Investing in Arts & Heritage

Living History, Flourishing Culture

Culture, creativity and a rich, diverse heritage sit at the heart of Scottish life and play a critical role in the economy, communities and almost everything we do. 

The SNP in government has been committed to supporting, developing and advocating Scotland's culture, heritage and creativity, and ensuring that culture reaches a wide audience at home and abroad. For one thing, the Scottish Government provides  annual culture funding  to our national arts, culture and heritage organisations - funding which, under the SNP's 2026/27 Scottish Budget, will be increased by £20 million.

This is in recognition of the fact that Scotland is richer because of its world-famous culture and creative sector. For the same reason, the SNP last year delivered £1.8 million in grant support for arts and cultural festivals to put the spotlight on artistic talent across the country - building on the success of the Scottish Government’s Festivals EXPO Fund - as well as a £300,000 boost, for example, to the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Importantly, the SNP's time in office has coincided with a rapid growth of the high-value filming industry, supported by Screen Scotland, with many high profile films and TV series being produced here.

An equally important part of our heritage is our historic environment and the many standout sites of cultural, historical and economic importance across Scotland - including gems here in Angus like Arbroath Abbey. Over 18 million people visited heritage attractions in 2019, with half of all international visitors reporting heritage as the key motivation for visiting Scotland

The SNP Scottish Government has supported the the funding of restoration work at the Abbey and on historic buildings throughout the country, as part of the implementation of Our Past Our Future, the sector-led Historic Environment strategy for Scotland.

The Strategy sets out a national mission to sustain and enhance the benefits of Scotland’s historic environment, for people and communities now and into the future. The organisation Historic Environment Scotland was itself created by an Act of an SNP Scottish Government - as was Creative Scotland and the National Library of Scotland.

The culture and heritage budget helps to improve quality of life across Scotland's communities by enabling and encouraging people from all walks of life to express themselves creatively and to participate in and enjoy cultural events and opportunities. To maximise the societal benefits of our national museums and galleries, the SNP has also maintained free entry and will continue to do so.