New Culture Secretary Karen Bradley today set her sights on “tearing down barriers” to careers in the arts and opening them up to millions more people.
In her first speech since being appointed, she stressed that the arts “must be available to everyone, not the preserve of a privileged few”.
Speaking in Liverpool, she was set to say: “The Government is looking at how we can tear down the barriers to a career in the arts. A new experience that reaches someone who would not otherwise enjoy a rich cultural life changes that person’s world.
“That sort of experience has immeasurable value, but can also have a cumulative impact that can effect change on a local and even national scale. Culture can help regenerate villages, towns and cities.”
She highlighted a survey which found that arts engagement was nearly 82 per cent among the wealthiest adults, but just over 65 per cent from lower socio-economic groups.
The gap in arts engagement between white adults and adults from a black or minority ethnic background had also widened, she added, while people with a long-standing illness or disability were significantly less involved in the arts.
“Small wonder that people from disadvantaged backgrounds are poorly represented in the artistic professions — or that young people from such backgrounds are less likely to play an instrument and are under-represented at conservatoires compared to higher education in general,” Ms Bradley was due to say. She also announced that 200 pupils in Barking and Dagenham would be given encouragement to visit museums, galleries or the theatre as part of a new scheme to boost involvement in the arts.
The first pilots of the scheme, the Cultural Citizens Programme, will be launched in September in east London, Liverpool, Blackpool and Birmingham.Ms Bradley pledged to work with new Education Secretary Justine Greening to ensure “no child is left out of this country’s magnificent and extra- ordinary cultural inheritance”.
She added that the Government was working hard at “rebalancing” arts funding” between London and the regions, which is likely to raise concerns that the capital may get less financial support.