THE Culture Secretary has admitted the crisis-hit arts funding body has "not delivered" what the artistic community needs.

Fiona Hyslop, however, said she has been heartened by the recent responses of the Creative Scotland board to the letter of protest signed by more than 400 artists.

Speaking at the Culture Committee of the Scottish Parliament, Ms Hyslop reiterated her desire for Creative Scotland to "sort out" its problems, internally and externally.

She said trust between the arts funding and artists is vital and she will closely monitor changes at the body, but she will also "give them some space" to change.

Yesterday, Sir Sandy Crombie, chairman of Creative Scotland, unveiled a series of reforms of the body, including a return to emphasising the role of specialist knowledge in dealing with funding requests.

Ms Hyslop said: "I think trust is a very important thing, it is very precious and it is something you cannot put an economic value on and we have a fantastic cultural and artistic experience here in Scotland.

"This has always been a challenge: How you can have a strategic and flexible cultural organisation but also have the freedom for artists to pursue what they want to do, and I feel very passionately about the independence of artists to do that.

"It is quite clear the operations of Creative Scotland have not delivered that, and I have been quite specific in my request to the board to sort this out."

Ms Hyslop said many of the companies that lost out when Flexible Funding – a fixed-term funding model – was removed have received similar National Lottery support in a recent series of funding decisions.

"I am very passionate about supporting artists in Scotland and will continue to do so, and I am very positive and welcome the responses I have had privately from artists over the actions I have taken," she said.

"I welcome the statement from the board... but the essence of this is that it is so precious, our culture, and we have to make sure it is nurtured and supported."