A new report has warned that significant reductions in local authority arts funding across the UK could limit public access to cultural activities.
According to research highlighted by the performing arts and entertainment trade union, Equity, council spending on the arts has fallen by 55% since 2010, down from £1.19bn to just £539m in 2024-25.
The findings by the Autonomy Institute reveal that England council arts spending fell by 61%, with £660m less in real spending per year in 2024 compared with 2010.
Wales has seen a 46% fall over the same period, losing around £30m a year for the arts, while Scotland’s councils have reduced real spending by 18%, seeing £25m a year less invested in their arts.
Commenting on the findings, Equity’s General Secretary, Paul W Fleming, said: ‘We are watching universal access to arts and entertainment disappear across Britain as this new research shows the dramatic fall in local authority arts funding.
‘For the first time in a generation, people across large swathes of this island will not have the opportunity to visit a theatre. Meanwhile, as funding dries up, it becomes ever harder to make a living as a performer, reducing access to the industry for working class creatives.’
