Arts could benefit from £800m dormant assets scheme

12 Jan 2021

An expansion of the Government's Dormant Assets Scheme could provide more than £800m for "good causes," Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has said.

The scheme, which allows dormant bank and building society accounts to be released as public funds, will be extended to the insurance, pensions, wealth management and securities sectors. 

MPs say the extra funding will benefit communities as they recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Funding released to date has mostly been used on social enterprise programmes. However, it is up to each of the four nations to decide how they will spend their cut, leaving the door open for cultural charities to benefit.

Fears build over immigration rules for incoming artists

08 Jan 2021

Complex rules, higher costs and visa requirements are set to place new barriers to EU artists working in the UK, even for short-term contracts or single gigs. 

Council to invest in Watford Colosseum as HQ Theatres contract ends

08 Jan 2021

Watford Borough Council, owner of Watford Colosseum, has taken back control of the venue after its previous operator, HQ Theatres, ended its 10-year contract a few months earlier than planned. 

The Council has pledged to invest around £5m to secure the future of the building as an "iconic venue for future generations".

Although currently closed due to the pandemic, the venue, which is home to the BBC Concert Orchestra, will undergo a major refurbishment. The Council is considering how else the building can be used, including offering new opportunities for local professional artists and creative community projects.

Brexit deal leaves artists out in the cold

Departure board in Germany
07 Jan 2021

European touring is under threat as the cost and logistics of taking performances to EU countries will pose "significant challenges" for everyone from individual artists to major national companies.

Insurance scheme needed now to save 2021 festivals

07 Jan 2021

A £650m Government-backed insurance scheme could salvage £2bn worth of activity, the sector argues.

Orchestral music's popularity grew in lockdown

07 Jan 2021

Movie scores and video game soundtracks are broadening the genre's appeal, attracting a new generation of fans who are more likely to donate.

New Year Honours salute arts workers

Sharon Watson
07 Jan 2021

Slung Low’s Alan Lane, disability champion Andrew Miller and Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Moira Sinclair are among those receiving awards for their service.

Talawa pulls out of partnership with The REP

06 Jan 2021

Following a storm over Birmingham Rep's decision to lease some of its premises for use as a Nightingale Court, Black theatre company Talawa has pulled out of a partnership with The REP that would have seen its Black Joy season take place there in autumn 2021.

Black Joy, which is funded by Arts Council England’s Sustained Theatre Fund, would have premiered on The REP’s three stages in a co-producing relationship that would have presented a major musical production in the 800 seat The HOUSE, and two new commissioned plays in the 300 seat The STUDIO and the 150 seat The DOOR.

A statement from Talawa says the decision The REP has taken to host a Nightingale Court "does not align with Talawa’s commitment to Black artists and communities, the communities most affected by this decision." They believe it has "threatened the integrity of the Black Joy season" and describe the partnership as "no longer tenable under current circumstances".

The company is still hoping to bring the Black Joy season to its target audiences and said "We are exploring our options".

The statement is sympathetic to the position of those who operate cultural buildings, who are "having to make the difficult calls between maintaining the creative and political integrity of cultural buildings, and preserving the jobs of those who work within them" and says "it’s vital that we don’t see buildings close, irreparably harming the cultural fabric of the country."

But it goes on to say: "Our commitment to tackling social and racial injustices is stronger than ever. We stand true to our values. This is what makes us Talawa".

Earlier this year the REP announced job losses in wake of the pandemic, warning that it had lost 80% of its income and its current business model was “unsustainable”. It described its decision to offer space to the Nightingael Court as a financial one, "made in the context of exceptional circumstances".

 

Financial crisis looms for freelancers with tax bills to pay

06 Jan 2021

Self employed classical violinist Róisín Walters has launched a petition calling on the Government to waive any January 2021 tax bills that may be payable by freelance workers who have been excluded from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme   (SEISS).

Workers who have had no income since March 2020 are now being asked to settle their tax bills due in respect of earlier earnings, even though they may be struggling to survive. Walters moved from a salaried position with one orchestra to a self employed position with another in 2019, the timing of which meant she has been excluded from financial support from the SEISS. She is facing tax bill that she cannot afford to pay.

Only 1 in 10 freelancers who did not qualify for SEISS failed to qualify because their earnings were above the £50,000 cut off point. The rest are basic rate tax payers.

Post-Covid plan sees culture lead Brighton's recovery

06 Jan 2021

A plan for Brighton and Hove to become the best place in the country to start up or scale up a cultural business or be a successful creative freelancer is being presented to councillors in the city. Local leaders from the arts and creative industries have drawn up a recovery plan to become the leading creative hub on the south coast.

Cancelling events including Pride and the Brighton Festival and Fringe is thought to have cost Brighton and Hove £100m in lost revenues, and half of the estimated 16,000 creative jobs in the the city are thought to be at risk. 

Wales arts funding to hold steady in 2021

04 Jan 2021

A draft Welsh Government budget for 2021-22 includes standstill funding for the Arts Council of Wales (ACW).

ACW CEO Nick Capaldi has welcomed the news, describing it as an "important reaffirmation of the vital importance of the arts in supporting the well-being of the people of Wales".

He said: "Throughout the Covid pandemic artists and arts organisations have shown great imagination and resilience in providing opportunities for enjoyment, inspiration and solace during times of unprecedented crisis and difficulty.

"The Welsh Government’s support allows this to continue and will help protect jobs and livelihoods across the arts and the creative industries."  

Top art jobs go as Covid hits Palace finances

04 Jan 2021

The Royal Collection Trust, which lost £64m in 2020 due to the closure of Buckingham Palace and other sites to visitors, has had to restructure and make staff cuts.

Desmond Shawe-Taylor, the Surveyor of The Queen's Pictures, has taken redundancy and Rufus Bird, the Surveyor of The Queen's Works of Art, has also left. The two men, in charge of the Queen's art collection, and their posts are described as being "held in abeyance".

The post of Surveyor of The Queen's Pictures was created by Charles I. Previous holders include Anthony Blunt - later revealed to be a Russian spy.

Government excludes arts subjects from adult learning programme

04 Jan 2021

Arts subjects have been excluded from a new government scheme offering adults aged 24 and above free access to courses that lead to their first full Level 3 qualification - equivalent to a technical certificate or diploma, or two A-levels.

£95m has been earmarked from the Lifetime Skills Guarantee programme for almost 400 fully funded courses. Almost entirely science-based, they have been "carefully chosen to help adults improve their job prospects and meet the needs of the economy."

Other sectors also excluded from the list include tourism and hospitality.

CEO of the Incorporated Society of Musicians, Deborah Annetts, described the omission of  performing and arts qualifications as "typical of this government’s reckless disregard for vital creative subjects." 

Commenting on speculation that this decision was based on what is valued by employers, she said: "the important contribution of music to the UK economy has been seriously underestimated once again."

Covid strikes Shadow Culture Secretary

04 Jan 2021

Jo Stevens, MP for Cardiff Central and Shadow Secretary of State for Digital Culture Media and Sport, has been admitted to hospital suffering from Covid-19. Her team tweeted on New Year's Eve that she had been "laid low" with Covid for a while, and an update on 2nd January confirmed that she was being treated in hospital.

No successor to Creative Europe

17 Dec 2020

The UK desk of the European Union programme will close in March as funding is focused on the pandemic response.

Scientists to evaluate pre-show antigen testing

17 Dec 2020

1,000 Barcelona residents have taken part in study to test the effectiveness of same-day coronavirus screening at cultural events.

After taking an antigen test immediately before the performance, half of the volunteers were randomly selected to enter the the city's Apolo Theater for a free concert. The rest were sent home and will form a control group so that contagion inside the concert hall can be evaluated.

The antigen tests, while not as accurate as other types of tests, can produce results in 15 minutes rather than several hours or days later.

Dr. Boris Revollo, the virologist who designed the study’s protocols, urged event organisers to continue with face masks and other Covid precautions, but believes same-day antigen screening for large events could be a powerful tool to help make large events safe enough until vaccines are widespread.

Second round loans will be at least £1m each

17 Dec 2020

100 or fewer organisations will benefit from the next round of England's Culture Recovery Fund repayable finance.

Tier 3 extension leaves arts workers out in the cold says Bectu

17 Dec 2020

Bectu, the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union, has written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak calling for him to amend furlough rules to support creative sector workers who now face redundancy a week before Christmas. Changes to England's Tier system for Covid closures mean many of the 'Operation Sleeping Beauty' workers who would have been earning over the Christmas period are not eligible for Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme money, as they were not employed on 30th October.

Head of Bectu, Philippa Childs, said: “Theatre workers answered the government’s call to deliver Christmas magic. When launching Operation Sleeping Beauty, Oliver Dowden said he wanted to support theatre workers, now they need the government to deliver on that promise."
 

Twitter storm breaks as Birmingham Rep leases premises for a Nightingale Court

17 Dec 2020

Birmingham's Library and Repertory Theatre is to be used for temporary courtrooms as the Government takes steps to alleviate pressure on the court system and tackle outstanding cases. The Birmingham venues are starting to hear cases this week, with more venues due to open by the end of January, when the total number of Nightingale Courts will reach 40.

A statement on The Rep's website says the decision was a financial one, "made in the context of exceptional circumstances". It says: "The Government's Job Retention Scheme, Arts Council Emergency Fund and Culture Recovery Fund have provided very welcome additional funding, but only until March 2021. We have reduced our costs, closed our building for a prolonged period and downsized our staff team, losing 50+ valued members of staff across the REP and its trading companies."

The courts will hear civil, family and tribunals work as well as non-custodial crime cases; sentencing will not take place on site. They will occupy two of the three theatre spaces and associated meeting rooms in the theatre and library, with the largest theatre and all backstage and office areas retained for staff. Events will continue to be staged throughout this period, as performances will not take place at the same time as the courts are in use.

But The Rep has been accused of 'breaking trust' for doing a deal to lease its building to the Ministry of Justice and an ensuing social media storm has seen them accused of racism and alienating staff, audiences and the cultural workforce.

One Twitter post said: "Turning community art spaces into courtrooms is violence. Much harm is done to people in the court system, and so it removes the theatre from being a space of safety for those oppressed and marginalised". Another commented: "No words can express the heartbreak & the breaking of Trust I feel RN. No organisation can claim to be anti racist if (sic) they uphold the very fabric of systematic racial oppression. Remove your statements they are false."

But others defended the move - one saying: "I don't understand the backlash. Having worked for the court service I no (sic) how the situation is for families. Cases hopefully will be heard quicker and the rep getting much needed funds. I say well done in diversifying."

The Rep has taken to Twitter to "condemn outright" all threats of violence against individuals who have spoken out about their decision regarding the use of the building. They said: "We hear and respect each and every opinion and will respond".

France's cultural workers take to the streets over Covid closures

17 Dec 2020

Around 10,000 people working in the cultural and entertainment sectors in France have staged a street protest in Paris against the continued Covid-related closure of venues including theatres, concert halls, cinemas and museums. Further protests were held across the country, including in Marseilles, Lyon, Nantes and Strasbourg.

Cultural venues closed at the end of October as part of measures to curtail a second wave of the pandemic and were due to reopen this week in line with French government plans for the gradual lifting of the lockdown. This strategy has been abandoned and these venues will now remain closed until 7 January the earliest.

The sector's professional bodies have launched a legal challenge to the closures on the grounds of protecting "fundamental liberties” - an action already taken by catering workers and the ski industry.

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