A borough council in East Lancashire says it would “absolutely welcome” more central government funding for cultural events after a decrease since 2010.
Funding allocated for cultural services in Blackburn with Darwen has fallen by more than a third since austerity began, figures show.
Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities figures show the borough council set a budget of £8m for cultural services for 2024/25 – down 41 per cent from £13.6m in 2010/11, around the time of austerity.
Local authority funding for cultural services covers areas such as libraries, open spaces, tourism, museums, and recreation and sports.
Across England, this budgeted spending dropped by 25 per cent, from £3.4bn in 2010/11 to £2.5bn this year.
Cllr Quesir Mahmood, deputy leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “Following huge cuts from the previous government for cultural services, we have taken several steps locally over the past 14 years to reduce our spending in this area, including introducing new IT systems in our libraries and upgrading leisure centres to provide more commercially viable facilities.
“We have also utilised external funding pots to invest in cultural organisations and events, with the borough now having four National Portfolio Organisations that collaborate to deliver an arts programme of national importance, such as the British Textile Biennial and National Festival of Making. Alongside this, Blackburn and Darwen have brilliant sports and leisure facilities that are valued by residents, thriving community libraries ran by passionate volunteers and jam-packed theatre calendars.
“The impact we have felt locally due to austerity cannot be dismissed – that goes for ourselves and many other local authorities across the country. We would absolutely welcome more investment from central government in our cultural services.
"Despite this, Blackburn with Darwen continues to have a cultural offering we are immensely proud of.”
The figures come as the County Councils Network said councils across the country have found it hard to balance funding towards arts and cultures while demand spikes for social care and children’s services.
Sam Corcoran, vice chair of the network, said: "Councils are the biggest funders of arts and culture in England, and councils in county areas recognise the value of investing in libraries, arts and heritage attractions for both our communities and our economies.
"However, with central government funding reductions over the last 14 years, councils have found it increasingly hard to balance spend on cultural services with spend on adult social care, children’s services, and special educational needs provision."
He added: "We understand the public finances are tight, but the case for an uplift in funding for councils is clear.
"Extra resource will mean less money would have to be re-prioritised from cultural services to care services, meaning local authorities can better protect libraries, museums and heritage – and free up investment into them."
Nationally, the biggest drop in budgeted spending was for recreation and sports, falling 50 per cent from £862m in 2010/11 to £434m this year.
In Blackburn with Darwen, spending on recreation and sport saw a particularly large fall – down 59 per cent.
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