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Local investment in culture has plummeted over the last decade
England
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
England
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
Data on local government expenditure in Northern Ireland is not currently in the public domain.
National investment through the Arts Councils has declined in England and Wales, and plummeted in Northern Ireland
The Arts Councils invest public money in the arts for public benefit.
Compared with the start of the decade, Government funding of the Arts Councils in 2020 was 16% lower in England, 21% lower in Wales and 63% lower in Northern Ireland. In Scotland it was 4% higher, but this followed 9 years of lower investment than in 2009/10.
England
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
England
Over this period, Arts Council England took on additional responsibilities - such as museums and libraries in 2011, and Music Education Hubs in 2012, for which they started receiving Department for Education funding. Despite this, overall funding has declined, and the percentage of unrestricted income (used for the Arts Council's historic core purpose) has fallen significantly.
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
Between 2007 and 2015, 35% of the grassroots music venues in the UK closed down1
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Many of the venues that are still open face a “perfect storm” of challenges including rising rents and business rates, pressures from property development, and stagnating incomes, all of which threaten their long-term viability.
– DCMS Select Committee, Live Music report, 2019