Arts funding

There is strong public support for local authority funding of museums, a survey has found.

YouGov research commissioned by Art Fund and the National Museum Directors' Council (NMDC) found that 74% of people said local government should provide at least half of its funding, with 45% saying that councils should provide most or all of it.

Meanwhile, 89% of UK adults think museums are important to UK culture, while 76% think local museums add value to their area.

Nearly half of those surveyed (47%) said that museums in the UK should be mostly or entirely funded by government. Only 3% said museums should be wholly funded by private investment or income generation.

The survey also found that 44% of people knew public funding for local museums had decreased since 2022, with only 9% thinking it had stayed the same and 4% thinking it had increased.

When asked how they would feel if their local museum were to close, 54% said they would feel disappointed, 41% would feel sad, 19% would be angry, and 16% would feel frustrated.

Performers' union Equirty has voiced its opposition to Welsh National Opera's (WNO) plans to cut the salary of its chorus members and threaten compulsory redundancy.

WNO, which has warned of financial difficulties after having its core funding cut, plans to reduce the full-time contracts of its chorus members to 45 weeks with a salary cut of at least 15% a year.

Equity says that recent “opaque proposals” for changes to its members' terms and conditions have been tabled, which would “fundamentally undermine the job security of this highly skilled professional ensemble.” 

The changes mirror those put forward for the orchestra at WNO and follow contract renegotiations for the chorus and orchestra at English National Opera earlier this year.

The union said it has “always been open to the [negotiation] process” and “believed that despite the challenging financial situation the company faced, [WNO] would protect the chorus.” 

“[We] will not accept compulsory redundancies or the desire of WNO management to make contracts ‘flexible’ solely to their own advantage while adding the precarity of an unsustainable cut to chorus members’ basic earnings,” said the union.

“ Equity’s resistance to the current proposals cannot, and will not, be contingent on the decisions of funders.” 

WNO receives National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) funding from both Arts Council England (ACE) and Arts Council Wales (ACW), but its ACE funding was reduced from £6.24m to £4m a year for the 2023-26 period, a 35% reduction, while it receives £4.1m a year from ACW.

Last June, an open letter from former members of the opera warned that a strategic review would reduce the number of full-time orchestra and chorus members to meet funding conditions imposed by ACE.

Cuts to a wide range of services across Birmingham including arts and culture are based on "imagined data", it has been claimed.

According to The Guardian, sources inside the Labour-led council said the local authority’s finances were in disarray as a result of a faulty IT system rollout and a £760m equal pay liability bill, which led it to effectively declare bankruptcy, and could be hugely overstated.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Paul Tilsley said: “The figure of £760m is a figment of someone’s imagination, in my opinion. If you look at the estimated claimants, the numbers are just incompatible, it defies financial imagination.

“And this figure is ruining this city. We’re going to see the real basic infrastructure of the city, things like libraries, closed and sold off, and when they’re gone they can’t be replicated. I’m seeing the heart ripped out of my city.”

A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said: “In early 2023, there were a variety of estimates of equal pay liability, which were wide-ranging and clearly needed further work. Further detailed analysis was requested and subsequently the findings were shared with the public and all members of this council.

“Since then the council has worked tirelessly with trade unions and the commissioners to agree a job evaluation scheme that will help to end the equal pay liability once and for all.

“A budget for the next two years was approved by full council in March. We must now focus on how we spend what we have in the most effective way, and we are committed to getting the basics right across a whole range of service areas.”

More than £100,000 in grants will be split between 24 theatres across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales through the Theatres Trust Small Grants Programme.

The scheme, run with The Linbury Trust, funds projects with up to £5,000 to improve the resilience, sustainability, or accessibility of theatres by making building improvements.

Recipients of the latest round of funding include Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Almeida Theatre in London, Blackpool Grand Theatre, Colchester Arts Centre, Pitlochry Festival Theatre in Scotland, Tyne Theatre and Opera House in Newcastle and The Welfare Ystradgynlais in Swansea.

Jon Morgan, Theatres Trust Director, said: "Theatres Trust is delighted to be able to support more theatres with small projects to make a big impact to their sustainability, accessibility and inclusivity, as well as vital maintenance projects. 

"This is the largest round of this scheme to date, with the high number and wide range of projects demonstrating the demand for investment in the UK’s theatre buildings to ensure they are fit for current and future audiences."