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Scores of arts groups lose all funding as ACE wields its axe

Published Tuesday 18 December 2007 at 15:30 by Alistair Smith

Nearly 200 arts organisations, including 37 theatre companies, have been told they are to lose all revenue funding from Arts Council England, in the bloodiest cull in ACE’s 61-year history.

The move to axe subsidy completely from 195 organisations, for most from April 2008, is leading to threats of closure and redundancies across the country.

Casualties of full cuts include the Northcott Theatre in Exeter, the National Student Drama Festival, London’s Drill Hall, the London Bubble Theatre Company, Komedia Theatre in Brighton, the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildfordand the London Sinfonia Orchestra. Touring companies such as English Touring Theatre and Eastern Angles have also been the victims of lesser, but serious, losses. Funding to struggling regional venues the Bristol Old Vic and Derby Playhouse is also being withheld. It is instead being earmarked, with an inflationary increase, for producing theatre in the two cities.

ACE insists the decisions “have not been taken lightly” and form part of a broader strategy that will see around 80 new organisations, including more than 20 theatre companies, joining its portfolio of regularly funded organisations.

Meanwhile, 746 of its remaining 795 RFOs will receive an inflationary increase or better. ACE also claims that of the 195 cut companies, several are being reorganised or combined, and the real figure of those losing subsidy is closer to 160.

The news has been greeted with dismay and anger from the industry, which had not expected the wide ranging cuts despite warnings from ACE that it was still going to make “difficult decisions” after the above inflation settlement received from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport earlier this year.

Richard Pulford, a former deputy secretary general of the arts council and now chief executive of the Society of London Theatre and the Theatrical Management Association - many of whose members have been affected - told The Stagehe was “extremely unhappy at both the process and the outcomes” of ACE’s decisions.

He added: “It seems extraordinary to me there could have been nearly 200 organisations that were worth funding this year, that aren’t next year. It looks like cutting for the sake of cutting. I don’t understand the rationale for it. We are very concerned that many organisations were given little or no forewarning and some have been cut by regional offices when they aren’t regional organisations. There seems to be no central policy.

“If you are cutting around a quarter of your portfolio, then there must have been something wrong with your portfolio in the first place - and whose fault is that?”

Equity echoed Pulford’s concerns. Martin Brown, head of communications and membership support at the union, said: “There’s no clear picture of any strategy because we’re only able to see the bad news. Equity is very concerned at the significant reduction in RFOs and the process means there is no way that the profession as a whole can understand what the arts council is doing. We’re thinking of holding an emergency public meeting in January to discuss the situation.”

The arts council, though, has insisted that the decisions are the right ones to “keep the sector strong” and is planning an assessment of the theatre in England next year - marking five years on from the influential Boyden review - to look at the overall health of the industry.

ACE chief executive Peter Hewitt said: “Some organisations will be unhappy with our decisions, but the majority will have a stronger, better future. And we believe that as a result, in three years time the arts in England will be of even higher quality, and accessible to even more people, than they are now.”

Companies which have been informed of ACE’s proposal to cut their funding have until January 15 to appeal against the decision. For more on the individual companies facing cuts, visit www.thestage.co.uk/news.

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