THE country's national youth theatre has said it is working with the Scottish Government and the national arts funder, Creative Scotland, to secure its long-term future.

Creative Scotland is to enter another round of talks with Scottish Youth Theatre (SYT) this week, with "alternative routes of [funding] support" to be discussed.

There was dismay among the SYT and several of its high-profile alumni after it lost out on a three-year funding package from Creative Scotland.

The company, based in Glasgow, had a meeting with Scotland's culture secretary, Fiona Hyslop on Tuesday, who reiterated the Scottish Government's "strong support" for its work.

Ms Hyslop, however, cannot make funding decisions, as Creative Scotland is an arms-length body.

After the meeting, John Scott Moncrieff, chairman of SYT, said: "We [have] agreed to work with the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland to secure a sustainable, long term future for the organisation. To this end, we will continue our discussions with Creative Scotland on the best way to achieve this. Our aim is to ensure we can continue to provide world-class theatre arts experiences for as many of Scotland's young people as possible."

A spokesman for Creative Scotland said it provides support for youth arts across Scotland, both through the portfolio of Regularly Funded Organisations and through initiatives such as the Youth Arts Strategy (Time to Shine) and the Youth Music Initiative.

He added: "We recognise and value the important role a national youth theatre plays as part of this overall ecology, contributing to the huge potential demonstrated by youth arts.

"Following on from our decision not to fund SYT through Regular Funding, Creative Scotland has met with the youth theatre to discuss alternative routes of support.

"We will be meeting them again this week. These meetings have been positive and constructive and further announcements will be made in due course."