Health of the UK arts remains a ‘profound concern’, report warns

A new snapshot report into the health of the UK’s arts sector has painted a worrying picture, with analysis showing a persistent inequality gap in engagement, low wages for younger workforces and a continuing decline in government funding.

The figures have been produced by the UK-wide alliance Campaign for the Arts, which last year warned in its seminal State of the Arts Report that the UK had the lowest levels of government spending on culture among European nations.

Twelve months on, it has published stats relating to five key metrics, including arts engagement and arts funding – and urged the Labour government to focus on “progress and improvement for the arts” during its second year in power.

Key takeaways from the analysis include:

• Participation in the arts increased in England, but the gap between the most and least deprived 10% of people has not changed.
• Since 2011, there has now been a 23% reduction in the number of hours of arts teaching in English state-funded secondary schools.
• Planned cuts outlined in the June Spending Review mean that the government is projected to be spending well over a third less per person through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in 2029 compared with 2010 – down further from the 32% reduction currently.
• Cultural sector employees earn below the UK average for their age until turning 40, but under-21s earn 43.7% less than the UK median at the same age.

Responding to the figures, the director of Campaign for the Arts Jack Gamble said: “Labour’s first year has been hit and miss for the arts, with rather more misses than might have been expected from their pre-election pledge to put the arts ‘at the centre of a new, hopeful, modern story of Britain’.

“It’s not too late to turn this around, and the costs of doing so will be far smaller than the costs of inaction. Labour’s second year could be one of progress and improvement for the arts. We really need it to be.”

Rising costs such as employers’ National Insurance mean many cultural organisations are struggling to keep the lights on, Gamble said.

“Some extra support for running costs has been earmarked for national and civic museums – but not for the nearly 1,000 cultural organisations funded by Arts Council England, over half of which are now in a ‘precarious financial position’ according to a recent Artquest survey,” he added.

“Last month’s Spending Review signalled yet more real-terms cuts to the DCMS over the coming years, despite an increase in overall public spending.

Key findings from the State of the Arts 2024 report

• The UK was one of just a small minority of countries to reduce total culture spending per person between 2010 and 2022.
• Local government revenue funding of culture and related services had decreased by 29% in Scotland, 40% in Wales and 48% in England within that period.
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s core funding of cultural organisations decreased by 18% to just 0.17% of total public spending per person.
• Core government funding for arts councils decreased by 18% in England, 22% in Scotland, 25% in Wales and 66% in Northern Ireland.
• National Lottery grant funding for arts and heritage projects increased by 19% during the same period.

Responding to the analysis into arts funding, Lizzie Crump and Clare Thurman, co-directors of the What Next? movement, said: “The data shows an erosion of funding that is deeply concerning. We have already seen the impact of years of retrenchment on people and organisations and on the communities that they serve; affecting jobs, buildings, the talent pipeline, innovation and opportunity.

“There are holes in the fabric and we cannot afford for this to continue. Government has the ability and the mechanisms to turn this trajectory around: to fix these foundations, but also to be ambitious for our collective future. We need new ideas and models, risk and creativity. We need DCMS and the Treasury to listen and to act.”