The Scottish Government have this week announced a U-turn on proposed arts funding cuts following sustained pressure from our members and activists.
Initially announced by Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, in December, the budget would have seen £7m million slashed from Creative Scotland, the public body which distributes funding from the Scottish Government to creative organisations across Scotland.
Equity's National Official for Scotland, Adam Adnyana, responded with a statement at the time demanding a rethink:
“Lets be clear, with inflation into double digits, this isn’t a 10% cut to arts funding. It is much worse than that. “These cuts should not be used to justify low pay offers, or the end of stable work for performers and creatives. We call on the Scottish Government to revisit these economically illiterate cuts. “And we also give fair warning to employers that we will not allow you to use this as an excuse to degrade terms, conditions, or pay offers. No tactic will be off the table.”
Adam Adnyana
With the endorsement of the Scottish National Committee, we launched an information and letter writing campaign following the budget, demanding a reversal of the proposal.
Over the Christmas period you sent over 600 emails to over 90 MSPs highlighting the impact these cuts would have on local economies and the threat posed to employment opportunities in the Scottish creative industries. Lobbying activity was also undertaken as part of our membership of Culture Counts, an advocacy network of Scottish arts, heritage and creative industries organisations. As well as working with our sister unions in the STUC to collectively take action.
News that the cuts would be scrapped came on Wednesday. Adnyana, said:
"This reversal from the Scottish Government demonstrates the power of our union and its networks in Scotland. We will continue to campaign for increased funding for the creative industries and for this funding to be targeted to good quality employment opportunities for our members".
Adam Adnyana
