Publishers supported by Arts Council England (ACE) have reacted with relief to the news this morning that they will face a relatively restrained cash cut of 6.9% in the year 2011/12.

ACE announced today that it had agreed its implementation plan to reduce Arts Council England's grant-in-aid budget from £449m to £349m by 2015, as directed in the government's spending review.

The majority of funded organisations will face a 6.9% across-the-board cash cut next year, with a 14.9% real-terms cut to the money available for the regular funding of organisations effective by 2014/15.

There will be "significant" cuts to the funding of Creativity, Culture and Education, Arts and Business, and the Arts Council's development funds, while the Arts Council's own operating costs are to be slashed by 50%, from the current £22m to £12m in real terms in 2015.

Liz Forgan, chair of ACE, said: "These are severe cuts, made worse by the fact that around 80% of them have to come in the first two years of the settlement. We are determined to lead the arts through this tough period, using all our knowledge, expertise, and brokering skills, and drawing on the resourcefulness and imagination around us."

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