Debbonaire: More money for arts 'my first priority'

A Labour government will work to identify new funding sources for arts and culture if elected to power, Shadow Culture Secretary Thangam Debbonaire has pledged.

Speaking at an online meeting of cultural leaders staged today by the What Next? movement, Debbonaire said that while she cannot promise an immediate windfall for the sector should her party win the next general election, she is determined to make additional cash available.

"Getting more money into the sector is going to be my first priority," she said.

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"One of the first things I'll be doing is working really hard on getting the widest approach to where we get investment from across the entire arts and culture sector. 

"So a big priority for me is to look in every nook and cranny, under every rock, behind every sofa for sources of investment."

Debbonaire said there are a wide range of opportunities, but "they're not currently being championed enough".

Her comments come as cultural organisations nationwide face a challenging economic climate.

The post-pandemic recovery has been compounded by a cost-of-living crisis. At the same time, many organisations have seen their public funding reduced or cut entirely as ACE redistributed money to underserved areas at the behest of central government for its 2023-26 National Portfolio.

Local authority cuts

Meanwhile, local authorities, the biggest funders of arts and culture in England, are cutting cultural budgets as they attempt to balance the books.

Debbonaire said it had been "heartbreaking" to see the "very difficult decisions" that some local authorities have made concerning cultural budgets in recent weeks.

"I could make a totally party political point here, but I'm actually going to make a bipartisan one," she said.

"Tory councils and Labour councils and shared partnership councils are all struggling and have said so.

"They have rightly challenged successive Tory governments on the impact of local government cuts that I'm afraid to say go right back to the coalition years. 

"Decimating local authority funding was, I think, an act of cultural vandalism because, obviously, the statutory requirements are always going to have to come first.

"I think every local authority should have a living, breathing, updatable cultural strategy. But I also know that at the moment, if I said that to some councils, they'd probably just laugh at me and say, with what? 

"So the right place to start is making sure, first of all, that we grow the economy so that there is more money to share out." 

Devolving power

Although Labour's full manifesto is yet to be completed, a central plank will be a shift of power from Westminster to communities, as set out by Leader Keir Starmer last year.

Debbonaire said that means local authorities have more decision-making power and greater control over resources.

"That's going to be challenging, I think, for some of us centrally, because it does mean going, okay, I won't get to make that decision. I will pass that down to local authorities. 

"In my view, that is almost always going to be the best place for a decision about very local cultural spaces, cultural infrastructures to be placed."

She added that Labour would give local authorities the tools to "not just to protect their existing cultural spaces, but to grow that infrastructure". 

"And, more importantly, to feed the people around it to grow the talent around it because you can have great buildings, but that's no good if you haven't got funding for the companies that work there or the individuals that have got the talent to create."

Debbonaire also restated the party's commitment to resolving EU visa issues for performers and said the UK could return to the Creative Europe scheme, which it left in 2020.

'Clear and joyful'

Speaking after the meeting, Trevor MacFarlane, Founding Director and Chief Executive of Culture Commons, a policy co-design and advocacy organisation supporting the UK’s creative and cultural sectors, said Debbonaire gave a "clear and joyful" articulation of how Labour sees culture and creativity playing a leading role in Britain.

“I am delighted that Labour are going to be pushing hard on reforms to the visa system to get touring back on the road and supporting research and development to unlock the innovation sitting dormant in creative firms across the UK. 

"I know the sector will also be thrilled that being part of Creative Europe seems to be firmly on the table.”

“Here at Culture Commons, we’re excited to get to work with Thangam and the wider shadow cabinet team on policies that can empower local communities through culture as part of our open policy development programme on ‘the future of local cultural decision making."