Rupert Christiansen examines Arts Council England's spending priorities.
Two cheers for Peter Bazalgette and Maria Miller, I wrote last week, after they managed to come through the draconian Comprehensive Spending Review with a relatively modest five per cent cut for the arts.
Any instinct to raise a third cheer fades as Arts Council England now rolls up its sleeves and gets down to the grisly business to cutting its portfolio yet again. CEO Alan Davey has made it clear that he doesn’t want this to be a salami-slicing exercise – equal pain for all – and in the new dispensation there will be winners and losers. Commentators have claimed that a third of all currently supported organisations will be eliminated, but I can see no basis for this beyond headline-grabbing hysteria.
Two cheers for Peter Bazalgette and Maria Miller, I wrote last week, after they managed to come through the draconian Comprehensive Spending Review with a relatively modest five per cent cut for the arts.
Any instinct to raise a third cheer fades as Arts Council England now rolls up its sleeves and gets down to the grisly business to cutting its portfolio yet again. CEO Alan Davey has made it clear that he doesn’t want this to be a salami-slicing exercise – equal pain for all – and in the new dispensation there will be winners and losers. Commentators have claimed that a third of all currently supported organisations will be eliminated, but I can see no basis for this beyond headline-grabbing hysteria.