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The government has splurged £24,000 every month framing art for its offices as millions struggle to make ends meet.
They blew a record amount last year while spending on municipal museums and galleries is slashed. An oil painting of two fish on a plate was framed at a cost of £5,000 and now hangs on the walls of the Chancellor’s home at 11 Downing Street.
The same amount was spent on a wax-polished walnut frame for a painting at the UK embassy in Berne, Switzerland. The total framing bill since the Conservatives came to power is now £1.9million.
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Over the past decade, spending by councils on museums and art galleries has fallen by £79m to £183m. Spending on local libraries was slashed by £292m to £668m per year.
Callum McGoldrick, researcher at the TaxPayers Alliance, said: “Taxpayers will be livid that while they’ve been enduring a cost-of-living crisis, the government’s art collection has been receiving the royal treatment.”
At the same time civil servants in Whitehall have sanctioned a huge increase in the spend on framing pictures and photographs that are part of the Government Art Collection (GAC), which are used to decorate the walls of government buildings. Last year’s spending of £252,000 on frames was a record and was more than double the £99,000 that was spent on framing ten years ago.
Among the bills last year were £5,000 for a wax polished walnut frame for a fantasy forest painting by Rhea O’Neill, which is now on the walls at the UK embassy in Berne, Switzerland. Another £5,000 was spent on a bill to frame an oil painting of two fish on a plate, which now sits on the walls of the Chancellor’s home at No. 11 Downing Street.
In 2020 the government sanctioned a £6,000 spend to frame an artwork called Enormous Changes at the Last Minute, by Laura Gannon, which is now in the UK’s embassy in Washington, in the US. When Theresa May was the resident of No.10 £6,795 was spent putting a reproduction Tudor gilt frame around a painting of Henry VIII which was then hung on the walls of the PM’s home.
Towns and cities such as Birmingham, Swindon, Buxton, Winchester and Woking have all seen local galleries either close or come under threat of closure in recent years because of council budget restrictions.
A Local Government Association (LGA) spokesperson said: “Councils value the contributions that museums and galleries provide to their localities, including but not withstanding supporting the visitor economy, promoting local pride, and boosting high-street footfall. Despite best efforts made by councils to maximise the income of these valued services and their impact on their communities, the effect of cost pressures is undoubtedly affecting them.
“The rise in the cost-of-living leaves residents with less disposable income to pay for or travel to museums. Alongside this, many museums are located in historic buildings, and the cost of heating and maintaining these is becoming increasingly challenging.”
McGoldrick added: “Ministers should draw a line under this spending and look at whether any works of art can be sold off to somewhere the public can see them.”
A Department of Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson said: “The Government Art Collection promotes British art and culture at home and abroad, delivering an expression of Britain’s soft power and values. Framing costs are minimised while ensuring that the collection is well protected and presented for display in public buildings across the globe to showcase the best.”
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