The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is to cut its funding allocation to Arts Council England (ACE) in 2010-11 by £4m as part of a £20m spending squeeze.
The move is the result of a Treasury requirement that £5bn in savings be found across all government departments by 2011.
The DCMS's decision to reduce ACE's budget to £462.9m follows the council's announcement that it plans to axe 24 per cent of its employees by 2010 as part of a £6.5m cost cutting exercise.
An ACE spokeswoman said the £4m cut would not affect the 2010-11 visual-arts budget of £43.9m. "In implementing these cuts, we will not reduce our planned investment in the arts organisations we fund on a regular basis," she said.
"Instead, we will reconsider our existing and planned new projects and look to find savings there. As we are already involved in a major organisational review, we are unable to find further savings through job losses or other administrative costs," she added.
However, ACE chairwoman Liz Forgan has unveiled several initiatives to help arts bodies during the recession. These include Sustain, a £40m open application fund that will be drawn from ACE's lottery income.
Meanwhile, in a further blow, culture secretary Andy Burnham has confirmed that he will reduce funding to the Find Your Talent Programme Beyond the Pathfinders cultural participation scheme, which is run by Creativity, Culture and Education, an independent organisation.
Burnham said he would reduce funding by "£1.25m over 2009-10 and 2010-11, representing 50 per cent of the resource allocation".
The move is the result of a Treasury requirement that £5bn in savings be found across all government departments by 2011.
The DCMS's decision to reduce ACE's budget to £462.9m follows the council's announcement that it plans to axe 24 per cent of its employees by 2010 as part of a £6.5m cost cutting exercise.
An ACE spokeswoman said the £4m cut would not affect the 2010-11 visual-arts budget of £43.9m. "In implementing these cuts, we will not reduce our planned investment in the arts organisations we fund on a regular basis," she said.
"Instead, we will reconsider our existing and planned new projects and look to find savings there. As we are already involved in a major organisational review, we are unable to find further savings through job losses or other administrative costs," she added.
However, ACE chairwoman Liz Forgan has unveiled several initiatives to help arts bodies during the recession. These include Sustain, a £40m open application fund that will be drawn from ACE's lottery income.
Meanwhile, in a further blow, culture secretary Andy Burnham has confirmed that he will reduce funding to the Find Your Talent Programme Beyond the Pathfinders cultural participation scheme, which is run by Creativity, Culture and Education, an independent organisation.
Burnham said he would reduce funding by "£1.25m over 2009-10 and 2010-11, representing 50 per cent of the resource allocation".
