News and Events
Leeds cuts: Arts organisations face difficult times - updated
21st Oct 2010
England's arts budget will take the cut as a result of yesterday's comprehensive spending review � a slashing that has been seen as potentially deeply damaging to Leeds' cultural landscape, affecting theatres, festivals, the performing arts, venues, orchestras, and regional and local galleries.
Leeds-based Northern Ballet - which receives a �2.8m Arts Council grant each year - said the cuts could be 'seriously detrimental to the organisation'.
Chief Executive, Mark Skipper said:
"The spending review announcement is pretty much what we expected but it remains to be seen how the Arts Council will in turn review their spending.
"The initial cut for 2011/12 will have a dramatic effect but further cuts in subsequent years would be seriously detrimental to the organisation and would have a dangerous impact on our ability to generate revenue.
"The creation of new work is fundamental to us: a lack of productions greatly reduces our capacity to generate income from our audiences. It is also likely that we would have to curtail the extent of our national touring.
"For the most part Northern Ballet is in a strong position. Our new building in Leeds offers us means of revenue we never previously had through an increase in the number of classes we can offer, space hire for conferences, events and performances and through our caf�.
"We are also forging partnerships across the city and working hard at fundraising. For us at the moment the spending review is about concentrating less on what we can't do and focusing our energies into making things work in our favour."
Leeds council leader Keith Wakefield said he felt the cuts would have a devastating affect on arts organisations and theatres in Leeds. He added:
"In Leeds we're
lucky enough to have a thriving and wonderful arts scene, whether it's
the City Varieties, Northern Ballet or the West Yorkshire Playhouse to
name but a few. There is no doubt that they are going to be severely
affected.
"It's very worrying for the future of the arts in our city. The council will do what it can but we've been hit by a 28% reduction over four years ourselves.
"I'm particularly worried for the future of smaller organisations such as Phoenix Dance. It's potentially crippling."
The council has already said it will be reviewing its arts grants to see whether they offer value for money.
Other organisations such as Opera North say they are facing a 10 per cent cut this year and a possible 30 per cent cut over the next three years as a result of yesterday's announcement.
The Guardian reports there was a mixed reaction from the cultural world to the planned cuts, with national museums breathing a sigh of relief that they will get off lightly with a 15% cut, and those in the arts � including theatre, music, dance, opera and festivals � contemplating what National Theatre director Nicholas Hytner called a "dismaying" 30% cut to Arts Council England (ACE).
A report by Charlotte Higgins for The Guardian said that Arts Council England (ACE) will face an overall cut of 30%,
and the government is asking it to pass on cuts of only 15% to "front
line" arts organisations. Aside from cutting its own overheads, that
will mean stopping funding to a number of arts advocacy and development
programmes such as the educational programme Creative Partnerships. It
will also hit work including Cultural Olympiad projects.
UPDATED 10:58pm: Creative director at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Ian Brown, said:
"This country has a thriving, imaginative and most of all successful cultural life, which as of yesterday has been threatened by the major budget cuts handed down from George Osborne to the DCMS and finally to the Arts Council England (ACE) to the tune of 29.6%.
"This is demoralizing for all cultural industries which have more than proved their worth both economically and socially.
"We are fully supportive of the ACE and understand that they have some very difficult decisions to make. It is my fear that as a result of these reductions many smaller arts organisations will be forced to close. These companies and collectives are an essential part of the fabric of a rich and varied arts scene; they are where risks are taken, where new writers cut their teeth, new performers hone their talent.
"As a direct result of these government reductions there is the potential that a whole generation of people will lose out and be unable to enjoy the fruits of a complex and diverse cultural landscape. I strongly believe that these cuts will make no, or very little, impact on the UK's deficit and that what we are looking at is a very conservative approach to subsidised arts funding."
Source: The Guardian
