Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced plans to abolish the UK Film Council. He plans to hand over the role of developing movies to the British Film Institute.

Director of the Film Council, Ken Loach said “The UK Film Council was essentially the equivalent of a research and development department. In cutting it, it is destructive to our emerging young talent. There is no other organisation that could invest in the future as it did.”

Chairman Tim Bevan said: “British film, one of the UK’s more successful growth industries, deserves better.”

The Film Council was founded in 2000 under Labour’s government. They employed a staff of 75 and had an annual budget of £15m to invest in British films.

 Funded by the National Lottery, it has invested money into more than 900 films in the past ten years, including Bend it Like Beckham, The Last King of Scotland and This is England.

John Woodward, Chief Executive of the Film Council, said in a letter to the British film industry he had been informed that “the target is to have the organisation totally closed down with its assets and its remaining operations transferred out by April 2012″.

Chairman Tim Bevan said that the council’s core concern now was to ensure that the government locked in the funding levels and core functions that are needed for British Film. He added:

“To that end, we will work with the DCMS over the summer to identify how they can guarantee both continuity and safe harbour for British film.”