Gianluca Vacca (M5S): but what cuts? We are investing in culture. 4,000 new hires at MiBAC by 2021

Undersecretary for Cultural Heritage Gianluca Vacca (5 Star Movement) has responded to criticism from those who have pointed out that the 2019 maneuver, when it comes to culture, contains mostly cuts. In a post on his Facebook page, Vacca wanted to clarify some points. On hiring, he assured that by 2021 the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities will hire 4,000 people: “For a few days people have been writing and talking superficially about cuts to culture in the budget law, resulting in accusations against the government. This is not the case. The numbers, which never lie, tell something quite different. And so it is worth making the point, starting with a figure of absolute importance: the recruitment plan launched by the Mibac, which will lead to supplementing the staff by 2021 with about 4,000 new hires, one thousand of them extra turnover. One thousand people, that is, in addition to those who will be hired for the natural turnover due to retirements. All this, for an additional structural spending chapter of 37 million euros per year. We are thus responding to the first urgent need to restore staffing levels, since those who preceded us did not take care of it, leaving the structures operating on cultural heritage with serious gaps, at every level.”

The undersecretary refers to the so-called concreteness bill, a draft law that, if approved, will introduce the unblocking of turn-over with the possibility for public administrations to hire staff for an expenditure equal to 100 percent of that related to tenured staff who terminated their service the previous year: since three thousand retirements are planned at MiBAC between now and 2021, if the concreteness bill becomes law, the ministry itself will be able to hire three thousand new staff. The other one thousand units, however, are those provided for in the 2019 maneuver.

As for the cuts on the bonus for 18-year-olds, Vacca admitted that “the only revised item is the one related to the culture bonus,” but he justified the cuts: “in the first two years, the total allocated - 290 million euros per year - was never spent in full, because not all the kids signed up for 18app and among those who did sign up, not everyone spent the full amount of 500 euros. The trend is growing, but thinking about reshaping the overall allocation is not only right, it is rightful. Just as it is right to allocate the bonus to those who need it most, thus privileging the economically weaker groups, and not to give it indiscriminately to everyone, even to those who can easily afford books, movies, concerts. It is also worth mentioning that Mibac has increased the number of free admission days in museums for everyone and that, in order to bring young people in particular closer to culture, it has launched important measures for young people between 18 and 25 years old, such as the ticket for only 2 euros for museums and archaeological sites and such as the initiative to reserve some seats for them in the theater, to attend opera performances, again at the very advantageous price of 2 euros.”

As for the reductions to the tax credit of cinemas and bookstores, Vacca pointed out that “these are interventions that affect only a part of the facilities and in any case do not affect 2019. We will try to restore them already in next year’s budget law. We will work in Parliament to find the necessary resources immediately and, in general, to introduce additional measures this budget law as well. In the meantime, we have launched a 109-million investment plan for security in cultural venues, with an effort unparalleled in the past, and, for 2018, we have allocated 10 million euros more to the Single Fund for the Performing Arts, making up for a lack from the last legislature.”

However, it should be noted that both the 2019 maneuver and the concreteness ddl are still in draft status, so both bills are still subject to amendments.

Pictured: Gianluca Vacca

Gianluca Vacca (M5S): but what cuts? We are investing in culture. 4,000 new hires at MiBAC by 2021

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