Conservatives: Cuts in administration spending on the arts

The Guardian reports Conservative Shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt saying:

The Conservatives would introduce a target for the main distributors of arts grants, including the Film Council and Arts Council England (ACE), to reduce administrative costs to a maximum of 5% of the money received from government – meaning stringent cuts.

he could not guarantee that exchequer funding would continue at present levels. "We face cuts whoever wins the next election," he admitted. "But we are committed to a mixed-economy funding model for the arts and I do believe in state funding.

So talk of cuts in administration, but the state will still be pouring money into the arts that it wants to support. A little good, but not enough.

Conservatives: Spending cuts from day one

The Daily Telegraph is reporting George Osborne saying:

"Programmes that represent poor value for money, excessive spending on things like advertising and consultants, spending on tax credits for people earning over £50,000, and spending on Child Trust Funds for better off families will all have to be cut during the financial year."

Advertising and consultants will be chicken feed.
Tax credits for those earning over £50,000 is NOT cutting spending, but effectively increasing taxes through simplification of the tax system.
Spending on Child Trust Funds will also be chicken feed.

He did note the status quo is unacceptable: "Total spending is planned to go up by £31 billion in nominal terms, or by more than 2 per cent in real terms. During a period when the Treasury expects the economy to be growing by at least 2 per cent, and with the largest budget deficit of any developed economy, that is simply not credible."

All well and good in intent, but little of substance.