Suffolk arts and heritage organisations thrown £500,000 lifeline as Suffolk County Council announces new plans

Plans to open a new £500,000 funding pot to all arts and heritage organisations in Suffolk have been announced.

Following the announcement that £600 million of funding will be available to local councils, Suffolk County Council intends to propose the new project fund which all Suffolk’s arts and heritage organisations can apply for.

However, plans to end the core £528,000 funding of nine arts and heritage organisations are still in place in order for the council to prioritise services like SEND, home to school transport and children in care.

An extra £74 million is still needed over the next two years to protect Suffolk’s most vulnerable adults and children.

Cllr Richard Rout, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Environment, said: “The announcement from government just a couple of days ago is absolutely welcome, and is a credit to our MPs, our own council, and councils across the country for the lobbying which has paid off.

“We estimate that Suffolk will see around £7.2 million as a result of this extra investment.

“This successful lobbying enables us to make today’s welcome proposal of new project funding for Suffolk’s arts and heritage organisations.

“However, given the wider pressures we face caring for the most vulnerable individuals in Suffolk, we must still take a considerable amount of money from our reserves to balance our budget. That simply cannot continue.

“On top of this, there are still millions of pounds that we need to save in the coming years.

“Like all county councils with responsibilities for key services that look after those most in need, we are not out of the financial woods, significant challenges and difficult decisions still remain.”

The impact of the government announcement for further funding for councils will be discussed at Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet Meeting on Tuesday, January 30 where proposals will be explored.

Cllr Robert Lindsay, from the opposition Green Party, said: “It’s not good enough – but it’s better than nothing.

“It’s not core funding, it’s a new pot that arts bodies will have to beg for and there will be no certainty for them.”

Cllr Bobby Bennett, Cabinet Member for Equality and Communities, added: “We have been adamant since starting our budget proposals that we would seek opportunities to support the arts and heritage sector.

“The recent government announcement has presented us with such an opportunity. As I am, people across Suffolk are rightly proud of our cultural organisations and I’m pleased we have been able to make this proposal to continue to fund the sector.

“There are many diverse and exciting arts and heritage groups in the county, delivering amazing work in their local communities who would all have an equal opportunity to bid to help fund their projects.

“Together, we would enable more early interventions for Suffolk people who might need some support.

“Should this proposal get the green light, we will continue to work with organisations across the sector to help us shape how the fund is set up.”

Jack Abbott, MP candidate for Ipswich, said: “The devil will be in the detail, but on the surface it looks like the Conservatives at Suffolk County Council have finally seen sense and u-turned on their damaging cuts to arts and culture.

“However, we still have no clarity over whether they are still planning to close children’s centres or withdraw funding from housing support, or if they will push ahead with mass redundancies.

“There remains huge concern about the future of a number of crucial public services that so many people rely on."