ARTS bodies in East Lancashire have been told to tighten their belts after once again being given standstill budgets.

The Government has cut its grant to the Arts Council by £1.5 million this year, but the North West Arts Board, which distributes the money in the region, has pledged to protect as many arts organisations as possible.

It is dipping into its own reserves to make up the shortfall, following four years of standstill budgets from the Arts Council.

However, arts organisations in East Lancashire, such as Mid-Pennine Arts in Burnley and Action Factory, Blackburn, have still been told to make do on the same money as in previous years.

Mid-Pennine, which also gets funding from several local councils and Lancashire County Council, has been awarded £86,900 - exactly the same as last year. Director Nick Hunt said: "We have seven full-timers and two part-timers and our wages bill is our biggest item of expenditure. It goes up each year because we are committed to local authority pay scales.

"Staff cost more each year and, somehow, we have to fund that without getting any increases for inflation.

"People see lots of money from the Lottery going into the arts and they think we are 'quids in,' but it's not that way at all."

Mr Hunt said Mid-Pennine was bidding for Lottery cash but even if successful, it would not solve the organisation's financial problems.

"We'll get by, but it's a struggle and it deflects from our primary purpose, which is taking the arts to people who might not get them otherwise."

The same reluctant acceptance of the situation was shown by the team at Blackburn-based community arts body Action Factory, which receives £43,600.

Action Factory's Julian Dunn said: "It's a standstill budget which has been the scenario for the last four or five years.

"We've got used to the slices of cake getting smaller - we deal with the inflationary aspect by trying to earn more revenue."

Other arts bodies in East Lancashire are in a similar position - the Rossendale-based Horse and Bamboo travelling theatre and the Raku Works crafts group getting £58,100 and £10,000 respectively.

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