Newcastle City Council has given the go ahead to stop its regular funding for theatres and other arts venues and push ahead with a new cultural fund worth half the amount. The council will end its £1.2m central arts grants as part of £100m savings.
Sting is among those who have spoken out against the cuts
Setting its budget, the council declared that a new £600,000 culture fund would be launched in its place. The council said the fund would deliver security, although Arts Council England chairman Peter Bazalgette said the cut would still mean a “serious” blow.
Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes has advised that the city is on the verge of the “abyss of austerity”.
The council is also planning to shut a number of libraries, reduce funding for youth and children’s services, cut the number of children entering care and do away with 1,300 jobs.
Cultural venues that still receive council funding include the Theatre Royal, Live Theatre, Northern Stage and Seven Stories which was recently renamed the National Centre for Children’s Books.
The plan to scrap their grants was met with uproar from the city’s arts community as well as well-known north-east names including singer Sting, actor Kevin Whatley and Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall.
It also led to concerns that other cities would follow Newcastle’s example.
Mr Forbes said the Newcastle Culture Fund would provide celebrities with the opportunity “to put their money where their mouth is”.
He added: “This new approach not only provides that security, but means those who wish can also make a contribution.”
Peter Bazalgette said he acknowledged the pressures met by the council, adding: “Of course, a 50% cut to the culture budget still means serious economic and social impact for Newcastle and beyond.”
There is doubt over which venues will get money from the Culture Fund and how it will be divided. Newcastle’s cuts will be made over the next three years.
Elsewhere, Westminster City Council has confirmed a two-year strategy to cut its £350,000-per-year community arts budget, which is currently used on projects at venues including the English National Ballet and Soho Theatre.
Most councils plan 12 months in advance. Manchester City Council is planning to lower its culture grants and galleries budget by 10 per cent for the coming year, saving a total of £390,000.
Glasgow Life, which manages arts funding on behalf of Glasgow City Council, said its external arts grants would be cut by 10 per cent, or £209,000. Its budget for council-run museums and other cultural venues is approximately level at £18m.
In addition Sheffield City Council’s arts budget is being cut by about 8 per cent, or £320,000. That includes a £106,000 cut for Sheffield Theatres, which runs the Lyceum and Crucible, and £200,000 for Museums Sheffield, which runs Millennium Gallery and Graves Art Gallery.
Of other larger cities, overall figures do not exist for London’s 32 boroughs. Birmingham City Council did not acknowledge a request for figures, but at the end of 2010 The Stage newspaper reported that the council was reducing its arts budget by £2m over the following three years.
Meanwhile, the Local Government Association (LGA) has released a report highlighting the role of culture in improving the economy, saying cultural businesses add £28bn per year to the UK’s finances. This comes not just in money spent in the cultural sector directly but also in restaurants, bars and other commercial outlets that benefit from audience spending.
Cllr Flick Rea, LGA culture spokesperson said local authorities were not compelled to offer arts funding.
She said: “We fear that by the end of 2020, there will be a very, very small amount of local government money to spend on anything outside the major services like looking after children and the elderly and collecting waste.
“Discretionary services will be at risk, which is why this is the time now to start building partnerships and collaborations to see that those discretionary areas don’t suffer in the long run.”
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