New body survives amid criticism
By Edd McCracken, Arts Correspondent

Creative Scotland, the new body designed to replace the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, will go ahead as planned despite MSPs voting down the bill intended to form it last week, according to the culture minister, Linda Fabiani.

But the Sunday Herald has learned that at least two SNP ministers have been privately critical of Fabiani's handling of the Creative Scotland Bill and backbenchers are speaking about Fabiani becoming the first ministerial casualty of Alex Salmond's government. One arts body has also expressed its fear that a delay in the formation of Creative Scotland could result in a "lost year" for the arts in Scotland.

The statement by the culture minister comes after the government suffered its first defeat in parliament. Opposition MSPs claim they voted against the Creative Scotland Bill because of confusion over how the new body would operate in relation to Scottish Enterprise and also over its finances. Under parliamentary rules a defeated bill can not be reintroduced for six months.

The proposed legislation had a rocky ride through the parliament prior to Wednesday's vote - earlier this year it was described as "the worst financial memorandum" the finance committee had ever seen.

Commenting for the first time since the bill's defeat, Fabiani said she found Wednesday's events "profoundly disappointing".

"People in the arts and cultural communities will no doubt be confused and dismayed that progress on this widely welcomed bill has been interrupted," she said. "However, this cannot and will not divert us from ongoing work towards establishing Creative Scotland, which will continue apace as we continue to work closely with the Transition Project team.

"I spoke to Richard Holloway the chairman of the joint board to underline our support for the essential and positive work that the joint board of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen is progressing. Work to develop ideas for new ways of supporting artists will continue; work to improve co-ordination of support for the creative industries will continue.

"We are of course considering the options for formally establishing the new body, but meanwhile we will retain the momentum that's been built up to establish the structures, working arrangements and relationships crucial to the future success of Creative Scotland."

The Scottish Artists Union, which represents visual artists, said Fabiani's statement was reassuring "to a point".

"Our fear is that this could turn into a lost year for Scottish art," said Terry Anderson, the SAU president. "That has to be a situation that has to be avoided. Exploring the options' is always an interesting phrase. Is one option to drop the whole thing? There may be contingency plans in place, there may be a plan B. Will the intervening six months be used to reconfigure the whole thing or just press the pause button? It's just at this stage no-one knows anything."

A SPOKESWOMAN for the Creative Scotland transition team moved to allay fears that the delay in Creative Scotland's formation would affect funding, saying: "There are no threat to any commitments of funding that have been made. They can be reassured."

Opposition MSPs have criticised Fabiani's handling of the bill. Jeremy Purvis, the Liberal Democrats' culture spokesman, said: "It raises serious questions about the competence of the minister. To manage to bring about a defeat of a four-page bill that all the parties support is a remarkable feat.

"What should have been an opportunity on Wednesday to clarify and bring all the parties on board was a situation where even more confusion was created. From the government that sends a poor signal. And that's poor for the sector, which wants leadership and direction, but it is not being provided."

Labour MSP Frank McAveety, a culture minister under the previous administration, said the buck stops with the minister.

"The culpability lies there," he said. "She made things murkier and darker by the end of the debate, which was a remarkable achievement. This has come from a bunch of people who were critical of previous governments, but in their own hands it is a total botch-up."

A spokesman for Alex Salmond said the first minister remains confident in Fabiani's ability.

"The real issue is that Labour MSPs cut their nose off to spite their face," he said. "The arts community will be aghast at their antics. They simply put their instincts of opposition ahead of the interests of Scotland."

It is also understood that the government is exploring ways around the six-month delay on reintroducing the bill into parliament. Whether this will include by-passing legislation altogether and dissolving the Scottish Arts Council via the Privy Council, as has been suggested by another former Labour culture minister, Patricia Ferguson, is unclear.