The number of council venues thinking of contracting out to external management is growing. Robert Sanderson and Rick Bond explain the options they face
Between 1995 and 2001 the number of council venues contracted out to non-profit or commercial managements increased by 36%. Since 2001, if anything, this trend has continued, with a recent UK survey revealing that a further 56% of venues are considering what have become known as ?alternative service delivery mechanisms? (or ASDMs as they are known in the best government circles). These ASDM reviews can lead to improvements in the quality and range of services that arts organisations provide for their communities. However, having devised and experienced a number of ASDM reviews, our concern is that most local authorities do not appreciate the full range of options available, let alone which may be the most appropriate. They get caught in the trap of believing it is an either/or of ?in-house? or ?contracting out?. As a consequence, major upheavals are planned on the basis of assumptions and limited internal assessments and this results in many lost opportunities.
The pressure to consider ASDMs derives from financial and ideological factors. Financial drivers include:
? the financial squeeze on local authorities
? government demands for tangible improvements in core services, e.g. health, education, transport
? cost-cutting falling disproportionately on discretionary council services such as Arts and Culture
? an authority?s natural inclination to divest itself of high risk and unpredictable enterprises (and theatres score highly here).
Ideological factors include:
? the trend towards commercialisation of council services
? government insistence on ?competition as an essential management tool?
? the promotion of private/public partnerships like Private Finance Initiative.
There is also the effect of the ?Thatcherisation? of local government in the 1980s, which led to Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) for Leisure Services and the contracting out of significant numbers of sport and recreation facilities. The market for these was not matched by that for arts institutions and many were left behind, bereft of a larger structure and policy framework, with reduced resources and less justification for subsidy. Consequently, many theatres have been transferred from one department to another. One venue has, in the past two years, journeyed through the education unit, social services, health and leisure and come to rest as a nominal code within economic development.
Whatever the justifications, the current financial climate leaves arts organisations trapped again, in a vicious circle (above).
All too often, local authorities seem to believe that either they run their theatre or concert hall in-house or they contract it out to a venue-management company and that contracting out will automatically save money. In reality, there is more than one alternative service option and direct management is not always the most expensive. Enterprising local authorities can run venues as well and as cost-effectively as private enterprise. The frustrating factor for most local authorities is that they are rarely in a position to identify the range of choices open to them and to identify the most suitable option. As well as considering maintaining local authority control, partnership with another local authority or handing over control to the venue?s management, local authorities could think through a range of contracting out options. Commercial theatre-management companies, not for profit companies, charities and community-interest companies can all take over the running of arts venues. Additionally, authorities can consider selling the site, either for commercial operation or for re-development to include an arts facility.
It is important for local authorities to start by considering the desired benefits to the authority and the arts organisation(s) concerned. Then ? and this really is an investment in long-term savings ? they should commission a review of the various options to identify the best course of action to take in pursuit of their needs, and to avoid getting caught in the trap!
Robert Sanderson and Rick Bond are cultural consultants collaborating on Alternative Service Delivery Reviews for local authorities.
e: rick@thecompleteworks.org.uk; robertsanderson@btinternet.com