We're coming right into the thick of it now in terms of local authorities setting their budgets for next year in stone. Cuts to arts organisations, galleries and libraries have been proposed across the country. Now councillors are about to vote on them.
In Somerset, for example, the full county council meets at 10am next Wednesday (16 February) to vote on its budget which includes a proposal to cut arts spending by 100%. But it's not just the county. Mendip district council, one of five in Somerset, meets on the same day to vote on a similar 100% cut.
Ralph Lister, the executive director of the charity Take Art, tells me that he has been given three minutes to speak at the county council meeting where he will hand over a petition which at the last count had more than 7,300 signatures.
The petition is here.
Lister said:
"We are delighted by the amazing response we have received from Somerset residents, students and employees – supporting our campaign to save Arts funding in Somerset. We needed at least 5,000 names in order to trigger a debate on the issue at a full County Council meeting. We now have well over 7,000! In the absence of a Somerset County Council initiated public consultatation process, the success of this petition clearly demonstrates that there is incredible public support for the Arts in Somerset."
In North Yorkshire, the county council will also agree its budget on 16 February with it having to make £69m of cuts. It's proposed that the easy, tiny target of arts is hit heavily. It is proposing to cut arts spending by £115,000; from £145,000 to just £30,000. That will mean cuts to Harrogate Theatre, the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond, the Thirsk-based Rural Arts and the community arts group Blaize.
Harrogate Theatre faces particular problems with a loss from the council of £53,000 a year.
David Bown, the theatre's chief executive has posted an open letter on the theatre's website warning that these actions could ultimately see the theatre's closure. He also tells of some of the background:
Recently one of the Theatre's major funders, North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC), informed us that they will be slashing our grant by 85% from 1 April 2011 with no guarantee of any funding beyond that. The severity and speed of this grant cut not only jeopardises the solvency of Harrogate Theatre but it would fatally damage a much-valued organisation that is at the heart of its local community. I write to you now to ask for your support and request that you lobby NYCC as their actions could ultimately see the closure of Harrogate Theatre.
During the summer and autumn of 2010 Harrogate Theatre, along with other North Yorkshire arts companies, was invited by NYCC to take part in a consultation regarding Arts funding. During this consultation all funded Arts organisations agreed that cuts were inevitable and felt that a 10% reduction in 2011/12 was responsible. This is a greater cut than any proposed by other funders. The consultation requested that each organisation explored what the consequences would be if a higher percentage of reduction was implemented and also if there was a 100% cut. All organisations were united that anything over 10% in the next financial year would be crippling and a complete reduction would push companies towards insolvency. In November 2010 NYCC held an open consultation at the library to discuss all cuts across all their budgets. At this meeting it was stated by the Leader of NYCC that the Arts would not be cut completely.
On 31st December 2010 I received a letter dated the day before and sent first class informing Harrogate Theatre of an 85% cut in funding from April 2011. It was not marked Private and Confidential and was therefore opened by my administrator and very soon the whole building was talking of redundancies. On New Year's Eve! A phone call to me personally would have been appropriate or a letter sent by registered post. I feel it is totally unacceptable that staff should be discussing this matter before myself and it makes a whole mockery of the consultation process, a consultation that was clearly a meaningless exercise. .
There will be lots of other meetings approaching. Do tell us your story by posting in the comments below, or contact @Culture_Cuts on Twitter or email culturecuts@gmail.com.
