The Stage

‘Stop-start’ funding inevitable unless DCMS cuts reversed, warns ACE

Published Tuesday 22 March 2005 at 14:30 by Jeremy Austin

A return to ‘stop-start’ funding of cultural organisations is inevitable by the end of the decade if the government fails to listen to the arts community a second time, Arts Council England theatre director Nicola Thorold has warned.

Speaking following the announcement of ACE’s three-year spending plan - dubbed “hard choices in a tough climate” - Thorold said the funding body had tried as best it could not to pass on to its clients the £30 million real terms cut it received from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in December.

In all, 645 regularly funded organisations - some 60% of the total - will get annual increases of 2.75% in 2006/7 and 2007/8. A further 20% will receive larger rises. However, Thorold said fears expressed by the arts community in December of a return to the inoperable stop-start funding policies under the last Tory administration would remain.

“We cannot do this again,” she told The Stage. “We know that unless we can get more money from the government in 2008/9, we are going to have to cut much deeper. If we cannot make the case to future governments and make them listen, it will be very serious next time. There have been cuts this time around but we will be talking much bigger ones in the future.”

Under the spending round announced by ACE, buildings that are opening in the new spending period or have just opened have received an above average increase and there has also been a continuing commitment to black and minority ethnic organisations. The Young Vic, for example, has received an uplift of more than £500,000, while Leicester Haymarket receives £275,000 more. Northampton Theatres too is receiving an increase of £125,000.

However, there are casualties. Regular funding for 121 organisations has been cancelled. Among those that have seen their funds cut or cancelled are Phoenix Arts in Leicester, Josette Bushell-Mingo’s Push initiative at the Almeida Theatre, and Arts & Business. Another casualty is Blackpool Grand, the recently announced home of Equity’s National Theatre for Variety which will not be affected by the cuts.

Announcing the news, acting chief executive of ACE Kim Evans said organisations facing reductions were those that received less than £20,000 annually from the funding body or, in cases such as Arts & Business, had the resources to make up the difference from elsewhere.

Evans and ACE chairman Christopher Frayling also expressed disappointment that they were having to cut £13 million from the budgets to develop new opportunities in the arts and new partnerships, while the Creative Partnership scheme would drop from the budgeted £45 million a year to £32 million in 2005/6, rising to £35 million in 2007/8.

According to Thorold these cuts will have a disproportionate effect as many organisations will not be able to apply for matched funding from local authorities or from European agencies.