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Cuts to the arts in Birmingham


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Birmingham City council is virtually bankrupt. Latest cuts to the arts are reported on the BBC as follows

 

"There will be a cut to all funding for culture projects and local arts development, including support for 10 local arts forums.

Support will initially be retained for Black History Month and Birmingham Heritage Week in 2024/25 but those events will face a 100% cut from 2025/26.

Birmingham International Dance Festival will lose its £350,000 funding

Grants to regularly-funded arts organisations will face 50% cuts this year and 100% next financial year.

They include:

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Birmingham REP Theatre

Birmingham Royal Ballet

IKON Gallery

Birmingham Opera Company

FABRIC

Sampad

Ex Cathedra

Legacy Centre of Excellence

B:Music

Funding to attract tourism will also be cut by £25,000."

 

More at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-birmingham-68340410?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=65d4ac4a57c60b5283ad3083%26Culture+cuts+on+the+way%262024-02-20T15%3A49%3A17.976Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn%3Aasset%3A1be496aa-5fb3-49f2-9516-8897c5616eed&pinned_post_asset_id=65d4ac4a57c60b5283ad3083&pinned_post_type=share&at_format=link&at_medium=social&at_link_id=ECF7693C-D00A-11EE-BBFA-D3F9413A1DFE&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_campaign_type=owned&at_link_type=web_link&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_link_origin=bbcmtd&at_campaign=Social_Flow

 

 

Grim. 

 

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49 minutes ago, Lynette H said:

Birmingham City council is virtually bankrupt. Latest cuts to the arts are reported on the BBC as follows

 

 

Birmingham City Council declared bankruptcy last year.

 

As far as I am aware BCC cut most of its funding to BRB several years ago - it is why SDB did not have the money to bring Stanton Welsh's production of Bayadere to the company.

 

Hopefully, if they had still been receiving any money from the Council then they have prepared for this.

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I think this has been expected for some time given the state of finances . We have certainly discussed this in a previous thread when the Council first  announced bankruptcy . I am hoping BRB has been future proofing for a little while now. 

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Has this timing impacted on our bookings? I may be wrong but I understood we were supposed to be able to book October BRB Fille tickets from today for Plymouth and Sadler’s Wells. Nothing doing, the website still says Coming Soon tonight. 

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I think BRB prepared for it last year when the news came out. They announced that they had enough in their budget to finish last season (2022-23) but might struggle this season. The sold out houses for Black Sabbath the Ballet this season would have helped, and Swan Lake (which they toured last season) generally performs very well at the Box Office. I'm hopeful that they have enoigh as Carlos Acosta is finsncially astute when it comes to planning the financial side of things. I hope CBSO and the other organisations have made solid plans for future proofing too. 

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2 hours ago, Geoff said:

Has this timing impacted on our bookings? I may be wrong but I understood we were supposed to be able to book October BRB Fille tickets from today for Plymouth and Sadler’s Wells. Nothing doing, the website still says Coming Soon tonight. 

I don’t know about Plymouth but Sadlers Wells booking was never on the cards for today (unless perhaps for BRB Friends?). The Wells has its own schedule for its next booking period as yet unannounced. 

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17 hours ago, PeterS said:

I don’t know about Plymouth but Sadlers Wells booking was never on the cards for today (unless perhaps for BRB Friends?). The Wells has its own schedule for its next booking period as yet unannounced. 

 

BRB Friends' booking for Sadler's Wells always opens on the same day as the priority booking for Sadler's Wells Members.  The date has not yet been announced.  BRB Friends' priority booking for Plymouth is, however, now open.

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More on this

 

"Birmingham’s cultural figures from Carlos Acosta and Joe Lycett to Duran Duran and Napalm Death have criticised the 100% cut made by the city council to its arts funding which they say will “devastate” the arts ecosystem in Britain’s second city.

The complete defunding of arts organisations, including Ikon Gallery, Birmingham Royal Ballet and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, was announced this week as the council plans £300m worth of cuts over the next two years."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/23/joe-lycett-others-condemn-100-budget-cut-birmingham-arts

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