The announcement follows intensive lobbying by the sector, with the MU advocating consistently and strongly on behalf of members. Photo: Shutterstock.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has announced £1.5 billion to save over 1,000 arts and culture venues across England, including orchestras and arts organisations.
Arts Council England’s regularly funded organisations – National Portfolio Organisations – will receive £80 million capital funding over four years. This is part of a 5% uplift next year for these organisations to help deliver arts and culture activity in every local authority.
It follows intensive lobbying by the sector, with the MU advocating consistently and strongly on behalf of members – pushing for an industrial strategy for the creative industries and raising the issue with the cabinet and MPs via regular meetings and parliamentary questions.
A step in the right direction
Musicians’ Union General Secretary Naomi Pohl said: “We’ve spent so much of the last two years speaking to MPs and Ministers about the desperate need to invest in music and the arts after many years of standstill funding, so this announcement is enormously welcome.
“We understand that many Arts Council England funded organisations with buildings face difficult choices when they have to weigh up the cost of fixing a leaky roof against increasing pay for performers. This announcement isn't about buildings, it's really about what happens inside those buildings. It's about the magic our members create.
“We hope this new funding will ease the financial situation enough for our members to get a proper and long overdue pay rise, and give arts organisations the financial security they need to plan ahead.
“Overall, this is a very welcome announcement. It won’t solve all the sector’s problems overnight, and we want to see more direct funding for activity and jobs for all arts and culture organisations, but it is a step forward and a signal that the sector will be prioritised for funding alongside other crucial industries and public services.”
Long-awaited investment
MU National Organiser for Orchestras Jo Laverty said: “News of the government’s £1.5 billion investment in cultural organisations is a significant moment, especially given the scale of underfunding in the arts. This commitment to safeguarding venues and strengthening the cultural infrastructure, is a hugely important step.
"The positive knock-on effect for touring work which has seen significant challenges over many years, and the ability, we hope, to put more money into creating art and greater work opportunities, is welcomed.
“However, it remains unclear at present how this funding will translate into improved pay and conditions for the musicians whose work underpins these institutions and who have seen salaries and pay in the sector stagnate for more than a decade. Until we understand how this investment reaches the workforce itself, we will remain cautiously hopeful that this will see a tangible, beneficial impact on musicians’ livelihoods”.
Arts and culture bring us together
Making the announcement, Lisa Nandy MP said: “At a time when forces seek to divide us, arts, culture and heritage are what bind us together.
“Our local cultural institutions aren’t just buildings — they’re part of who we are as a nation, they help tell our national story, and provide unique opportunities for young people to pursue their dreams.
“This funding will keep the doors open and the lights on at thousands of arts organisations, museums, libraries and heritage buildings that might otherwise have been at real risk of closing. It will unlock opportunities for millions of people who have been shut out for far too long. That is the Britain we are rebuilding.”
The MU attended the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announcement on Wednesday 21 January. Speaking after, MU General Secretary Naomi Pohl said: “It is evident how passionate Lisa Nandy is about access and that talent is everywhere; her invitation to arts organisations to throw their doors open and be inclusive of young people, whatever their background, was important and chimes with their commitment to arts and music subjects in schools.”
The package also includes funding for national, local and regional museums, capital projects in arts venues, protecting heritage buildings and improving libraries.
Read the full announcement via the DCMS – including quotes from chief executives at Opera North, English National Opera and the Liverpool Philharmonic.