Bristol City Council’s Arts Budget Slashes: A Recipe for Cultural Decline

Equity is calling on Bristol City Council to retract plans to slash hundreds of thousands of pounds from the arts and culture budget. Equity members have alerted Bristol City Council that such cuts would inflict considerable harm on jobs and cultural initiatives in Bristol, recognized as a UNESCO City of Film and renowned for its cultural offerings.

This week (15-16 January), the Council’s Finance Sub-Committee will convene to examine proposals aimed at implementing savings and funding reductions across the board. Last week, Equity encouraged its members residing or working in Bristol to present a statement to the Council regarding the significance of cultural funding.

The Cultural budget is overseen by the Strategy and Resources Committee, which is reviewing several draft proposals for savings. These include:

• The reduction and termination of the Cultural Investment Programme, with plans to pursue alternative funding. The proposal indicates that current grantees will be honored according to their grant agreements. This is projected to result in a £635,000 saving by 2027.
• The shutdown of Blaise Museum (resulting in a £39,000 saving by 2027).
• The shutdown of Georgian House Museum (resulting in a £29,000 saving by 2027).
• The shutdown of Red Lodge Museum (resulting in a £64,000 saving by 2027).
• Cutting back the operating hours of the Archives Search Room (resulting in a £35,000 saving by 2027).

The proposal to terminate the Cultural Investment Programme is particularly alarming as it has been essential for the steady funding of arts and cultural endeavors, festivals, and collaborations. New applications for the Cultural Investment Programme were closed in October 2024. The Council claims they will seek alternative funding, but the specifics for this are not provided, leaving individuals and organizations in need of arts funding without a local government funding option.

This comes shortly after Equity insisted that Bristol City Council uphold their commitment to engage in sincere and substantial consultation regarding the proposed sale of Bottle Yard Studios.

Equity has presented questions and a statement to the Council for consideration in this week’s meeting.

The Strategy and Resources Policy Committee is scheduled to convene on 3 February, and Equity will be organizing campaign activities leading to this meeting. The full council will gather to make definitive decisions on 25 February.