The Stage

Jeremy Hunt asks DCMS to plan for £66m cut to budget

Published Thursday 13 May 2010 at 10:56 by Alistair Smith

Newly appointed culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has asked civil servants at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to investigate how the department can make savings to cover £66 million of cuts.

Hunt was appointed as Secretary of State to the renamed department yesterday. Speaking last night, he told the BBC: “If [planned spending] cuts were done evenly across all departments, then in my department that would mean about a £66 million cut. And I have had discussions with civil servants in my department today, one of the first things I did, to ask how we can best find those savings without affecting the frontline services for which we’re responsible.

“Olympic money is not protected. None of the DCMS’ budgets are protected and we’re looking at all of them and saying ‘can we save this money without affecting our core services?’”

Hunt was elected as MP for South West Surrey in May 2005. He was formerly shadow culture secretary from 2007 to 2010 and shadow minister for disabled people from 2005 to 2007. Before his election as MP, Hunt ran his own educational publishing business, Hotcourses. He also set up a charity to help AIDS orphans in Africa.

Commenting on his appointment, Hunt said: “I am very pleased to have been appointed as the new Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport. It is a wonderful moment for me personally, having followed this portfolio for the last two and a half years.

“Our sectors - particularly creative industries, culture and tourism - are vital elements in the UK’s economic recovery. And the successful delivery of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London gives us a once-in-a-lifetime chance to showcase the country to the world in what will, quite literally, be the greatest show on Earth.

“I know there is an incredible appetite for change across the country and I want the department to be at the forefront of making it happen.”

Hunt was welcomed to the post by Alan Davey, chief executive of Arts Council England. In a statement, following Hunt’s appointment, Davey said: “I welcome the appointment of Jeremy Hunt MP as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport. In his role as shadow culture secretary he has been a knowledgeable and passionate advocate for the arts and a thoughtful supporter of the work of the arts council. I look forward to building on the positive working relationship we have enjoyed with him. Speaking up for the arts within government is a vital role and his commitment and enthusiasm make him a great man for the job.

“Jeremy takes up the post at a time of achievement and challenge for the arts, as we work to cement artistic activity at the heart of national life and emphasise the role of cultural and creative life as a driver for economic recovery. It is also important that we showcase the best of our culture to the world during the Cultural Olympiad and that the arts seize this opportunity to enthuse and engage the nation.”

Colin Tweedy, chief executive of Arts & Business, also welcomed the appointment. He said: “[We] look forward to working alongside him and his colleagues to ensure the private sector can deliver the best for the cultural sector. We know all elements of our mixed economy model are currently under strain. As a consequence, the challenge for arts organisations, our challenge, and that of this new government will be to make every public pound go further. Arts & Business has produced a Private Sector Policy for the Arts to outline our recommendations for how best to reboot and rewire the mixed economy to those ends.

“They reflect our knowledge and mature understanding of what works in terms of creating high levels of sustained private income and support, which is often interdependent with the effective leveraging of public funds.

“A clear programme combining matching grant schemes, challenge funds, new tax incentives, city-based fundraising campaigns and a greater uptake on legacies for the arts will all drive new business engagement and inspire a new generation of cultural philanthropists.

“There is collective agreement that the private sector will recover faster than the public purse from this recession. What we need to do is ensure that the private sector has more voice in how to make culture more enterprising and more opportunities to invest in culture in innovative ways. Our Private Sector Policy is a crucial step to make that happen.”