September 2024: Musicians' Union members in the Welsh National Opera orchestra take part in industrial action ahead of a performance of Rigoletto at the Wales Millennium Centre. Photo Adam Gasson/PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo.
Struggle is under way to reverse decades of decline in culture funding. From Cardiff to Nottingham, from Edinburgh to Birmingham and beyond, those who work in the arts are fighting for their future…
Chronic cuts to funding of all aspects of the arts have long been causing deep concern to those working in the creative industries. In recent months the response from workers has been to organise colourful and vigorous campaigns and protests which have successfully grabbed the public’s attention.
There is a new confidence being shown by workers in the arts, following decades of government neglect of a sector that does not neatly fit into the capitalist model of market forces and profiteering.
And a clear marker of that confidence is the growth in membership of the trade unions representing those working in the cultural fields.
For example, Musicians’ Union membership – hovering around 30,000 for decades – has risen to over 35,000 in the past four years. Others, such as Equity (for workers in the performing arts), Bectu (for workers in broadcasting, entertainment, communications and theatre), and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, are also increasing in strength.
The fairly recently formed Artists’ Union England is growing. And its sister union, the Scottish Artists Union, is now part of the body of the Scottish Trades Union Congress.
The period of pandemic lockdowns had been deemed to be the great shrinker of trade unions, especially in the field of entertainment – but in fact the opposite is the case. Also noteworthy is the regular coordination which is taking place between unions, including the Scottish Society of Playwrights, Prospect (which represents members in areas such as curation, conservation, and archaeology), the NUJ (journalists) and the Professional Footballers Association.
Fighting back
Despite this growing strength, the task of fighting back and reversing the trend of decline is still a daunting one. In his analysis The Damage Caused by a Decade of Arts Funding Cuts written for the Musicians’ Union, journalist Andrew Stewart uses as his starting point the coming into power of the coalition government in 2010 and the reduction in the overall budget for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport from £1.4 billion a year to £1.1 billion.
He traces the continuing downward trend of funding for the arts. It fell “in real terms by £178 million between 2010 and 2023. Arts Council England’s budget was trimmed by around 30 per cent over the same period.”
Stewart cites similar cuts in the devolved administrations. Creative Scotland had its budget cut by £6.6 million in 2023, and Arts Council for Wales by 21 per cent. The National Theatre of Wales and Mid Wales Opera were dropped from regular funding. Arts Council Northern Ireland lost from its arts grants “a staggering 63 per cent between 2010 and 2020”.
Stewart concludes, “The statistics bear witness to the government’s conscious choice to downgrade arts funding across the UK.”
A major new report about arts funding, The State of the Arts, was produced by the Campaign for the Arts and the University of Warwick. This highlights the perilous state of many important parts of our cultural life.
Compared to government spending overall, especially military spending, the amounts being “saved” are small, but the damage is great. This becomes apparent when we look at the outcomes for organisations such as theatres, local arts centres, grassroots promoters, opera and dance companies and individuals from freelancers to full time contracted actors and orchestral players.
‘Compared to government spending overall… the amounts being “saved” are small, but the damage is great…’
With the threats of more hardships on the horizon coming from the current government, campaigners are preparing to fight against continued decline in arts funding. In the campaigners’ sights are also local authorities, which cut arts funding by around a third between 2010 and 2018 in England, Scotland and Wales. And since then many have implemented deeper cuts.
Arts education across Britain’s schools and colleges has suffered too from savage cuts. (News, page 5). Adam Behr of Newcastle University, writing for The Conversation, describes this as a false economy and criticises the false dichotomy between science and arts education.
The Campaign for the Arts pointed out in February this year, “The arts support local communities, the economy and all people to thrive. Local authorities are still the biggest public investors in culture and library services. But without action now to shore up their funding, arts access across the nation is critically at risk.”
Protests grow
All around Britain there has been a strong upsurge of campaigning to reverse this decline. When Birmingham City Council declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023, cuts of over £3 million hit the arts. A statement from Midlands TUC Creative and Leisure Industries Committee urged “all interested parties to come together and campaign against these cuts which will be devastating if they happen. We are ready to fight alongside you. Once we lose our cultural icons they are gone forever.”
In the East Midlands, the Musicians’ Union regional organiser Stephen Brown said, “We have been working with sister unions, campaign groups and Notts Trades Council to fight what can only be described as devastating cuts for the residents and creative sector of Nottingham.”
Equity members at Welsh National Opera have temporarily paused their strike action against cuts. But they will go ahead on 15 November if the company tries to implement its proposed 15 per cent pay cut, reduction of contracted hours and job losses.
In September, 93 per cent of the WNO chorus singers voted for industrial action over the proposed changes, including action short of a strike. All of the 30-strong chorus are Equity members and every single one took part in the ballot. Their protests outside the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff in October drew national attention to their dispute.
A vigorous campaign by Equity and the Musicians’ Union helped to overturn the Scottish administration’s cuts to freelancers’ funding. But uncertainty over other cuts and future funding is putting many arts companies in jeopardy.
On 5 September there was a celebratory protest at the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh with pledges to continue the campaign. This followed onstage protests by casts at several theatre performances in the Edinburgh Festival in August.
Britain’s theatres are at risk. There’s an urgent need for £30 million to carry out crucial repairs. Work is especially needed at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth, The Lowry in Salford and the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough among others.
In Dundee, Liam Sinclair, director of the city’s Repertory Theatre, stated that the uncertainty of Creative Scotland funding “severely affects our ability to plan for even the immediate future and poses a direct threat to our financial stability.”
Around £300 million is needed for an ongoing plan for the theatre sector. This is highlighted by the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre in a submission to the Treasury, ahead of the Budget on 30 October.
Library closures
In another aspect of cultural vandalism, cuts to library services are ongoing. For example in Aberdeen the SNP council closed six libraries, prompting a vigorous reaction.
The Library Campaign has been active in fighting against library closures in Nottingham and Birmingham and can be contacted at librarycampaign.com. The Save Nottingham Libraries campaign was launched in 2022. The Save Birmingham Campaign took on board the saving of 25 of the city’s libraries.