Question on steps being taken to protect regional arts organisations and facilities funded by local authorities

Key messages

• The situation facing councils on cultural investment is a significant challenge, given that half of councils are facing reductions to libraries, museums, theatres and galleries, and over half to their leisure provision. Two thirds of councils we surveyed ahead of the Spring Budget warned that their communities will see reductions to local neighbourhood services this year – such as waste collection, road repairs, library, and leisure services – as they struggle to plug funding gaps.
• Councils recognise the vital role played by local arts organisations and services in a wide range of local outcomes, including supporting economic growth, enhancing educational attainment, promoting better health and wellbeing, preventing additional cost in other parts of public services and creating thriving places in which people want to live and work.
• However, demand and cost-led pressures on services such as adult and children’s social care, home to school transport and homelessness services are rising. Protecting these services from deeper cuts is having a knock-on effect on the wide range of other council services that residents expect and rely on. 
• In recognition of the acute funding and demand pressures facing councils, the Government provided £600 million extra funding in 2024/25 to help protect services from some cuts and support councils to try and set balanced budgets this year. However, our survey shows most councils said the extra money would help to some extent, but the majority (58 per cent) said this impact would be “small”. Eighty-five per cent of councils said they would still have to make cost savings to balance their 2024/25 budget.
• More than half (55 per cent) with responsibility for the services reported that cost savings would be needed in their sport and leisure service provision with 48 per cent reporting that cost savings would be needed within their library services. Unfortunately, once these services and facilities are lost, they are unlikely to reopen.
• Around half (48 per cent) with responsibility for the services reported that cost savings would be needed in their parks and green spaces service provision with over a third (34 per cent) reporting the need for cost savings in their provision of museums, galleries, and theatres.
• While councils have made huge efforts over recent years to reduce costs and make savings by transforming the way services are delivered, 2024/25 is the sixth one-year settlement in a row for councils which continues to hamper financial planning and their financial sustainability. 
• The funding and governance environment for culture can also be highly fragmented at a local level. A move towards more coordinated national funding pots for culture, avoiding competitive funding processes such as those seen in the earlier phases of the Levelling Up Fund, would better support the resourcing of place-led cultural strategies.
• The LGA has joined forces with other sector bodies to launch the new National Alliance for Cultural Services to make sure all partners are working together to help councils minimise the impact on residents. 
• We have also published 7 new think pieces on how devolution can support the changes that councils need to make.
• There is more information on the ways in which councils support local culture in the report of the Commission on Culture and Local Government and Cornerstones of Culture.