After Suffolk County Council announced plans to completely cut all funding for arts facilities, another UK local authority, the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, says it will try to keep its arts centers and museums.
In February 2022, local MP and former Prime Minister Theresa May expressed concern about the total cut of council funding for the Norden Farm Center for the Arts in Maidenhead, which offers art courses such as ‘Paul Klee’s Imagined Fish and Birds “.
In 2021, the council reduced funding for the institution from £158,000 to £80,000; Between 2022 and 2023 £115,000 has been awarded to the centre. The British newspaper The Observer reported that “there are no cultural funds in the next budget [2024-25]” from the council, with the Norden Farm Center for the Arts again at risk.
Councilor Joshua Reynolds, Liberal Democrat cabinet member for communities and leisure, tells The Journal of Art: “Last May there was a change of administration when we took control of the council. The former conservative regime wanted to reduce its funding to zero. We have agreed a financing agreement for one year with [Norden Farm Centre] and they made it clear that we want a financing agreement for three years [with the institution] which we could not implement this year because of various pressures”. Council funding for the Royal Berkshire Archives in Reading will also be maintained.
Another UK council, Nottingham City Council, is reviewing its funding for arts and cultural facilities after issuing a section 114 notice, meaning no new spending is allowed, except for funding statutory services, in the month past According to the UK Museums Association, the local authority has warned it is facing a gap of £53m in your budget for the next fiscal year.
Five organisations, including contemporary art gallery Nottingham Contemporary, received a total of £198,000 this year (2023-24) compared to £232,000 in 2022-23. The council’s budget proposals for 2024-25 set out a plan to “cease contributions to the cultural sector”.
The council says it is launching a Delivery Model Assessment (DMA) to identify alternative means of delivering museum services. The assessment is “still ongoing,” a museum spokesman says. “It is being externally led and is currently consulting with a range of funders, sector bodies and national, regional and local partners. The public will also be consulted as part of the process.”
The Observer notes that spending per resident in England’s councils, excluding education, fell by almost a quarter in real terms between 2009-10 and 2019-20, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. More and more UK councils are cutting arts funding, which is generally not legal (not required by law).
