Birmingham and Nottingham rubberstamp culture cuts

Sweeping cuts to local authority arts and culture budgets have been confirmed by councils in Birmingham and Nottingham

In an effort to make £300m in savings, Birmingham City Council is cutting nearly all its arts funding, with the move rubberstamped at a meeting on Tuesday (5 March).

Birmingham International Dance Festival will lose its £350,000 funding and grants to regularly funded arts organisations will face 50% cuts this year and 100% next financial year.

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The cuts in Nottingham, confirmed on Monday (4 March), will see a 100% reduction in grants to cultural institutions.

Nottingham Playhouse said it was "deeply concerned" to hear confirmation of a 100% cut of its £60,502 annual grant from Nottingham City Council, which was approved at the Council’s meeting on 4 March.

"While understanding the Council’s financial situation, Nottingham Playhouse believes that a cut to our funding is short-sighted," a statement issued by Nottingham Playhouse said.

"It will have minimal effect on their shortfall whilst having a negative impact on the important work we do as a charity for our community.

"We will now be reviewing our plans for 2024/25 as we seek ways to address this new funding gap."

Last month, a survey by the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils across England, found that 34% of local authorities reported the need to make cuts across arts and culture to balance the books.

In January, the government provided £600m extra funding for councils across 2024/25 to help protect services, but the LGA says this is in the context of an estimated £4bn funding gap.

A new organisation, the National Alliance for Cultural Services – made up of a range of local government bodies, including the LGA – was recently launched in a bid to provide a collective voice for local government cultural services.

It is calling for a fresh approach to sustain culture services in light of ongoing funding pressures.