September 2023
28 September - 'Extraordinary betrayal': £6.6m Creative Scotland cut reinstated by government
The Scottish government has reinstated a planned cut to Creative Scotland’s 2023/24 funding, in a decision that has been labelled an “extraordinary betrayal” of Scotland’s arts sector.
28 September - ROH musicians poised for strike action in pay dispute
According to the Musicians’ Union, the orchestra musicians took a 10% pay cut to help the “financial situation” of the ROH in 2020, when the opera house was closed during the lockdowns.
27 September - Fears for National Theatre Wales as funding axed
Fears for the future of National Theatre Wales have been raised after its funding was cut.
In an Arts Council of Wales investment review, the theatre charity was not included in almost £30m of grants.
27 September - Don’t kill the golden goose of theatre tax relief
Theatre Tax Relief has been one of the few genuine arts success stories when it comes to the past 13 years of Conservative-led government.
27 September - National Theatre Wales 'deeply shocked' over funding loss
Acclaimed theatre company says it will have to rethink its future plans after having its core funding cut by Arts Council of Wales.
27 September - Wales funding review: National Theatre Wales cut, Theatr Clwyd and WNO in
Theatr Clwyd and Welsh National Opera are among the organisations that will receive a subsidy from the Arts Council of Wales in its latest funding round, with National Theatre Wales cut completely.
27 September - ACE review identifies 'mixed experience' for staff and recommends improvements
An independent review into Arts Council England has highlighted “misaligned” workload expectations, inconsistent support for staff with diverse needs and unconscious bias at the organisation.
27 September - Theatres Trust sets out 3 year vision 'Theatres fit for the future'
Theatres Trust, the national advice and advocacy body for the UK’s theatres, has set out its vision and priorities for the next three years, under the new tagline “Theatres fit for the future”.
27 September - Theatre Tax Relief under threat from 'damaging' overhaul, industry warns
Proposed amendments to the much-lauded Theatre Tax Relief will have a “significant, adverse impact” on the scheme, with producers already halting the development of new work and investors “deterred” from putting money into the sector as a result.
27 September - Good and bad news for arts companies as grant funding is announced
The Arts Council of Wales has offered 81 creative organisations conditional grants of almost £30m following the results of its 2023 Investment Review process.
26 September - Performing arts among fastest growing sectors of economy
Government figures reveal the economic value of music, performing and visual arts is outperforming the rest of the economy, but sector leaders warn individual venues continue to struggle.
26 September - Grassroots music sector in ‘full-blown crisis’
Increasing numbers of grassroots music venues in the UK are no longer operating, with inflationary pressures and the ongoing impact of the Covid pandemic being cited as reasons for closure.
25 September - £35 million fund launched to grow creative industries
A £35 million investment fund is aiming to grow the UK’s creative industries by £50 billion and create one million extra jobs by 2030.
25 September - Brexit's costly damage to European collaboration must be urgently reversed
The government, or the next one, must do all it can to negotiate an agreement that gives UK theatre companies easy access to Europe and vice versa, says Lyn Gardner.
21 September - Arts and theatres face £60m council cuts
Combined local authority funding for arts, theatres and museums is predicted to be 6.3% down on last year, a real terms drop of £60m, despite overall spending levels across local government rising.
20 September - 'Emergency action needed': government urged to intervene over local arts cuts
Industry bodies have issued an urgent call to the government to step in and protect local arts funding, warning “treasured theatres” up and down the country are suffering as a result of cuts.
19 September - Mental health of arts professionals needs urgent action
There has been much recent attention on the rate of change among theatre artistic directors and speculation that it’s becoming an almost impossible job which needs much more support. But we shouldn’t just look at senior people, nor should we be focusing simply on the performing arts.
19 September - Running a theatre is a thankless job. No wonder people are saying no
Who wants to run a British theatre in 2023? Fewer and fewer qualified people, it seems.
19 September - Theatre industry backs new regulatory body for creative sector
The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) will work to uphold and improve standards of behaviour across the creative industries by providing services, insight, research, policy, influence and advocacy.
19 September - Rufus Norris: Theatre must address climate change or become redundant
National Theatre director Rufus Norris has warned that if the sector does not urgently take steps to address climate change it will become “redundant”.
19 September - Renewed calls for freelance commissioner
Culture, Media and Sport Committee hears from sector leaders that more joined-up thinking is required to address precarity of creative freelancers.
11 September - Women and disabled people face ageist barriers to theatre, figures warn
Age restricted opportunities are “locking” disabled people and women out of theatre, industry figures have warned, arguing that ageism is still a “very real problem” in the sector.
11 September - Theatremakers at all stages of their careers need support
It could be a hard winter ahead for theatres but if it is, what we can be certain about is that it will be a harder one still for artists.
11 September - Pressing reset on past harms takes more than a change of leadership
The sector is experiencing a leadership shake-up of significant proportions. New leaders arriving in well-known spaces have the chance to reset reputations and contribute to building a more care-filled theatre ecology, but a theatre’s culture goes beyond its leadership.
11 September - Nearly half of working UK musicians earn less than £14,000, new census finds
A pioneering census of nearly 6,000 working musicians in the UK has found that nearly half earn less than £14,000 a year from their craft.
7 September - Birmingham arts organisations warn of uncertainty following council bankruptcy
Arts organisations have warned of a “worrying” future for the sector in Birmingham after the city’s council declared itself effectively bankrupt.
7 September - Over 80% of UK musicians report loss of earnings due to Brexit
A survey suggests that 82% of UK musicians impacted by Brexit have experienced a loss of earnings, with DJs and vocalists among the worst affected.
6 September - Third of Scottish arts bodies at risk of insolvency, Creative Scotland warns
One in three arts organisations in Scotland is “at serious risk of insolvency in the short term” due to rising costs and standstill public funding, Creative Scotland has warned the Scottish Parliament.
6 September - Hollyrood pledges arts support amid funding 'standstill'
First Minister Humza Yousaf has pledged to support Scotland’s cultural sector, but did not announce any further funding for struggling organisations.
5 September - Concrete crisis: what do theatres need to know?
Theatre companies should be undertaking or have undertaken a review or assessment of their infrastructure to determine if it contains reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, according to the Association of British Theatre Technicians.