The Scottish Arts Council’s initial response to the Cultural Commission is as follows:

We congratulate James Boyle and his Commissioners for the hard work and effort put in to conclude what is a bold and imaginative vision for the long-term development of culture.

We wholly endorse its call for increased resources for the cultural sector, and, to paraphrase Sheena Wellington, to nourish the cultural tree both at the roots and at the leaves, and we agree that many artists and arts organisations are unable to focus on producing excellent work, because they are concentrating on managing limited resources.

Many of the Commission’s recommendations, such as work to support the role of the arts in education, investment in our indigenous languages, extending the opportunities for everyone to realise their creative potential and raising the status and profile of Scotland’s artists, are integral to our everyday work.

Our immediate impression is that there is much work ahead, both in considering the recommendations and in taking forward our mutual ambition for investing in and developing culture. It confirms our belief that ‘culture isn’t tidy’ and that the sector and its inter-connections are complex. We see the Commission’s report as a beginning, rather than as an end. We will continue to listen to our colleagues within the sector and maintain our extensive support for artists and arts organisations while the implications of the Commission’s report are considered. We intend to continue our current ambitious work, until we are sure that the future will provide the best solution for the arts in Scotland.

We note the Commission’s recommendations on new bodies for development and funding for culture and acknowledge the proposal that this should be at some distance from Government. Naturally, we need to investigate the model proposed, which will require detailed thought before we are able to give a considered view. We should not overlook the fact that any organisation reliant on public funding is required to adopt certain standards in return for support, regardless of how it is constituted.

We are confident that our expertise, commitment, enthusiasm and our profound knowledge of the national cultural landscape that has historically served Scotland so well will be continued and maintained for some time into the future.

Our own submissions to the Commission recognised that cultural planning was fragmented, and expressed our own will to develop a collective responsibility for developing the arts. This view still stands, but over the next few months we will be examining how we, alongside others, are able to contribute to a new mandate for culture in Scotland.