Section 1 Foreword
1.1 A new beginning
1.1.1 Seizing the moment
We stand on the verge of one of the most radical, and exciting, policy shifts in our lifetime. If the First Minister is supported in his aim of placing culture at the heart of government, Scotland will lead the world.
"In the 20th Century it took immense courage and political resolve to deliver universal health care and school education for all. Today these rights are unquestioned, pillars of modern society. I believe we can now make the development of our creative drive, our imagination, the next major enterprise for our society…. I believe this has the potential to be a new civic exercise on a par with health, housing and education."
Jack McConnell, St Andrew's Day, 2003
The Cultural Commission's report outlines what we believe needs to be done to achieve this ambition. The challenge demands new structures, increased investment, better use of current resources and, fundamentally, new thinking. If we succeed, we will change the face of our nation.
1.1.2 Making it happen
Equality of access is at the heart of this vision. Our nation is economically and socially diverse, and geographically dispersed, yet access should be no barrier in our vision for the future. The Commission believes that the aspiration of the First Minister for access to culture should be distilled into one ambition: that every person in Scotland can share in any cultural activity that is publicly funded. That is truly access for all.
Education is also an essential part of this transformation. The Commission has worked to support the work of the Curriculum Review but also to contribute what it believes to be crucially important recommendations on pre-school work, teacher education and higher education. Behind these recommendations is our firm belief that we can offer better schooling to more young Scots if we focus more educational activity directly on learning through cultural means and cultural resources.
1.1.3 Building on our strengths
Our cultural heritage is rich and should be nurtured and promoted. Our report notes with pride that we lead the world in literary enterprise. We are also convinced that the national collections have yet to realise their potential. Scotland is custodian of a significant part of the Western world's heritage in its libraries, archives, historic buildings, galleries and museums. We recognise that the creative industries and digital media offer significant opportunities for growth in the cultural sector in the next ten years and we recommend supporting this trend vigorously. The Commission is also clear that the broader cultural sectors - the performing and creative arts as well as the collections - add value and bring credit to our society.
1.2 A programme for change
The recommendations in our report require major changes. There is a clear need for more efficient investment and better accountability. New investment will be needed too, together with new infrastructure and support systems to ensure all voices are heard and collaboration secured.
1.2.1 Better value from public funding
The Commission has tried to set out clearly the pattern of public funding for the cultural sector. We have aimed to comment honestly on the amount actually expended and to indicate the exponential increase in value to the Scottish citizen if we as a nation are prepared to invest a little more. The First Minister's aspirations require financial backing and we are all too aware of the competing demands on the public purse. Immediate needs need to be balanced against change in the longer term.
Radical reform will increase tremendously the efficiency of the institutions in the cultural sectors. This is not to diminish the history and present work of such distinguished bodies as the Scottish Arts Council; it is to propose new arrangements for the 21st century so that we can bring about the confident, cultured society that we all want to achieve.
As the evidence accumulates, we are convinced that cultural activity can deliver across a wide range of social policy areas. People who are challenged and fulfilled through cultural engagement are less likely to feel excluded and to reject social norms.
1.2.2 A new infrastructure
We found the very definition of the cultural sectors a matter for debate and we took a generous view. The characteristics of the cultural sectors are their fragmentation and their spread, dissociation one from another, their small size in terms of government and their inability to make common cause. It is not in the interest of the Scottish citizen or government in Scotland that this pattern should persist.
The cultural sectors are spread across performing and exhibiting arts, writing, the collections and libraries, festivals and the creative industries. Their funding comes from many different sources. We believe that the cultural sectors need to make common cause in negotiation with government. Collaboration and partnerships produce cross-cutting benefits and this is surely to the benefit of the sector and to citizens. The Commission has proposed the separation of funding mechanisms from the duties of advocacy. We believe this is in the best interest of democratic procedures in Scotland.
We propose radical new structures for the voice of culture in Scotland, outlining three options for change. We believe the time is right for new institutions to represent the sector and advocate the new vision.
1.2.3 Financing the new vision
As well as efficiency savings, new investment is required to achieve the fundamental shift in focus that a commitment to culture demands. Much of the funding of the cultural sector is determined by historical arrangements that no longer reflect our society.
There have been many welcome government initiatives in delivering specific projects such as the Music Tuition Scheme, but base-line funding for the performing arts and the core funded institutions has clearly stagnated, as our report demonstrates.
The arts and the cultural sectors can make a great contribution to the advancement of Scotland and there is a clear need for better representation of the case for culture. We see this as not just about advantage to the sectors but a better service to the citizen. Our report indicates the kind of investment required to ensure the First Minister's aspirations are realised. We argue strongly that this investment will be fully justified in benefits to the Scottish economy and to its people.
1.3 Leading the field
Our most distinguished artists now have an international locus: Craig Armstrong writes music for Hollywood and operates business in Japan, JK Rowling is the world's top selling children's author, Douglas Gordon has won the Turner Prize and exhibits in America, Dougie MacLean's concerts sell-out America's largest concert halls and James McMillan receives worldwide acclaim for his work with orchestras and compositions. Most importantly, many such artists live in this country. There is a new cultural climate and the time is right to foster, grow and, indeed, attract more top class talent. The energy and determination of artists and practitioners in Scotland is exemplified by theatre. There is a new generation of young directors in the Scottish theatres, work of unprecedented merit is being produced and, best of all, a great deal of it is from Scottish writers such Gregory Burke and David Greig. The Commission received great encouragement from Scottish artists of all sorts.
Similarly, there is clear appetite in Scotland for opportunities to experience the best of international culture, be that paintings by Titian, opera by John Adams, or the theatre of Chekhov or Miller. Scots have a clear and present enthusiasm for high quality cultural offerings, no matter their provenance, and are keen to contribute in this way to the international cultural scene. In addition, the creative industries have shown themselves to be one of the leading growth areas in our economy, including the creation of the world's most successful computer game by Rockstar North.
Our cultural sectors worked wholeheartedly and unstintingly to encourage the work of the Cultural Commission. They embraced the Commission's process and contributed with the many detailed submissions that have informed this report. All stakeholders understand that radical change is needed and that the beneficiary ought to be the Scottish citizen.
1.3.1 Taking up the challenge
One of the most consistent signs of success for the Commission was the repeated remark that the process itself had already stimulated liaison and partnerships where none existed before. The limits of the public purse are well understood and the increasing drive to bring private sector money into the arts in a partnership with business is another healthy sign. The Scottish Executive has willing partners in the cultural sector.
The artists and cultural practitioners of Scotland would claim to have played a significant part in the movement for devolution. What they want now is to be able to make the fullest contribution that they can to the society that they helped bring about. This is not a romantic or sentimental vision. The Commission observed clear thinking and realpolitik in its consultations.
The artists and the cultural sectors want to have responsibility heaped upon them for creating the Scotland that the First Minister envisioned for us on St Andrew's Day 2003. Adequate resource, not lavish provision, will be enough to sustain that effort and realise that ambition.
The work of the Commission is now finished but artists and the cultural sectors have to start here. This is an independent report for the Scottish Executive but in truth it belongs to those who have invested their hopes in it. The Commission believes that the cultural sectors should themselves publicly review the results of the report in early autumn 2005, perhaps in a conference or a series of conferences. The First Minister will need their advice. It would be a grand gesture if the First Minister were to find himself able to respond to this report on the second anniversary of his inspirational speech.