Get ready for cuts, warns Hunt

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has promised that culture will not be singled out as a soft target for spending cuts – but warned cultural organisations to prepare for budget reductions this year.

In his first keynote speech, Hunt said his government’s commitment to the sector “goes right to the top”.

However, he warned that budgets would have to be re-examined - leading to cuts during the current financial year and a tough public spending settlement.

Hunt said: “We will be open, fair and as rapid as possible in letting people know what their funding will be for the next spending settlement.”

Hunt also called for cuts in administration and bureaucracy ahead of budget reductions that could affect creative output.

He said part of the answer is to reform arts funding and tap into new sources of capital that would support, rather than replace, public money.

One key proposal on the table is rewarding high-performing organisations with five-year or longer funding settlements – a change recommended in Brian McMaster’s 2007 Excellence in the Arts report.

Elsewhere, the new government plans to give arts, heritage and sport their original 20 per cent share of National Lottery funding. This would provide more than £100m each year for the sector.

Encouraging philanthropy will also lie at the heart of Conservative cultural policy, through the reformation of Gift Aid and a proposal to extend Acceptance in Lieu schemes to living donors.

Elsewhere, Hunt pledged his support for free admission to national museums and galleries. He also said that while the new government wouldn’t politicise funding decisions made by arts organisations such as the Arts Council, administration costs must be reduced to 5 per cent of the budgets they distribute.

Maurice Davies, head of communications at the Museums Association, welcomed Hunt’s commitment to the cultural sector.

However, he warned: “In-year cuts make a mockery of business planning for those museums that have made decisions on the basis of funding settlements for this financial year. And while five-year settlements should be welcomed, they become meaningless unless they are stuck to.

“This speech took a very metropolitan view – it was all about big museums and theatres, and we would encourage Hunt to become more familiar with local patterns of museums provision across the country.”

Download a full transcript of the speech here (word)