The Stage

Dismay as DCMS cuts ACE budget by £30m

Published Monday 13 December 2004 at 16:15 by Jeremy Austin

Arts Council England has had its contributions from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport cut by £30 million, leaving it having to make “some stark choices” on how that shortfall will affect clients.

Although the DCMS has increased its payment to the funding body by 1.75% for the three years 2005/6, 2006/7 and 2007/8, inflation is predicted to average 2.7% in the last two years of this period, making Whitehall’s award a decrease in real terms. Already the move has been condemned. Equity has branded it a “breach of faith”, while ACE chairman Christopher Frayling has said it leaves his organisation pondering how this will affect future funding for ACE clients.

Said Frayling: “It is extraordinary that the government has chosen to undercut the very success it has helped to build since 1997. We’re right back to stop-start funding, which we hoped we had left behind.

“We are now left with some stark choices. Either we rob the mainstream arts to protect arts for young people, emerging artists and innovation - or we rob arts for young people, emerging artists and innovation in order to bolster some of the mainstream arts. We will announce our decision in March.”

Putting a positive spin on its announcement, the DCMS has emphasised its commitment to museums and galleries, which is being heralded as a record uplift, and puts the total percentage to the arts overall as 3.8%. But many in the industry are seeing this as being instigated at the expense of performing arts - a sector which fared well in the previous Comprehensive Spending Review.

Equity general secretary Ian McGarry added: “I am appalled at this breach of faith. Three years ago we got what we thought was a commitment from this government that they valued the performing arts and would bring to an end the bad old days of hand-to-mouth funding that barely kept theatre alive. Today’s announcement means that they were empty promises.”

The announcement is a further blow to the structure of arts councils covering the home nations. Arts Council Wales is to have its decision-making powers taken over by the Welsh Assembly and Arts Council Northern Ireland is facing massive cuts. The future of the Scottish Arts Council is also under review, with many north of the border concerned that it could follow a similar fate to that experienced in Wales.

One happy client, however, is the South Bank Centre which has received a one-off £5 million boost. Labour peer Lord Hollick, who is chairman of the SBC, said: “This comes at a crucial time for the South Bank Centre as we begin the £90 million transformation of the Royal Festival Hall and its surroundings to make it one of the world’s finest venues for music and performance. The government’s strong support is vital to the successful transformation of the South Bank Centre. Following today’s announcement, we are now within £10 million of our £90 million target.”