Music organisations to miss out on government money

Hundreds of organisations across the UK that rely on government funding are set to be the latest victims of spending cuts. Orchestras and opera companies are among the groups which will lose out as Arts Council England slashes its spending.
Some 695 arts organisations of the 1,300 that originally applied for funding have been successful. Of the groups that received funding – and continue to do so – more than 300 face cuts.
Many orchestras across the country are facing funding reductions of 11 per cent, including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, London Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonia, as well as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Elsewhere, the Royal Opera, Welsh National Opera and Opera North will see budgets slashed by 15 per cent, while the English National Opera will lose 11 per cent.
The cuts follow the recent Spending Review, in which Arts Council England saw its budget cut by £100 million. From 2013, the government has pledged an extra £80 million in lottery money. This is despite the Council claiming that it received an estimated £149 million a year in lottery funding alone last year.
Of the extra lottery money, touring companies will get support to the tune of £18 million a year, while £10.5 million will target work with children and young people.
The organisation said that the money could not be used to fund the running costs of arts organisations and could only be used for one-off projects such as building renovations or refurbishments.
Chairwoman Dame Liz Forgan explained: “This is about a resilient future for the arts in England. We have taken the brave path of strategic choices not salami slices which has meant some painful decisions and it is with great regret that we have to cease funding some good organisations.”