Due to UK government Arts huge slashes in the budget, Arts Council England, the organisation through which governmental funding is distributed to 850 regularly funded organisations, including 200 theatres and theatre companies, has had its budget cut by 29.6%. In real terms, its budget will drop from £450 million in 2010/11 to £350 million in 2014/15.  Speaking about the announced cuts, Nica Burns, West End producer and President of the Society of London Theatre commented to http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk:

“The British theatre is an extremely well run, lean, highly successful industry, creatively the best in the world. It makes an essential contribution to the cultural heart of the nation. For a current investment of £450 million via the Arts Council we generate over £3 billion for the UK economy. Whilst we accept the need for cuts like everyone else, 30% is very hard for us to bear and will undoubtedly cause long term damage. As we already raise large amounts in sponsorship and private investment, this public investment is not replaceable. Given the amount of money we return on investment in the theatre industry, cuts this severe are a poor business decision.”

In a statement released by Arts Council England, Chief Executive Alan Davey said:

“This cut will inevitably have a significant impact on the cultural life of the country. The Secretary of State has asked us to try to ensure that funding for arts organisations is not cut by more than 15% over the next four years – the tipping point that we identified to the Chancellor some months ago.

“Council had already indicated they will seek to minimise the effect of any cuts to the portfolio of arts organisations we regularly fund and will consider the overall position when it meets on 25 October. We will now be analysing the details of the settlement and the consequences for the arts in this country as a whole.

We will announce how we will be implementing the cuts shortly after, and will then get on with the job in hand. It will be a tough task but we are determined to manage the cuts in the best possible way for the benefit of the whole arts and cultural sector.”

The full breakdown is:

• 2011/12  - £387.7m
• 2012/13  - £359.2m
• 2013/14  - £351.6m
• 2014/15  - £349.4m