Scottish Lib Dems: End big city bias in creative spend

Scottish Liberal Democrats have today said they will deliver “change with fairness at its heart”, as new analysis showed creative and cultural organisations in Scotland’s biggest cities are receiving significantly more funding per head than those in other areas.

Creative Scotland is responsible for funding the creative industries in Scotland. It distributes funding from the Scottish Government and the National Lottery.

Creative Scotland have now announced the awards from their multi-year funding programme, covering April 2025 to March 2028.

Scottish Liberal Democrat analysis of these awards, however, has uncovered that:

• Edinburgh received 300 times more spending per head than North Lanarkshire, which received just 49p per head.
• Edinburgh also received 170 times more per head spending that West Lothian, where per head spending was 86p.
• Despite being one of the most populous local authorities, Falkirk received just £1.96 spending per head.
• Fife also received per head spending of £6.35, despite being the third most populous local authority.
• Spending per head also fell below £10 in South Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Ayrshire and Angus.

Scottish Liberal Democrat culture spokesperson and candidate for Inverness and Nairn Neil Alexander said:

“I am so proud of Scotland’s cultural heritage, but these figures reveal a worrying lack of ambition for its future.

“People living outside our biggest cities will understandably feel left behind when the government-sponsored arts body can’t even spend 50p on their creative talent.

“While there will always be a level of variation across the country, the extent of that variation is extremely sharp.  

“If we want a thriving cultural heritage for years to come, we must be nurturing talent and skills, and the jobs and economic benefits they bring, in every corner of the country. That’s change with fairness at its heart.  

“In May, you can vote for that change by backing the Scottish Liberal Democrats."