Dear Councillors,
We are writing to you openly, following recent CnES sub-committee discussions and the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar public budget consultation, to set out our concerns and to ask clear questions about the future.
The recent budget consultation findings demonstrated a clear public position, with 45% of respondents identifying the protection of arts and culture as their number one priority. We are concerned that this strong public mandate is not currently reflected in the direction of funding decisions affecting arts and cultural organisations in the Outer Hebrides.
Much of the current debate has focused on funding lines and transitional arrangements. What has been largely absent from the discussion is the role An Lanntair now plays in delivering education, outreach, and wellbeing services that directly support the Comhairle’s responsibilities to children and young people across the Outer Hebrides.
Every year, An Lanntair delivers extensive education and outreach activity in partnership with schools across the islands. This work is fully aligned with the Curriculum for Excellence, supporting expressive arts, wellbeing, literacy, Gaelic, and the development of confident, creative, and engaged young people. In practice, An Lanntair now delivers creative learning, specialist arts tuition, and cultural engagement that local authorities historically provided directly through education services, but which schools increasingly no longer have the capacity or resources to deliver in-house.
For example:
- In October 2025, An Lanntair ran Faclan Òga as part of Faclan – The Hebridean Book Festival, involving 12 Sgoil Àraich and Nursery groups and nine Primary school classes. In total, 599 children heard an inspiring talk from one of five contemporary Scottish authors who write for children in English or Gaelic. These events supported the Curriculum for Excellence Reading Experiences and Outcomes and provided a catalyst for creative writing projects in classrooms.
- This week, 170 children from 12 Sgoil Àraich or Nurseries in Lewis and Harris attended An Lanntair’s multi-arts Creative Learning event, which included visual arts, music, movement, and storytelling, meeting Experiences and Outcomes across the Expressive Arts curriculum at Early Level.
Over the past year (2024/25), An Lanntair delivered:
- Creative Learning and educational activities for 2,111 schoolchildren across Nursery (183), Primary (1,833), and Secondary (95) stages
- 1,204 workshops and events, including 254 workshops for adults, 50 online workshops, 17 literature events, 22 school workshops, 2 gallery tours, 6 plays, 113 small group music tuition sessions, and 4 school ceilidhs
- Programmes taken directly into 12 schools and delivered in partnership with 11 local organisations to help them meet their own cultural and educational objectives
Through live professional performance, exhibitions, and direct engagement with artists and young people, An Lanntair delivers a core element of the Curriculum for Excellence across all stages — provision that schools cannot replicate independently. This work is not discretionary. It is essential educational provision, delivered equitably across island and rural schools, supporting inclusion, Gaelic language and culture, and access to high-quality learning opportunities regardless of geography.
We are therefore concerned that the decision to withdraw £47,500 of core Comhairle funding from An Lanntair was taken without consultation, without an assessment of the educational impact, and in the absence of a clear, up-to-date arts and culture strategy for the Outer Hebrides. The current strategy dates from 2017 and predates Covid, the cost-of-living crisis, and major changes in how education and cultural services are delivered.
This raises an important and practical question for elected Members:
How does the Comhairle expect An Lanntair to continue delivering education and outreach programmes in schools, supporting young people across the islands, and maintaining projects that help learners meet Curriculum for Excellence outcomes, following the withdrawal of this core funding?
At the same time, we face a significant strategic challenge ahead.
An Lanntair will, in the coming period, be required to enter the next Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding process, competing with more than 300 arts and cultural organisations across Scotland. Many of those organisations will be supported by local authorities with active cultural strategies and ongoing core investment.
This leads to a second, equally important question:
How does Comhairle nan Eilean Siar intend to support An Lanntair through the next Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding round, given the removal of local authority core funding and the absence of a current arts and culture strategy?
Without clarity on these points, the risks are real and immediate:
- Reduced capacity to deliver education and outreach work in schools
- Loss of specialist provision for children and young people that cannot be replaced within the education system
- Weakened national funding applications
- Long-term damage to cultural, educational, and economic infrastructure that has taken decades to build
An Lanntair remains committed to working constructively with the Comhairle, elected Members, local educational services, Creative Scotland and other key partners. We are not seeking short-term fixes, but strategic leadership, transparency, and a shared understanding of the services being delivered on behalf of island communities.
We urge councillors to consider not only what is being saved in budgetary terms, but what is being lost in educational opportunity, equity of access, and long-term sustainability for young people in the Outer Hebrides.
We look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
David Green – An Lanntair Chairman
Sean Paul O’Hare – An Lanntair CEO