Next Prime Minister urged to reform ACE

The way the UK arts sector is overseen and funded by Arts Council England (ACE) and its equivalents in the devolved nations should be changed to increase access for those from working class and marginalised backgrounds, performers' union Equity has said.

In an open letter to both candidates in the Conservative leadership election – Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak – Equity has called on the next Prime Minister to "consider reforming the arts council model", adopting "regional structures" in place of the current system.

Equity said such a move would "help level up opportunities across every region and nation".

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In the letter, which calls on the winner of the leadership contest to commit to a five-point plan for the creative sector, Equity said it is "welcome that both candidates remain committed to levelling up". 

"With our industry's ongoing problem of elitism, the creative workforce must be at the very heart of this agenda to help increase access for those from working class and marginalised backgrounds. 

"The funding landscape that supports our industry is also extremely precarious. The latest Arts Index found that public funding for the arts per head of population – via the Lottery, local and national government- has dropped by 35% since 2008, with local government funding for the arts falling by 43%. 

"The creative arts sector also faces wildly inequitable distribution of public funding. Will you commit to reversing a decade of cuts to arts funding and consider reforming the current Arts Council model into regional structures to help level up opportunities across every region and nation?"

The call for change comes ahead of a scheduled review of Arts Council England (ACE), due to take place next year as part of the government's public bodies review programme.

ACE Chief Executive Darren Henley has previously said he will make a "robust" case for ACE's future. Appearing before the DCMS Select Committee in June he told MPs that he believes the organisation currently has a strong set up – stating that it has nine offices around the country with 75% of its staff based outside London.

"We believe we can work with people on the ground as a national organisation with a local footprint that enables that to happen and we will robustly make that case as part of that review," he said.

Support for freelancers

The five-point plan also calls on the next Prime Minister to deliver sustainable long-term funding for the BBC, abandon the privatisation of Channel 4, protect performers from unregulated artificial intelligence, and improve the way creative freelancers receive support from the state.

In terms of support for freelancers, the letter says Equity's social security and tax team has "made it very clear to officials at the Department for Work and Pensions that the current one-size-fits-all structure of Universal Credit is unsuitable for creative freelancers".

"The minimum income floor in particular punishes creatives with unpredictable and fluctuating earnings, forcing those at the start of their careers with low earnings to find paid work in other sectors in order to comply with their Universal Credit commitments," the letter states.

"Equity has long campaigned for the abolition of the minimum income floor and for there to be sector specific support for the creative workforce, which accounts for 7% of all UK jobs and is up from 6% in 2015."

The results of the Tory leadership contest vote will be announced on Monday 5 September. It is expected that the winner will become Prime Minister officially the following day once current incumbant Boris Johnson leaves office.

Liz Truss is currently favourite to win, with bookmakers putting her chances of victory at more than 90%.