No delays, no cuts: Restore Bristol arts funding!

Mayor Marvin Rees' decision to delay all funding decisions for Arts Organisations funded by Bristol City Council will have hugely damaging consequences for one of the most important industries in the city's economy, and is totally at odds with his One City Approach for Culture launched in June this year.

When the Mayor launched his One City Plan 2023 in June, he wrote "Bristol’s culture is internationally recognised for its creativity, vibrancy, diversity, history and innovation across many mediums such as art, theatre, dance, music, TV and film and architecture." But Bristol's reputation and success as a film and TV hub exists in the same ecosystem as the rest of the creative sector in the city and cannot be separated from its live performance industry which is now at risk from this delay in funding decisions.

Instead of being told about funding decisions in October 2022, as planned, Arts Organisations and major cultural events will now have to wait until March 2024 to find out how much money they’ll receive – or if they’ll receive any money at all. This is only a month before the grant period starts and will mean organisations can’t plan for the future – leading to loss of work, income and closures in the interim.

The Mayor’s claim that he will give the final decision to an ‘independent panel’ about which the he has given no information on the membership or what new process will need to be followed to apply. Mayor Rees has offered no trade union consultation to the relevant culture unions, whilst simultaneously the Mayor’s office have sidelined the Culture Board, a body the Mayor created, which is the only consultative culture body that exists in the city.

These less then transparent delays and possible cuts will disproportionately impact working class creative workers, and those from minority and oppressed groups. It will have social and cultural implications for all the large Arts organisations in the city and smaller one off artistic projects that work in local communities, from parent and baby groups and schools, to festivals and live events. Leaving access to the arts only to those who can afford it.

Bristol is a fair, healthy and sustainable city. A city of hope and aspiration, where everyone can share in its success. All of this enabled by Culture, which Mayor Rees is placing at risk with his intervention and reckless decision to delay.

We demand that Mayor Marvin Rees restore our arts funding. No delays, no cuts, and no more decision-making from non-transparent 'independent' panels.

Image credit: crabchick from Bristol, England; Bristol City Hall at night
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_Council_House_at_night_(2693195473).jpg