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Culture fund to safeguard arts provision in the city
Cash backing from Chichester District Council for the Festival Theatre and Pallant House Gallery may be guaranteed for the next decade.
The council's policy development committee is recommending a 3m 'cultural fund' should be set up, from which annual grants would be made to the theatre and the gallery.
Together with the interest it earns, the cash is expected to last for ten years, and the idea is other funding sources will be found during this time.
One possibility is the introduction of a new evening charge at the Northgate car park, with the cash going to the theatre.
The committee is recommending this option should be explored by the council's parking forum.
An alternative proposal to the cultural fund was to make a 3.8m endowment to the theatre and 2.2m to the gallery, but this failed to win committee support.
Finance director David Grove said there were two issues over the endowment. One was affordability – the council did not have 6m – and the other was about control of council funds.
Mr Grove said the Arts Council was very concerned about council funding having a limited life, even for as long as ten years.
The Arts Council currently provides a 1.57m annual grant to the theatre. West Sussex County Council gives 200,000 a year, and the district council is providing 250,000 for the current financial year.
Mr Grove said Arts Council funding was for 18 months, because it did not know what would happen after the election.
"Ten years is a lot of time to seek alternative options," he told the committee.
Cllr Clare Apel said the theatre and the gallery were beacons for Chichester and for the district.
"Apart from the enormous amounts they bring to the local economy, they also do tremendous work for the community," she added.
"We are hoping to become the City of Culture, and it is essential we support the theatre and the gallery." She favoured the idea of an endowment.
Committee chairman Cllr Stephen Quigley said an endowment would be a permanent solution.
Arts Council support for the theatre was critical.
The theatre managed its affairs well, with 75 per cent of income from revenue and other sources and only 25 per cent from public subsidy, which was very good for a theatre.
It was not logical for the council to think the theatre would find lots of sources of cash from other places.
"It will be dependent on public subsidy forever," he added.
But Cllr Norma Graves said although an endowment fund would be better, she preferred to go for the 3m cultural fund at the present time.
"Hopefully, in ten years' time we shall be beginning to be in a better situation," she said.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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