When Creative Scotland announced in August 2024 that its Open Fund for Individuals would close to new applications, it sent a shockwave across Scotland’s cultural sector. For many freelance artists, writers, theatre-makers and other creative workers, the fund has become one of the few remaining routes to public investment in the development of new work.
Its sudden suspension was read not simply as an administrative change, but as a warning about the fragility of Scotland’s entire arts funding ecology.
What happened?
The immediate closure notice came on 19 August 2024 while the annual Edinburgh Festivals were underway, one of the busiest periods in Scotland’s creative calendar. Creative Scotland said it had taken the “difficult decision” to close the fund to new applications from 2pm on Friday 30 August 2024 because the Scottish Government had not confirmed release of £6.6 million in grant-in-aid budget for 2024–25. Creative Scotland had planned to use £3 million of that budget, alongside £3 million of National Lottery income, to sustain the Open Fund for Individuals. Without confirmation of the money, it said it could not keep all current funding routes open.
Although the closure happened in 2024, the roots of the crisis lay in 2023. A proposed £6.6 million reduction to Creative Scotland’s budget was initially reversed in February 2023, restoring its grant-in-aid budget to £63 million. But the cut was effectively reimposed later in 2023, forcing Creative Scotland to use National Lottery reserves to protect existing commitments.
In October 2023, after sector outrage and campaigning, Culture Secretary Angus Robertson made what Campaign for the Arts called a “gold-plated commitment” to restore the £6.6 million in the next budget, while First Minister Humza Yousaf pledged an additional £100 million a year for arts and culture by 2028–29. That pledge raised expectations, but by August 2024, the money underpinning the Open Fund had still not been released in time to prevent closure.
The backlash was immediate and highly visible. Trade unions and sector bodies saw the closure as a crisis for freelancers, particularly for mid and early-career artists who rely on this funding as a source of income.
Equity condemned the decision as “deeply disappointing and short-sighted”, with a wide coalition of arts organisations argued that the move would hit the least secure workers first. An open letter published on 21 August 2024 described the fund as “the primary route to public funding for Scottish Artists to develop their projects”, and warned that the loss of this support directly contradicted the Scottish Government’s own cultural ambitions. More than 110 organisations and artists backed the letter, with hundreds more joining wider public criticism.
How did we respond?
The Scottish Society of Playwrights was highly visibly and involved in the campaign as part of the coalition of Creative Unions and organisations protesting the closure.
Our Co-Chair Peter Arnott became a prominent voice challenging both government and agency handling of the crisis. He was quoted widely in the media, criticising the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland for:
…playing games of performative mutual blame with our lives and our careers, as if our lives and our careers don’t matter”.
Co-Chair Kris Haddow ran internal comms and petitioning for members, co-ordinating with other creative unions. It became obvious that an ‘everybody out’ strategy was required, to demonstrate the outcry and show strength of numbers in opposition to the decision.
Rally at the Scottish Parliament
On 5 September 2024, hundreds of campaigners gathered outside the Scottish Parliament at a rally organised by STUC, Equity, the Musicians’ Union, the Scottish Society of Playwrights and other unions. SSP and other leaders were involved in impromptu talks with Culture Secretary Angus Robertson inside Holyrood on the day of the protest. The rally came as Edinburgh Festival performances saw staged onstage protests under the slogan “No Art Without Artists”, turning a funding dispute into a public political issue.
Photograph by Craig McLean
The response
In practice, the campaign worked quickly. The Scottish Government confirmed release of the previously allocated £6.6 million for Creative Scotland, alongside £1.8 million for youth music. The following day, reports confirmed that the Open Fund would return.
Creative Scotland then announced on 17 September 2024 that the fund would formally reopen for applications at 2pm on Tuesday 8 October 2024.
A wider announcement also saw a review of Creative Scotland launched by the Scottish Government, aimed at ensuring its operations and structure were optimal to the needs of the culture sector, following criticism of the body by campaigners.
So the lastest ‘stooshie’ was resolved, at least in the short term. The fund was restored rather than permanently abolished. But the episode exposed something deeper: the extent to which Scotland’s creative workforce had become dependent on a funding mechanism vulnerable to political delay and budget uncertainty.
Where do we go from here?
For playwrights, artists and freelancers, the Open Fund crisis was not only about one application route disappearing for a few weeks. It was about whether Scotland still has a credible infrastructure for supporting the people who make the work in the first place.
The SSP’s direct involvement mattered precisely because playwrights understand that without investment in individual makers, there is no pipeline of new Scottish work to sustain the wider cultural sector.
We continue to monitor funding announcements, and to participate in round tables held between the Scottish Government, Creative Scotland and the STUC Creative Unions Group.
The SSP will always advocate for better funding and support for freelancers.