Nine of the country’s biggest city councils have written to the government urging it not to slash spending on the arts as well as putting up value added tax on tickets.

The councils – Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Eindhoven, Maastricht, Arnhem, Groningen and Enschede – say they accept the need for cuts but that the government’s plans will be disastrous.
The new government’s coalition agreement includes plans to slice €200m off spending on the arts and to increase the tax on tickets for the performing arts from 6% to 19%.
If the new cabinet wants to overhaul arts spending, it should set up a special commission ‘to do justice to all the interests at stake’, the council officials say.