Arts bursaries mired in confusion  

Confusion reigns over the Government’s plans to fund a number of ‘Creative Bursaries’. The DCMS website announced the £600,000 initiative yesterday and said that this was enough funding to pay for ‘at least 40’ youngsters on a scheme which is intended to help create the next Billy Elliot. Ignoring the fact that Billy Elliot is a fictional character for a moment, it would appear that the DCMS didn’t manage to brief Number 10 on the scheme. Gordon Brown didn’t waste any time in getting in on the action and had his photo taken with ‘the young Billy Elliots’ but the Prime Minister’s team didn’t quite seem to understand the detail of the plan. When asked at a Lobby Briefing how much the bursaries would be worth to internees, Brown’s spokesman said that ‘with 15,000 places, it would amount to £7,500.’...