The Stage

Executive shelved forecast of Scottish Opera debt

Published Wednesday 18 August 2004 at 15:25 by Ruth Gillespie

Troubled Scottish Opera’s fate was sealed four years ago when the Scottish Executive chose to shelve a report compiled by former English National Opera director Peter Jonas, which warned that unless the company received increased subsidy of £1 million a year it would inevitably fall into debt.

In the document commissioned by the Scottish Arts Council, Jonas predicted the decline of the company’s artistic standards and the danger of it succumbing to part-time status if inadequate funding continued. He argued that if the current budget level of £7.4 million a year remained, SO would eventually run up a debt. However, his findings were not printed for public view and his recommendations went unheeded.

Last week the company announced that almost half its chorus had agreed to take voluntary redundancy as part of a controversial business plan, which involved cutting 88 jobs to make up a deficit of £4.5 million. Initially the proposal included replacing the entire 34-strong chorus with freelance singers, however, an interim deal to retain 20 performers until June 2005 has now been agreed.

Brian Monteith, the Scottish Conservative’s finance spokesman, said: “There had been concern from the parliament’s culture committee over Scottish Opera’s financial situation. The report was commissioned to determine whether the problems were caused by inadequate budgets or bad management.

“Peter Jonas found that, compared to similar-sized organisations on the continent, SO was underfunded and warned that it needed a hike of £1 million every year. This increase would have been equal to the amount of debt the company is now burdened with.”

Prior to the introduction of a devolved government in Scotland, the company had received a 15% increase in funding in 1996 and a further 13% increase in 1997 from the Conservatives. However, when Labour came to power, the company’s core funding increased by only 5% in three years - significantly below inflation. As a result of the effective cut, the company ran into debt and needed to be bailed out by the Scottish Executive when it was established in 1999, after which its budget was frozen for a further three years.

Added Monteith: “The underfunding is nothing to do with lack of money or overspending on the ‘Politicians’ Palace’ at Holyrood. It has everything to do with cultural nihilism towards world-class institutions such as Scottish Opera. The money is there to prevent these job cuts but the Executive has no interest in spending it in this way. SO has been underfunded since 1997 and yet politicians are still blaming the company for not running its finances well.”

Equity Scottish organiser Drew McFarlane said that while an extra £1 million a year would have been helpful he believed that by the time any policy resulting from Jonas’ report had been put into action it would not have completely prevented the current deficit.

A leading arts representative said: “The company was very slow to realise that when the Executive said there would be no more money they meant it. This is the biggest arts organisation in Scotland and the Executive decided it had to act within the same financial realities as everyone else. Other arts companies lost patience and felt SO should cut its cloth in the same way they did. But the company believed that the Executive would continue to bail it out and went on spending as if that was the case. They have only themselves to blame.”

The Scottish Executive claimed that since the Jonas report was formulated the company has run up a further £3.2 million deficit despite receiving additional money. Management was asked to come up with a business plan that would allow SO to support itself within known resources for the future and this resulted in the proposed job cuts.

Added a spokeswoman for the Executive: “The report was taken into consideration when it was compiled and some additional money was brought forward. Like all reports ministers considered its findings, however, there is one funding pot for the arts and if we take money out for Scottish Opera other organisations feel the stretch. Ministers had other priorities at the time which had to be taken into account.”