a Scottish context.

The National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-being gave grant funding to Hearts and Minds for their Clowndoctors and Elderflowers Programmes. These are arts-in-health programmes for children in hospital and elderly people with dementia in hospital care in Scotland.

Health Improvement Strategy Division are providing £1.2m from 2005-2007 for a YDance project 'Dance in Schools Initiative'. This is part of the implementation of the Physical Activity strategy to encourage young people to be physically active through dance. ²

COMMUNITIES PORTFOLIO

"The inclusion of elements of art can encourage a sense of ownership and community pride in the open space."
Jack McConnell, First Minister, St Andrew's Day 2003

Culture is the essence of attractive and confident communities. The Communities Portfolio has a particularly broad set of policy areas, from housing and regeneration to equalities issues, which use culture effectively to deliver their policy objectives.

This section contains a selection of key initiatives supported by the Communities Portfolio:

Equalities

The ongoing One Scotland campaign articulates aspirations about the sort of Scotland we want to live in, and celebrates the positive aspects of Scotland's increasingly culturally diverse society. There are a number of initiatives from this campaign which support arts and cultural activity:

• Heartstone: this initiative employs stories and photojournalism to provide a route through which it is possible to build greater contact, communication and understanding across different nationalities and cultures,
• St. Andrew's Day: celebrations in 2006 continued to have a One Scotland theme and activities included One Scotland ceilidhs in a number of cities/towns across Scotland,
• Photography Competition: In October/November 2006, One Scotland and Scottish Television ran a photography competition inviting people to submit a photograph illustrating what a diverse Scotland means to them,
• Holocaust Memorial Day: The Executive has committed approximately £300,000 since 2001 in support of cultural activity to commemorate the Holocaust.

The Development Department's Equality Unit liaises with Cultural Policy officials to ensure that the importance of cultural activity involving older people is fully reflected in All Our Futures: Planning for a Scotlandwith an Ageing Population which was published in March 2007.

The Equality Unit has also supported and funded Scottish involvement in cross European developments on older people and culture initiated by the Silver Economy Network, of which Scotland is a member.

The Women's Fund for Scotland, funded by the Development Department, is managed by the Scottish Community Foundation, to benefit women in their local community and help with costs of annual International Women's Day events. Projects/events funded cover a wide range of aspects, including arts and culture.

³Travelling the Distance, also funded by the Development Department, was commissioned to celebrate the contribution of Scottish women to improving women's lives and advancing democracy. The sculpture was unveiled in the Scottish Parliament in December 2006 and an artist's book, which is an integral part of the commission, will be published in early March 2007.

Regeneration

Communities Scotland's principal community regeneration funding programme, the Community Regeneration Fund ( CRF), supports cultural activities in a variety of ways, for example through activities focused on 'Engaging Young People' and improving health. Around £16m will be spent on this priority over the period 2005-08, particularly on arts, sport and cultural activities such as music, drama and dance.

Communities Scotland's Scottish Centre for Regeneration's Seeing is Believing and New Ideas Fund provided financial support of approximately £22,500 to community groups to investigate new ideas and/or visit other projects on sports, arts, language and community media issues.

The Scottish Centre for Regeneration continues to explore, with the National Cultural Planning Steering Group, how cultural activity can contribute positively to communities in Scotland.

Communities Scotland's Wider Role Funds support wider community regeneration activities and these have helped stimulate cultural activities, e.g:

• Sense of Place - Faifley: development of a high archway to help define the entrance to the estate and the production of the sculptures that form the archway;
• Barrhead Housing Association Art & Social Inclusion Strategy: to empower and encourage the personal self esteem of disadvantaged members of the Barrhead Community through practical art workshops.

Community Scotland's Learning Connections division has a significant link to cultural activity and increasingly Community learning and development services are linking with cultural services - libraries, galleries, archives, museums and others - in local partnerships.

Futurebuilders Scotland has been an £18m programme of investment in the social economy with the purpose of extending and strengthening the role of the social economy in delivering better public services whilst encouraging financial sustainability in the sector. In 2006/07 expenditure on arts and cultural projects totalled £928,878.

Planning

The Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006 has made provision for design statements to be provided for certain types of planning applications. These will outline the design principles and concepts that have been applied to the development and aim is to reinforce the need for creating quality environments.

The Planning Development Programme is providing funding for a design training programme that has been developed with Architecture and Design Scotland. The programme will help raise understanding and improve design skills for local authority planners. Training events start in February 2007.

The Planning Development Programme is funding places on the Built Heritage Conservation in Practice courses that are run through the Scottish Traditional Skills Training Centre in Aberdeenshire.

Historic Scotland

PhotoArch, is an annual heritage photography competition for primary aged school children supported by Historic Scotland. This initiative provides young people with the opportunity to express their thoughts, experiences and perspectives on the heritage, buildings and archaeology around them. PhotoArch forms Scotland's contribution to the International Heritage Photographic Experience ( IHPE) run by the Catalan authorities and supported by the Council of Europe.

ENVIRONMENT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO

"In our rural areas cultural development can increase the sustainability of some our most vulnerable geographical areas. Increased cultural activity in the Highlands and Islands in the past twenty years has shown itself to be an important part of the economic renewal of fragile communities. The integration of cultural provision can contribute to our broad development strategies for rural areas."
Jack McConnell, First Minister, St Andrew's Day 2003

The partnership between the Environment and Rural Development Portfolio and culture brings together the assets that Scotland is famous for - our extraordinary natural environment and our cultural heritage. Culture can also contribute to sustainable development, motivating and exemplifying good environmental stewardship.

This section contains a selection of key initiatives supported by this Portfolio:

The integrated marketing campaign " It's Our Future" - part of the Choosing our Future sustainable development strategy - is aimed at changing the culture of Scotland so that we are more mindful of our legacy to and impact on future generations and led our lives accordingly.

As part of the Scottish Executive's support for Scotland's Year of Highland Culture in 2007, the Environment and Rural Development Portfolio has, in 2006, invested is the Outsider Festival which will take place in June 2007 at the Rothiemurchas Estate near Aviemore. It will be the first major 'green' event of its kind with outdoor sporting activities, music, dance and many other art forms featured over three days. The Executive will be the main sponsor under its Natural Scotland brand with the main message from the 'It's our future' campaign. Some 15,000 people will be involved, attending performances, taking part in debates and craft workshops and participating in countryside pursuits such as mountain biking, nature walks and running.

Following Fund closure after evaluation of the Rural Partnership Fund, support to a selection of projects delivering arts and cultural objectives to rural communities has been delivered through the interim Small Awards programme.

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh ( RBGE) is a valuable asset to Scotland both to the population in Scotland and in its international reputation. Inverleith House in RBGE houses an innovative programme of temporary exhibitions ⁴.

The Rural Diversification Fund has been used, in 2006, by some farm owners to support the redevelopment of agricultural land and business into cultural activity. For example, converting once agricultural facilities into studios, art galleries, craft shops, weaving enterprises and dance schools. In 2006 in the Highlands and Islands region alone spending on projects of this kind was £250,000.

Forestry Commission

Forestry Commission Scotland ( FCS) is fully committed to promoting the conservation, understanding and enjoyment of the cultural heritage aspect of woodlands. Indeed, one of the aims of the Scottish Forestry Strategy is that "all aspects of the historic environment and cultural landscapes are understood and their significance is fully recognised in the management and design of forests". FCS has recently been involved in a wide range of cultural heritage projects, including:

• interpretation design at the former ironworks at Wilsontown (scheduled ancient monument) and at the historic landscape site near Blairadam,
• the 'Aig an Oir' project which celebrated and raised the profile of Scotland's ancient oak woodlands through visual art,
• the increasingly successful 'Treefest' events across Scotland,
• the Dalriada Project in mid-Argyll funded by the Heritage Lottery,
• the production of the 'Heritage Trees of Scotland' publication which includes pictures and stories of famous trees that have survived over the centuries.

In 2007, FCS and various partners will be contributing to the Year of Highland Culture through the 'Touchwood' project. This will involve 6 flagship events comprising of a History project - The Forestry Commission's impact on the Highlands; Touchwood Festival - a 'Treefest' for the Highlands; a touring Tree/Nature bus; a sound and lights arts event in Glenmore Forest Park; 'Astronomy in the Forest'; and Dornoch Amphitheatre.

JUSTICE PORTFOLIO

"Our criminal justice system will look at building on the success of the pilot restorative justice projects we've introduced that have already begun to make real reductions in crime. Late-night opening of facilities for kids and refurbished or new cultural facilities in some of our more impoverished areas can be used to restore community self-confidence, inspire trust, and thereby reduce vandalism and petty crime."
Jack McConnell, First Minister, St Andrew's Day 2003

Within criminal justice establishments cultural activity such as visual arts workshops and drama productions can be used to reduce crime and re-offending. Activity of this kind can also be particular effective in communities to provide diversionary activity.

This section contains a selection of key cultural initiatives from the Justice Portfolio:

Community Safety

As part of the drive to reduce youth crime, the Justice Portfolio allocates around £5m a year to the Local Action Fund. Community Safety Partnerships use this to fund a variety of diversionary activity for children and young people some of which supports cultural activity. As evidence builds up of the positive benefits of cultural (and recreational / sporting) activity to young people who might be tempted into anti-social behaviour or crime to their communities, the Justice Department will ensure that evidence is made widely available, and actively promote and support best practice.

In conjunction with the Local Action Fund, a revised Community Safety Partnership Award Programme is in place for 2005-2008. The programme focuses on the achievement of specific crime reduction and community safety outcomes identified in their plans for 2005-08. £3.6m funding is available over 2005-08. Some Partnerships have chosen to include an element of funding for culture, sports and diversionary work. In late 2006 an additional £600,000 was allocated to selected areas to allow for additional resources to implement initiatives to help with Safer Scotland projects over the festive period.

Scottish Prison Service

Through 'Choose Life' suicide prevention programme resources, Scottish Prison Service ( SPS) engaged Theatre Nemo to run workshops in prisons for people with mental health problems. Paul Getty Trust funding was secured to develop this successful project. It was part of the overall effort in HMP Barlinnie that earned its mental health services a Butler Trust Award.

The SPS Chaplaincy Adviser co-ordinated around 100 of the top entries of a worldwide Prisoner Art Competition sponsored by Catholic Chaplains. Two of the short-listed entries were from Glenochil and are in the process of being displayed in Rome, and at the UN offices in Vienna and the UNHQ in New York. Some were exhibited in the Scottish Parliament in September 2006, at SPSHQ, and at the SPS annual conference.

Several prisons have strong arts programmes, for example a Writer in Residence at HMP Glenochil, and a 'Story book dads' programme for recording and illustrating book-reading on CDs by prisoners for their children.

A joint project with National Museums Scotland and HMP Edinburgh saw the opening of a permanent exhibition of the prison's history in 2006.

Community Justice Supervision

For some offenders under community justice supervision there is an opportunity for engagement in sports or cultural activities. For example, art therapy is sometimes used as part of stress management for drug and women offenders in Drug Treatment and Testing Orders and in the Women Offenders centre "218" in Glasgow. Although not competitive sport, the Venture Trust initiatives in Applecross, which undertakes work with young offenders, builds a significant element of its work around outward bound activities such as hiking and skiing. Some Community Service schemes also provide the opportunity for offenders (particularly less serious offenders) to undertake craft work as part of their orders.

TRANSPORT PORTFOLIO

"In Transport we will look at ways of creating easier access for people to the cultural events and buildings in their area, and around Scotland. One of the biggest barriers to people attending is not the perception of the arts or fear of entering a formidable building but in physically being able to travel to it. That's a challenge for the transport team as much as the cultural sector."
Jack McConnell, First Minister, St Andrew's Day 2003

A reliable and efficient transport system enables people to access national and local cultural opportunities, visit cultural centres of excellence and participate fully in the cultural life of Scotland. Some of the key initiatives related to culture from the Transport Portfolio include:

' Investigation into the travel provision to cultural sites and events in Scotland' - The Minister for Transport has commissioned research to show how well-planned transport systems can contribute to the policy objective of getting people to cultural activities. The research will be completed within 6 months, commencing in January 2007.

Concessionary public transport schemes allow people to be more mobile, increasing their opportunity to access cultural activities by making them more affordable to low-income groups:

• A national scheme for older and disabled Scottish residents was introduced on 1 April 2006, enabling over a million people to travel for free on local and national buses throughout Scotland with no peak time restrictions.
• Scotland's cultural sector relies on the support of volunteers. From 8 January 2007, a concessionary travel scheme will be introduced for all 16 to 18 year olds, and full-time volunteers up to the age of 25.

The Rural Community Transport Initiative funds community transport measures in rural areas of Scotland, particularly where there are no scheduled bus services or where the services are very limited. Community transport also played a role in enabling rural residents to access cultural activities.

Provision of additional late trains on Friday nights on 19 routes out of Glasgow Central introduced from the timetable change on 10 December 2006, and provision of additional trains and/or service strengthening (additional carriages) to enhance service for events as appropriatee.g. Edinburgh Festival, sporting fixtures (ongoing throughout the ScotRail franchise to 2011).

Border Crossings - There is now a clear point of arrival marked by the remodelled Scotland Stone and the 'up lit' 3 Saltire flag arrangement at the A1 border layby as a result of the 'First Impressions of Scotland' initiative. A similar initiative is planned at the A68 trunk road Border Crossing where 3 Saltire flags will be introduced to the existing lay-by facilities.

A programme of installing Bilingual Road Signage, to take into account English and Gaelic, has been ongoing since January 2003.

⁵Lairig Eilde Bridge, located on the A82 in Glencoe, has been sympathetically designed as a modern structure, of high aesthetic value, and to fit into the topography of the Glen and the River Coe. In maintaining this vital part of the transport system, the new bridge will ensure future access to areas of historic, environmental and cultural interest. The new bridge is due to open in 2007.

EDUCATION AND YOUNG PEOPLE PORTFOLIO

"The choice isn't between education spending or culture spending. The challenge is how to use cultural activities to boost educational achievement."
Jack McConnell, First Minister, St Andrew's Day 2003

A working group of policy officials has been established with the aim of ensuring that all areas of the Executive's education policy which contribute to Scotland's cultural life are brought together.

Some of the key initiatives from the Education Portfolio are:

Development of A Curriculum for Excellence will continue to emphasise the place of culture as a context for learning across the whole curriculum.

Bookstart in Scotland is part of the UK wide Bookstart programme, supported by the Scottish Executive and 25 children's publishers and is administered by Booktrust, where book packs are gifted to babies by their health visitor. The Scottish Executive Education Department supports Bookstart by providing £250,000 each year from 2005-2008 to fund the Bookstart Baby Packs. The further funding in 2007 will be used to purchase Bookstart+ and My Bookstart Treasure Chest for every 2-year-old and every 3-year-old in Scotland. Bookstart works with libraries, health professionals, Sure Start and early years workers.

Youth Music Initiative - the Education Portfolio plays a vital role in delivering this initiative, which was allocated from £17.5m cultural budgets over the first three years of the programme, and subsequently £10m per year, sustaining the programme until at least 2007/08, to ensure that every school pupil in Scotland receives access to one year's free music tuition.

Schools Co-ordinators - Currently there is work being done as part of a 2 phase pilot on joining together the Cultural Co-ordinators and Creative Links officers. These will also be developed with clear alignment with the Youth Music Initiative.

The Future Learning and Teaching ( FLaT) Programme has encouraged and supported innovation in learning and teaching across the curriculum, including funding a number of projects which support the integration of art, music, drama and other expressive arts and cultural activities into the curriculum. Four major projects taken forward in 2006 are: Arts Across the Curriculum, Arts and Minds, Moving Image Education and Arts at the Heart.

Qualifications, Assessment and Curriculum division has been working in 2006 with Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education and others to produce information and advice on Promoting Creativity in Education.

The Executive's Education Department continues to support 6 centres of excellence at a cost of £5m a year. These Centres, based in secondary schools, allow gifted and talented children to reach their full potential by providing expert tuition in their specialism alongside their peers, while accessing the full secondary curriculum in a local authority school.

Out of School Hours Learning/Study Support - encompasses the wide variety of opportunities and activities offered through schools with their partners, outwith the formal school day. A wide range of activities can be supported including study clubs, cultural, sports and outdoor activities, and creative ventures in the arts field. Every Scottish local authority receives Out of School Hours Learning/Study Support funding under the Social Justice strand of the National Priorities Action Fund. The allocation for 2006/07 was £12m.

Anti-Sectarianism

Work to tackle sectarianism in Scotland covers a broad range of portfolio interests and there has been a great deal of activity in this area. In 2006 the Executive made the web-based education resource Sectarianism: Don't Give It, Don't Take It available to schools and youth workers, and provided £100,000 to schools to support creative anti-sectarian projects. In addition an anti-sectarian slogan competition was targeted at schools and the ten finalist's slogans are being turned into posters which can be displayed in schools and workplaces.

The Education Department sponsored seven schools performances of the anti-sectarian play Singin' I'm No a Billy, He's A Tim with supporting workshops, using drama to provide a powerful and stimulating learning experience for 700 pupils. The inclusion of an anti-sectarian category in the Scottish Education Awards also encouraged over 30 diverse and creative entries. The publication of Building Friendships and Strengthening Communities - A Guide to Twinning Between Denominational and Non-denominational Schools also illustrates how creative activities can help to break down barriers between schools and communities.

ENTERPRISE AND LIFELONG LEARNING PORTFOLIO

"Our libraries are central to widening access to skills and knowledge, and our academic institutions of cultural excellence …can compete internationally and operate at the very highest levels of excellence. They and our colleges and universities can develop even more creative talent in all sectors of the economy."
Jack McConnell, First Minister, St Andrew's Day 2003

The Enterprise Portfolio encompasses a number of policy areas including business and industry, further and higher education, and lifelong learning. Enterprise funding is a crucial component in support for the creative industries, as is this Portfolio's support of cultural learning in the further and higher education sector.

Some of the key initiatives from the Enterprise Portfolio are:

Business and Industry

Cox Review of Creativity in Business - A steering group led by ETLLD has been set up in 2006 to take forward the recommendations of the Cox Review (the Cox Review was commissioned to look at how best to enhance UK business productivity by drawing on world-leading creative capabilities) and the feasibility of a new programme which could support implementation in Scotland. Findings will be presented to Ministers in Spring 2007.

Scottish Enterprise's strategy for the development of creative industries is delivered through the Digital Media Creative Industries ( DMCI) cluster and focuses on sectors which have the potential to develop or distribute content using digital technology and platforms. Some initiatives from DMCI are:

• Pacific Quay in Glasgow is being developed as a home to digital media companies. BBC Scotland is due to relocate there in 2007,
• Seabraes Yard is the site of a new creative media district in Dundee. It's development was announced in 2006 and more than £50m will be injected into the area,
• Scotland's Cultural Enterprise Offices are a specialist service for creative and cultural practitioners and micro businesses.

The Music Industry Summit was hosted by the Deputy First Minister on 4 October 2006, to explore how support for the music industry could be improved. A further Music Industry Summit took place on 27 February 2007. At this, the Deputy First Minister announced the allocation of £500k to fund the Scottish Music Futures Fund. Highlands and Islands Enterprise ( HIE) will administer the fund for the whole of Scotland. HIE and Scottish Enterprise are currently working closely together to develop the details of the fund, which should be available from Summer 2007.

Further and Higher Education

The Scottish Further and Higher Education sector contributes enormously to art and culture. In accepting the role and value of arts and culture courses, Ministers have highlighted:

• the substantial amount of existing related activity ( e.g. 75,000 FE enrolments on courses with an arts/culture dimension),
• the year-on-year record funding to FE and HE, from which arts and culture activity within both sectors has shared,
• the emphasis given by Ministers in their strategic guidance to the Funding Council,
• the increased priority which Ministers are now asking the Funding Council to give to the promotion of Gaelic language, arts and culture through Gaelic medium education.

The Scottish Funding Council discussed its strategy for support for culture and creative industries, developed in 2006, at its meeting in January 2007 and will be taking this forward throughout 2007. The Council is due to publish a report on the Pattern of Provision in Scotland's colleges and universities in early 2007. This will include analysis of activity in creative arts and media subjects.

In 2006 there was continued support for a number of strategic projects with a cultural focus in Scottish further and higher education. For example:

• The University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh College of Art are collaborating to create a jointly-owned Edinburgh School of Architecture,
• Stevenson College has announced the development of a performing arts and music centre - "The Music Box" - at its Sighthill, Edinburgh, campus,
• Skillset Screen Academy Scotland is a collaboration between Napier University and Edinburgh College of Art,
• Glasgow University's Centre for Cultural Policy Research.

The Scottish Funding Council also funds programmes of research through its Strategic Research Development Grant, and in 2006 funded a number of feasibility studies into cultural areas.

In the period 2006-08, Determined to Succeed (DtS) is continuing to recognise the opportunities for enterprising teaching and learning offered by the culture and creativity agendas. There are a number of examples of productive partnership working, such as:

• in Edinburgh, a DtS-funded project 'Moving Image Education' has been developed with Scottish Screen, while in Midlothian, enterprise and creative links staff are working together in all primary and secondary schools to develop links between their agendas: for example, the three-day Winter Festival of Enterprise and Culture hosted by IKEA at the start of December 2006,
• at a national level DtS have specifically funded programmes using creativity and culture to take the enterprise story into schools. 'Determined to Broadcast', a double-decker bus transformed into a high-tech interactive mobile radio studio, has been visiting secondary schools around the country since Summer 2006 and will get to all local authorities by end of March 2007,
• DtS have also backed, in partnership with the Periodical Publishers Association, a Schools Magazine competition. Open to every secondary school in Scotland, the competition continues to provide an exciting opportunity for pupils to showcase their creative skills by writing, designing and producing a magazine with the aim of raising awareness of the magazine industry and encouraging an understanding of the diversity of career opportunities available.

As well as the specific project examples and levels of funding devoted to culture described above, colleges and universities have a wider role in the promotion of culture:

" Higher education employs and supports artists, writers, musicians, actors and social thinkers who are at the top of their professions. It provides the seedbed and testing ground for their creativity. It is here that the people most important to Scotland will be nurtured, and where they will be given the space to develop their voice and their ideas." - Universities Scotland

FINANCE AND PUBLIC SERVICE REFORM PORTFOLIO

Including International Development

As well as supporting the Executive's cultural budget, which will rise by £20m to £234m by 2007-08, successive Finance Ministers have strongly supported cultural initiatives. In recent years additional funding has been used for initiatives including £2m for the Purchase of Titian's Venus Rising by the National Galleries of Scotland.

Arts and culture also underpin many of the activities to promote Scotland at home and overseas. By supporting festivals and major events taking place in Scotland, we can convey positive messages about our country to people from around the world.

Some initiatives from this Portfolio include:

Promoting Scotland through culture

National Gateways and First Impressions - A report examining the first impressions people form on arrival in Scotland by road, rail, ship and air was completed in 2004. An action plan outlining measures to strengthen the promotion of Scotland - and sense of welcome to this country was published in 2005. As part of the work, the Scottish Executive is working with partners on ways to use art to enhance the 'gateways to Scotland'.

A wide range of festivals and events in Scotland have been supported through advertising, financial support or the provision of promotional materials to distribute to participants. During 2006 Finance and Central Services Department supported the Edinburgh Festivals and Fringe, Edinburgh Fashion Week, the Scottish Style Awards, the Aberdeen International Youth Festival and a Charity Art Show in London featuring established and up and coming Scottish artists.

The Six Cities Design Festival - Scottish Executive officials in Finance and Architecture Policy are working together to help provide this Festival.

The cultural content of the Tartan Week programme of events in the US in April has increased year on year. In 2006 the Executive supported an extensive and diverse cultural programme including literary events and activities by bodies such as the National Galleries of Scotland, Scottish Youth Theatre and Scottish Screen.

⁶The Scottish Executive's international websites showcase all aspects of Scottish culture through features, podcasts and film. The new e-magazine " Scotland Now" was launched in March 2006 to reach out to people around with world with an affinity towards Scotland, including the diaspora and alumni, and the site is already attracting tens of thousands of visitors.

Official visits by the First Minister and other Cabinet Ministers are often used to promote Scottish culture to an international audience. Activities during 2006 have included performances by young musicians from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama at a reception hosted by the First Minister in San Francisco to an exhibition of photography. Support was also given to Seona Mooney, the BBC Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year to perform at the Vancouver Highland Games to an audience of 10,000 people.

A new product "Scotland in a Box" has been created as a resource to send to overseas networks such as Foreign & Commonwealth Offices, British Council offices and the international media to promote Scottish culture on key dates such as St Andrew's Day and Burns Night. Scotland in a Box packs were sent to over 100 events in 80 countries for St Andrew's Day 2006 and support was provided to enable celebrations to take place in Scotland's six cities.

International Development

Scotland has a unique Co-operation Agreement bringing together the people of Scotland and the people of Malawi. Cultural initiatives are key to this, encouraging skills exchange and institutional linkages.

In November 2006 a special collaborative performance at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow brought together talented dancers, actors, directors and musicians to showcase Scottish and Malawian cultural excellence. The exchange provided an opportunity for the performers to learn new skills, meet prospective partners and demonstrate how this accessible medium might be utilised to progress current and future priorities of the Scotland-Malawi Co-operation Agreement.

In June 2006 the 'Malawi at St Magnus' project in Orkney celebrated the vitality and creativity of Malawi's arts, and acknowledged the role arts can play in developing international friendships. The 2006 festival programme showcased Malawian music, visual arts and literature, and included interactive sessions and education workshops.

Scotland in Europe

The Scottish Executive's EU Office continues to showcase Scottish art, literature, film and music as an adjunct to its networking activities in Brussels. Examples in 2006 included:

• Scottish Writers Series - lunchtime presentations featuring Alexander McCall Smith, Don Paterson, Anne Donovan and A.L. Kennedy,
• Exhibition of paintings by John Bellany,
• 'Ossian, Fragments of Ancient Pottery' will run until March 2007,
• Scottish Musicians Series - six concerts which represent different facets of language and tradition in Scotland.

SUMMARY OF MAIN CROSS-PORTFOLIO FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS IN 2006

The Scottish Executive invests around 1% - £234m for 2007/08 - of its total budget directly to culture. However, the following information demonstrates the contributions made by the other 8 Portfolios.

The figures shown here represent approximate spending on culture related activity by each Portfolio for 2006/07. However, there are many more programmes and initiatives which are administered by the Scottish Executive but which do not feature here as it is impossible to disaggregate certain spending on culture from total spending. Therefore, it should be assumed that these figures are broadly representative of each Portfolio's commitment to culture and do not represent the full sum of spending. There are indications that spending on culture from most Portfolios has risen in recent years, however, we shall work with colleagues to provide a fuller account of spending for future reports.

Health and Community Care

• Health Department, and in particular the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-Being, is a consistent funder of a range of cultural projects, collaborating with arts organisations such as the Scottish Arts Council, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Engage Scotland and through the Highland Users Group with the Eden Court Theatre and Lochaber Youth Minds as well as Volunteer Development Scotland. Arts projects run by health organisations such as the Scottish Association for Mental Health also receive support. Highlights for 2006 include:

• funding the ArtFull programme, based at the Scottish Arts Council, to £160,000 per year for 3 years,
• £1.2m Health Improvement Strategy funding over 3 years for YDance's Dance in Schools programme,
• over £300,000 committed to a wide range of projects since 2003.

Communities

• The OneScotland ongoing campaign celebrates the positive aspects of Scotland's increasing culturally diverse society and continues to support a number of events such as Heartstone (£404,000 over 3 years) and the Holocaust Memorial Day (£300,000 since 2001).
• Communities Scotland's principal funding programme, the Community Regeneration Fund ( CRF), supports cultural activities in a variety of ways. Around £16m will be spent on this priority over the period 2005-08, on arts, sport and cultural activities such as music, drama and dance.
• The Scottish Centre for Regeneration's Seeing is Believing and New Ideas Fund provided financial support of approximately £22,500 to community groups to investigate new ideas and/or visit other projects on sports, arts, language and community media issues.
• Wider Role Funds support wider community regeneration activities and these have helped stimulate cultural activities with support of around £120,000 for 2006/07.
• In 2006/07 Futurebuilders Scotland's expenditure on arts and cultural projects totalled £928,878.
• A number of projects in support of women were funded in 2006, such as: Women's Fund for Scotland (£150,000 is being provided for 2006/07); Travelling the Distance Sculpture (spend in 2006/07 will be approximately £32,000); Women's Library of Scotland (£18,000 is being provided for 2006/07); Women in Scotland Database (£16,000 is being provided in 2006/07)

Environment and Rural Development

• From 2006/07 Forestry Commission Scotland and various partners will be contributing approximately £150,000 to the Year of Highland Culture 2007 through the "Touchwood" project.
• The Rural Partnership Fund and Rural Challenge Fund have provided support to a wide range of projects delivering arts and cultural objectives to rural communities, from total funding in 2006 of £500,000.
• The Rural Diversification Funds can be used to support the redevelopment of agricultural land and business into cultural activity. In 2006 in the Highlands and Islands region alone spending on projects of this kind was £250,000.

Justice

• The Executive gives £5m per year through the Local Action Fund to Community Safety Partnerships for projects for young people, including cultural activities.
• A revised Community Safety Partnership Award Programme is in place for 2005-2008. £3.6m funding is available over 2005-08, and some Partnerships have chosen to include an element of funding for culture, sports and diversionary work. In late 2006 an additional £600,000 was allocated to selected areas to allow for additional resources to implement initiatives to help with Safer Scotland projects over the festive period.

Transport

• Transport committed £35,000 in 2006 to undertaking research into Transport and Culture, in particular to map activity and assess transport's contribution in getting people to cultural events/shows. Research will be completed mid 2007.
• The budget for Concessionary Schemes for 2006 was £159m (£163m in 2007/08), and the concessionary travel scheme for younger volunteers has a budget of £30m from January 2007. It is not possible at this time to disaggregate how much concessionary travel was used to access cultural activity, however research of this kind is planned for 2007/08.
• Bilingual Road Signage continues to be carried out on a route basis, with an approximate spend for 2006/07 of £633,000.

Education and Young People

• The Executive's support for young people and teachers in schools across Scotland is crucial to the development of culture, which is integral to the curriculum, e.g. the support for 6 centres of excellence, based in secondary schools, at a cost of £5m a year.
• A number of Schools of Ambition will use culture to transform the learning and teaching experience. Each school will receive £100,000 per year for 3 years, including 2006, to take forward their plans.
• The Department contributes £250,000 to Bookstart; also Arts Across the Curriculum (£840,000), Arts and Minds (£264,000), Moving Image Education (£400,000) and Arts at the Heart (£83,000) through its Future Learning and Teaching programme.
• Out of School Hours Learning, which includes many cultural opportunities for children, is funded to £12m per year.
• The Education Department provided £100,000 to schools in 2006 to support creative anti-sectarian projects.

Finance and Public Service Reform

• As well as supporting the Executive's cultural budget, which will rise to £234m in 2007/08, successive Finance Ministers have strongly supported cultural initiatives with significant additional funding in recent years.
• The Executive provides around 80% of local authorities' budgets, and in 2004/05 local authorities across Scotland invested £239m in the arts, heritage, museums, galleries, libraries, archives, and community recreation (source: CIPFA 2006).
• The Executive's Finance Department also supports culture through its international activities and promotion of Scotland abroad including support for Scotland's presence at international cultural festivals and at Scotland House in Brussels. In 2006 the total contribution from International Projects Division was £575,000.

Enterprise and Lifelong Learning

• As part of its record funding for further and higher education, in 2006 the Executive spent in the region of £200m on arts and culture courses (around 1 in 6 enrolments), as well as £27m on research in cultural disciplines. Highlights include:

• over £21m per annum through the Scottish Funding Council for the Edinburgh College of Art, Glasgow School of Art and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama,
• funding for new projects with a strong cultural dimension such as Dundee College's £5m "The Space", £500,000 for Edinburgh School of Architecture; £2m for James Watt Music College; £3.65m for Stevenson College's "Music Box"; £300,000 for the Scottish Screen Academy.

• The Scottish Funding Council has this year provided £500,000 to support the university sector in developing strategic approaches to its cultural engagement activities.
• Determined to Succeed, at a national level has contributed £280,000 to specific cultural programmes. However considerably more DtS resource is directed at culture and creativity from local authorities' delegated DtS budgets.
• Enterprise funding is a crucial component in support for the creative industries, with support for a range of initiatives, organisations, events, and major projects. For the period 2001-2006 the Digital Media Creative Industries ( DMCI) cluster budget was £26m for initiatives such as Dundee Media Park, Pacific Quay in Glasgow, and the Cultural Enterprise Offices. DMCI will be absorbed into the newly formed Electronic Markets cluster in early 2007.
• Highlands and Islands Enterprise supports the Year of Highland Culture with £2m, plus £2.2m for Eden Court and £2m for the Centre for Creativity and Culture at Sabhal Mor Ostaig.
• The Music Industry Summit was hosted by the Deputy First Minister on 4 October 2006 and a follow up Summit took place on 27 February 2007, at which the Deputy First Minister announced the allocation of £500,000 to fund the Scottish Music Futures Fund.

« Previous | Contents | Next »