Arts Council England Chief Executive Darren Henley

Arts Council England Chief Executive Darren Henley says capital needs across the sector are 'critical'

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Spending review: ACE to identify ‘essential interventions’

Arts Council England Chief Executive outlines strategy to secure additional support for struggling cultural organisations.

Neil Puffett
3 min read

Efforts to secure support for arts and culture organisations will focus on lobbying government to deliver interventions that are "most needed" and can have the greatest impact, Arts Council England (ACE) Chief Executive Darren Henley has said.

Writing in a blog, Henley said that now the timetable had been set for the Autumn Budget (30 October) and a two-year Spending Review (next spring) by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, ACE will develop a comprehensive case for the sector.

Specific "areas of need" will be drawn up by the funding body working alongside the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the sector, before being handed over to the Treasury.

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"We are acutely aware that the cost-of-living crisis and the ongoing fallout from Covid has left organisations struggling, and that capital needs across the sector are critical," Henley said. 

"We’ll provide evidence on which interventions are most needed and would have the greatest impact, and which can be launched most efficiently."

'Unlocking growth'

Alongside this, ACE will work with DCMS to highlight examples of "exceptional art" and the benefits, in terms of health, community and economic growth – they have.

"We’ll assemble the evidence – taken from reporting by [National Portfolio Organisations] and grant recipients, and developed by our research, data and policy teams – to demonstrate that investment into arts and culture unlocks jobs, activity, growth and opportunities in places that other interventions can struggle to reach, and at a speed that other interventions find hard to match. 

"I believe that when it comes to delivering against the government’s missions around economic growth, breaking down barriers to opportunity, and taking back our streets, the cultural sector is a demonstrably sound partner – and it’s in this context that we will advocate for further investment."

Chancellor Reeves has warned that the government "will have to increase taxes" due to an estimated £22bn "hole" in the public finances.

"We've got a budget on October 30 and we will set out our policy then, but it's always important when you're deciding tax policy to strike the right balance," Reeves said during an interview with Bloomberg in the US today (6 August).

"Of course you need to bring in the revenue to fund vital public services, but we've also got to grow the economy. I won't do anything that makes it harder to achieve that economic growth and prosperity."