Many of you will have heard about the proposed funding cuts to Welsh heritage bodies. As a result, the Royal Commission, the National Library of Wales, Cadw, Amgueddfa Cymru—National Museum Wales and Arts Council Wales are all having to institute redundancy programmes in order to stay within budgets that have been reduced by 10.5 per cent for 2024-25.
The harm that these cuts will cause is out of proportion to the benefit to any other part of Welsh Government spending, and they will have a significant impact on our ability to undertake our work in the years ahead.
They come at a time when we had been looking forward to the publication of a visionary and inspiring Culture Strategy for Wales that acknowledges the power of culture and heritage to improve everyone’s health, wellbeing and prospects in life, as well as to generate visitor income and enhance the image of Wales internationally.
A petition was opened calling on Welsh Government to increase spending on the institutions that safeguard the heritage and history of Wales. The petition attracted over the 10,000 signatures necessary for a debate in the Senedd.
Bearing in mind that every £1 invested in the sector leads to £5 worth of economic growth, the 0.02 per cent saving made in the national budget makes little sense.
"Anyone who works in the cultural sector in Wales, whose life is enhanced by the arts, or who cares about their social, economic and health benefits, should be deeply worried by a government whose members can’t manage to grasp the critical importance of maintaining and improving state support for cultural bodies and individuals – especially at a time of economic difficulty and hardship. They should rethink their budget priorities before it’s too late."
Aberystwyth Castle. Image by A.F. Calow
University of Warwick, July 2024
The United Kingdom has a good claim to being a ‘state of the arts’, recognised around the world for its vibrant culture and heritage.
The State of the Arts report lays bare the challenges the UK now faces to maintain and enhance this – at a time when the arts are under huge pressure, but also have huge potential to transform lives, society and the economy for the better.
There have been dramatic falls in arts funding since 2010. Tax relief for the creative industries has surged, but core public funding for the UK’s Arts Councils and the BBC has fallen, and investment by local councils has plummeted. Despite high public engagement with the arts, especially post-pandemic, cultural provision has contracted and remains fragile. Arts education faces critical challenges, from unequal opportunities in early years to course closures in universities nationwide. Reduced funding and a marginalisation of the arts in English state schools has driven catastrophic declines in participation and enrolment. Employment in the Cultural Sector has been growing, but significant wage disparities and job precarity threaten the long-term sustainability of the sector and the countless benefits it brings.
This report underscores the need for better and more balanced support to ensure the vitality and accessibility of the arts for everyone, across all parts of the UK.
The UK has one of the lowest levels of government spending on culture among European nations, and was one of a small minority of countries to reduce total culture spending per person between 2010
and 2022. Between 2009-10 and 2022-23, per person in real terms:
Local government revenue funding of culture and related services decreased by 29% in Scotland, 40% in Wales and 48% in England, alongside rising cost and demand pressures on statutory services
(especially social care).
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)’s core funding of cultural organisations decreased by 18% to only 0.17% of total public spending per person.
The Arts Councils’ core Government funding decreased by 18% in England, 22% in Scotland, 25% in Wales and 66% in Northern Ireland.
Over the same period:
Tax relief for the creative industries increased by 649%. In 2017- 18 this investment exceeded the DCMS’ core funding of cultural organisations for the first time.
The BBC’s total public and grant funding decreased by 23%.
National Lottery grant funding for arts and heritage projects increased by 19%, but fluctuated considerably over the period and was lowest at the start of the pandemic.
The income mix of Arts Council England’s ‘National Portfolio’ changed significantly. Public funding went down by 10 percentage points, while contributed income (from private donations/ sponsorship)
and earned income both went up by 5 percentage points.
Between 2009-10 and 2020-21, per person in real terms, spending on British public libraries fell by 53%
From an analysis of almost a million listed events between 2018 and 2023, many venues, producers and promoters have scaled back their operations or shut down. There was a 23% fall in the number of
music, theatre, dance and comedy events in the UK.
The number of events grew by 5 percentage points in 2019, then collapsed by 91 percentage points in 2020.
The number of events increased by only 2 percentage points between 2022 and 2023, suggesting post-pandemic recovery is incomplete and yet slowing.
Across venues of all sizes, there were fewer events in 2023 than in 2018.
Between 2018 and 2019, growth in event numbers was driven entirely by small venues. In 2023 there were 24% fewer events in these venues and average ticket prices were 22% lower in real terms.
Extra-large venues saw the biggest drop in event numbers in 2020 but made the strongest post-pandemic recovery, while also increasing ticket prices as inflation rose.
The number of cinemas in the UK increased by 18% between 2014 and 2020, but has since fallen by 2% every year.
In some parts of the UK, there are significant arts engagement gaps between adults from ethnic minorities and the population as a whole. However, in Scotland arts participation (excluding reading) is
five percentage points higher among ‘minority ethnic groups’.
All 4 nations recognise the importance of the arts in early years, but access to quality pre-school education is unequal.
Arts education in England has experienced a significant decline, caused by funding pressures and performance measures, like the ‘EBacc’ and ‘Progress 8’, marginalising the arts in state-funded
secondary schools.
The number of arts teachers in English state-funded secondary schools fell by 27% between 2011 and 2024, from 55k to 40k.
The number of hours of arts teaching in English state-funded secondary schools fell by 23% between 2011 and 2024, from 501k to 387k. Between 2013 and 2020 in England, school arts engagement among
11-to- 15 year olds fell by 23% for arts and crafts, 24% for drama, 26% for music and 29% for dance.
Since 2010 the share of GCSE entries in arts subjects has declined by 47%.
Since 2010 the share of A-level entries in arts subjects has declined by 29%.
91% of adults in England engaged with the arts in person between October 2022 and December 2023, and 77% attended events.
88% of adults in Scotland were culturally engaged between March 2020 and March 2022, and 74% attended cultural events or places despite the impacts of the pandemic.
Arts and creative courses are increasingly at risk from a structural funding crisis in Higher Education.
Since 2021 in England, the Government has segregated arts subjects from other, ‘strategically important’ subjects in Higher Education, and imposed 50% cuts in ‘high cost subject’ funding.
71% of adults in Northern Ireland and 64% of adults in Wales attended arts events between April 2021 and March 2023.
Films and cinemas generate the biggest share of arts attendances in all four UK nations.
There are significant arts engagement gaps between disabled adults and the population as a whole. However, engagement by disabled people increased by 6 percentage points over the 2010s in
England.
House of Lords Debate February 1st 2024. See A debate introduced by Lord Bragg.
"The creative arts generate more revenue than the life sciences and the aerospace and construction industries combined. Add the input from television, films, advertising and broadcasting and we are
faced not with a charming marginal activity but with an industry ready to grow to the massive benefit of this country, commercially and educationally, and equally in areas such as health and social
equity."
Letter from Howard Goodall February 1st 2024. See Byline Times letter
" Right now, there are nine million children of school age in England, and the current funding for music services that support them in school, the Hubs, get £79 million a year from government. That’s
less than £9 per child, per year.
Don’t our children deserve better than this?"