|
|
||
|
News
|
||
|
News |
Dateline: 25th March, 2005 Report on Theatre We believe that the overall case for substantial public investment in the theatre in this country is overwhelming and we note the evidence presented of high levels of support for this investment amongst the public. The Culture, Media and Sport Committee, one of the House of Commons' cross-party committees set up to oversee the work of the various ministries and departments, has reported on its investigation into the state of theatre in England. Whilst a Committee's conclusions are not binding on the government, they are influential and the committees themselves, being made up of backbenchers of all parties, provide the government with a clear indication of the thinking of MPs, something which any government would be wise to take into account in formulating policy. The CMS Committee accepts the importance of - indeed, the necessity for - public subsidy for theatre, and makes numerous recommendations to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Arts Council England (ACE) and the Treasury. "Theatre", it says, "is important to the economic life of the country and generates a significant return for the Exchequer as well as showcasing the UK to the world. The commercial theatre sector often rests on work that originates, is developed, tested and proven within the subsidised sector." For this reason it is highly critical of the DCMS. "Sustainable efficiency savings by public bodies must always be sought with vigour," it goes on. "However, it seems invidious for the DCMS to press the Arts Council for such savings on the grounds that the money saved can then to go direct to the arts, only to reduce the Council’s grant–in–aid by roughly the same amount a couple of years later. No matter what the allocation to specific art forms, the Arts Council’s efforts to increase efficiency have been rewarded with an equivalent real terms cut in baseline funding." It concludes: The Government needs to re-evaluate its allocation of resources to the arts, taking a long term view, to ensure that real terms cuts are avoided where no compelling arguments or evidence are presented for their necessity. In our view no such arguments have been made. The Government should re-consider and find the £34 million needed to keep the Arts Council’s funding in line with inflation over the period of the 2004 spending settlement. >> Details Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
|
|
|
|