Annual figures given to regional theatre managers this week present a somewhat mixed picture. The good news is that the average yield from a theatre ticket for the fist sixteen months of the current financial year was £12.29, up 98p from last year, and the amount of cash taken at the box office is up by 1.7%. However the total number of tickets sold has declined yet again for the sixth year running - down a total of 26%.
West End theatre ticket sales increased by 3% in the year to 14th June, according to figures released by the Society of London Theatre. In all 5,356,191 tickets were sold in the previous twelve months.
In future the Arts Council of England is to publish minutes of its council meetings, in advance of new legislation on making the proceedings of quangos more open.
Rumours are rife that a cabinet reshuffle is in the offing and that Culture Secretary Chris Smith is to be moved.
The creative economy is vital to the success of Britain in the new millenium, said Prince Charles at the launch of a new "think tank", the Creative Forum for Culture and the Economy, which aims to attract more businesses to sponsor the arts and to investigate the role of the arts in economic regeneration and marketing. The Forum was launched at a gala dinner at Buckingham Palace.