Britain has a rich and varied cultural offering: it is known internationally for outstanding arts and heritage attractions, from world class museums, galleries and theatres, to heritage sites and attractions which are the focal point of local communities. Our national treasures range from old masters and West End shows, to contemporary dance and cutting-edge festivals. In the last Parliament, our predecessors considered the work of the Arts Council England, and concluded that there had been an arts funding imbalance in favour of London at the expense of tax payers and lottery players in other parts of the country. We wanted to follow up on this inquiry to examine how the culture sector throughout the country is coping with the current difficult economic situation.
Councils have been the unsung heroes of arts funding for decades. Town Halls across the nation are under unprecedented pressure to reduce budgets and deal with increased demands in areas such as social care, but even so our analysis shows the arts have been cut disproportionately in the last five years compared to council services overall (despite the fact that investment in the arts accounts on average for less than ½p in every £1 spent by local authorities in England).
A 2017 publication from the Cultural Learning Alliance.
The knowledge, skill and experience made possible by the performing and visual arts, film, museums, libraries, heritage and exploring the built environment, are essential to young people’s development. Through cultural learning, young people are encouraged to explore other cultures, past and present, and inspired to contribute to the arts and culture of the future.
An ambition to achieve, throughout England, both equity in access to opportunities for participation and learning locally and excellence in training, production and presentation.
This briefing from the Cultural Learning Alliance covers all aspects of the Department for Education’s English Baccalaureate consultation Nov 2015 -Jan 2016. It details the main arguments as to how the planned reforms affect the teaching and learning of the arts in schools, and links to evidence on the current picture.
