NPO2022

West Berkshire Council is planning to lobby MPs in its area after a local theatre lost its National Portfolio status.

Newbury’s Watermill Theatre is set to lose its annual Arts Council England (ACE) funding when the next National Portfolio round begins next year.

In a council meeting held last week, councillors agreed to lobby local MPs, including Conservatives Alok Sharma and John Redwood, to pressure ACE to change its mind.

Conservative Council Leader Lynne Doherty said the area was “lucky to have this venue”.

“A 14% funding cut is a huge amount for them to recover. We can all agree this is the right thing for us to be doing,” she added.

Conservative MP for Newbury Laura Farris has already said she is “extremely disappointed that ACE has refused funding to this local jewel of a theatre, despite its exceptional creative offering, and value to our local community”. 

“I’ve been working closely with [Culture Secretary] Michelle Donelan and am hoping in the coming days we can ask them to urgently reconsider their priorities and recognise that rural theatres of this quality are exceptionally rare and just as deserving as theatres in the North of England,” Farris added.

English National Opera (ENO) will close permanently in April next year if it is forced to move out of London, its Chair has warned.

The organisation was one of the most high-profile casualties of Arts Council England's latest investment decisions having been dropped from the National Portfolio, through which it was provided £12.5m a year.

ACE has offered it up to £17m over three years to relocate, potentially to Manchester, but The Stage reports that, speaking at an All-Party Parliamentary Group for opera last week, ENO Chair Harry Brünjes said the idea of moving the ENO out of London needed to be "flattened".

"There is a lot of discussion around relocation to Manchester, and we have got to flatten that immediately. There is no relocation," Brünjes said

He criticised ACE’s decision, insisting supporters should not be distracted by the word "relocation", as he argued that, unless the cut was reversed or additional funding found, it would be the end of the ENO.

He added: "This is closing ENO down. This is losing 600 jobs from London of talented and devoted and able people across all departments – so let’s get this clear."

"Manchester is the final scene of The Wizard of Oz – you pull [back] the curtain, and there is a bloke turning a wheel and puffing smoke in the air.

"So as it stands, ENO will close in April after nearly a century, and that’s the end of it."

The Association of British Orchestras (ABO) has called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to put in place measures to support the UK’s orchestral sector in this week's Autumn Statement in the wake of cus to funding from Arts Council England (ACE).

Judith Webster, Chief Executive of ABO, said she is “deeply concerned” by the impact of the removal of some organisations from the ACE's National Portfolio and “significantly reduced” funding for others.

“We are particularly concerned with our members working in opera and contemporary music, where the biggest funding reductions have fallen,” she said. 

“Continued support for our sector is particularly needed at a time when orchestras are still in the early stages of recovery, rebuilding the confidence of live audiences and dealing with the headwinds from the cost-of-living crisis and Brexit.”

The ABO has urged the Chancellor to use Thursday's Autumn Statement to extend the temporary 50% uplifted Orchestra Tax Relief, which is currently due to reduce to 35% from April 1 next year and return to 25% on April 1, 2024.

“An extension to the 50% rate is the critical measure which will allow UK orchestras to rebuild income streams and plan confidently for the future,” Webster said."

Culture workers are staging protests today (14 November) at Arts Council England (ACE) offices in Manchester and London, demanding the reversal of funding cuts to organisations across the country.

Organised by Equity, the performing arts and entertainment trade union, letters will be delivered to both ACE offices demanding the reversal of cuts.

Through ACE's Investment Programme for 2023-26 a total of 990 arts and culture organisations will make up the National Portfolio for the next three years receiving a total of £446m a year between them.

But as part of the government's levelling up agenda the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport instructed ACE to ensure that more of the money it invests goes outside of the capital, with funding for London being cut by 15%. There were also cuts to funding for many organisations across the country.

Those affected include the English National Opera (ENO), Oldham Coliseum, Donmar Warehouse, The Watermill Theatre, Hampstead Theatre and the Gate Theatre.

Paul Fleming, Equity General Secretary, said: “Far from levelling up, these cuts are a nakedly political attack and only serve to make culture in the UK more elitist. 

"Funding has been taken away from organisations such as the ENO, the Gate Theatre and Donmar Warehouse which use union agreements, engage substantial numbers of members, and offer decent terms and conditions. 

"What’s more, the overwhelming majority of 100% cuts across the arts fall outside of London and include unjustified attacks on Oldham Coliseum and The Watermill in Newbury, to name just two, while culture funding as a whole is down 46% in real terms since 2005.

"We have told the Arts Council that any cut must not harm the workforce – if that can’t be done, it should be reversed. The arts are the lifeblood of our communities and local economies, and access to them across the UK does not exist without good, well-funded jobs and a diverse workforce.”

He said: “Oldham Coliseum Theatre is an important Greater Manchester institution, with a rich history dating back well over 100 years. We are working with Oldham Coliseum, Oldham Council and Arts Council England to see how we can get the best possible outcome for the theatre, its staff and communities the Coliseum serves.”