Fury as Fringe and theatre companies have funding axed by Creative Scotland

By The Newsroom
Published 24th Jan 2018, 23:28 BST
Updated 26th Jan 2018, 16:19 BST
Creative Scotland chief executive Janet Archer would not comment on any of the specific funding cuts.Creative Scotland chief executive Janet Archer would not comment on any of the specific funding cuts.
Creative Scotland chief executive Janet Archer would not comment on any of the specific funding cuts.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the city's King's and Festival theatres and the body that promotes its Unesco 'City of Literature' status have had their funding stripped by Creative Scotland.

They have all lost long-term support from the arts quango - despite its funding from the Scottish Government going up by more than £16 million per annum.

Creative Scotland has dropped 20 organisations from its three-year funding programme, but added 19 following a shake-up of how its £99 million budget is spent.

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The wider theatre sector has been hit by a number of funding cuts, including to the Ayr Gaiety and the children’s companies Catherine Wheels and Visible Fictions, despite 2018 being promoted as Scotland's Year of Young People by the government.

Creative Scotland has announced that a new £2 million touring fund for theatre companies will be instigated from 2019, with transition funding offered to unsuccessful applications to the three-year programme.

The funding cuts, which were broken to affected organisations on Thursday morning, have already triggered a furious response - weeks after Creative Scotland lavished praised on the government for its increase in funding from the government.

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Creative Scotland wins extra funding to offset lottery slump

But the quango has pointed out that its budget for three-year "regular funding" - which has been awarded to 116 different organisations, venues and events - is being pegged at the same level due to a decline in national lottery funding and that it received £154 million worth of applications.

Creative Scotland’s chief executive, Janet Archer, last month said she was "really delighted" with the quango's settlement from the government, which covers the next three financial years.

But today she said: “Regular funding is a highly competitive application process where demand has once again, far outstripped available funding.

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