Local authorities have been urged to “keep the faith” with the arts as a new report highlighted a 17% drop in cultural spending since 2010.
In a speech delivered on Wednesday the chairman of Arts Council England (ACE), Sir Peter Bazalgette, said there was “unprecedented pressure” on local authority budgets.
“We know that local authorities will be asked to find even more substantial savings in the years to come. It’s the biggest challenge arts and culture face at the moment.”
Bazalgette spoke as ACE released a report it commissioned from the New Local Government Network called Funding Arts and Culture in an Age of Austerity.
It reveals that English local authority spending on arts, museums and libraries has declined by £236m, or 17%, since 2010. London had the largest cuts of 19% while the south-west had marginally smaller cuts of 15.5%.
The report also repeats warnings that one in five regional museums has either closed or plans to close. Lancashire, for example, is consulting on plans to close five museums to save £65m over the next two years.
The report stresses that the cuts should be a surprise to no one because of the huge cuts in central government funding to local government.
Given that the 2010 spending review set out a 26% reduction by 2014-15, the report says the “biggest surprise” in the figures is that “the rate of reduction is lower than that for overall spending, which suggests that councils have tried to protect these services where they can”.
In his speech to councillors and local government officials gathered in London, Bazalgette reiterated that ACE “cannot replace all the funding lost from local authorities”.
He said: “We know you are under pressure. Let’s work together to develop new, creative and innovative solutions to sustain the vital cultural life of our communities. We’re in, if you’re in.”
Bazalgette highlighted examples of new ways councils are finding to sustain arts and culture.
For example, Kent county council encourages potential applicants for multimillion-pound waste contracts to consider “how they can support arts and culture to deliver social value”.
Liverpool city council is considering a voluntary levy on businesses that rely on tourism and a hotel bed tax which would support art and culture.
Bazalgette urged councils to talk to the Arts Council, to “keep the faith” and back local arts and culture.
“While the Arts Council cannot change the economics of local government or bridge the funding gaps, we can, as a national development agency, use our own relationships to broker new partnerships. We can focus specific funding on particular areas of need; we can invest in the best ideas. We can get the message out there that there are ways forward that can make a difference.”
Simon Parker, director of the New Local Government Network, said there were no “magic bullets” to replace funding but “there is no industry better placed than the arts and culture to help councils think creatively”.
