Scottish Labour has pledged £30m for a new scheme aimed at lifting the incomes of artists and musicians in Scotland to a living wage.
The proposal, set out by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, would mirror a similar approach in Ireland, where artists are guaranteed a basic income. The party says its plan would provide a financial top-up to support creative workers whose earnings can often be irregular and unpredictable.
Sarwar said the scheme would form part of a broader overhaul of how the arts are funded in Scotland. According to the party, cultural policy would be more closely connected to the Scottish government’s economic strategy if Labour won power in next month’s Holyrood election.
The pledge places arts funding within a wider discussion about the role of culture in the economy. Under Labour’s proposal, the creative sector would not be treated as separate from economic planning, but as something to be integrated into it.
Scottish Labour has not set out full implementation details in the source material, but the headline commitment is a £30m investment intended to improve earnings for artists and musicians. The plan is being presented as part of a deeper shake-up of support for the arts in Scotland.
The announcement comes ahead of next month’s Holyrood election, where Labour is seeking to make a case for change in how public money is used to support cultural work. Sarwar’s comments suggest that, if successful, the party would look to redraw the relationship between arts policy and wider government priorities.
The proposal is framed as both a funding measure and a policy shift. Rather than offering one-off support, Labour is pointing to a more structural change in the way artists are paid and valued. The living wage commitment is meant to address income insecurity while also signalling a larger ambition for the sector.
By linking the arts to economic strategy, Scottish Labour is positioning its plan as part of a long-term approach to culture rather than a standalone subsidy. The party says this would help ensure that creative work is treated as an important part of Scotland’s future growth and public policy.
The pledge follows similar discussions elsewhere about how to support people working in the arts, including the Irish model cited by Labour. For Scottish artists and musicians, the key promise in the proposal is the attempt to top up incomes so they can reach a living wage.
If brought forward in government, the plan would represent one of the most significant commitments on arts funding in the current campaign period. For now, it is being presented as part of Scottish Labour’s wider pitch to voters ahead of the election.
