It’s a tough time for the arts at present. The cost-of-living crunch means institutes scaling back projects and families cutting back their non-essential spending. Still, over at one Britain’s biggest quangos, the good times appear to have kept on rolling. Data published earlier this year reveals how Arts Council England spent more than £100 million of National Lottery money during the 2021-22 financial year. Mr S has been perusing that expenditure and discovered just what exactly such sums are being spent on.
Arts Council England, which claims to ‘champion, develop and invest in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives’, gave three tranches of money to the ‘The Family Sex Show.’ On top of the £18,966 previously revealed, the controversial show received two further payments, of £19,250 on 12 October 2021 and £63,535 on 20 January 2022.
The Family Sex Show, now cancelled, planned on charging children as young as five £8 to watch a show exploring ‘themes around gender, sexuality, bodies, pleasure, relationships and boundaries.’ According to the show’s website, ‘at one point in the show, everyone on stage takes their clothes off to the level they feel comfortable… For some people that’s taking off all their clothes and being absolutely naked.’
Black Lives Matter events also appeared to get funding too, with two events titled ‘BLM Live’ and ‘BLM Live – BHM’ receiving funding of £12,800 and £13,355 respectively. Further projects deemed worthy of funding included £8,544 for a solo dance work about menstruation and a further £9,942 for the same show but delivered to children. Asked for comment, Darwin Friend, policy analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘Government urgently needs to get a grip on wasteful and unnecessary quangos, like the Arts Council.’
What a lotto waste of money…
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