£1.57 billion lifeline for the cultural sector announced at last

After weeks of sustained campaigning from across the creative industries, warning the government of unsustainable losses threatening the future of perhaps 70% of theatres in the country – with speculation that as many as that may not survive even until Christmas – the announcement has been broadly welcomed by organisations who will now, Boris Johnson said, be able to ‘stay afloat and support their staff’ while unable to generate revenue from audiences.

Johnson spoke of the UK’s creative industries as ‘the heart of this country,’ a long hoped-for piece of recognition, and the package of investment will be available mostly in the form of emergency grants for ‘the performing arts and theatres, heritage, historic palaces, museums, galleries, live music and independent cinema.’ As well as these emergency grants, repayable loans and other forms of support will also be offered.

The £1.57bn package comprises: 

• £1.15 billion for cultural organisations in England, made up of £270 million in repayable finance and £880 million in grants.
• £100 million of support for national cultural institutions in England and the English Heritage Trust.
• £120 million of capital investment intended to restart construction on cultural infrastructure and heritage constructions projects in England that have had to be paused due to the pandemic.

An extra £188 million for devolved administrations: £33 million for Northern Ireland, £97 million for Scotland, and £59 million for Wales, is included in the package.

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden announced the package, saying ‘Our arts and culture are the soul of our nation. They make our country great and are the linchpin of our world-beating and fast-growing creative industries. I understand the grave challenges the arts face and we must protect and preserve all we can for future generations. Today we are announcing a huge support package of immediate funding to tackle the funding crisis they face. I said we would not let the arts down, and this massive investment shows our level of commitment.’

Awards will be made with the help of independent figures from the sector and organisations including Arts Council England, Historic England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the British Film Institute. Applications will open soon.

Early responses to the announcement have been positive – most organisations and individuals expressing relief – but it comes too late for Nuffield Southampton Theatres which will, administrators say, be closed permanently, and other theatres such as Theatre Royal Plymouth had already made announcements regarding significant numbers of redundancies. While the relief is palpable, there is also substantial frustration within the industry that this lifeline has come so late in the day.