Equity has welcomed Bristol City Council’s announcement that it will preserve the Cultural Investment Programme for the next three years and remove proposals to reduce the fund to zero. However, the union has also warned that the council’s plans beyond the next three years are not known, and has vowed to continue to fight for arts funding in the city.
This comes after campaigning to stop arts cuts in Bristol from Equity activists and local arts and community groups.
The announcement was made in a blog post by Leader of the Council, Tony Dyer, providing an overview of the 2026/27 budget. In it he says:
“We will preserve the Cultural Investment Programme for the next three years and remove proposals to reduce this fund, meaning we can protect funding for our cultural organisations.”
In autumn last year, it was revealed that Bristol City Council planned to reduce and then cut entirely the Cultural Investment Programme, meaning there would be zero local culture funding in Bristol. This was followed by a demonstration to stop the cuts, held by local arts and community groups, including Equity.
Equity also called on members to respond to the council’s budget consultation to show their opposition to Cultural Investment Programme cuts, while Equity President Lynda Rooke questioned the plans in-person at full council.
Earlier this month, Bristol City Council announced that it is bidding to be UK City of Culture 2029.
Commenting on the news that Bristol City Council will not cut the Cultural Investment Programme, Equity President Lynda Rooke said:
“We are relieved that Bristol City Council has decided not to cut its Cultural Investment Programme. An annual £635,000 budget made up a tiny proportion of the tens of millions of pounds needed to balance their books, yet would have had a devastating effect on Bristol’s cultural ecosystem.
“For now, artists can continue to work and earn a living in the city, contributing to the local economy and enriching the community. However, the previously planned cuts have underlined the precarity faced by creatives, who often rely on insecure sources of funding to sustain their work and livelihoods. We do not know what the council’s plan is beyond the next three years, but Equity’s Bristol & West of England Branch will continue to fight to protect the arts in our community.
“From opposing delays to arts funding decisions under the council’s previous administration, to stopping the sale of Bottle Yard Studios, to campaigning against these latest proposed cuts, we are group of artists living and working locally, and we will continue to come together to stand up for arts funding in Bristol.”
Writing about changes to plans for the 2026/27 budget, Council Leader Tony Dyer said they were “chosen as a direct result of the feedback we’ve received throughout the year at finance sub-committee meetings, from consultations, community discussions, and many meetings with residents on what matters to people most.”
