Yesterday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves presented the Spending Review 2025 to Parliament, outlining how the UK government plans to allocate its budget over the next few years. For us in the theatre sector, this announcement has sparked both concern and cautious optimism. While the full impact on freelancers is still unclear, we want to break down what we know so far, share reactions from the industry, and highlight what this might mean for arts freelancers.
What is the Spending Review 2025?
The Spending Review is the government’s process for deciding how public money will be spent across departments, covering everything from Health to Education to Defence, and so on. This year’s review sets budgets for day-to-day spending (like staff salaries and running costs) until 2028-29 and for capital investment (like building or upgrading venues) until 2029-30. The government says it is focused on fixing the foundations of the economy, boosting growth, and supporting public services, with total departmental budgets growing by an average of 2.3% per year in real terms.
For the arts, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is the key player, as it oversees funding for culture, including theatres, museums, and creative industries. The Review set the overall budget for DCMS, with the allocation of that budget within the department to be decided later. The review’s details have raised some red flags for our sector, even as they include some promising commitments.
What does it say about the arts?
The Spending Review does not explicitly mention theatre, but it does touch on the creative industries, which the government identifies as a key growth sector in its Invest 2035 industrial strategy which you can read here.
Here are the key points that affect us:
- DCMS Budget Cuts: The DCMS faces a real-terms cut of 1.4% over the review period, with a 1.2% reduction in day-to-day (resource) spending and a 2.8% cut in capital spending by 2029-30. This potentially means less money for running cultural programs and investing in infrastructure like theatre venues. The DCMS is also tasked with finding 5% savings through efficiencies, which could mean tighter budgets for arts organisations. The Review did commit to an increase of £400 million in the DCMS budget for 2028-29, but this would still amount to a decrease over the whole period of funding.
- Investment Promises: The review promises transformative capital investment for culture, heritage, youth, and sports infrastructure to safeguard and modernise much-loved cultural institutions across the UK. However, with the capital budget cuts, it is unclear how much of this will reach theatres.
- Dormant Assets Scheme: Over £130 million from the Dormant Assets Scheme will support young people’s access to music, drama, and sports. This could mean more opportunities for young people to engage with theatre, but it is not clear how this will translate into funding for the organisations and freelancers who deliver these programs.
- Skills and Training: The government is investing £1.2 billion annually by the end of the review period to support apprenticeships and training, which could benefit freelancers looking to upskill.
- Local Regeneration: The review commits to cutting red tape to support building projects and investing £39 billion in social housing over 10 years. While this could indirectly support local communities where theatres operate, there is concern about how planning changes might affect efforts to protect historic venues.
How does this affect theatre freelancers?
As freelancers, we are the backbone of the theatre industry, and as we know from experience, any changes to DCMS funding ripple through to us. Right now, it is too early to know exactly how these budget decisions will impact our work, but here is what we can infer:
- Potential Funding Squeeze: The real-terms cuts to DCMS could mean less funding for theatre companies, venues, and projects that hire freelancers. If organisations face tighter budgets, they might reduce the number of productions, cut back on freelance contracts, or rely more on volunteers, which could affect income.
- Venue Challenges: Nearly 40% of theatre venues are at risk of closure without urgent capital investment, according to SOLT and UK Theatre’s State of British Theatre report. If venues struggle due to reduced capital funding, opportunities for work in those spaces could shrink.
- Training and Upskilling: The £1.2 billion for skills training could open doors to access new qualifications or professional development, which might help freelancers stay competitive in a tough market.
What’s the theatre sector saying?
The theatre community has responded with a mix of worry and determination. Here is a snapshot of reactions:
- Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and UK Theatre: Leaders Claire Walker and Hannah Essex said they were “deeply concerned by the real-terms cuts”, arguing that they contradict the government’s claim of boosting the creative industries. They emphasised that investment in culture drives regional growth, innovation and jobs, and urged that savings come from administrative efficiencies, not core arts funding. They welcomed the Dormant Assets Scheme but stressed the need for investment in the organisations that make cultural access possible.
- Theatres Trust: Chief Executive Joshua McTaggart stated they were “ultimately optimistic” about the government’s commitment to investing in Britain’s future, but added, "We realise that there will, no doubt, be concerns about the real-term fall in the settlement for the DCMS in today’s spending review.” He called for the theatre sector to unite and make a strong case to the government about our economic, social, and well-being contributions. He also encouraged engagement with the £1.2 billion skills investment to benefit theatre workers.
- Equity: General Secretary Paul W Fleming was blunt, calling the cuts “a self-imposed injury to a growth-driving sector of our economy”. He accused the government of sending mixed messages, claiming that “one day, they are hailing our sectors as critical to economic growth in their industrial strategy; the next, they are announcing real terms cuts to the culture department in their spending review”. He also raised concerns about the impact of the current approach to multinational AI firms, and demanded “an urgent reset for the UK arts and entertainment, with a new strategy focused on investment, growth and creators’ rights.”
- Creative UK: CEO Caroline Norbury welcomed the government’s £22 billion increase in research and development funding but urged that it explicitly include the creative industries, stating: “despite being worth 7% of the economy, the sector currently receives just 1% of R&D funding”.
Campaign for the Arts: Before the review, they delivered a petition with over 37,000 signatures calling for sustained DCMS funding, with a warning that “there is so much at risk if current levels of cultural funding continue to shrink.” They plan to release a full analysis today, which we will follow closely.
What next?
The Spending Review paints a challenging and uncertain picture for theatre freelancers. Real-terms cuts to funding for DCMS, alongside significant increases in other departments, will raise genuine concerns about where the arts lie in the government’s priorities. And while the promise of an extra £400 million for DCMS in 2028-29 does present some cause for optimism, for many freelancers any potential benefit from that will come far too late.
In presenting the Spending Review to Parliament, Rachel Reeves once again repeated the government’s aim of delivering “security and economic growth”. A few hours later, the Office for National Statistics announced a 0.3% drop in GDP for the UK in April. The government’s own estimate is that the creative industries are worth £126 billion to the UK economy. If they really are serious about making that economy grow, a little investment in the arts would go a long way.
