Arts Council to axe 100 jobs

More than 100 staff are to be axed from Arts Council England (ACE) as part of budget cuts.

The organisation was told to cut its administration costs by 50% as part of the 2010 Government spending review which saw its annual budget drop from £449 million to £349 million by 2015.

It announced today it was cutting staff numbers from around 559 jobs to 442 and reducing the numbers of executive directors from eight to four.

Chief Executive Alan Davey said: "These savings have been challenging to achieve, given our already pared down structure.

"There is an absolute need for the Arts Council to remain an intelligent investor, leading growth and ambition in an arts and cultural sector which contributes so much to the wealth, quality of life and reputation of our nation.

"We are protecting the relationship management and the artistic and cultural expertise we know our colleagues in the sector value but we must be pragmatic. We'll do less and we'll do it differently - but we'll do it well."

The moves to the new structure begin next month and should be completed by July.

TV executive Sir Peter Bazalgette, the man behind hits such as Big Brother and Deal Or No Deal, was announced as the new chairman of the organisation last month replacing Dame Liz Forgan from February.

PA