A report from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee has urged the government to review its plans for the closure of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA).

Funding of the arts and heritage criticised the way in which the government decided to close the organisation, as well as the UK Film Council. The committee raised concern that Arts Council England (ACE) would not be "as effective a replacement" for the MLA and has called on the government to review the proposal.

ACE came under further fire, with the committee accusing the organisation of having spent "far too much on itself" as government investment increased by more than 150 per cent. The committee slammed a "gross waste of public money" with regards to ACE investment in The Public, West Bromwich, which opened late and over budget.

However, MPs welcomed the introduction of ACE's National Portfolio funding scheme - a decision on which groups will be supported is due to be announced shortly. Committee chair John Whittingdale said: "Over the past 20 years, the arts have enjoyed a period of particularly high levels of public investment. While this has created a vibrant and successful arts scene in the UK, there has also undoubtedly been waste.

"We realise that cuts in public spending will have a major impact on arts and heritage organisations, forcing some closures and we regret that. However, at a time when cuts are biting across the board, it is right that all sectors share the burden." An ACE spokesperson said: "The report is out of date in places and could have benefited from a wider range of viewpoints from the oral witnesses.

"The Public is old news, and is not representative of the Arts Council's investments in capital projects. Selling off works of art from the Arts Council Collection is also not a sensible solution to the current budget cuts."