Nottingham council preparing to cut entire cultural budget

Nottingham City Council has proposed to cut its entire cultural budget after announcing bankruptcy, with warnings that venues will find it harder to "balance their budgets".

A report drawn up by Nottingham City Council outlines plans for the budget for culture to be cut completely in a bid to plug a gap of £50 million in its budget for 2024 to 2025.

It comes after the council issued a Section 114 notice last month, which means the expenditure the authority has incurred in a financial year is likely to exceed the resources it has available. By doing this, it declared itself bankrupt.

The report states that the council would “cease contributions to the cultural sector”. It also suggests cuts to care homes, libraries and youth centres.

Nottingham Playhouse is one of the venues affected by this proposal, which received £60,502 in its latest grant from the council.

Stephanie Sirr, chief executive of Nottingham Playhouse, said: “Nottingham is a fantastic city for culture with an ecology that supports artists on all scales and at all stages of their careers. 

"Any cut to culture damages that infrastructure as well as making it ever harder for venues to balance their budgets.” 

This report will be debated by councillors on Tuesday, December 19 and go to public consultation. 

Woking Borough Council, Bristol City Council, and Birmingham City Council are among others that have recently considered cuts to arts and culture funding.