As expected, today’s spending review announcement by the Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed more cuts to the arts for the period 2015-16.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is to face a further 7% cut in its budget, with Arts Council England (ACE) and national museums to be cut by 5%.
Although the figure of 5% will have brought sighs of relief from some quarters – ACE had been briefing national portfolio organisations to expect cuts of anything up to 15% – it still means a significant reduction in funding levels.
The cuts to the ACE budget are only part of the arts funding story, however. The Chancellor also announced a further 10% cut in funding to local government, which many arts organisations and artists rely on for funding or work.
Many local authorities have already made significant cuts to their arts budgets, the most high profile example being Newcastle. A further reduction in revenue from central government will inevitably impact on the ability of councils to support the arts in their area. A council tax freeze, due to come to an end next April, is to be extended for another two years.
The cuts to arts funding were announced as part of a package of savings across government departments amounting to £11.5bn. Some £5bn of this is to be achieved by ‘efficiency savings’. Total government expenditure for 2015-16 will be £745bn.
