Home   News   National   Article

Budget will not achieve everything we want for culture sector, says Robertson


By PA News



Scotland’s Culture Secretary has told MSPs “not everything is going to be sorted” in the sector – despite a £34 million increase in funding in next year’s Budget.

Angus Robertson said the “significant increase” in financing underlines the Scottish Government’s commitment to “strengthening the culture sector in Scotland”.

But he told Holyrood’s Culture Committee: “We will not achieve all that we want to achieve together for culture in a single year.

“I acknowledge not everything is going to be sorted to everybody’s satisfaction in the course of one year, and that is why we have given a commitment to raise funding by the amount we have committed to doing so and to do that as quickly as possible.”

The Government has pledged to provide “at least £100 million more annually” in funding by 2028-29.

Angus Robertson told MSPs ‘not everything is going to be sorted’ in the culture sector in one year (Andrew Milligan/PA)
Angus Robertson told MSPs ‘not everything is going to be sorted’ in the culture sector in one year (Andrew Milligan/PA)

His comments came after the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) last week warned it could have to make “seismic changes, such as closing one of our buildings”.

The NGS runs several galleries in Scotland, including the National, Portrait, Modern One and Modern Two.

It is responsible for 120,000 works of art and welcomed more than 2.4 million visitors in 2023.

Its director Anne Lyden said it is coming under financial pressure as a result of rising staff and maintenance costs.

Adding the NGS is “facing some very unpalatable options here this year”, she told how it could be forced to reduce its operating hours or even close one of its sites permanently.

Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr challenged Mr Robertson on her comments, saying: “What are you going to do in a situation where we have the National Galleries of Scotland shutting down attractions?”

The Culture Secretary pointed to a rise in capital funding for NGS – going from £4.1 million to £6.2 million next year – saying this is because of the “pressures” highlighted.

He said Government officials “will be working very closely” with the NGS and other organisations facing difficulties to “make sure that we are able to support them all as well as we possibly can”.

He added: “We are providing extra resource, we are providing extra support and we are working very, very closely with all organisations that are dealing with these sort of challenges.

“I will be making the case as strongly as I can for more capital funding.”

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.


This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More