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DCMS admits its arts funding figures are wrong

Published Wednesday 21 November 2007 at 15:35 by Alistair Smith

Exclusive: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has been forced to admit to a series of embarrassing errors after an investigation by The Stage revealed it had been mistakenly overstating the amount of money given to the arts by government - at both this spending review and over the last ten years - by millions of pounds.

In the official release accompanying the results of the DCMS’s settlement for the arts at last month’s spending review, the department claimed it had given Arts Council England a “real-terms increase year-on-year of 1.1%”.

This claim has proved to be incorrect and an exaggeration of around £9 million over the three years. The real “year-on-year” increase is significantly lower. While the DCMS was informed of the potential error by The Stage at the time, it has taken until now - more than a month later - to acknowledge that mistake.

Meanwhile, two ministerial speeches given this month also featured incorrect and overestimated figures. The first, delivered by Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport James Purnell, was made at Theatre Royal Stratford East during Equity’s diversity conference.

While speaking at the event, Purnell claimed: “Over the last ten years, we’ve had an 87% increase, in real terms, in the arts council budget. I hope people will believe that, given we’ve increased the money in every spending review - even in this one, which was really, really tight - our commitment to the arts is genuine and long lasting.”

Speaking the following day at the Theatrical Management Association conference, culture secretary Margaret Hodge referred to the correct real terms increase for the last decade - 73%. This means that Purnell’s figure of 87% equates to an overestimate of £33 million.

However, during the same speech, Hodge used incorrect figures relating to the percentage increase of funding for the next three years, again overstating the total money which would be given to the arts council above inflation over the spending review period.

A spokesman for the DCMS explained Purnell’s 87% claim was a “slip of the tongue or a misreading” and that Hodge’s figure of 73% was the correct one. Meanwhile, he acknowledged the 1.1% figure and Hodge’s related error were also incorrect.

He added: “We’re grateful to The Stage for spotting this drafting infelicity and sincerely apologise for inadvertently misleading people. The press notice will be amended on the website and on all subsequent references.”

As The Stage went to press, the document remained unchanged on the DCMS website.

The developments follow the recent media storm over Purnell’s appearance in a series of photographs which were doctored to make it appear that he was posing with a group of people at a hospital visit, when he had, in fact, arrived late and been photographed alone afterwards. Purnell has since insisted that he was not made aware of the alterations in advance.

Louise de Winter, director of the National Campaign for the Arts, complained it was important that the DCMS had got its figures right.

She said: “It’s not helpful when ministers get their figures wrong and it would be good to see a definitive table so we’re all singing off the same hymn sheet. While we accept there might be no intention [to deceive] on these, the arts sector deserves accurate and agreed figures.”

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