Commitments in the major parties’ manifestos to cultural access and diversity are pointless, unless they also address the devastating effects of local authority cuts, argues David Pountney.
All the main parties’ manifestos include in their arts programmes commitments to increasing access and diversity. These are worthy and important goals in themselves, but at the same time no party – save the Greens – addresses the issue of the cuts in local arts services, which are severing the branch on which these twin goals sit.
These cuts are part of the hidden and rarely commented on effects of austerity over the last five years, which have had a considerable impact on local government services of all kinds, but which have fallen particularly hard on areas such as culture, which some perceive as non-essential.
The result is a severe erosion of the availability of culture to young people with the closure of local libraries, smaller theatres, and cuts to the provision of music services... Keep reading on The Guardian
All the main parties’ manifestos include in their arts programmes commitments to increasing access and diversity. These are worthy and important goals in themselves, but at the same time no party – save the Greens – addresses the issue of the cuts in local arts services, which are severing the branch on which these twin goals sit.
These cuts are part of the hidden and rarely commented on effects of austerity over the last five years, which have had a considerable impact on local government services of all kinds, but which have fallen particularly hard on areas such as culture, which some perceive as non-essential.
The result is a severe erosion of the availability of culture to young people with the closure of local libraries, smaller theatres, and cuts to the provision of music services... Keep reading on The Guardian