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Funding the arts for success - Key facts about the impact of increased investment over the past 10 years

Overview

  • Between 2006 and 2008 we will invest £1.1 billion of public money from Government and the National lottery in supporting arts and arts development in England
  • Arts attendance is at a 10-year high, with a 3% increase in attendance across eight major artforms since 1997. The arts are more popular than ever, with 76 % of adults attending or participating in the arts.
  • As well as the established artforms, attendance increases have also been seen at carnivals, street arts, circus, craft exhibitions and live music
  • Our total level of investment in Regularly funded organisations (RFOs) has more than doubled from £149m in 1996/97 to £315m in 2006/7
  • The numbers of organisations we invest in has increased by 16%, so we now fund just over 1000 RFOs through grant-in-aid. Many of these are small-to-medium regional and rural arts organisations
  • Our funding has shifted in favour of smaller organisations, with proportional spend on national companies falling from 41% of our total RFO investment to 30%
  • Between 1996/97 and 2003/04, the proportion of RFOs in deficit fell from 41% to 22%
  • Other income streams have largely kept pace with increased Arts Council investment since 1996/97, with the RFO portfolio continuing to generate more than half of its total income through private contributions and earnings such as ticket sales
  • By 2008, 12% of our RFOs will be Black and minority ethnic (BME) led

You can find out more about the impact of increased investment across all the arts and download a copy of the key facts here

Downloads

These word documents can be downloaded here:

For more information about the Government’s Spending Review and making the case for funding the arts for success, please contact our Communications team in your region:

National Office
Kelly Wiffen
Head of Public Affairs
Phone: 020 7973 5297
E:kelly.wiffen@artscouncil.org.uk

National Office
Louise Wylie
Director, Media Relations
Phone: 020 7973 5528
E:louise.wylie@artscouncil.org.uk

East
Aileen Muir
Head of Communications
Phone: 01223 454447
E:aileen.muir@artscouncil.org.uk

East Midlands
Fiona Mitchell-Innes
Head of Communications
Phone: 0115 989 7557
E:fiona.mitchell-innes@artscouncil.org.uk

London
Catriona Macrae-Gibson
Head of Communications
Phone: 020 7608 6147
E:catriona.macrae-gibson@artscouncil.org.uk

North East
Susan McKeon
Head of Communications
Phone: 0191 255 8568
Mobile: 07939 636429
E:susan.mckeon@artscouncil.org.uk

North West
Anthony Preston
Head of Communications
Phone: 0161 827 9254
E:anthony.preston@artscouncil.org.uk

South East
Liz Barling
Communications team
Phone: 01273 763043
E:liz.barling@artscouncil.org.uk

South West
Gillian Taylor
Communications team
Phone: 01392 229207
Mobile: 07989 430881
E:gillian.taylor@artscouncil.org.uk

West Midlands
Jo Forrest
Head of Communications
Phone: 0121 631 5757
Mobile: 07989 430881
E:jo.forrest@artscouncil.org.uk

Yorkshire
Tamsin Curror
Communications team
Phone: 01924 486238
Mobile: 07786 256431
E:tamsin.curror@artscouncil.org.uk