The Scottish Government was last night accused of side-stepping parliamentary scrutiny, after it declared that it would press ahead with plans to bring into being Creative Scotland, a new body to administer the arts, despite the defeat of its Culture Bill just three months ago.

Under new SNP plans, the Public Services Reform Bill will become the vehicle to establish the statutory body, which will be formed by the merger of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen and set up as a limited company. It is expected that a chairman, a board and a corporate plan will be in place no later than April.

Linda Fabiani, the Culture Minister, insisted that cross-party support in principle for the formation of Creative Scotland meant that it was important that the body was established as quickly as possible, because the creative sector had “waited long enough” to have its future secured”.

However, critics lambasted her for “a quick fix” and for a “totally unacceptable” snub to parliament, after it had rejected her Bill in June. “The minister's abandoning of the Bill with its main powers still unresolved does not bode well for the future of the arts in Scotland,” Ted Brocklebank, the Conservative spokesman on culture, said.

The fast-tracking of Creative Scotland angered opposition politicians because it comes despite a devastating Finance Committee report in June. This unpicked the financial basis of the new organisation and raised “serious concerns” about almost every area of its budgetary plan.

Subsequently, The Times revealed that civil servants had been aware in June that the costs of establishing a single agency based on one site had been assessed at £7million, although Ms Fabiani had not been informed of the estimate. The figure is double Scottish Screen's annual budget, and ten times the original government estimate of transition costs.

Two weeks ago, Ms Fabiani is understood to have finally received cost estimates for the establishment of the new body, prepared for her by the joint board that is administering the transition.

These detailed costings are expected to be revealed to the Finance Committee in February, ahead of the debate on the Public Service Reform Bill, although opposition politicians have already urged publication of the new figures.

Malcolm Chisholm, the Labour culture spokesman, said that the SNP had been defeated in June because of concerns over funding. He added that “very serious questions remained to be asked” about Creative Scotland finances and added that the move to curtail parliamentary debate was “totally unacceptable”.

For the Liberal Democrats, Iain Smith said the Parliament had been right to reject “flawed proposals” because of “grossly inadequate financial information”.

However, Ms Fabiani emphasised that the swiftest way to establish the body was not to reintroduce a Culture Bill, which could take up to two years to pass, because of the pressure of parliamentary business. Instead, responsibility for the creation of the agency has shifted to John Swinney, the Finance Secretary, who is guiding the Public Services Reform Bill through parliament.

“I will not compromise on either the timetable or the integrity and values of Creative Scotland. That is why we will pursue the company route to provide quick, decisive progress while also securing Parliamentary involvement to produce a strong, statutory body endorsed by all. This approach has been used before and ensures no further delay,” said Ms Fabiani.

Officials denied that her status had been diminished by Mr Swinney's involvement, and insisted Ms Fabiani's desire was simply to establish the agency as quickly as possible.

The formation of Creative Scotland, which will administer a fund of £70million for the arts and screen industries, was backed by Ewan Brown, Vice Chair, Edinburgh International Festival. “It is vital that the transition now happens quickly,” he said.

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