Tory Arts Funding policy encourage “leaner, though not meaner” Golden Age for the Arts
The Guardian has coverage of announcements from Shadow culture secretary Jerermy Hunt indicating what a Conservative victory at the general election could mean for the shape of the Arts. Contrary to claims (last year at the launch of the National Campaign for the Arts Manifesto launch) by Ed Vaizey, Shadow Minister for Culture, it appears our sector may also be subject to cuts in funding in response to dwindling public finances.
The coverage is led by the Tory aspiration to enter into a “Golden Age” for the Arts, through encouraging the emergence of a culture of philanthropy equivalent to our American equivalents. This would seem to set us up for tax-related benefits as well as other measures recommended by Sir John Tusa’s Arts Task Force in their report (see www.artstaskforce.co.uk ). Whilst undoubtebly a good ideal, this is largely unproven in the UK as a model, and would be a massive step to take from recent year’s reliance of much of the Arts on public subsidy. Whether this would be a phased movement, looking to replace public with private funding is not made clear, though as journalist Polly Toynbee commented at the Bright Blue event in Portcullus House this week – cuts are seldom able to be able to be carried out in the the surgical manner that might be desired to produce the “leaner” organizations Hunt perhaps rightly espouses.
Singled out for criticism by Tory policy is the proportion of state funding that goes on the administration of the Arts grant distributors, with organizations including the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England spending more than 10% of their income in this way. The Arts Council is restructuring to reduce this, but the premise does call in to question the balance of spending across other similar bodies.
The Conservative policy of returning more lottery funding to the Arts is re-emphasised, as is a committment to championing excellence in the arts (perhaps responding to much of the criticism levelled at public art initiatives’ over-emphasis of diversity and localism over quality of practice).
And last but not least, we are assured that free museum entry “is here to stay under a Conservative government”.
Following a warm reception for the Liberal Democrats, who invited us to input on their own Arts Policy, the Arts Group is continuing to speak to the Shadow DCMS team around issues relating to internships and STEM funding following discussions at the Conservative Conservative Arts and Creative Industries Network and other events with Shadow Arts Minister Ed Vaizey. Watch this space for formal responses!
