Council awards increase in cultural grants

After several weeks of to-ing and fro-ing, the council has finally agreed to increase funding to festivals, including Edinburgh International Festival, The Edinburgh International Book Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society by a one-off 25%.

At the last meeting the increase had already been doubled from an initial 5% to 11.5%, and then a possible 25% was briefly on the table, but following a great deal of lobbying by the festivals, the council has relented to a one-off increase on Thursday. This funding comes from Visitor Levy funding for Culture, Heritage and Events which is worth more than £25million over the next three years.

Councillors voted to award the 25% increase in funding, or about £1.065 million, to Third Party Cultural Grants partners – including the big festivals mentioned above. This funding covers the period until March 2028, and a new cultural funding programme is to be established during the next twelve months.

The administration, as well as Conservatives had wanted to retain the uplift at 11.5%, but the Green Group pushed for approval of the 25% increase and were supported by SNP and Liberal Democrat colleagues.

A further £2.62 million in the Innovate Fund which is supported by the Visitor Levy will open for applications next week. This Fund has to improve “resilience and improve creative output” for successful applicants and also benefit visitors to the city. New applicants who do not already receive grant funding are encouraged to apply and eligibility will be viewed as broadly as possible.

Deputations

Morvern Cunningham, Co-Lead of Creative Community Hubs Network and former Lord Provost, Lesley Hinds, in her capacity as Chair of North Edinburgh Arts, addressed councillors ahead of the decision to explain the impact of funding on local community arts which are created year-round in the capital.

Ms Cunningham highlighted the recent Gather at St Margaret’s House which attracted artists from projects all over Edinburgh. She said: “This and events like it are an example of the cultural value and importance of community-based work, benefits such as supporting health and well-being, contributing to community wealth building, the importance of placemaking, community hubs acting as cultural bridges, and brokering those vital partnerships with Edinburgh’s cultural institutions and festival organisations.

“This work is also central to the council’s own culture strategy, which sets out a vision for a network of well-run, ambitious, and accessible local creative cultural hubs throughout the city by 2030, meeting the aim that Edinburgh’s residents can both shape and access meaningful cultural activity on their doorstep.

“And this work does not only benefit residents; visitors to the city benefit too. Our hubs already have an impact across Edinburgh that reaches far beyond their immediate neighbourhoods, and they act as a grassroots pipeline, supporting artists and communities on projects that go on to have citywide or even national significance.”

Mrs Hinds thanked the council firstly for the strategic funding for North Edinburgh Arts and also Whale Arts in Wester Hailes. She said it has given the organisations “an opportunity to expand our arts and culture programmes and engagement with our communities. But as you will all be aware, there has been no uplift in the funding. With cost pressures, inflation, increasing the living wage, and national insurance costs, we would welcome an uplift.”

She outlined that the Visitor Levy is the opportunity to support community arts and culture organisations, and to enable visitors to enjoy arts and culture outwith the city centre. And she said that the grassroots organisations have to have a voice and a seat at the table to work in partnership with the council and the other bigger cultural organisations.

Lori Anderson, Director of Festivals Edinburgh, attended the meeting in person along with also Tony Lankester, the Chief Executive of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society.

Ms Anderson said that core funding through the third party grants programme is ‘vital’. She said: “Together, we have all built the world’s leading festival city. What has been created is extraordinary, something we should be exceptionally proud of. And given the substantial year-round cultural, civic, and economic returns it delivers, fiercely protect and sustain. The festivals are in the city’s DNA and are vital civic assets. Around a third of attendances are from local people, and 79% say the festivals make Edinburgh a special place to live. But the festivals are not simply events that happen in the city; they are built with and sustained by the people and communities of Edinburgh.”

She added that the partnerships they build with schools and community and culture organisations are a central plank, and create opportunities for people in Edinburgh to take part in the festivals, “widening access, strengthening connections, and supporting well-being throughout the year.”

Tony Lankester replied to councillors’ questions saying: “I think what you’ve heard today from both the festivals and the community groups, actually absolutely signal that there’s a lack – and there’s a lack of imagination – and there’s been a failure of a very clear, well-detailed, well-articulated plan to the cultural organisations who operate in the city across all aspects of the cultural scene.

“I would like to see a very clear statement of intent of how the TVL, in hand in hand with core council funding, is going to deliver on the needs of all of the cultural organisations in the city, both those that attract a huge number of tourists as well as those that contribute to the shaping of the cultural DNA of the city.”

Cllr Fiona Glasgow asked about the wider advantages of the immediate economic and visitor impact of the festivals. She mentioned meeting some young people from Wester Hailes recently who had performed at the Usher Hall.

The Creative Director of Edinburgh International Festival, Nicola Benedetti joined online, and said that moments such as those experienced by the young children mentioned “is part of the reason I wanted to do this job and be a part of the ecosystem in Edinburgh”. She said: “It was specifically because I’ve seen throughout my life in my own family, but having taught in so many different schools and worked with so many different community organizations across my life and career, the incredible impact that that can make, and the sort of power of that incredible moment of music making and collective music making.”

She said that EIF had also been working to ensure that they get to as many people as possible, with ticket concessions, young musicians passes, and making venues as open and welcoming as they can.

But she also conceded that “no one is trying to say that we are doing exactly the same as a community organisation who is there in one place day in day out”.

She continued: “The point that I think we’re all trying to reinforce is is is the interconnectivity of all of our organisations and how much we all need each other and to work together. And I think we would all welcome even more of that, and for the council to be involved in all of those conversations as much as possible.”

Cllr Margaret Graham, Culture and Communities Convener said: “I have listened and heard the views and feedback of our cultural partners in recent weeks and the 25% uplift they have secured will provide certainty for the next year.

“I was absolutely clear, however, that this agreement could not be at the expense of our smaller cultural organisations across the city – many of which receive no funding at all. I have been a long time advocate of young people and communities and I know first-hand the value of local arts groups in our communities across the city.

“The funding package we agreed today will see all our cultural partners benefit, whatever their size or stature, but we need to find a fairer and more sustainable way of doing business in future – something that will high on the agenda at the round table discussion I will be calling in the coming weeks.”

The Creative Community Hubs Network later welcomed the “significant shift in Edinburgh’s cultural investment”.

They said that their advocacy along with that of Lyra, North Edinburgh Arts and WHALE Arts has been the deciding factor, and that “This is about the whole cultural ecosystem”.

Morvern Cunningham and Eva McKenzie, co-leads of the Creative Community Hubs Network said after the meeting that Edinburgh is the world-famous cultural city, and “its communities are part of that cultural city too”.

They said: “Today’s decision is the right outcome for culture in Edinburgh’s Festival City. A 25% uplift for existing Strategic Partners which includes festivals and community-based organisations, plus a significant resource made available to everyone to apply for, including grassroots organisations and initiatives. We would hope that going forward Edinburgh’s cultural reputation extends from the grassroots up, reaching residents and visitors deep into the city’s infrastructure and supporting a thriving cultural ecosystem for many years to come.”

The Creative Community Hubs Network believes the council’s Visitor Levy should:

• operate as a substantial one-year funding programme

• be open to professional community-based cultural organisations outside the

existing regularly funded portfolio

• not be reduced to provide the 25% uplift for regularly funded organisations

• provide meaningful investment rather than small, short-term project awards