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DCMS takes £88m budget hit
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is to have its budget trimmed by £88m and Ofcom is preparing to have its powers reined in under the new coalition government’s public spending cuts.
The DCMS cut, which equates to 4%, is bigger than the £66m figure mooted earlier this week by culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, but still represents a relatively small dent in the department’s £2.2bn annual budget.
Of the £88m, £27m will come from the Olympic Delivery Authority and the rest will come from the department’s other sectors. It is expected to come largely from administrative costs and will be implemented in the current financial year. The exact amount to be stripped from the culture and media budgets will be detailed shortly.
Meanwhile Ofcom is bracing itself for a significant reduction in its powers. Officials are still waiting to hear how the details of the cuts will impact on them, but are expecting some of its current responsibilities to be brought into central government in line with the Tories’ pre-election pledge. Insiders do not expect the body to be scrapped altogether.
Original story from Broadcast
