Cultural commissioning

Performing arts and entertainment trade union Equity has launched a campaign against the Scottish Government’s decision to cut funding for arts and culture, labelling the move "economically illiterate".

The Scottish Government plans to cut Creative Scotland’s budget by £7m – a 10% decrease – in 2023/24. 

Creative Scotland has responded by saying it will go into its reserves in order to maintain the current levels of financial support it provides arts and culture organisations in Scotland.

Equity is calling for the cut to be reversed and is asking supporters to write to their local Member of Scottish Parliament to raise the issue in parliament.

“Lets be clear, with inflation into double digits, this isn’t a 10% cut to arts funding. It is much worse than that,” National Officer for Equity Adam Adnyana said.

“These cuts should not be used to justify low pay offers, or the end of stable work for performers and creatives. We call on the Scottish Government to revisit these economically illiterate cuts.
 
“And we also give fair warning to employers that we will not allow you to use this as an excuse to degrade terms, conditions, or pay offers. No tactic will be off the table.”

Urgent action is required to protect local cultural services in the face of the cost of living crisis, a Local Government Association (LGA) report has concluded.

The Commission on Culture and Local Government, set up earlier this year by the LGA, found that the cost of living crisis, combined with the prospect of recession, and pressure on public services pose "new challenges".

"Under these circumstances it would be tempting to dismiss investment in cultural services as a luxury we can’t afford," the report states.

"But for the same reasons, these services have never been more important. 

"Cultural services, organisations and practitioners bring people together at times of crisis and celebration, they provide support and social connection, create jobs, develop new adaptive skills, and underpin empathy and critical thinking."

The report calls on local government, regional bodies, cultural arms-length bodies and national government to work together with cultural organisations and communities to "take immediate action to safeguard the future of local cultural infrastructure".

It says this should be followed by a longer-term action plan to deliver a series of outcomes including targeting regional inequalities and enabling local authorities to develop and deliver meaningful place-led strategies for culture, and a "power shift" towards place-led approaches to enable communities, cultural providers and practitioners to shape local decision making.

Baroness Lola Young, Chair of the commission, said: "Access to culture and creativity provides hope and inspiration and enriches people’s lives. That access must be fair for all.

"I hope our findings and recommendations will help councils, regional bodies, cultural arm's-length bodies and national government to work together with cultural organisations and communities to weather the latest storm and secure the future of this vital community infrastructure.”
 

Leeds Culture Trust has agreed that all creatives working on the LEEDS 2023 cultural programme will be paid fair wages and have safe and secure working conditions.

The agreement forms part of a Memorandum of Understanding between Leeds Culture Trust and trade unions TUC Yorkshire and Humber, Equity, Artists’ Union England, BECTU and Musicians' Union.

The trust says it will encourage partners and stakeholders to also “engage with appropriate unions to create agreements for the creative sector workers they employ”.

A similar agreement was signed ahead of Coventry’s stint as City of Culture 2021 and in Birmingham for the cultural programme that coincided with this year’s Commonwealth Games.

“At a time when precarious engagements and poor pay are threatening to overshadow the UK’s cultural strength, again Leeds is leading the way by putting the terms and conditions of the creative workforce at the heart of what it means to have a year of culture,” Equity General Secretary Paul Fleming said.

“Great art thrives when artists have dignity at and in their work, which is exactly what this Memorandum of Understanding aims to assure.”

Westminster City Council has announced it will set aside £1.8m for arts and culture funding over the next four years.

The council said the money will help fund a range of projects to make culture more accessible to residents and visitors.

It added that it hopes to break down social and economic barriers by extending free cultural opportunities to those facing financial hardship, young people, over-65s, ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities and those experiencing social isolation.

Within the budget is a new annual Culture and Community Grants Programme, which invites local organisations and schools to bid for up to £10,000 of funding to help deliver community-based projects. 

Tim Roca, Deputy Leader at Westminster Council and Cabinet Member for Young People, Learning and Leisure, said: “I’m very excited to announce this new cultural budget that will fund a range of projects across Westminster. 

"This new funding will bring culture directly into our communities and provide a boost for Westminster’s thriving arts scene which attracts so many visitors each year."

English National Opera (ENO) will close permanently in April next year if it is forced to move out of London, its Chair has warned.

The organisation was one of the most high-profile casualties of Arts Council England's latest investment decisions having been dropped from the National Portfolio, through which it was provided £12.5m a year.

ACE has offered it up to £17m over three years to relocate, potentially to Manchester, but The Stage reports that, speaking at an All-Party Parliamentary Group for opera last week, ENO Chair Harry Brünjes said the idea of moving the ENO out of London needed to be "flattened".

"There is a lot of discussion around relocation to Manchester, and we have got to flatten that immediately. There is no relocation," Brünjes said

He criticised ACE’s decision, insisting supporters should not be distracted by the word "relocation", as he argued that, unless the cut was reversed or additional funding found, it would be the end of the ENO.

He added: "This is closing ENO down. This is losing 600 jobs from London of talented and devoted and able people across all departments – so let’s get this clear."

"Manchester is the final scene of The Wizard of Oz – you pull [back] the curtain, and there is a bloke turning a wheel and puffing smoke in the air.

"So as it stands, ENO will close in April after nearly a century, and that’s the end of it."

An official probe into the value for money provided by the £120m Unboxed festival will be conducted by the National Audit Office (NAO).

In a letter published today the Comptroller and Auditor General of the NAO, Gareth Davies, said he expects to produce a report on the costs and benefits, management and planning of the project by the end of the year.

The move follows a critical report on the government-funded festival by the DCMS Select Committee which concluded that the investment was "an irresponsible use of public money" given the government’s own admission that it does not know what it is for.

It was reported last month that visitor numbers for four of the 10 events of the festival have been 238,000, compared with a "stretch target" of 66 million.

Chair of the DCMS Select Committee Julian Knight said: “That such an exorbitant amount of public cash has been spent on a so-called celebration of creativity that has barely failed to register in the public consciousness raises serious red flags about how the project has been managed from conception through to delivery. 

"The NAO’s investigation will bring welcome and thorough scrutiny and help get to the bottom of how so much tax-payer money could be frittered away for so little return.”

DCMS has said that it "[does] not agree with the select committee's views", adding that more than four million people have engaged in Unboxed programming so far, with numbers set to rise further.