A YEAR ago, Scotland's main arts funding body was engulfed in crisis over its funding decisions.

Now it is to ask artists, arts companies and the public to help formulate its new funding rules - in the hope of avoiding such controversy in the future.

Creative Scotland is to lead a series of workshops across the country, which will ask artists, companies and the public what the priorities for arts funding should be, and how it should spend the money it receives from the National Lottery and the Scottish Government.

Today, Thursday, the leaders of Creative Scotland will also give evidence to the Culture Committee of the Scottish Parliament, updating MSPs on its review of regular funding, and its plans for reforming the present system.

The acting chief executive Iain Munro and Executive Director Isabel Davis will also inform the committee on the plan for a review of the whole organisation and the appointment of a permanent chief executive.

Last year, the body was plunged into crisis over the decisions made in its long term funding, where initially cuts were made to touring theatre and disabled arts companies.

Creative Scotland, after uproar, then backtracked on cuts previously announced to companies including Birds of Paradise, Catherine Wheels, the Dunedin Consort, Lung Ha and Visible Fictions.

Two board members, Ruth Wishart and Professor Maggie Kinloh, resigned amidst the tumult, and the then-chief executive, Janet Archer, also resigned in July.

The new chair of the body, Robert Wilson, said he would instigate a review of the entire body's form and function.

Last summer, members of the Culture Committee of the Scottish Parliament said Creative Scotland's actions had fallen "well below the standard" required for a non-departmental public body after scrutiny of its decisions and how they were communicated to companies.

Creative Scotland funds companies through regular funding, worth more than £100m over three years, targeted funding and 'open funding' which is awarded on a rolling basis, and can be worth up to £150,000.

Open Funding is an over-subscribed doorway to funds: many more artists and companies apply for funds than can be supported.

Now Creative Scotland is to hold a series of events across Scotland, in 15 venues from 22 May to 10 July, and have been aimed at artists, companies and the public to offer ideas and debate about the body's funding schemes.

The arts world has been consulted several times in recent years.

The Scottish Government held a series of meetings to help write its National Cultural Strategy, which has yet to be published.

Creative Scotland has also held reviews of various arts sectors, and received comment on its Regular Funding decisions of last year.

The body says the meetings are "an opportunity for professional and voluntary creative practitioners, managers of creative organisations and businesses, and members of the local communities."

The meetings, Creative Scotland said, will "help identify the strategic priorities that will best support Scotland’s creative life, and explore new ways to fund arts and creative activity."

The new consultation meetings will include dates in Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Lewis, Shetland, Oban, Dumfries, Irvine, Galashiels, Aberdeen and Helmsdale.

Mr Munro said: "We welcome the involvement from all stakeholders and the public in these conversations.

"We will then develop and test potential new funding models during the summer and autumn this year.

"We will then communicate timelines on implementing any new ways of funding, as these depend on the solutions generated with the creative organisations, practitioners and the people and communities that take part in this review."

Creative Scotland has been working on research for future funding models, including "a comprehensive analysis of different models of funding and cultural investment used by similar creative and cultural agencies across the world" as well as "investigating financing models used by enterprise development agencies and in social enterprise investments."

The new funding models will be developed this summer and autumn.