With the Scottish Executive's deadline of the 31st of March two days away, you
still have
some time to make your voice heard. Read the document and get details of how to
respond here:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/12/14095224/0

Meanwhile, the SAU submitted the following today:

The Scottish Artists Union is the pre-eminent representative body for practicing
visual and
applied artists in Scotland. It is inevitable that the twin pillars of the
Culture (Scotland) Bill
will affect the working lives of our members: namely the new Creative Scotland
agency and
the Cultural Entitlements initiative. While there are significant proposals
elsewhere in the
Bill to be applauded (most especially the laws with regard to Tainted Cultural
Objects) we
find these two main strategies significantly flawed and a wasted opportunity
considering
the great cause for optimism that was evidenced in the final report from the
Cultural
Commission.

At the heart of any new cultural initiative an understanding of the intrinsic
value of the
arts, and therefore artists, within society is required.

As a matter of policy the SAU states it is essential that visual and applied
artists be fully
involved in Scottish cultural development in order for it to achieve its true
potential. We
maintain the view that practicing artists should be placed on all
decision-making boards
and fully integrated into all cultural planning, contributing to greater levels
of
transparency.

Furthermore, we call for an appropriate level of remuneration for artists
working in
publicly funded projects as a clear commitment to valuing the creative
practitioner within
our culture. We also call for direct research and development funding through
awards,
stipends and sponsorship to promote new investigation and, in Jack McConnell's
words, "
…make the development of our creative drive, our imagination, the next major
enterprise
for our society."

We call for recognition of the special circumstances of artistic work in
relation to Tax &
VAT where the great majority of artists are significantly disadvantaged by the
current
systems. We also call for extended support for artists' economic growth and
sustainability.

We also expect genuine freedom from party political agendas, which is essential
to allow
the widest possible artistic development and cultural dynamism.

It is with great regret that we have found the proposed Bill does very little to
address our
priorities and also fails to recognise the intrinsic value of the arts within
our culture. Only
the announcement by the Minister for Culture on 21/2/07 that a visual artist
will be
sought to sit on the Creative Scotland board gives us any hope that the artist
is to be
recognised at all in this new look cultural landscape. We are very concerned by
legislation
that fails to identify the artist or any other practitioner. It appears the
Executive seeks to
place culture at the heart of Scottish society whilst neglecting the wellspring
of culture: the
creative individual. Instead great mention is made of "talent", "excellence"
and the
"creative industries".

In our view it is inappropriate for Creative Scotland to have such a heavily
slanted
enterprise agenda as implied in the guidance to the bill. If culture is to be
judged
primarily for its economic benefits then there can be little hope for dynamic
activity in
which experimentation and risk are permitted. Equally concerning is the
proposal for
Ministerial control over Creative Scotland's actions that appear to be enshrined
in the Bill.
For their part, the Executive has attempted to explain that powers must be
reserved to
protect against misuse of money from the public purse. A compromise has been
suggested by other organisations proposing an amendment that renders matters of
artistic content inviolate. The SAU would not be satisfied with this caveat as
we believe
that so long as Ministers reserve the power to appoint all board members, set
budgets,
and direct policy priorities then any notion of artistic freedom is meaningless.
We reject
the proposition that the advent of Creative Scotland (as described) heralds an
improvement on the status quo, and furthermore find it disingenuous that this
consultation process asks for such opinions when so many moves have already been
made
to prepare for the dismantling of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen.

The centralising agenda that lies at the heart of the Creative Scotland
proposition is cast in
an even more disturbing light when considered in tandem with Cultural
Entitlements. The
prime motive of any entitlements agenda should be the promotion of access to the
intrinsic value of art, heritage, language etc. that is central to the cultural
experience. That
was the original intention of cultural rights as described by the Cultural
Commission. The
phrasing of this Bill, however, places its principal attention on the benefits
that can be
brought to bear in support of social policy priorities.

What conclusions can we draw from legislation that proposes to bring top-level
cultural
planning under greater governmental control whilst passing delivery of highly
targeted
Cultural Entitlements to local authorities with very limited financial support?

Many quarters have criticised the Bill for being "toothless" and not going far
enough in
terms of placing culture in the position of paramount importance suggested by
the First
Minister's St. Andrew's Day speech of 2003. The Scottish Artists Union go
further in our
opinion that, if passed as legislation, the proposed Bill could have dramatic
and
detrimental results, creating a Scotland in which artists, art and culture are
seen as a
means to an end (both economically and socially) instead of being valued as the
expression of the nation's identity and aspirations.

We in the SAU do not wish to see our culture diminished through ill-considered
political
planning, particularly as it threatens to leave the Scottish visual artist
immeasurably
poorer. We urge the Executive to reconsider the proposed legislation.

Terry Anderson
President
Scottish Artists Union