FRESH concerns have been raised over access to culture and sport facilities in our communities after a national spending breakdown was released.

A council-by-council disclosure issued by the office of Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop shows cuts hit services in 20 of the country’s local authority areas.

The nationwide spend on culture and related services – including heritage, tourism, recreation, sport and libraries – fell by 2.75% from 2016-17 to 2017-18, the last two years for which full figures are available.

However, this varies across the country, with West Lothian listed as the area with the deepest cut.

According to the figures, provided to Almond Valley MSP Angela Constance, investment there plummeted by 19.79% over that period to less than £13.3 million from almost £16.6m.

However, the council disputes that total and says the “figures presented without a detailed explanation are misleading and do not fully represent the council’s spend in Cultural Services”.

Meanwhile, more extra money was committed in Stirling than anywhere else, with a 11.72% budget boost increasing the total laid out from £9.1m to £10.2m. At 8.05%, Perth and Kinross saw the second highest uplift over the period, raising net revenue expenditure on these areas to almost £18m. And in Edinburgh, a 14.86% was said to have reduced spending from almost £36.9m to £31.4m.

Constance said decisions to cut spending on areas like music “undermine” services. Organisations representing libraries and sport expressed concerns last night. Community Leisure Scotland – which represents 25 bodies delivering services in more than 1300 facilities – told The National funding pressures, increasing operating costs and an increasing demand for services are creating a “fragile landscape” for public leisure and culture services.

A spokesperson said: “It is crucial to recognise the role that public leisure and culture plays in improving the health and wellbeing of people in their local communities, delivering a wide range of vital community services, such as GP Referral, exercise and books on prescription, a range of support to older people, disabled children and early interventions, social care support, long-term illness, mental health and walking programmes, internet access and support; apprenticeships and training and a wealth of community sports participation programmes.

“However, as budgets continue to shrink, these services and programmes are increasingly at risk. If we want public leisure and cultural facilities and services to still be there in 10 years, we need to enable local authorities, policy makers and community leisure trusts to protect and invest in those services.”

The Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) said investment in the public library book fund is just one area that has seen significant cuts. The “desired spend” is £3.80 per head of population, but this stands as low as 49p in one authority area, it is claimed.

Pamela Tulloch, chief executive of SLIC, said: “The last decade has been challenging for Scotland’s public libraries, which have experienced disproportionate budget cuts. Services have demonstrated tremendous resilience and identified creative solutions to ensure communities continue to benefit from a professional service.”

West Lothian Council said the change in its figures “do not relate solely to a cut in budget”. A spokesperson said: “One reason why the figures show a reduction is that in this year the council transferred services to a leisure trust and the movement of funding is captured within this figure. Customers were not impacted upon, as the budget is simply transferred from the council to the trust.

“It is the ongoing Scottish Government cuts in core revenue funding that have forced the council to make very difficult decisions.”

The Scottish Government said councils receive a “fair settlement”, adding: “Individual councils are responsible for their own budgets. Culture is so important to our communities and local areas. The best practice of councils who do invest in culture should be shared across the country.”