On Thursday (20 February), the Government announced over £270 million in new arts funding, which will benefit hundreds of arts venues, museums, libraries and heritage buildings across the nation.
The cash will be targeted at organisations in urgent need of financial support to keep their doors open, to carry out vital infrastructure work and improve long-term financial resilience.
The Arts Everywhere Fund is pitted to shore up what could be thought of as the foundations, and to boost opportunities (including jobs and skills learning), as well as people’s sense of pride in where they live.
The funding windfall was announced to mark the 60th anniversary of the first ever arts white paper by former Minister Jennie Lee with its vision of the ‘arts for everyone, everywhere’.
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Current Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy said in a formal statement: “Our Plan for Change will ensure that arts and cultural institutions truly are for everyone, everywhere,” adding, “this package will be integral to ensuring that arts and culture are a catalyst for growth in the Creative Industries and local economies by making sure cultural venues are supported to reach their full potential and attracting more tourists through our cultural institutions.”
Overall, cultural sectors support 666,000 jobs across the country.
Where is the money going?
The Culture Secretary announced the following funding for the next financial year, beginning in April:
- a new £85 million Creative Foundations Fund to support urgent capital works to keep venues across the country up and running
- a fifth round of the popular Museum Estate and Development Fund worth £25 million, which will support museums to undertake vital infrastructure projects, and tackle urgent maintenance backlogs
- a new £20 million Museum Renewal Fund to help keep cherished civic museums open and engaging, protect opening hours and jobs, continue serving communities, and telling the national story at a local level
- an additional £15 million for Heritage at Risk to provide grants for repairs and conservation to heritage buildings at risk, focusing on those sites with most need – this will restore local heritage, such as shops, pubs, parks and town halls
- a fourth round of the Libraries Improvement Fund worth £5.5 million, which will enable public library services across England to upgrade buildings and technology to better respond to changing user needs
- a new £4.85 million Heritage Revival Fund to empower local people to take control of and look after their local heritage – this will support community organisations to own neglected heritage buildings bringing them back into good use
- an additional £120 million to continue the Public Bodies Infrastructure Fund, which will ensure national cultural public institutions are able to address essential works to their estate
- a 5% increase to the budgets of all national museums and galleries to support their financial resilience and help them provide access to the national collection, and
- £3.2 million in funding for four cultural education programs for the next financial year to preserve increased access to arts for children and young people through the Museums and Schools Program, the Heritage Schools Program, the Art and Design National Saturday Club and the BFI Film Academy.
Nandy reported that under this fourth round of funding via the Museum Estate and Development Fund, 29 local museums up and down the country will receive a share of almost £25 million to upgrade their buildings.
The announcement adds to last week’s news from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, revealing that 10 critical culture projects across the UK will receive a total of £67 million.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: “Our Plan for Change promises growth for every corner of the UK, which is why this week I announced more than £67 million for 10 major cultural projects that celebrate our nation.”
She continued: “This means more tourism, more growth and more money in people’s pockets.
“This comes on top of the £60 million package recently announced by the Culture Secretary at the Creative Industries Growth Summit to support hundreds of creative businesses and projects across the UK. This is the first step towards delivering the Creative Industry Sector Plan, as part of the UK’s modern Industrial Strategy.”
What the sector is saying about the funding
Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive at Historic England, welcomed the funding. “The £15 million Heritage at Risk funding will enable us to help regenerate cherished historic buildings in some of our most deprived areas, boosting local pride and wellbeing, as well as stimulating economic growth where it’s really needed,” he said.
Kate Varah, Executive Director and Co-Chief Executive, National Theatre, said: “The support announced today shows that, like the visionary Jennie Lee, this Government keenly understands the arts ecosystem and its leading role in boosting the economy, enriching local communities and enhancing soft power. Much-needed capital investment will begin the task of enabling arts venues in towns and cities across our country to upgrade their facilities, providing more jobs and training, improving their financial and environmental sustainability, and offering more opportunities for young people and communities.
“Capital isn’t about bricks and mortar; it’s about making space for creativity to flourish. Today’s announcement is further proof that the Government sees the benefit of working long term, in deep partnership with our sector, to break down barriers to growth and opportunity,” added Varah.
James Graham, playwright and writer, said: “This new investment is an extremely welcome acknowledgement of the role culture can play in rebuilding local communities. The sector has been just-about-surviving for too long and such injections mean much-loved local venues can begin planning for the future.”
He added, on a personal note, as someone who grew up in a town with very limited access to the arts, “The new funding for education programs is to be celebrated. It’s deeply encouraging to see that the collapse of culture in education over the last decade can finally turn around, and unleash the creativity of all young people everywhere.”
Daniel Evans, Tamara Harvey and Andrew Leveson from the Royal Shakespeare Company, said: “Ageing capital infrastructure remains a tremendous drag on the sector’s ability to create the work for which it is globally celebrated, and maximise its economic and social contribution. We stand ready to work with the Government and other stakeholders to ensure that theatre buildings are effectively maintained and put to the most effective use in creating impactful programs of work that, true to Jennie Lee’s legacy, make the arts accessible to as many people as possible.”
Jenny Waldman, Director of Art Fund, said: “The £20 million Museum Renewal Fund is a vital lifeline for our civic museums, which have a central place in the lives of local communities. It’s a welcome response to the severe financial pressures museums are facing, particularly those reliant on local authority funding.”
Maria Balshaw, Director of Tate and Chair of the National Museum Directors’ Council, said: “The increase in budgets for national museums and galleries, like my own organisation Tate, will be vital in supporting our financial resilience, enabling us to continue caring for and providing access to the national collection and the incredible public benefit we deliver.”
Balshaw continued: “In particular, we are delighted to see the announcement of new funding for civic museums, [which] are facing an unprecedented set of economic pressures. They are some of the finest creative and cultural spaces in the world – caring for internationally significant collections, driving regional tourism and providing vital community services. The new Museum Renewal Fund will help bring civic museums back to a more sustainable position, and we are heartened that Government has listened to calls to protect this key part of our cultural and civic infrastructure.”
It was a view echoed by Laura Stevenson, Executive Director, The Old Vic: “The Old Vic, a theatre without regular public subsidy, is a 207-year-old building, which requires regular maintenance and capital spend. Like so many others, our financial model is precarious and covering the scale of spend required for our building out of our revenue is extremely difficult. The creation of these types of funds is essential if we are to support the survival of the UK’s creative landscape.”
Mark Ball, Artistic Director, Southbank Centre, joined in welcoming the news: “The performing arts in particular have been calling for capital funding for essential upgrades to our buildings, to enable us to continue to deliver world class performances for our audiences and communities. The Government has listened and this funding is an important first step in shoring up our cultural infrastructure and will help to support engagement, jobs, skills and wellbeing up and down the country.”
