We learned today that our core Arts Council England grant will be cut by 9%, reducing from £24,471,000 to £22,268,584 per annum, with effect from April 2023.
We are grateful to Arts Council England (ACE) for their continued financial support at such a critical time for the UK’s theatre industry and the wider economy. We support the wish to invest in the arts across the country, and warmly welcome all new entrants to ACE’s national portfolio. Nonetheless, we face significant financial challenges going forward, alongside our colleagues in the sector: sharply increased energy costs, rising inflation in material costs, and suppressed box office revenue as tourism recovers from the pandemic. This grant offer equates to a real terms cut of around £4.7m (19%) to our core funding, and comes on top of the 10% real terms cut we have experienced since 2017/18.
In the face of these severe economic headwinds, we will do whatever we can to remain at the heart the cultural life of the nation – as a landmark national institution, in cinemas right across the UK and online, or through any one of our dedicated learning and participation programmes that embed dance, theatre craft and singing in schools the length and breadth of the country.
We will be discussing the details of our NPO funding arrangement with ACE over the coming months, before a final settlement is agreed early next year.