News / Arts
Proposed cuts to culture funding slammed
Equity has called Bristol City Council’s planned arts cuts “short-sighted” and “unnecessary” as a group of its members held a small demonstration outside City Hall.
Actors, costume makers and set designers were among around a dozen protesters who included Equity president Lynda Rooke, and former cabinet member Kye Dudd, who now works for the performing arts and entertainment trade union.
Among the council’s budget proposals are plans to reduce its funding for the Cultural Investment Programme by £635,000 by 2029.
“The funding reduction was originally planned for 2025,” says the description of the proposal.
“The decision to delay the start of the funding reduction until 2026 reflects the council’s commitment to finding new, longer-term sources of funding and continuing to invest in the city’s cultural sector.
“Work to find new funding sources began in 2025, including exploring the creation of a new investment fund.
“This work is ongoing, and a new approach to cultural funding is currently being developed.”
Bristol City Council’s Cultural Investment Programme has supported dozens of projects and organisations including St Paul’s Carnival – photo: Pankaj Vasantrai
Actor Kim Hicks, chair of Equity’s Bristol & West of England branch, said: “The plan by Bristol City Council to cut £635,000 from its Cultural Investment Programme is not only short-sighted but also unnecessary, making up a tiny proportion of the £20.8m they need to balance their budget.
“Yet it will have an outsized impact on Bristol’s cultural ecosystem.
“Most recently, the Cultural Investment Programme has supported 40 projects and 26 organisations – from community based projects to collectives of local artists, alongside flagship events and organisations such as St Paul’s Carnival and Bristol Pride.
“These artists and organisations make the culture that enriches Bristol’s communities, brings in money to the wider economy, and creates the sort of pride that led to the city being named a UNESCO City of Film.
“But without this funding artists will lose not only their ability to create, but also to work.
“We call on Bristol City Council to reverse this decision and recognise the tangible economic contributions and community benefits that come from properly funding artists.”
Bristol’s Labour group leader, Tom Renhard, said that the proposed cuts “are a political choice, not a financial necessity”, adding that they would have “profound knock-on consequences for all of our city’s creative scene”.
Bristol City Council contributed £84m to the refurbishment of Bristol Beacon – photo: Ellie Pipe
Bristol City Council leader, Tony Dyer, said: “The financial situation facing our council and local authorities across the country is stark.
“Budgets are being squeezed more tightly than ever before due to continuing rises in the need and costs of the services that people in Bristol rely on.
“To meet our legal duty to set a balanced budget for the council we are having to look at all corners of the authority to assess where we can reduce expenditure but are doing so in parallel with exploring ways to replace funding through more sustainable means.
“The proposals for the council’s Culture Investment Programme remain undecided and we won’t have an agreed position until all councillors vote on the budget in February’s Full Council meeting.
“We deferred these proposals by a year to give us time to develop a Culture Strategy and an alternative means of raising funds in a sustainable way to invest in the culture sector.
“This work is ongoing and we hope to be able to share more of this detail in due course.
“The recognition of the value our culture sector brings to our city is what is driving our efforts to establish more effective and protected means of raising much needed investment.
“The council supports the culture sector in many ways beyond the Cultural Investment Programme – through property, transport and public realm projects, supporting festivals, our high streets programme, the emerging Bristol Music Fund, investing in and securing external funding in BMAG, M Shed, the Bottle Yard Studios and of course the Bristol Beacon.
“We share the passion people have for our cultural institutions and will continue to work towards securing a more sustainable future for investment.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
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