DCMS public bodies ‘may face financial sustainability issues’

Some of the public bodies sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) could struggle to continue to operate due to worsening finances, the government department has warned.

DCMS’s annual report for 2023/24, published last week, reveals that the concern is one of seven “strategic risks” the department has been monitoring and managing.

“DCMS public bodies may face financial sustainability issues due to several years of economic pressures,” the report states.

The department works with 29 non-departmental public bodies, including Arts Council England, the British Museum, Tate and the Victoria and Albert Museum. It also works with four advisory non-departmental public bodies, including Theatres Trust.

DCMS has not named which public bodies are at most risk, but the report does say it has “commissioned a review into the financial position of several public bodies and will make spending proposals at the next spending review”.

The government has committed to a multi-year Spending Review in Spring 2025, which will set departmental allocations until at least 2028/29.

Visitor numbers down

The news comes amid concerns about the financial health of the Tate group. In 2022/23 its expenditure exceeded income by £8.78m. Its accounts for 2023/24 are yet to be published.

Writing in The Spectator, art critic JJ Charlesworth said visitor numbers for a number of “the big London institutions” have yet to return pre-pandemic levels.

“The National Gallery, constrained since last year by its current rebuild of the Sainsbury Wing entrance (set for completion in spring next year), is still some 2.4 million below the 5.5 million of 2019,” he said.

“But perhaps most alarming are the fortunes of Tate’s London galleries, with Tate Modern seeing one million fewer visitors in the year to April than before the pandemic (5.7 million), and Tate Britain posting visitor numbers of 1.2 million, down 440,000 on 2019/20.

“These figures are serious for Tate, which last year posted an £8.7 million deficit, and whose trustees approved a deficit budget for 2023/24.

“With visitor numbers only moderately increased, with inflation biting in increased costs and trading income down, and with Covid-related government support now ended, Tate faces some serious decisions; unless the new government swoops in with increased funding, or visitors magically reappear, Tate will have to decide what kind of cultural institution it wants to be for the next decade.

“Because although Tate’s travails aren’t unique among the ‘Big 6’ museums post-Covid, the fact that its audiences aren’t returning points to a bigger question about the institution’s position in the national cultural landscape.”

The risk to public bodies is one of two emergent risks highlighted in the report to be categorised as “new”.

The other is that local authorities’ financial difficulties “impact their funding for arts, culture and sporting sectors”.

To mitigate the risk, DCMS said it is undertaking regular engagement with local authorities and the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government to understand the impacts on DCMS sectors.

DCMS defends Coronation spending

Meanwhile, DCMS defended its spending on King Charles’ Coronation in May last year after the annual report revealed that it had provided £50.3m of the total cost of £72m.

A DCMS spokesperson said: “The Coronation was a historic state occasion that brought together millions of people across the country, the realms and the Commonwealth.

“It was an important diplomatic event and the biggest gathering of world leaders in a generation, putting Britain on a global stage and showcasing the best of British culture and creativity to the world.

“In line with rules regulating the spending of taxpayers money, all efforts were made to keep costs to a minimum.”

The annual report notes that the Coronation achieved over 100,000 news stories and reached an estimated global audience of two billion people in 125 countries.