image for illustration: Open Government Licence v3.0
Councils are the biggest public funder of culture, notes Local Government Association (LGA), this core funding has come under huge strain in recent years because of pressure on budgets, so it commissioned a series of infographics to illustrate the challenges and opportunities in cultural funding which councils are facing.
The LGA writes:
Councils are the biggest public funder of culture, spending over £1bn a year on a range of local services, including libraries, museums and galleries, theatres, heritage sites and archives. This figure rises to £2.6bn when sports, leisure, parks and green spaces are included.
But this core funding has come under huge strain in recent years as a result of pressure on council budgets and rising demand for vital statutory services like adult social care. Between 2010 and 2024 annual spend on culture and leisure services saw a real-terms annual spending fall of £2.324 billion.
National funders provide additional funding, but the funding picture is complex and the capacity of councils to bid into different pots can be varied. In addition, many of these funding streams have their own governance arrangements which do not necessarily work with other local structures, creating a messy and inefficient landscape.
The LGA commissioned a series of infographics to illustrate the challenges in cultural funding which councils are facing. They illustrate how stretched council resources have become as demand for services like social care take up a greater proportion of council budgets; and how a multitude of small, short-term funding pots leave officers chasing funding, rather than working towards a long-term vision agreed with their own community.
Download a PDF of the infographic
Read more….
