Peer calls for statutory arts funding

Local authorities should be required to support arts and culture, crossbench peer Nicholas Trench has said.

“Every person, irrespective of where they live or who they are, deserves arts and cultural access,” he said at a House of Lords debate last week. “There should be statutory provision for local arts and culture.”

During the debate on local arts and cultural services, which Trench proposed, he highlighted the effects of the 17% decline in local authority arts spending between 2010 and 2015.

“Local arts and culture has been steadily and in some cases drastically eroded”, he said. He pointed to museums forced to close and theatres that have had to stop producing new work.

His concerns were echoed by crossbench and Labour peers, who also criticised the regional imbalance in arts funding and warned of new concerns for the sector raised by Britain’s break with the European Union (EU).

“We are in danger of destroying the innovative grass roots,” Trench said. He criticised the “selling-off” of public arts buildings and the Conservative government’s promotion of “developer and investor-led culture”.

Regional imbalance

Labour peer Richard Faulkner, who is Chair of the arts charity Worcester Live, said he was “far from convinced” that the current balance of arts funding is right.

“A disproportionate amount of arts money goes to London, and a huge percentage of it goes to classical music in one form or another – orchestras, opera and ballet – and to flagship venues.”

He called on Arts Council England to recognise the value of “popular non-elitist organisations” like Worcester Live.

Crossbench peer Elaine Murphy also decried the regional imbalance as “crazy”.

“I know that Arts Council England is uplifting 4% more funding in 2018-22 to the regions, but at present the imbalance is shameful,” she said. “We need to agree on a mechanism to get more money into the regions.”

Brexit concerns

Trench highlighted the importance of maintaining access to EU funding connections for arts and culture and maintaining cultural co-operation.

He called arts and culture “a vehicle for connection to the wider world, both nationally and beyond” and warned that leaving the single market and losing free movement would be “disastrous” for artists and cultural sector workers.

Crossbench peer Michael Berkeley shared his concerns. “Many music clubs, festivals and orchestras up and down the country depend on visiting artists and chamber ensembles to enrich their programmes,” he said. “How will Brexit affect them?”

Responding to the debate, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the DCMS Thomas Ashton said: “One of our jobs, and one that we are taking very seriously, is ensuring that the Department for Exiting the EU is aware of the concerns of the cultural sector.”

He added that the DCMS was “very well aware” of the importance of access to EU funds and partnerships for the arts sector, and of free movement for cultural people.

He also assured the Lords that Arts Council England is addressing the regional imbalance in arts funding.