George Osborne announces massive Arts Council funding cuts
20 October, 2010
by: Spoonfed Arts Team
The coalition government announces tough cuts to the arts.
George Osborne has announced that the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will have its budget cut from £1.9 billion to £1.1 billion as part of the coalition government's commitment to cutting the UK's deficit.
Speaking in Parliament today, Osborne announced what works out as a 29.6% cut in the budget for Arts Council England. Osborne insists however that because 41% of these savings will be made in administrative costs (abolishing/merging quangos etc) this will only work out as a 15% cut to frontline funding.
Alan Davey, Chief Executive of Arts Council England responded by saying, “This cut will inevitably have a significant impact on the cultural life of the country."
"We will announce how we will be implementing the cuts shortly... and will then get on with the job in hand. It will be a tough task but we are determined to manage the cuts in the best possible way for the benefit of the whole arts and cultural sector."
As anticipated on Cathedral of Shit, the high profile campaign by many of the nation's leading artists has failed to have much impact on the scale of the cuts. Writing in the Guardian, Charlotte Higgins warns us to "Expect outrage – the entire annual arts budget is only about £450m, so a 30% cut contributes little to stemming the tide of the decifit, while causing (it will be argued) untold harm to England's cultural landscape."
What impact will this have? Read predictions by those best placed to know.
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