Linda Fabiani, the Culture Minister, has dismissed as “spurious” an investigation by The Times which revealed that the costs of establishing Creative Scotland are set to multiply to more than £7million - but has refused to set out a final bill for establishing the new national arts body.

Ms Fabiani told the Scottish Parliament's Education Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee that there was “no basis” for the £7million figure, and said that her team of advisors were currently scrutinising new costings which they had received in August.

The minister's remarks provoked incredulity in the arts and screen industries, particularly as they followed initial government assessments which suggested the new body could be established for as little as £700,000, while a document released to The Times following a request under the Freedom of Information Act disclosed that costs would be at least 30 per cent greater.

The Times reported two months ago that civil servants had requested a report in April this year which modelled the costs of establishing the body from the amalgamation of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen.

In the recommended scenario - an agency based at a single site - the costs of establishing Creative Scotland are understood to have been estimated at £7.2 million.

That figure is roughly double Scottish Screen's entire annual budget and in line with estimates published by the Scottish government this year for the £7.9million relocation of SportScotland from Edinburgh to Glasgow.

Concerns over the costs of establishing the new arts body provoked a withering report from Holyrood's Finance Committee, which derided the financial memorandum to the Creative Scotland Bill as “the weakest presented in the parliamentary session”. In June the Bill was lost - the SNP government's first defeat at Holyrood.

Subsequently Greig Chalmers, the civil servant who was head of the Creative Scotland and broadcasting team moved on, and, amid rumours of friction between the minister and her advisors, there has been a high turnover of staff within the directorate of Europe, external affairs and culture.

However, to hasten creation of the agency, the Scottish government announced in September that plans for Creative Scotland would be included in a wider piece of legislation on public services, which is due to be introduced into parliament in the new year, by John Swinney, the Finance Secretary.

Ms Fabiani said yesterday that it would be “disrespectful” of Parliament to discuss details of the transition costs ahead of the publication of the Bill.

“The due process of Parliament means that the detailed transition costs for Creative Scotland will be presented to Parliament in the financial memorandum for the Public Services Reform Bill at the appropriate time. We are currently scrutinising these costs in order to prepare the financial memorandum of the Public Services Reform Bill and at that point they will be presented to Parliament,” Ms Fabiani added.

Karen Whitefield, the committee's convenor, questioned the government's decision to attempt to establish Creative Scotland within a much wider Bill dealing with public services.

“I think it was absolutely right that this government acted very quickly to give some comfort to the sector,” Ms Fabiani said.

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