The Stage

Frayling warns government over backwards step in arts funding

Published Tuesday 6 July 2004 at 14:45 by Jeremy Austin

Unless the government provides Arts Council England with a real term increase in funding, plus a further £20 million, clients face a return to the stop/start funding policies of the nineties, chairman Christopher Frayling has warned.

Speaking in the week that the Treasury prepares to announce departmental budgets for the next three years, Frayling warned that the effects of any underfunding will begin to hit the sector as Parliament prepares for the General Election. For the government, added Frayling, this “would not be a good time for the arts community to get angry”,.

In recent years Whitehall has provided a one-off payment of £25 million for regional theatre and an increase in funding to the arts council of £100 million.

“The gesture of £100 million made up for the sector underfunding that had been going on since the late eighties and enabled [arts companies] to get on an even keel, to be solvent and to come to the arts council and say ‘we are going to get better’,” said Frayling.

“Combined with the £25 million, there was a sigh of relief that things were loosening up again. But it is fragile. It is not luxurious. And it does not take much to push it over the edge. A real terms increase is essential and a real terms increase plus £20 million will enable us to keep up the momentum. That is just to say ‘steady as she goes’.”

Last month culture secretary Tessa Jowell hinted that most departments expected to receive only a 2.5% increase in their funding, which would be reflected in the amount passed on by the DCMS to the arts council. While in line with inflation, this does not reflect above inflation wage increases and increases in taxes paid by employers such as National Insurance. She claimed, however, that Tory counter-proposals would cost the DCMS £70 million a year.

Should London be successful in its bid to host the 2012 Olympics, a new Lottery game would be introduce to help fund it. This would put further strain on arts council income from that source.

Frayling said that should government funding not be at the level he is suggesting, some of the ongoing capital projects - including work at The Lowry in Salford - would be affected.

“Special case Lottery projects, such as the Lowry, which are more than on the edge would need an infusion of money. Next spring, if we did not have £20 million, it will be at the expense of something else. If we don’t have an uplift, we will have to rob Peter to pay Paul.”