Creative Scotland chief executive Janet Archer resigns after funding row

The head of Scotland's troubled arts quango has announced she has quit after a damning Holyrood inquiry concluded its decisions on funding cultural groups fell well below the expected standard.

Janet Archer said she had stepped down as Creative Scotland chief executive after five years. She walked away with a payoff of half her annual salary, which is between £115,000 and £120,000.

Although she gave no reason, her decision followed a furore in January when the agency announced it would no longer fund 20 arts organisations, including several theatre companies.

The move led to the resignation of two board members and an emergency meeting in February that saw funding restored for five of the groups. Creative Scotland promised to overhaul its funding processes.

Ms Archer apologised during a faltering appearance in front of Holyrood's culture committee but the cross-party group concluded the quango had been "badly damaged" by its actions.

In a 12-page letter issued to her last month, the committee told her the partial about-turn at February's meeting had undermined confidence in Creative Scotland's "decision-making and underlying strategic approach."

The highly-critical findings placed intense pressure on Ms Archer to resign and she announced she stood down on June 30. She is to receive payment in lieu of her six month contractual notice period.

But Labour said Fiona Hyslop, the SNP's Culture Minister, needed to use her departure to conduct a "root-and-branch" review of the agency.

In a statement Ms Archer said: "It has been an honour to work closely with, and to serve Scotland's artists and creative communities over the past five years in my role as chief executive of Creative Scotland, and to help many thousands of people produce and share work."

She said the agency under her leadership had supported work in all 32 local authority areas and increased international investment, particularly in film and TV.

Ms Archer said there was a "difficult public financial context" but said Creative Scotland had persuaded the Scottish Government to hand over an extra £19.8 million to offset a steep decline in National Lottery funding.

Creative Scotland had warned that some arts organisations would be disappointed earlier this year, with only a limited amount of public funding available.

Rather than stand by her agency's original decisions, Ms Archer had faced internal criticism for being seen to capitulate in the face of attacks from the groups that missed out and Ms Hyslop.

The minister said: "“I would like to thank Janet Archer for her five years’ service and achievements at Creative Scotland and for her commitment, contribution and passion in supporting Scotland’s culture and artists and wish her well for the future.”

But Claire Baker, Labour's culture spokesman, said it was "clear" that changes must be made. She said: "The Culture Secretary must now use the opportunity that Janet Archer’s resignation provides to carry out a root and branch review of the organisation to ensure that it can regain the confidence of the industry."

Robert Wilson, the agency's chairman, also thanked her. Iain Munro, its deputy chief executive, will become acting chief executive.