Arts Cuts For Quangos Announced

A hit list of hundreds of taxpayer-funded bodies were axed in a “bonfire of the quangos” today. Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude announced the shake-up as “a victory for accountability”. The Arts were by no means immune to this savagery, Four bodies including the Film Industry Training Board were privatised although mergers resulting in a new heritage body taking in the current English Heritage, the National Memorial Fund and the National Lottery Fund were not on the cards. The National Museums and Galleries service, a publicly funded body, which offers the public free admission to some of the country’s best-known cultural venues, is still under threat and free gallery enterence is still likely to be scrapped by the Government in the future. There are 16 galleries in this category — including the Tate Galleries the National Gallery, the Imperial War Museum, the V & A and the British Museum. They are all publicly funded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and receive rebates of VAT in order to enable them to have free admission. The abolition of The Design Council, one of the oldest quangos, created in 1944 seems to be jointly under the DOB and not part of Hunts arm of cuts how ever it will go with functions transferred to the civil service, charities or private sector. The 129 bodies that will be either merged or consolidated have not included Heritage groups such as,English Heritage, the National Memorial Fund and the National Lottery Fund, See the list below as this seems to have been spared and due to Retain status on grounds of performing a technical function which should remain independent from Government.The story is quite different for the UK Film Council set to merge with the British film Institute. It is also noted that the Film Industry Training Board, the Construction and Skills Training Board, the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board and the Tote Board will be privatised. The cuts are billed as the biggest ever shake-up of public sector agencies with up to 10,000 staff are expected to lose their jobs. Those on six-figure salaries are first in the firing line, although more than 400 quangos are expected to survive untouched when the Government deconstructs the agencies and arms-length bodies. Chancellor George Osborne announced plans to save £6.2billion in efficiency cuts this year, he said £600million would come from non-departmental public bodies. A list of 177 axed quangos were leaked to the Telegraph on September 24.

Here is the list of Arts cuts as announced by Jeremy Hunt 14/10/2010

Released Information from the DCMS 14/10/2010

* the UK Film Council will be abolished, although Lottery funding and Government support for film will continue; Film: The key mechanisms that support British the film industry (including film tax relief which is worth more than £100 million a year) will remain in place. Lottery funding for film is set to increase because of the changes in allocation that the Government has made. We are currently considering with stakeholders how best Government can support the industry and strengthen its sustainability, and an announcement will be made later this year.

UK Film Council

No longer an NDPB – Abolish body and transfer functions, as previously announced.

* the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and the Advisory Council on Libraries will be abolished; Advisory Committee on the Government Art Collection No Longer an NDPB – Declassify and reconstitute as a committee of experts

Arts Council England

Retain – Retain on grounds of performing a function which requires political impartiality

English Heritage