MouthLondon - London Student & Youth Magazine
Government Cuts to the Arts Announced
Pin ItWe have heard this morning about the extent of government cuts to the Arts.
There are 50,000 Arts organizations in Britain today. Just 1,200-1,300 of these theatres, galleries and arts groups applied for funding under the new regime, but today’s announcements have declared that just 695 of these have been successful. This is a significant decrease from the 849 groups that received funding under the old regime and, out of those who have been granted funding, almost half will see a significant reduction in the amount of money they will receive.
The organisations affected are largely small and medium sized companies. While many large institutions are seeing their funding increase, such as London’s Barbican Centre which is receiving a 108.7% grant increase, it is the smaller companies that are suffering. One such company, that has been denied funding by the new government, is New Deal of Mind. Set up by Martin Bright two years ago, the small company lobbies for governmental policy that aims to help find unemployed people creative positions within the arts and culture sector, they also provide support and advice for those looking to break into the sector. New Deal of Mind initially received enthusiastic support from prominent members of parliament. But now their future does not look so certain.
The Arts Council’s budget has been cut by £100million. But where will this money be made up? It seems that the government is hoping that these small companies will turn to the private sector, encouraging a new age of cultural philanthropy. However, in grim economic times, few are readily doling out the cash.
In many cases these small groups do not have the time or the manpower to undertake the difficult task of seeking funding privately. The likely result will be increased pressure on regional councils to make up the funding and there will inevitably be job losses in the sector.
See a full list of the funding decisions here.
About the author
I recently graduated from UCL with a degree in History of Art. I hope to make a career in Arts Journalism and MouthLondon seemed like a great place to start! Get in touch if you'd like to write for the Arts section.
Further articles by Frances Richens →
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