THE Department of Communities has confirmed a £460,000 cut for the Arts Council, just days after an extra £200,000 was allocated to marching bands.
The budget of the Arts Council has been reduced from £10.95m during 2015/2016 to £10.49m for the current financial year.
The bulk of the money is used to pay staffing and running costs for smaller arts organisations across the north.
A spokesman for the department said its budget allocation from the Executive, agreed in January, had resulted in the reduced funding.
"These financial allocations create challenges for all departments and their public bodies.
"All the public bodies funded by the Department for Communities, including the Arts Council, will operate within the financial limits set by the Executive and Assembly this year and will do so as effectively and efficiently as possible."
However, the department also confirmed that the £200,000 grants scheme for musical instruments for marching bands is separate from the budget.
The funding, announced on the eve of the Twelfth, was reinstated by DUP communities minister Paul Givan after being suspended by former culture minister Carál Ní Chuilín last year.
The Sinn Fein minister had said it was being "put on hold" due to budget pressures.
The Arts Council suffered a cut of £1.38m from her department during 2015-16.
A spokesman for the new Department of Communities said yesterday: "The £200,000 for the Musical Instruments for Bands Scheme is additional money allocated by the Department for Communities to the Arts Council to administer this specific scheme."
Mr Givan had said the marching bands sector is "the largest community arts sector in Northern Ireland" and provides "structure, discipline and a social outlet for a huge number of young people across Northern Ireland".
But Adam Turkington, who runs Seedhead Arts in Belfast, said last night he was disappointed that funding for arts was once again being "raided" for activities that catered for one part of the community and not the other.
"For me it's really clear the binary politics of Stormont only understands two kinds of culture," he said.
"They don't understand the arts, they don't understand the benefits it brings to society and I actually don't believe that they are interested in bringing people together."
The Department for Communities meanwhile pledged to reduce administrative costs to protect the sector.
“The department will be examining options to reduce the administrative and back office costs incurred by its public bodies to ensure that the maximum portion of funding available in the future will be directed to front line services and activities on the ground," the spokesman added.
