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The arts world waits to see where and whether the axe will fall on current spending.

Funding cuts of 1.5%, 2.5% and 3% are being modelled by Arts Council England (ACE) in anticipation of a possible reduction in grant in aid for year 3 of the current spending review (2010/11), in advance of the Budget on 22 April. The DCMS has asked ACE to calculate the potential effects of such a cut in case, as feared, the Government reduces its funding to culture and sport due to the ravages of the recession. ACE is currently working with Culture Secretary, Andy Burnham, to lobby the Government to maintain its levels of funding. A spokesperson for ACE said that nothing has yet been decided, but that, in the event of a cut, the organisation “will do everything we can to protect great art for audiences and our existing investment in regularly funded organisations”. She added that there would be “no pain-free option for the sector” and that, at the least, ACE would have to “call a halt to any new initiatives and review some of our existing or planned special projects”. A cut of 1.5% would equate to £7m, while a 3% reduction would mean £14m.
The impact of Government spending cuts on the DCMS should be known shortly after the budget. ACE and the other Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) funded by the DCMS will have to await the Department’s decision as to how it will apportion any cuts it is required to make. There is no current timetable for this process. ACE receives the highest funding of any of the NDPBs, having received 22% of the DCMS’s total budget in 2009/10. However, savings may not be imposed proportionately, and the other NDPBs, which include Sport England, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, the Big Lottery Fund and the British Library, will be fighting to protect their allocations.
 

[[We will do everything we can to protect our existing investment in regularly funded organisations]]There is also concern that any cuts to ACE’s year 3 funding would also have implications for the years ahead, as a reduced level of funding in 2010/11 might be used as the baseline on which the funding review for 2011–14 is calculated. “The creative industries are vital to the national economy and form the fastest growing sector of it,” added ACE’s spokesperson. “It’s important the arts don’t see themselves as the victims of the recession but as part of the solution – but we need continued high levels of government investment to achieve that.” ACE is collaborating with an independent public policy seminar organisation, the Centre for Public Policy, to host a discussion later this month on how to sustain excellence in the arts during the recession. The event, which will include contributions from key figures such as Sir John Tusa (University of the Arts), Gillian Moore (Southbank Centre), Colin Tweedy (Arts & Business) and Tom Bewick (Creative & Cultural Skills), will mark the first keynote speech for Dame Liz Forgan in her new role as Chair of ACE.