People across the nation will benefit from access to the arts and culture on their doorsteps as a result of a major funding package to boost growth and opportunity.
Hundreds of arts venues, museums, libraries and heritage buildings will receive a share of more than £270 million as part of an Arts Everywhere Fund from the government, supporting jobs and creating opportunities for young people to learn creative skills while helping to boost people’s sense of pride in where they live.
The cash will be targeted at organisations in urgent need of financial support to keep them up and running, carry out vital infrastructure work and improve long term financial resilience.
Today’s announcement will help protect hundreds of jobs in the cultural and heritage sectors. Overall, cultural sectors support 666,000 filled jobs across the country.
Arts and culture are a vital part of our first-class creative industries and are a key part of what makes Britain so great. The creative industries are worth £124 billion to our economy, creating jobs, opportunities and showcasing the best of Britain to the world. That is why the creative industries were identified as one of the eight growth-driving sectors in the government’s Industrial Strategy – with the potential to boost economic growth throughout communities in the UK.
At an inaugural lecture marking the 60th anniversary of the first ever arts white paper by former Minister Jennie Lee, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will gather leaders from across the arts and culture sectors at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford-upon-Avon. She will set out how Jennie Lee’s vision of the ‘arts for everyone, everywhere’ will be made a reality as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: Arts and culture help us understand the world we live in, they shape and define society and are enjoyed by people in every part of our country. They are the building blocks of our world-leading creative industries and make a huge contribution towards boosting growth and breaking down barriers to opportunities for young people to learn the creative skills they need to succeed.
The funding we are announcing today will allow the arts to continue to flourish across Britain, creating good jobs and growth by fixing the foundations in our cultural venues, museums, libraries and heritage institutions.
As a government that is on your side, our Plan for Change will ensure that arts and cultural institutions truly are for everyone, everywhere.
During the lecture, the Culture Secretary will announce the following funding for the next financial year, beginning in April:
- A new £85 million Creative Foundations Fund to support urgent capital works to keep venues across the country up and running;
- A fifth round of the popular Museum Estate and Development Fund worth £25 million, which will support museums to undertake vital infrastructure projects, and tackle urgent maintenance backlogs;
- A new £20 million Museum Renewal Fund to help keep cherished civic museums open and engaging, protect opening hours and jobs, continue serving communities, and tell our national story at a local level;
- An additional £15 million for Heritage at Risk will provide grants for repairs and conservation to heritage buildings at risk, focusing on those sites with most need. This will restore local heritage, such as shops, pubs, parks, and town halls;
- A fourth round of the Libraries Improvement Fund worth £5.5 million, which will enable public library services across England to upgrade buildings and technology to better respond to changing user needs;
- A new £4.85 million Heritage Revival Fund to empower local people to take control of and look after their local heritage. It will support community organisations to own neglected heritage buildings bringing them back into good use;
- An additional £120 million to continue the Public Bodies Infrastructure Fund, which will ensure national cultural public institutions are able to address essential works to their estate;
- A 5% increase to the budgets of all national museums and galleries to support their financial resilience and help them provide access to the national collection;
- Confirmation that DCMS will be providing £3.2 million in funding for four cultural education programmes for the next financial year to preserve increased access to arts for children and young people through the Museums and Schools Programme, the Heritage Schools Programme, the Art & Design National Saturday Club and the BFI Film Academy.
This package will be integral to ensuring that arts and culture are a catalyst for growth in the Creative Industries and local economies by making sure cultural venues are supported to reach their full potential and attracting more tourists through our cultural institutions.
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