Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has declared support for Arts Council England (ACE), denied accusations that he is an “eager assassin”, and defended his decision to axe the UK Film Council (UKFC). Giving evidence before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee earlier this month, Hunt pointed out that UKFC spent 24% of its grant on its own admin, and described its decision to hire Portland Communications to launch a lobbying campaign to protest against its abolition as “completely inappropriate”. He reiterated support for ACE and the arm’s length principle, and stated that he “never believed that philanthropic giving should be a replacement for state funding”. Despite clear answers on most questions, Hunt and Jonathan Stephens, Permanent Secretary for the DCMS, were unable to give an estimate of DCMS budgets for redundancy: up to 70 posts will be lost by the end of March, and, when pushed, Stephens anticipated that restructuring costs could reach “£100m or so”.
Published: 27-09-2010