Culture is central to efforts to get the economy going but the arts should expect no special treatment from the Treasury, Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, said today.
In her first keynote speech since taking up the role last September, she told arts leaders gathered at the British Museum she was fighting their corner “as hard as I can”, as the Government decides where to make further spending cuts.
But the sector would have to “reframe the argument” and “hammer home the value of culture to our economy ... Culture does not simply have a role to play in bringing about a return to growth. Rather, it should be central to these efforts. The arts are not an add-on. They are fundamental to our success as a nation”.
The Treasury would not treat arts funding as a special case, she warned, even though creative industries are worth £36 billion to the economy. In the last spending round the Arts Council suffered a 30 per cent budget cut. Arts leaders fear a drive for further savings in the forthcoming spending review could destroy the sector’s capacity to deliver.
Mrs Miller said culture should be seen as “a standard bearer” for diplomacy. “British culture and creativity are now more in demand than ever before,” she added.
