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Theatre Funding: What Will 2005 Bring?Dateline: 16th January, 2005Tighter budgets for a start! Since Labour came to power in 1997 much has been done to restore the cuts in theatre (and arts in general) subsidy but there seems to be little doubt that the amount of money available will, if it doesn't actually reduce, not rise. We already know that the frozen support for DCMS to Arts Council England will result in an effective cut of £30m in subsidy to the arts. As Christopher Frayling, the chair, said at the time: “It's not that we think the arts should be exempt from public expenditure pressures. But what is disappointing is the sense of ‘Buggins’ turn’. The contemporary arts did well last time round, so now they don't. Regional museums did less well last time, so now they do better. This is no way to build our culture and throws into question the place of the arts and museums in the Government’s pecking order. “So we are now left with some stark choices. Either we rob the mainstream arts to protect arts for young people, emerging artists and innovation - or we rob arts for young people, emerging artists and innovation in order to bolster some of the mainstream arts. We will announce our decisions in March.” Across the country, too, theatres which depend on local authority spending are about to learn what their subsidy for 2005-6 will be and many have already had it indicated to them that they can't expect an increase. Then there's education money. A lot of theatres are given money by local education authorities for producing work for schools. A lot of this actually attracts other funding, more than doubling the amount available. However the government is keen that authorities should devolve as much money to schools as possible, so, instead of an authority having (possibly) tens of thousands to spend on the arts, lots of individual schools will have, in most cases, hundreds. And the glory days of the National Lottery are also behind us - less people playing and more demands on the cash - so that source of funding is reducing. But let's look on the bright(er) side. New Partners, an initiative from Arts and Business, the organisation responsible for bringing together businesses which want to sponsor the arts and arts organisations which need sponsorship, has, since it started the programme began in 2000, has made over 1,400 investments to support new arts-business partnerships totalling over £12 million. These investments have levered over £28 million in cash and in-kind sponsorship from the private sector. Among these programmes is the Travelex season at the National Theatre which provides £10 tickets for many of the National's productions. 2005 will bring a general election. Already the Conservative Party is talking about tax cuts as a main part of its manifesto. Although all the indications are that - at the moment - they will not win (a poll in today's News of the World suggests, in fact, that they have fallen further behind), a tit-for-tat "We'll cut taxes too" pledge from Labour, if it comes, will put further arts funding in jeopardy. There can be little doubt that, financially, 2005 will be the toughest year for some time for theatre: time to batten down the hatches and work on increasing audiences. But that's another story...
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