Anger and frustration has greeted news of devastating grant cuts to cultural 'gems' and inspiring community arts projects across Birmingham. The city's world-renowned orchestra, ballet and opera, popular theatre and grassroots arts forums in struggling neighbourhoods are all affected.
Cuts to the arts, totalling £3.2m over two years, have been described by one commentator as 'economic and cultural vandalism' while arts lovers have described it as 'depressing' and 'shameful'. Flagship venues that help put Birmingham on the world map will lose out, but so too will vital outreach work they do, along with ten community based arts projects in deprived communities.
BirminghamLive can also reveal that less than a year ago some of the affected organisations were all promised assured funding until at least 2026 to give them financial stability - a deal that's now been upended. Senior councillors who gave that income guarantee ten months ago, hailing the role of the arts in Birmingham's 'golden future', are now backing these cuts.
READ MORE: Birmingham council leader boasts 'region on the up' hours after alarming budget update
The council has announced more than £300m of cuts across all services, designed to help the council stay afloat amid extraordinary financial pressures. It also has to sell off up to a billion pounds of land and property and cut hundreds of jobs, while council tax is going up by 9.99% a year for two years.
Iconic venues and organisations including the Birmingham REP, Birmingham Royal Ballet, City of Birmingham Orchestra, Ikon Gallery, Sampad and B:Music will all lose half of their council funding this year and all of it next year.
On the hitlist are funds for these organisations:
- City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
- Birmingham REP Theatre
- Birmingham Royal Ballet
- IKON Gallery
- Birmingham Opera Company
- FABRIC
- Sampad
- Ex Cathedra
- Legacy Centre of Excellence
- B:Music
All except B:Music will see their grants reduced by 50% this year and 100% next year, saving £630,000 this year and £1.26 million next year. In addition, two historical cultural project grants will be delivered as promised this year (financial support for Black History Month and Birmingham's Heritage Week, worth £35,000) but will cease next year.
All other cultural project grants will go with immediate effect to save £452,000 this year and £487,000 next year. The International Dance Festival and Birmingham Weekender arts festival have had their funding pulled. Also given bad news this week were a grassroots programme which operates an arts forum in each of ten areas of the city, now also facing financial woes as a result of the swingeing Budget cuts unveiled.
READ MORE: Broke Birmingham City Council unveils cuts - weekly bins, day centres, youth services all hit
The 10 local arts forums in Northfield, Sutton, Perry Barr, Yardley, Selly Oak, Hall Green, Ladywood, Erdington, Edgbaston and Hodge Hill, overseen by Number 11 Arts, are all affected. The culture and arts cuts have been announced despite efforts within the Labour group of councillors to protect some of the organisations affected - we understand there were heartfelt appeals to protect at least some of the funding. The council's culture delivery team will also be restructured to 'reflect reduced service activity' to save £25,000 this year and £50,000 next year.
BirminghamLive inquiries confirm that at a cabinet meeting last March, major organisations were told their grant funding from the council was 'ringfenced' until 2026 to give them stability, with just shy of £3 million a year confirmed as a regular contribution. That in turn opened the door to more Arts Council funding for the venues. At the time Cllr Jayne Francis, then culture lead, hailed the sector for its vital role in the city's 'golden decade' ahead.
Since then, however, there has been an extraordinary downturn in council fortunes. The budget papers, published earlier this week, outline the proposed cuts.
'Cultural vandalism' - Brummies speak up
Taking to Twitter to discuss the cuts, ForwardBrum said: "Cultural and economic vandalism, due to the incompetency and negligence of the city council, combined with ruthless central government cuts. These superb Brum cultural gems in our city should be fully supported and protected. I am a huge supporter and fan of BRB and CBSO."
Paula Simps said: "This is shameful. By funding museums, galleries, performing arts spaces, etc. you increase visitor numbers. This in turn helps to support the hospitality industry and secures jobs. By not funding one sector, the whole economy of the city is ruined."
But Adam Taylor said: "Is it tax payers responsibility to fund the arts? They should pay for statutory services only - everything else is a nice to have and should not be paid for via taxing people."
Chris Morris said: "They are some incredible organisations with long histories, they're not something that should be thrown away easily. Hopefully they have sufficient external funding streams to continue." Wots Left added: "Terribly sad about this. Birmingham set to become a cultural wasteland."
In a joint statement, organisations affected said they were 'devastated' by the proposals. "The arts, culture and heritage industries play a vital role in the economic and social life of our city; enhancing people’s lives, supporting jobs and putting Birmingham on the world-stage. In the face of ongoing austerity and reduction in public funding, alongside covid and rising inflation, the arts and culture sector has continued to be resilient," said the collective statement from Culture Central, representing the region's arts sector.
"We remain open, and continue to welcome audiences, work with communities, and support artists in Birmingham, the UK and internationally; and as the sector responsible for the talent, development, and inspiration pipelines for the UK’s global economic and reputational success, we don’t plan on stopping. We will continue to work together to advocate for the vital work taking place across Birmingham’s cultural sector."
They added: "We call for creative solutions towards continued investment in the arts, and commit to collaborating with the council on a clear strategy to secure a bright future for our city."
READ MORE: Birmingham to bin weekly collections to save millions a year
Speaking to BirminghamLive, Jez Collins, music historian and arts campaigner, said no sectors had been left untouched as a result of the financial crisis. "It's hard to comprehend the scale of devastation. It's also hard to pit one service against another (social care vs culture for example) when the cumulative effect will be catastrophic," he said.
But he said the city's cultural offer - from grassroots projects in community halls and schools, to world class ballet and music in specialist venues - all played a part in the city's vibrancy and reputation, inspiring young people in particular.
Lyle Bignon, night time economy advisor, said the cuts sounded 'a major alarm' and would impact on the city's reputation as a cultural centre of excellence. "The knock-on impact will be deeply felt across the hospitality sector but also in all our communities.
"Our civic cultural institutions are responsible for immeasurable wellbeing, celebrate all our communities and attract inward investment. The overall impact of the direct cuts to the cultural sector and the cuts as a whole across the city will be less footfall and engagement, more unemployment and less disposable income.
"The cuts for the flagship venues are disappointing - they are short sighted. The cultural and arts sectors are already facing very challenging circumstances. Having a successful and thriving arts and culture is the lifeblood of our city."
Keep up to date with all the latest politics news with our politics newsletter. You can sign up for free here to get stories delivered straight to your inbox to read at a time convenient to you.
