News

Ace Ruele Aristotles faces deportation to Jamaica despite having only ever visited the country twice.

The 33-year-old actor, who has appeared in Eastenders and New Blood, has successfully challenged deportation before, having served a prison sentence for minor offences in his youth.

As a result of his crimes, his immigration status was changed to limited leave to remain five years ago. Aristotles lost an appeal by the Government that he had a "financial incentive" to reoffend and hadn't demonstrated family ties, despite having children in the UK.

He now has to renew his right to remain every 30 months at a cost of £2,389 each time.

“Why should I pay every 30 months for limited leave to remain in the country I was born in and, if I don’t, be faced with removal? I didn’t immigrate from another country, I can’t go anywhere else,” he told The Independent.

The University for the Creative Arts (UCA) will close its Rochester campus in September 2023, giving most students time to finish their degrees.

Staff will be redeployed to other campuses as UCA looks to move courses to new "centres of excellence" in Canterbury, Epsom and Farnham.

UCA also plans to stop providing further education, focussing instead on degree level courses.  

This is its second campus closure, having stopped providing courses at Medway in 2014.

The use of 95m³ of concrete foundations to support part of the Serpentine Gallery’s annual pavilion has provoked a backlash among architects for its environmental impact. 

The gallery's artistic director, Hans Ulrich Obrist, pledged last year to place ecology at the heart of its work, but critics say using so much concrete - a major contributor to CO2 emissions - "calls into question the sincerity of that pledge".

This year’s pavilion was meant to be built in 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic. Criticisms of its green credentials have been rebutted by engineering consultants AECOM, who insist the structure has many sustainable attributes.

Recycled primary steelwork,  reclaimed cork and a sustainably-sourced lightweight timber substrate all form part of the structure, but AECOM says some concrete is needed to ensure public safety over the five months of the installation.

The Creative Funding Awards will offer non-profit organisations grants of up to £10,000 to deliver creative and cultural activities that aid the pandemic recovery.

Aberdeen City Council has opened the programme to performances, exhibitions, networking events "or even something completely new and innovative".

"There are very few limitations on the type of creative project that can be supported."

The local authority is backing Culture Aberdeen's 10-year strategy for the city, and funded activities are expected to contribute towards the strategy's ambitions: releasing creativity, making the city a stage, connecting the city to te world, shaping its future, and becoming "Scotland's creative lab".

Individual residents can also apply for one of ten £2000 awards.

The deadline for applications is Friday June 18 at 5pm.

Grassroots music venues are already selling tickets for 2534 shows in anticipation of restrictions being further relaxed on May 17.

The penultimate step of the Government's roadmap to recovery is the last before a return to full capacity shows, but at least 266 venues plan to reopen to smaller audiences, a survey by the Music Venue Trust (MVT) reveals.

More than 4000 shows are predicted to take place across 400 venues from mid-May, and 17,000 full capacity gigs are expected by the end of September.

MVT Strategic Director Beverley Whitrick said it was "incredible to see the enthusiasm for getting live music back".

"These socially distanced shows aren’t being delivered for financial return, in fact precisely the opposite. The grassroots sector is stepping up and putting its own time and money into answering the demand for live music in our communities."

CEO Mark Davyd added: "There are still challenges to overcome, and of course the whole of this programme relies on the Government sticking to its roadmap to allow us to reopen every venue safely."

"Audience safety continues to be grassroots music venues’ main priority, but this is hopefully the start of our much-anticipated road back to normality."

Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage has praised the mini-festival held in Liverpool on Sunday as part of the Government's Events Research Programme.

About 5,000 people attended the outdoor gig in Sefton Park. They were not distanced or wearing masks but were required to present a negative test result for Covid-19 prior to entry.

Their health will be monitored in the coming days, with hopes that a low level of transmission might facilitate the return of large scale events in the summer.

Dinenage said the event was "a milestone" and "a momentous occaison to celebrate".

"There is nothing quite like the collective experience of hearing your favourite act live in the atmosphere of a festival and I hope everyone [had] a fantastic day."

The arts could cost the Treasury £564m if organisations default on their Bounce Back loans.

Insolvency consultants Business Rescue Expert have calculated that the arts sector is one of the scheme's lowest borrowing sectors, receiving £940m from 47,741 loans. Only education has borrowed less at £726m.

Arts organisations have borrowed just under £25,000 on average but have the sixth highest rate of borrowing per individual loan at £31,512. 

In a "best case" scenario in which Treasury loses 15% of the loan value, the sector presents a £141m risk, Business Rescue Expert says.

The worst case scenario - a 60% loss of value - presents a £564m risk.

However, this is significantly less than other sectors: retail, the top borrower, could cost taxpayers £4.6bn in a worst case repayment situation.

Bounce Back Loans are distinct from the repayable finance scheme offered under the Culture Fund, meaning the sector's overall debt to the Government is closer to £1.1bn.