Creative Scotland warmly welcomed the Scottish Government’s draft budget announced earlier this month, which included a significant uplift in proposed budgets for Culture and for Creative Scotland in 2025/26. The Board of Creative Scotland met on 16 December to discuss this draft budget further.
With further details now provided by the Scottish Government, we can confirm that Creative Scotland’s draft Grant-in-Aid budget from the Scottish Government in 2025/26 is £89m, up from £66.5m in the previous year. Included in this is an additional £20m, specifically for use in supporting the Multi-Year Funding programme, £3m extra for EXPO festival support, an additional £2m for Screen Scotland’s Production Growth Fund, £0.3m more for the Youth Music Initiative (YMI), and £4m for the Culture Collective initiative.
This budget, coupled with the Scottish Government’s aim to provide a further additional £20m for Multi-Year Funding in 2026/27, as set out in the Cabinet Secretary’s recent letter to the Culture Committee, means that we will have £54m for the Multi-Year Funding programme funding in 2025/26, and £74m in 2026/27.
Finally, we can also confirm that the Board of Creative Scotland will meet again in January to approve the final set of recommendations for the Multi-Year Funding programme and that all applicants will be informed of the outcome on 30 January.
Iain Munro, Creative Scotland Chief Executive said:
“The very positive outcome for Culture, and for Creative Scotland, as set out in the Scottish Government’s draft budget announcement, means that we can now move forward with confidence in concluding the Multi-Year Funding application process. The additional funding to be provided for this programme both next financial year and, significantly, in the year to follow, is very welcome and I am pleased we can now commit to announcing the outcome for all organisations that have applied to Stage 2 on 30 January.”
Background
Details on the Scottish Government draft budget: Scottish Budget 2025 to 2026 - gov.scot
Details on the Multi-Year Funding programme: Multi-Year Funding | Creative Scotland
This budget does not impact on Creative Scotland’s role as a distributor of The National Lottery or the income it receives for this purpose which, in 2024/25 is £32.5m.
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports culture and creativity across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery, which, now in its 30th year, has supported over 14,600 projects with more than £501.9 million in funding through Creative Scotland and its predecessor, the Scottish Arts Council. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot
Media Contact
Olivia Carr, Media Relations & PR Officer, Creative Scotland