Centre for London warns the capital’s creative industries are in peril after council spending on arts and culture falls 50%, reports Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter

The launch of the Centre for London's new report at the Barbican on Thursday (credit Noah Vickers/LDRS) — The launch of Centre for London’s new report at the Barbican on Thursday (credit Noah Vickers/LDRS)

Pressure grew on Thursday (3rd) for the government to allow Sir Sadiq Khan to impose a tourist tax on overnight visitors to London, as a leading think tank argued it could help revitalise arts and culture in the capital.

In a new report, Centre for London warns that the city’s creative industries are in peril, as total local authority spending on arts and culture per head nationally fell by 50% between 2010 and 2021.

As well as urging ministers to restore arts funding to local government to 2010 levels in real terms, and to introduce a national arts pass for under-25s, the think tank has called on the government to “allow the Greater London Authority (GLA) to explore the implementation of a tourist tax to help invest in London’s arts and cultural scene”.

It comes after Khan voiced his support for a tourist tax at Mayor’s Question Time last month, as he said most tourists in Europe “don’t really mind paying the extra few euros”, which is typically added on to hotel bills in cities like Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam.

The government said in response to the mayor’s comments: “There are currently no plans to introduce a tourism tax in England. Places can already choose to introduce a levy on overnight stays through the accommodation business improvement district model.”

The Centre for London’s new report, Arts for All, was launched at a panel discussion at the Barbican Arts Centre on Thursday.

Shonagh Manson, the GLA’s assistant director of culture and creative industries, told the event: “This is a really important conversation right now, and something that our team have been researching and case-making for, for the last seven years if not longer, which seems to have come to its moment, in a way.

“This is the idea that visitors to a city pay a small percentage or amount extra on their hotel bill basically and that creates a pot of money that then gets reinvested.

“That happens in different ways in cities internationally. It’s also happening either through local legislation or through voluntary levies in different places across the UK […] We’ve been talking about that in London for a long time.

“Just to get technical though, in order to do that properly, you would need national legislation in England, so the GLA can’t do it on its own.

“The mayor has come out very clearly in favour of a national legislative change as part of the [new] devolution settlement, but I think it’s our job – collectively – to make the case for that to go to culture. That is not a given.”

The mayor said in his remarks last month that his “promise” to the capital’s hospitality industry would be that “the money would be used […] to encourage more tourists” to London.

Rob Anderson, Centre for London’s research director, said: “London’s arts and culture is at the heart of what it means to be a Londoner. It’s central to why many people choose to live in the capital.

“And yet, not all Londoners get to enjoy our city’s world-class arts and culture offer. We need to break down the barriers which prevent Londoners – from all ages, walks of life and socio-economic backgrounds – from taking advantage of our amazing arts and culture scene.

“We’ve seen great work to broaden engagement from our arts institutions in recent years. But reductions in funding have made it harder for London’s arts sector to offer the kinds of affordable, local and convenient offerings that Londoners want and that widen participation. We need to re-invest in our arts, to safeguard London’s continued cultural success and ensure that more Londoners can benefit from the city’s world-class offer.”

A government spokesperson said in response to the Centre for London’s report: “We’re under no illusions about the financial issues facing councils and we’re working with local authorities to fix the foundations to deliver improved public services across the country.”

“At the same time, we are ensuring arts and culture are able to thrive across the country, through our recently announced £270m Arts Everywhere Fund, and through Arts Council England, which provides almost £150m to the London arts scene every year.”

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