See which London councils lost the most arts and culture funding in 2010 | My news from London

New figures show that funding for cultural services in some London councils has fallen by more than half since 2010. The borough with the biggest fall in arts and culture funding was Barking and Dagenham, followed by Lambeth, Enfield and Havering.

It comes as the County Councils Network said councils across the country are finding it difficult to balance funding for arts and culture as demand rises for social care and children’s services. Figures from the Department for Growth, Housing and Communities show that Barking and Dagenham Council has set a budget of £4.2m for cultural services for 2024-25 – down 69% from £13.4m in 2010 -11, around the start of austerity.

Local authority funding for cultural services covers areas such as libraries, open spaces, tourism, museums, recreation and sport. In England, this budgeted expenditure fell by 25%, from £3.4bn in 2010-11 to £2.5bn this year.

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Sam Corcoran, Vice Chairman of the County Councils Network, said: “Councils are England’s biggest funders of arts and culture and county councils recognize the value of investment in libraries, arts and heritage attractions for both our communities and economies our. .”

He continued: “However, with central government funding cuts over the past 14 years, councils are finding it increasingly difficult to balance spending on cultural services with spending on adult social care, children’s services and the provision of needs special education”. Mr Corcoran said the “scarce resource” was consequently limited for services which had seen a significant increase in demand and costs.

He added: “We understand that public finances are tight, but the case for increased funding for councils is clear. Extra resources will mean less money has to be re-prioritised from cultural services to care services, meaning local authorities can do better. protect libraries, museums and heritage – and free up investment in them.”

Nationally, the biggest fall in budgeted spending was on recreation and sport, falling by 50% from £862m in 2010-11 to £434m this year. In Barking and Dagenham, spending on library services has seen a particularly large drop – by 78%.

London Council Arts and Culture Budgets 2010

1. Barking and Dagenham – left by 69 percent

2. Lambeth – left by 65 percent

3. Enfield – left by 57 percent

4. Ealing – left by 55 percent

5. Havering – left by 53 percent

6. Croydon – left by 51 percent

7. Sutton – left by 51 percent

8. Barnett – left by 51 percent

9. Hammersmith & Fulham – left by 50 percent

10. Bexley – left by 43 percent

11. Haringey – left by 41 percent

12. Lewisham – left by 40 percent

13. Harrow – left by 34 percent

14. Hounslow – left by 31 percent

15. Wandsworth – left by 31 percent

16. Greenwich – left by 31 percent

17. Newham – left by 2. 3 percent

18. Redbridge – left by 21 percent

19. Brent – left by 17 percent

20. Merton – left by 13 percent

21. Kingston upon Thames – left by 11 percent

22. Hillingdon – left by 8 percent

23. Hackney – left by 7 percent

24. Hamlets Tower – left by 6 percent

25. Kensington and Chelsea – left by 5 percent

26. Westminster – left by 5 percent

27. City of London – stable financing, decreased by only 3 percent

28. Bromley – stable financing, decreased by only 2 percent

29. Waltham Forest – stable financing, decreased by only 1 percent

30. Southwark – funding increased by 57 percent

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