Extra £7.5M for arts in Scotland

Scottish Culture Minister Patricia Ferguson has announced an extra £7.5 million for the arts in Scotland, to be administered by the Scottish Arts Council & Scottish Screen.
Ken Hay, Chief Executive of Scottish Screen, welcoming this additional funding, said: “An extra £500,000 is obviously good news as it demonstrates the Scottish Executive’s on-going commitment to the development of the screen industries across Scotland. Scottish Screen has been working closely with the Executive in identifying key development areas, and this increase in investment will allow us to implement a range of initiatives supporting individual talent, businesses and audiences across the country.
“Scottish Screen continues to look forward to the detailed discussions in establishing a fresh approach to supporting arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland, as outlined by the Minister last month.”
This award, is the initial part of the £20 million per annum extra money promised to the arts in Scotland as part of the Scottish Executives new policy which will see the creation of an entirely new administrative body for the arts, Creative Scotland.
(CD/GB)