The National Campaign for the Arts has launched a general election prompt sheet to help the public gauge how knowledgeable and committed parliamentary candidates are to issues facing the arts in the UK.
The PDF prompt sheet suggests three questions to ask your local candidate:
- What will you do to protect arts funding?
- How will you make good art education available to everyone?
- What will you do to ensure everyone has access to the best art, no matter where they live?
Samuel West, chair of the NCA, said: “Public funding helps to make the UK a world leader in arts and culture. The National Campaign for the Arts wants audiences and candidates to understand and support that.”
He commented that it is essential for this and for future generations that the arts are not forgotten in the election and that successful candidates “will realise how important affordable access to art is to the health and wellbeing of their constituents”.
West added: “We hope all arts organisations will share our new prompt sheet with their audiences and supporters. It gives them facts, figures and three fundamental questions to ask candidates about arts funding, education and provision across the UK.”
Green Guarantee
In other general election news, in its recently launched manifesto the Green Party announced it will increase government arts funding by £500 million to ‘restore the cuts made since 2010’.
In the ‘Green Guarantee‘, the party said it would also reinstate ‘proper’ levels of funding for local authorities, helping to keep local museums, theatres, libraries and art galleries open.
The party will work to support fair pay productions in the arts, while supporting initiatives to make the arts and sports accessible to all. It also plans to reduce VAT to 5% for live performances.
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1. National Campaign for the Arts general election prompt sheet
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