Labour
We have made unprecedented investment in Britain’s cultural life, widening access by introducing free admission to museums and galleries. Every child and young person should be entitled to five hours of art, music and culture per week, through learning to play a musical instrument, visiting local museums and joining film clubs, or taking part in local theatre. Through Creative Partnerships we are ensuring that young people in the most deprived parts of the country are able to fulfil their artistic talents by working with local arts and cultural organisations.
We have provided the first nationwide programme of free theatre to young people; now we will build on the success of the National Theatre’s £10 Season to work with theatres and sponsors to provide reduced-rate tickets for theatrical productions around Britain. Our national cultural life and creative industries can prosper only by developing young artistic talent. Creative Bursaries will support the most artistically gifted young people in their early professional careers.
So that our cultural facilities remain world-class, charities, businesses and cultural organisations must collaborate more closely in the future. We will review how incentives for philanthropic support can be strengthened. Our major museums and galleries should be operationally independent of government, so we will legislate to ensure their managerial and financial autonomy.
We will maintain our commitment to free admissions, encouraging people of all ages and a wide range of backgrounds to visit. Every
child will have lifetime library membership from birth. Britain is enriched by its unique historical heritage.
We will review the structures that oversee English Heritage, putting mutual principles at the heart of its governance so that people can have a direct say over the protection and maintenance of Britain’s built historical legacy. We will give public institutions new rights to borrow works of art from the national collection, so that more people can benefit from access to our national artistic heritage.
National Lottery funding is more in tune with people’s priorities than ever. We will promote greater public involvement in the way that
National Lottery proceeds are spent on good causes. A proportion of Lottery funding is going to the Olympics. After 2012, this proportion will return to culture, heritage and sport.
Conservatives
We will restore the National Lottery to its original purpose and, by cutting down on administration costs, make sure more money goes to good causes. The Big Lottery Fund will focus purely on supporting social action through the voluntary and community sector, instead of Ministers’ pet projects as at present. Sports, heritage and the arts will each see their original allocations of 20 per cent of good cause money restored.
Liberal Democrats
– Maintain free entry to national museums and galleries and open up the Government Art Collection for greater public use.
– Set up a ‘Creative Enterprise Fund’ offering training, mentoring and small grants or loans to help creative businesses get off the ground.
– Cut red tape for putting on live music. We will reintroduce the rule allowing two performers of unamplifi ed music in any licensed
premises without the need for an entertainment licence, allow licensed venues for up to 200 people to host live music without the need for an entertainment licence, and remove the requirement for schools and hospitals to apply for a licence.
– Reform the National Lottery. We will change the way the National Lottery is taxed from a ticket tax to a gross profi ts tax, which is
forecast to deliver more for good causes and the Exchequer.
– Use cash in dormant betting accounts to set up a capital fund for improving local sports facilities and supporting sports clubs.
– Close loopholes that allow playing fi elds to be sold or built upon without going through the normal planning procedures.
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