Lyth Arts Centre director warns funding cut will have 'disproportionately negative impact'
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A leading figure in the Caithness arts scene has warned that the loss of millions of pounds in funding will have a "disproportionately negative impact" on Scotland's cultural sector.
Charlotte Mountford, director of Lyth Arts Centre (LAC), outlined the threat to jobs, wellbeing and the economy in a letter to regional MSPs for the Highlands and Islands.
She and colleagues in the sector are calling for a reversal of the Scottish Government's proposed £6.6 million cut to Creative Scotland, the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries.
Ms Mountford talks of her "deep concern regarding the severe situation facing the cultural sector".
Creative Scotland said in December that it will have £6.6 million less in 2023/24 to support "regularly funded organisations" (RFOs) for which £34 million is required each year to maintain funding at current levels.
The board agreed to use a proportion of its National Lottery reserves to maintain funding for RFOs at 2022/23 levels, although the move came with a warning that lottery reserves "are finite" and "can only be a time-limited solution".
In her letter, Ms Mountford tells the MSPs: "Lyth Arts Centre is Scotland’s most northerly mainland arts centre, presenting an annual programme of live performance across Caithness alongside contemporary visual art and an extensive participatory programme of educational and socially engaged arts projects led by local creatives in our community.
"Our Caithness community is at the heart of everything we do and we work across the county acting as the sole cultural hub."
She goes on: "Myself and my colleagues are calling for a reversal of the cut which is a relatively small amount (£6.6 million compared to the Scottish Government budget overall of £59.8 billion) which will have a disproportionately negative impact on a whole range of outcomes including jobs, the wellbeing of Scotland’s people and communities, and on the economy in general.
"Since the coronavirus pandemic, Lyth Arts Centre has been developing new arts and wellbeing programmes for our community. Central to this has been community arts initiatives that connect artists and creative practitioners with distinct Caithness communities. We work with a broad and diverse range of local community partners delivering high-quality engagement programmes that use arts and creativity to tackle inequality and promote community-led regeneration through a distinct place-based approach.
"A steep decline in our communities' mental wellbeing since Covid-19 is regularly reported a local issue for many of our partners and their participants. In response to this, our work has focused on arts-based wellbeing activities to reduce isolation, improve confidence and mental health and explore tools and ideas for healthy wellbeing in Caithness."
She lists some of the community groups LAC has worked with, saying: "This vital work allows us to upskill and empower our local creative workforce, promoting community regeneration."
Ms Mountford also highlights the "huge success" of the Northern Lights Festival in 2021, describing it as "a celebration of Wick harbour and much-needed opportunity for our community to come together post-lockdown".
She adds: "The fact remains that a proposal has been made which will undermine the positive contributions made by the cultural sector overall. It will seriously impede the sector’s ability to rebuild and survive long-term underinvestment and the combined effects of the Covid pandemic and the worst cost crisis Scotland has experienced in decades."
As well as calling for a rethink on the proposed cut in 2023/24, she urges the Scottish Government "to instigate an immediate emergency plan for longer-term recovery".
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government values the importance of cultural organisations and their contribution to the wellbeing of the country to promote the arts, provide employment and engage with communities across Scotland. It is for these reasons, among many others, that the Scottish Government provided £256 million in Covid support funding to help cultural organisations to navigate the challenges brought on by the pandemic.
“However, given the current difficult public expenditure environment, there are significant pressures on funding. The Scottish Government has provided Creative Scotland with over £33 million over five years to compensate for generally reduced lottery funding.
"When the Scottish Government is facing difficult decisions about funding, the time is right for Creative Scotland to draw on the lottery reserves available to them.”
