Local authority arts funding across England and Wales remains vulnerable, despite some evidence of recovery, according to the fifth annual spending survey carried out by nalgao, the National Association of Local Government Arts Officers. The survey, which assesses the level of arts spending forecast for the current financial year, shows that efficiency savings pose a continuing threat to funding for non-statutory arts provision. Trends revealed by the report, which incorporates responses from 73 local authorities, show that 63% of them have this year experienced a cut in real terms, slightly fewer than those who reported a cut last year. Somerset and Worcestershire County Councils have reinstated their arts services, but four authorities have cut their arts services completely for 2008/09 and three further authorities are considering doing so. Only 25% of local authorities prioritise arts services by including them in their Local Authority Agreements (LAAs), compared with 61% of local authority sports services. This is of particular concern, given that the survey also shows a high level of contribution by arts services to local cross-cutting agendas such as the development of community well-being, promoting equality, supporting education and services for children and young people, contributing to economic regeneration and supporting initiatives for stronger and safer communities. nalgao identifies a “worrying lack... in arts services’ knowledge of LAAs, which makes future influencing in this important area less than effective”.
nalgao reports that the authorities contributing to the survey “declared a total £63.9m of controllable arts budget for 2008/09, giving an average council spend per authority of £874,870”. However, the report summary asserts that “the situation we have reported is not uniform across the country and we think there is a form of ‘postcode lottery’ for arts funding”. A small number of authorities have spent considerable amounts on special projects, such as the Liverpool Capital of Culture, or capital-driven initiatives such as building a new arts centre or theatre. “Many of these are one-off initiatives and thus we have adjusted our figures, where appropriate, so we can establish the trend excluding exceptional items,” the report adds. It concludes that “whilst major cuts in services are less apparent this year, we see very limited development opportunity, and a growing disparity between the strong providers and the rest”.