Following the introduction of COVID-19 restrictions in March 2020, the impact on Scotland’s creative sectors has been severe. Alongside our emergency funding programmes Creative Scotland has undertaken and commissioned a range of research to gauge the scale and pattern of these impacts for those working in the sector as well as the views of the public as participants and audience members. This work supports discussions with Scottish Government and partners on the scale and nature of support which may be required in the future.
Our sector survey was open for responses from organisations working in the arts, screen and creative industries, including creative businesses, and from individual artists, creative practitioners and freelancers. It opened in early December and was intended to give a picture of the ongoing challenges facing the sector as we moved into 2021. While it was live, Scotland tightened protections against COVID-19 to prevent the spread of the new strain of the virus. Since late December 2020 Scotland has remained in lockdown and cultural venues have remained closed.
The survey was open to anyone who wanted to participate and anonymous, to ensure respondents felt confident in giving an honest picture of their financial position and the challenges they were facing. We received 606 survey responses, from 181 organisations and 435 individuals. Together they provide an important snapshot of the key challenges and concerns for the creative sectors.
