What worst-case scenario?
A little under a month ago, I asked Arts Council England (ACE) what worst-case scenario outcomes had already been modelled for: were plans in place to cope with a 5% budget cut? A 10% one? Or was it anywhere between 20 and 50%? The answer I was firmly given was “none”. ACE was not, and would not be, testing out ideas for ‘worst-laid plans’. It was looking forward to working with the new leadership at the DCMS and was keen to restore a sense of buoyant positivity to an increasingly jittery arts sector. Yet on the basis of that official line, ACE’s prep (or lack, thereof) makes it look foolishly naïve at best – incompetently irresponsible at worst.
Ever since the DCMS announced its first round of cost-cutting (and let’s be sure: a second one is due imminently and ACE needs to be on the ball to fight its corner), speculation has been rife: where can the body make those in-year £19m savings? One approach suggested in the national press is to cut most from the biggest organisations already capable of taking care of themselves: the National Theatre, Royal Opera House and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra all generate significant income outside conventional box office revenue. Perhaps they could better weather a snip in subsidy?
But what of the myriad arts quangos and auxiliary organisations funded by ACE? Why not take a closer look to see, for instance, where CCE, CLP and numerous regional arts education agencies are doubling up on work (and funds)? Or should ACE concentrate on withdrawing funds from failing projects such as the Waygood gallery in Newcastle (£6m over budget, five years overdue, with no completion date in sight)? Whatever the outcome, given the amount of debate generated on how to implement the chop, it will be interesting – to say the least – to see how ACE (and the sector) responds.
Collateral of a coalition
The government’s coalition document promises to make good on a number of promises made, with regards to culture, in the individual manifestos of the Lib Dem and Tory parties. The big two are live music and Lottery money. A look at the former suggests that red tape will be cut and the Licensing Act will be reformed to allow small-scale venues to host gigs again without expensive entertainment licenses – the death knell, fans and musicians claimed, to a burgeoning live music scene.
The second will be examining the case for moving the National Lottery from a ‘ticket tax’ to a ‘gross profits tax’ regime. By enabling, the Lottery organisers, to raise more money from the game, it is claimed that anywhere between £45m and £182m could be freed up to fund arts, heritage and sport. Judging by the wildly different claims, there are obviously still some sums to do to clarify which figure is closer to the truth. We can only hope that coalition maths is easier on the eye than coalition manifestos.
This week Nosheen went to Pakistan, read Fatima Bhutto’s compelling family memoir, and made vague plans to go to Hay Festival. She also booked her tickets to see ‘Joe Turner’s Come and Gone’ at the Young Vic and hunted around for a World Cup wallchart.