The UK Cultural Sector: Profile and Policy Issues

The cultural sector receives more funding today than ever before. This book is about the value and conditions of the subsidy that the sector receives, and those arts and cultural forms that receive it.

The UK Cultural Sector covers the built heritage, film, libraries, literature, museums and galleries, performing arts, public broadcasting and the visual arts. It examines how much funding each of these various domains receives; where it comes from; what it’s intended for; how it’s distributed internally; how organisations in receipt of funding operate financially; and how funding is distributed throughout the UK, by home country and region. It assesses policy trends and developments - particularly under New Labour - and looks at the relationship between the subsidised cultural sector and the wider, creative and commercial industries.

The book comprises four parts:

‘Policy’ considers how policy shapes funding decisions and the nature and output of subsidised organisations. Individual chapters chart changes in those policies as they have affected each of the cultural activities covered.
‘Funding’ considers how much support goes to the sector from both public and private sources. It pieces together where that funding came from, compares it to amounts received previously, and examines how it was distributed, what it was intended to achieve and what possible difference it might have made.
‘The Wider Context’ asks why and how governments ‘intervene’ in the cultural sector, and examines the economic impact of cultural projects; employment in the sector; and the extent to which subsidy creates a more innovative and diverse cultural practices.
‘Profile’ gives detailed data on the various activities covered by the book: the number of organisations funded and the type and value of funding; the number of people employed; the size and profile of audiences and consumer expenditure; and the financial profile of the UK’s funded cultural organisations.

With contributions from 25 of the country’s leading academics, consultants, cultural analysts, economists, funders and policy-makers, this is the most thorough coverage of the subject to date.