Regional theatres under threat due to budget cuts

“Our regional theatres do so much more than simply put on shows,” culture secretary Lucy Frazer told the Society for London Theatre last June. “They nourish civic life, serve local communities and play an important role in education and social care.” This week, the crisis facing those regional theatres deepened. On Monday, Iain Munro, chief executive of the funding body Creative Scotland, warned that Scotland’s arts sector faces “collapse”. On Tuesday the Edinburgh Fringe Society’s chief executive, Shona McCarthy, said the festival’s future was in doubt. Meanwhile, Equity, the actors’ union, has warned that Suffolk County Council’s proposal to cut its arts funding budget threatened the New Wolsey Theatre and Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds. Nottingham, Bristol, Birmingham and Woking are also all cutting arts budgets. Jack Gamble, director of Campaign for the Arts, says the damage may be irreversible: “Local authorities are still the largest funder of arts in the country, spending £2 billion a year which, thanks to austerity, is 40 per cent less than in 2010. Local councils have less in the budget with rising costs and an increase in demand for social care, a service they are legally bound to provide. Arts are discretionary. Once a council cuts its culture budget, we fear it will never return.” He’s calling for an increase in the local authorities block grant in the March budget.