British culture ‘risks £16.7 million a year funding cut due to Brexit’

Britain’s creative sector faces losing £16.7 million a year in funding after Brexit, a new report has revealed.

Research from the British Council shows that creative organisations in the UK received a total of €57 million (£50 million) over three years between 2014 to 2016 from the European Union.

This amounts to the equivalent of €18.9 million (£16.7 million) a year given by the EU’s Creative Europe programme, which supports cultural organisations.

However, this money could no longer be available once Britain leaves the union.

The report, called Creative Europe in the UK, was written by the Creative Europe desk at the British Council.

According to the study, the programme has supported 283 cultural, creative and audiovisual organisations, as well as the distribution of 115 films.

Creative organisations are classified under ‘culture’, which includes theatre, dance and visual arts, and ‘media’, which includes film, television, and video games.

The report details that culture organisations received €15 million (£13.2 million) over the course of three years, media organisations received €40 million (£35.3 million) and cross-sector projects received €1.5 million (£1.3 million).

In 2016, 30 UK creative, cultural and heritage organisations received grants totalling €3.6 million (£3.1 million) for transnational collaborative projects through Creative Europe’s Culture sub-programme. Sadler’s Wells in London was among those to benefit.

From 2014 to 2020, the EU is investing €1.46 billion (£1.29 billion) in the creative industries.

Following the EU referendum result there are no obvious immediate changes to the current arrangements for those who have successfully applied, are currently being assessed or are planning to apply for Creative Europe funding.

The UK will continue to participate in Creative Europe as normal until it leaves the EU and the European Commission has confirmed that there is no negative bias against UK applicants.

A statement from the Creative Europe desk at the British Council added that the other benefits of the Creative Europe programme which organisations face losing include enabling organisations to reach new audiences, share skills and build international networks.