Erosion of DCMS funding ‘threatens vital cultural institutions’

Ongoing real-terms cuts to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport funding are putting cultural institutions such as Historic England, the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, the V&A and Tate at risk, a campaign group has warned.

Analysis conducted by Campaign for the Arts (CFTA) has found the government budget allocated to DCMS – known as its Departmental Expenditure Limit – is £2.29bn for the current financial year (2025/26) – 3.4% down on the £2.37bn in 2024/25.

However, the real terms figure for 2025/26, once inflation is taken into account, is £2.23bn – which is 5.9% down on last year.

In comparison, the Departmental Expenditure Limit across all government departments grew from £602.1bn in 2024/25 to £648.9bn in 2025/26 – a real terms increase of 5%.

CFTA said planned spending by DCMS per person of the population now stands at £32.79 compared with a real-terms figure of £48.43 in 2010/11 – a drop of 32.3%

Vital cultural institutions ‘under threat’

The group says the “erosion” of funding threatens vital cultural institutions including the British Film Institute, the British Library, Historic England, the 15 DCMS-sponsored national museums and galleries, Arts Council England (ACE) and the nearly 1,000 organisations it funds – as well as the wider cultural ecology.

Last year, Arts Professional revealed that DCMS commissioned a review into the financial position of ‘several’ of its public bodies amid concerns they could struggle to continue operating due to worsening finances.

The department works with 29 non-departmental public bodies, including ACE, the British Museum, Tate and the V&A.

DCMS has not named which public bodies are at most risk, but its annual report for 2023/24, published in November, says it has “commissioned a review into the financial position of several public bodies and will make spending proposals at the next spending review”.

In March this year, it emerged that Tate has been told it will be given central government support to stay afloat as it attempts to move to a financially sustainable business model, following discussions about its financial situation.

On the back of its findings, CFTA has launched a new national petition urging Chancellor Rachel Reeves to reverse recent cuts to DCMS and invest in artists and cultural organisations in her ongoing Spending Review. The review concludes on 11 June and sets government departments’ budgets until at least 2029.

CFTA said the size of the DCMS settlement will affect, among other things, the total funding available for ACE’s next National Portfolio.

‘Arts aren’t an optional extra’

Jack Gamble, director of the Campaign for the Arts, said: “The UK government has promised a decade of national renewal, but their current plans involve cutting funds from the department responsible for culture, which is fundamental to that renewal.

“The arts matter to millions of people across the UK, and we’re inviting everybody to add their voice at this pivotal moment. The arts aren’t an optional extra – they are an essential ingredient in a healthy and flourishing society.”

CFTA is calling on government to restore funding removed from the DCMS budget this year by 2026/27, sustain real-terms growth in DCMS budgets in each year of the Spending Review period and extend its commitment to growing funding for schools and local councils, both of which it says are “vital for public access to the arts”.