The Stage

ACE demands rise in Treasury funding after Olympics bruising

Published Tuesday 27 March 2007 at 14:50 by Alistair Smith

Arts Council England chief executive Peter Hewitt has warned that, following the loss of more than £100 million of arts funding to the 2012 Olympics, the culture sector needs a real terms funding rise in the forthcoming spending round to avoid a “return to the days of boom and bust”.

He explained that ACE had originally requested only an inflationary increase of £12 million from the government. However, following culture secretary Tessa Jowell’s recent decision to divert an extra £62 million of ACE Lottery money to support the Olympics, Hewitt claims the sector now needs a real terms rise in Exchequer cash when the Treasury makes its decision this autumn.

Speaking at the David Cohen Prize for Literature, the arts council chief executive said that the future of the arts “remains fragile”, despite assurances earlier this month from Tony Blair that the arts would not suffer “boom and bust” funding under Labour.

“[Prior to the Olympics announcement], our argument was that to continue to build on the successes brought about by the significant increases in funding over recent years we needed no more than an uplift in line with inflation. In the language of Whitehall - ‘flat real’,” Hewitt commented.

“But [the Olympics] announcement forces us to change our position. Having lost substantial funds from the Lottery - some £15.5 million a year for four years - we now must look for something more than ‘flat real’ from the Treasury if we really are to avoid a return to the days of ‘boom and bust’.”

He added that the government’s response to his challenge for increased funding would serve as a “powerful indicator” of what level of importance the arts are given with the government’s “value framework”.

Hewitt’s comments mark a notable change of tack for ACE, which has admitted to being left “very disappointed” by the government’s decision to divert extra cash from its Lottery allocation. Prior to that announcement, the organisation had focussed on underlining the successes brought about by its current levels of funding, rather than warning of the dangers of cuts. It also marks the first time that ACE has called for a real terms increase in its funding, having previously been willing to settle for a inflationary standstill in its allocation.