The former head of Scotland's national film agency has attacked the SNP government's plans to establish a new publicly funded arts body, fearing that it will starve the arts of money and damage the country's cultural life.

John Archer, who left Scottish Screen in 2001, spoke as fears continued to grow over the growing cost of Creative Scotland - an amalgamation of the film body and the Scottish Arts Council.

The Times revealed last month that the cost had soared to £7million - ten times the original estimate and twice the annual budget of Scottish Screen. Politicians and critics of the new agency fear that the cost will hamper its ability to fund the arts and a number of influential figures have questioned whether the super-quango, which will have a budget of £70million, is needed at all.

The SNP was accused of side-stepping parliamentary scrutiny after it announced in its legislative programme last Wednesday that it would press ahead with Creative Scotland, despite the defeat of its Culture Bill three months ago. A report by Holyrood's Finance Committee in June raised

“serious concerns” about almost every area of its budgetary plan.

Linda Fabiani, the Scottish Culture Minister, has indicated that the transition costs for Creative Scotland will come out of its £70million budget. But she has insisted that the arts will not suffer as a result.

Mr Archer, who was the founding chief executive of Scottish Screen and is now managing director of Hopscotch Films, said yesterday that he was not against Creative Scotland in principle, but was deeply concerned that it will drain the arts of resources.

He added: “I can understand why the politicians would want Creative Scotland, but where it falls down is that they are saying the arts won't suffer - if that is the case, where is the money coming from?

“It is a bit mean to say you are coming together because we want you to, but you are paying for the process. I thought the ethos of Creative Scotland was to see the arts flourishing in Scotland, not in the first year to cause a creative dip.”

Mr Archer said it was wrong that the government was not footing the bill and added that the £7million cost of Creative Scotland could be spent to fund 20 feature films.

“Having put together Scottish Screen I know how difficult things are, but our set-up costs were nothing like this,” he added. “When you create an organisation you have to allow more money at the beginning for set-up costs otherwise you get people turning against you. There is no point in going ahead with something designed to help the arts when it makes the people in the arts antagonistic.”

Mr Archer's comments came as other senior figures in arts attacked the cost of Creative Scotland.

Tilda Swinton, the Oscar-winning actress, was quoted in a newspaper report yesterday, saying that the new body would cripple the country's creative output. “As a Scottish citizen and arts worker I object to the huge hole that will be left in our cultural life by this diversion of funds,” she added.

Mark Cousins, a film producer and co-founder with Ms Swinton of the Nairn film festival, said: “The arts and cultural world did not call for this marriage; some of us think it is a bit of a shotgun marriage. Then to charge the costs is a complete scandal.”

Philip Schlesinger, director of the Centre for Cultural Policy at the University of Glasgow, said: “There has been relatively little debate in parliament compared with that for broadcasting, yet Creative Scotland is going to have at least as much impact - if not more - as any changes to broadcasting. The SNP government is carrying on with a scheme developed by the previous Labour-LibDem Executive. It doesn't seem that it has thought its way forward in any considered fashion.”

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