When, last month, the Government completed its first year in office, it seemed to Athena that July 2024 was a very long time ago. As far as the Arts are concerned, the many reports on the achievements of the past 12 months gave the Labour party a C+ at best.

Many of the problems have been well aired in this column. They include the almost total collapse of confidence in Arts Council England, the rumours that the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) was to be abolished and the impact on the cultural sector of the increase in employer’s National Insurance contributions and the rise in the National Living Wage, as a result of which the National Trust — to take only the most publicised example — is cutting 6% of its workforce, some 550 jobs.

On the positive side, Lisa Nandy, the Sec

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