Devolution plans for England pose a major threat

There is much to be positive about the new devolution bill. But there is also a looming danger for local arts organisations in it and in the devolution frameworks being drawn up across the country.

Devolution will reshape the local political landscape. Once the frameworks are agreed, they will decide strategic priorities and investment for decades to come. The pause in the devolution process has added to the risk we face. It has created uncertainty that makes long-term planning difficult, particularly for organisations with complex business models and significant capital responsibilities.

Investment decisions – from essential repairs to sustainability and access upgrades – may have to be delayed or put on hold altogether. Crucially, the pause has not removed the threat: the same risks remain, pushed further down the line, with less clarity and fewer opportunities to embed culture in new devolved structures.

Currently, culture is almost entirely absent from the bill and the new combined authority priorities being drafted across England – from Greater Essex to Cumbria, Cheshire & Warrington, Hampshire & Solent, Norfolk & Suffolk, and Sussex & Brighton.  But if culture is not embedded from the outset it could be locked out. The consequences could be immediate.

Cultural provision is not a statutory obligation

As we know, unlike social care, children’s services or waste collection, arts and culture are not statutory responsibilities. Councils do not have to fund them. In a world of spiralling social care and education costs, the risk is clear: when money gets tight, non-statutory is the first to go.

Many organisations rely on core annual grants from local authorities – grants that have already eroded dramatically over the last decade. Devolution, combined with ongoing local government reorganisation, threatens to accelerate that erosion. In new unitary systems, culture will be competing directly with statutory services under unprecedented pressure.

The simple truth: if culture isn’t explicitly named and protected in the new devolved structures, it won’t survive in many places.

One per authority

As councils merge, a new narrative could take hold: “We only need one theatre/museum/gallery in the new area.” This may be efficient on paper, but it is culturally and economically short-sighted.

Arts and cultural organisations aren’t interchangeable. Each serves its own community, creates unique opportunities for participation, and underpins an ecosystem supporting freelancers, producers, creators, young people and audiences/visitors.

The new devolution deals risk creating a landscape in which provision is consolidated, reduced or rationalised, with smaller and mid-scale organisations quietly but ruthlessly squeezed out.

Buildings are at risk

Cultural organisations housed in local authority buildings face additional danger. Councils looking for savings are already terminating leases, increasing commercial rents, selling off properties or withdrawing maintenance support. They are reviewing entire estates for disposal or income generation. Once these decisions are made, they are almost impossible to reverse.

For those with historic, expensive-to-maintain buildings, this risk could be existential. Capital needs – accessibility, sustainability upgrades, urgent repairs – will not disappear, but the public infrastructure supporting them may.

Cuts are highly likely without explicit inclusion

The risks of excluding culture from the bill and from local frameworks are clear: cuts as culture competes directly with statutory services; exclusion from strategic decision-making; weakened cultural ecosystems, making touring even less financially unviable; reduced talent and skills development pipelines, in turn undermining the government’s own ambitions for growth.

These warnings are not theoretical; they reflect what local authorities are already signalling through their budget consultations and reorganisation plans. For example, one local council is asking residents to choose which services should have funding protected and which should face cuts. In a questionnaire sent to all residents, arts and culture was at the bottom of the list, whereas sport and leisure was second.

Sectors should not be placed in opposition to one other – audiences like to go to a match and go to the theatre.

The political context adds volatility

Political control is likely to change in several of the devolving regions. Parties that have pledged to reduce ‘non-essential’ spending are gaining ground – though none have extra funding to offer. In many parts of England, arts and culture are still viewed as a ‘nice to have’ rather than the well-documented economic engine, and a key driver of skills, education, life chance, health and wellbeing benefits.

The combination of political volatility and non-statutory status makes culture uniquely exposed. Similarly, it makes Arts Council England’s role impossible. Their role as  joint funder with local authorities comes under massive pressure like never before. Do they continue to fund knowing each organisation has less?

What we stand to lose

Examples of what strong cultural ecosystems can achieve abound. Greater Manchester has placed culture at the centre of its identity and economy. The West Midlands used the Commonwealth Games to generate international visibility. West Yorkshire’s investment in film and TV infrastructure is already paying economic dividends.

If devolution sidelines cultural organisations – like the Mercury Theatre in Colchester – it will undermine local economies and identities for a generation.To avoid such long-term structural harm, culture must be explicitly embedded in combined authority priorities, economic and regeneration strategies, and skills and education frameworks. This is not special pleading. It is safeguarding the very institutions that make places worth living, investing and staying in.

We know the arts drive growth, skills, education, health, community cohesion and national reputation. But without statutory status, we are exposed. Without political recognition, we are invisible. And without urgent advocacy, we will be left behind.

A moment of decision

Arts and cultural organisations must be at the table – during negotiations, consultations and priority-setting. We must present a united voice across counties and regions, arguing for our unique contribution and our vital role in jobs, productivity, skills pipelines, place-shaping, economic value and social impact.

There’s a window of opportunity, but it might close very soon. Once the deals are signed, the structures and budgets will be fixed. If culture is excluded now, it will be excluded for a generation.

The question facing England’s arts is stark. Will devolution unlock a bright future for culture or accelerate a slow and avoidable dismantling of the nation’s civic arts infrastructure? Right now, we need to take urgent action; the risks are significant but the opportunities are greater.