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FOI - Arts and Culture policy [Aug 2023]

Key information

Request reference number: MGLA140723-1935

Date of response:

Summary of request

Your request 
  1. How many job roles at the Council are dedicated to arts and culture policy today?

  2. How many roles were dedicated to arts and culture policy on this date in 2013?
  3. Please confirm your budget dedicated to providing art and culture for each financial year stated below: 2013-2014 2018-2019 2023-2024
  4. How many venues dedicated to hosting arts or cultural events have closed since 2013? Where possible, please share your responses in an Excel document.
Our response

The Culture, Creative Industries and 24 Hr London Unit currently consists of 43.4 Full Time Equivalent posts, delivering a range of significant projects benefiting Londoners, from London Borough of Culture, the Culture and Community Spaces at Risk programme, Night Time Enterprise Zones, Creative Enterprise Zones and the Creative Economy Growth Programme.

Not all of these roles are dedicated to arts and culture policy – some deliver business and operational support, and all senior management and leadership roles are also partially dedicated to the running of the wider GLA organisation.

For 2013-14, the Culture team consisted of 9 Full Time Equivalent posts, focusing on Culture Strategy, Cultural Tourism, Cultural Legacy and special projects such as Big Dance

The GLA’s culture expenditure from 2013-2014, 2018-2019 and 2023-24 is below, including the GLA's joint statutory duty to fund the Museum of London with the City of London. 

Culture Expenditure Total (£m)
2013-2014 Expenditure 12.066
2018-2019 Expenditure 16.6
2023-2024 Budget 17.18

GLA funding has also helped to lever substantial external funding and investment for programmes, which is not contained in the above. For example, since 2017, the Mayor’s funding for London Borough of Culture has levered more than £19m investment.

The GLA started to publish data on venue openings and closures for most types of cultural spaces in 2018. Therefore, we are unable to provide a total number of venues dedicated to hosting arts or cultural events that have closed since 2013.

The GLA started to publish data on venue openings and closures for most types of cultural spaces in 2018. Therefore, we are unable to provide a total number of venues dedicated to hosting arts or cultural events that have closed since 2013: Cultural Infrastructure Map – London Datastore

For pre-2018 research on artist’s workspaces, pubs, grassroots music venues, dance performance and rehearsal infrastructure, and LGBTQ+ nightlife spaces please refer to reports available at: What do we know about London's cultural infrastructure? | London City Hall

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