The Working Party will receive a verbal update in respect of this item.
Minutes:
The Working Party received and noted a verbal update on the current status of the Arts and Sports Revenue Support Grants currently allocated by the Borough Council. The organisations that received such funding were Victory Sports Ground, Smith’s Row Art Gallery, and the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds.
Members were informed that as part of the recent budget consultation, focus groups had been asked their views on the Theatre Royal and Smith’s Row and the outcome of this helped to inform proposed future funding for these two organisations.
Smith’s Row Art Gallery
A meeting had been held with Suffolk County Council (SCC), as another principal grant funder of this organisation to discuss future funding. Consequently and having taken into account a number of factors, it was proposed that Smith’s Row should receive a 25% reduction in its current Borough Council funding of £34,485 in 2015/2016 with a view to withdrawing funding completely from 2016. The remaining funds in this grant pot would be allocated to other visual art projects in Borough.
The Working Party agreed with this proposal and supported the Portfolio Holder’s view that whilst the Borough Council received rent for the premises in which the Gallery was located, the organisation had not demonstrated to the Council commercial behaviours or adapted to a changing landscape of community need in this field.
In response to a question, Members were informed that the length of time in which the Gallery had received a grant from the Borough Council would be provided to the Working Party in due course as this information was not to hand at the meeting.
Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds
The Theatre Royal had been informed that it was to receive a cut in Arts Council England funding with effect from April 2015. The Theatre had responded positively to this with better, more commercial programming that attracted larger audiences, and efforts made to reach out into the community.
Work was being undertaken to ascertain whether the Theatre and The Apex could benefit from greater partnership working. In the meantime, it was proposed that the Theatre’s grant should be reduced by £5,000 to £66,250 in 2015/2016 with the aim of working more closely with them in future years to look at reducing this grant further.
Victory Sports Ground, Bury St Edmunds
It was proposed that as the opening of the community sports facility at the Victory Sports Ground was a relatively new venture, further support was required to help them behave more commercially to make the facility more independently financially viable. Abbeycroft Leisure would provide this support to help them be more proactive and robust with their methods for attracting additional community use. It was therefore proposed that in 2015/2016, the Victory Sports Ground would receive a reduction in grant of £2,500 to £45,250 with a view of introducing a further, more pronounced reduction from 2016/2017 onwards.
RESOLVED:
That, the following proposed Arts and Sports Revenue Support Grants be endorsed, prior to their consideration by Cabinet and being subject to the budget setting process for 2015/2016:
(1) a 25% reduction in its current Borough Council funding of £34,485 in 2015/2016 with a view to withdrawing funding completely from 2016 be granted to Smith’s Row Art Gallery;
(2) a reduction of £5,000 be granted to the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds to £66,250 in 2015/2016 with the aim of working more closely with them in future years to look at reducing this grant further; and
(3) a reduction of £2,500 be granted to the Victory Sports Ground, Bury St Edmunds to £45,250 in 2015/2016 with a view of introducing a further, more pronounced reduction from 2016/2017 onwards.