Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer claimed she will maintain the capital’s “creative excellence” as she announced new funding for London Fashion Week and the London Film Festival.
The Cabinet minister also announced that a new screen technology lab, which will work on the kind of special effects used in the sell-out success of Abba Voyage, will be based at Pinewood Studios and benefit to the tune of £75 million in Government funding.
London Fashion Week will get £2 million spread over three years while the BFI will receive £1.7 million to deliver next year’s film festival.
The announcement comes seven months after the last round of Arts Council England funding left the capital’s cultural scene reeling. Three of the capital’s most prominent smaller theatres — Donmar Warehouse, Hampstead Theatre and The Gate — lost all their financial support. The English National Opera was told to leave the capital or lose its public funding — a decision that was a key plank in ACE’s plan to move £24 million a year out of London by 2025 after being instructed to do so by the Government.
Ms Frazer told Sky News: “I think it’s really important that we spread wealth and opportunity across the country. But I also think it’s really important that we maintain our creative excellence in areas that are already excellent. So another thing that we’re announcing today is investment and support for the London Film Festival and for London Fashion Week. Those are examples of creative excellence in the south and we want to ensure that they continue.”
