The Best of All Probable Worlds - Probably
So details of the Comprehensive Spending Review have now been revealed and the Arts have fared better than expected. We were warned that the best we could expect was an increase in line with inflation but standstill funding and even a 5% cut were suggested as possibilities. Indeed, the general feeling was that standstill was the best we could expect and government sources were mentioning a possible 5% cut in order to make standstill funding (which is, of course, essentially a cut in real terms) seem attractive.
But no, we have an increase in line with inflation over the next three years in the funding to the DCMS and now the culture secretary has announced that the grant in aid which the Arts Council will receive will increase, over the three year period of the CSP’s life, of 1.1% above inflation. That’s £28m over three years.
But let’s not get too celebratory too soon. We still have the Cultural Olympiad to pay for, which means that ACE will not have all that money to spend as they wish. Quite properly, the department has said that free entrance to museums and galleries will be protected, so spending there will increase by at least the rate of inflation, so the amount available for theatre will not be as much as first impressions may suggest.
It is still going to be a very tough period for theatre companies. We have yet to learn how ACE will allocate its money: will RFOs (Regularly Funded Organisations) get a full inflationary increase? If they do, then the amount available for the Grants for the Arts scheme, which is essentially project funding, will be reduced.
It’s a tough call. Is it more important to fund ACE’s big clients or emerging companies which are asking for a lot less money? I’m a trustee of a RFO, so obviously I want its grant to continue at as high a level as possible, but I’m also the artistic director of a company that depends on Grants for the Arts to be able to deliver our projects. How can I choose between them? How can ACE choose between them? If both deliver the goods, how can one be called more important than the other?
One thing is sure: there are going to be some theatre organisations which are unhappy, but probably fewer than we feared would be the case.