Local authority leaders have warned that financial support for the arts across the UK is threatened with cuts of as much as 20% from 2011 to 2014.
Arts Council England has unveiled proposals for a new “politician-proof” ten-year plan that would see a radical shake-up of its funding system, including allowing grant applications from the commercial theatre sector for the first time in decades.
As previously announced, Arts Council England will suspend applications to its Grants for the arts programme for a period of six weeks between Monday 18 January and Friday 26 February.
This means that applications need to be submitted by 5pm on Friday 15 January to ensure decisions are made before the end of March.
Greenwich Dance Agency, Akademi and Battersea Arts Centre are among the recipients of Arts Council England’s £34,000 fund aimed at developing arts opportunities for older people.
The Learning and Skills Council has announced a £5 million funding boost for the proposed National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural Skills in Thurrock, Essex.
Arts and Business has unveiled an overhaul of its operation in response to the £2 million of annual funding it lost as part of Arts Council England’s recent spending allocation.
Arts industry chiefs are seeking urgent reassurance that culture secretary Andy Burnham will fight to maintain the current level of government spending, which is being threatened by the global financial meltdown.
Job and service cuts proposed by councils struggling to cope with the economic downturn have sparked fears for the future of local arts provision across England and Wales. Both the National Campaign for the Arts and the National Association of Local Government Arts Officers have warned that non-statutory services such as culture are likely to be first hit when authorities implement cost-cutting drives
ulture secretary Andy Burnham has alerted subsidised arts organisations that they are not “immune” from a government savings drive in the face of the global financial crisis and that they should start making “contingency plans” in case current funding levels are cut in 2010.
The Big Lottery Fund is urging organisations and individuals across the UK to engage in the debate on how BIG’s funding should be allocated through its grant programmes between 2009 and 2015. BIG is expecting to distribute over £2 billion over the coming years.
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