Suffolk opposition leader hits out at arts funding move

On Monday, the county council announced it would open bids for its £500,000 arts funding pot.

The announcement followed the controversial scrapping of core funding for nine of its arts and cultural venues, meaning they would not be guaranteed extra money every year.

The council said the new funding model would be beneficial for arts organisations and allow everyone to have a piece of the cake while supporting projects reaching the county’s most vulnerable.

Suffolk County Council's decision sparked outcry from the arts community, with figures such as Dame Judi Dench, a life patron of Bury St Edmunds' Theatre Royal, among those criticising the move.

Dame Judi Dench hit out at Suffolk County Council earlier this year (Image: PA)

Councillor Andrew Stringer, who leads the opposition Green, Liberal Democrat and Independents group at the county council, said larger organisations would have to cut their outreach work to make savings due to not being sure whether they would get the extra money.

He said: “Many arts organisations are already struggling to survive and this new system will tie them up bidding for council funding when time and resources could be better spent on creative and cultural endeavours, or outreach work with Suffolk communities.

The Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds (Image: Phil Morley)

“Therefore, the new funding being celebrated by the council’s administration will hit the most vulnerable residents in the county harder, both their wellbeing and their access to Suffolk’s arts and heritage.”

Mr Stringer also warned it would not only be much harder for arts venues to book events and projects a year in advance but also hinder their chances of getting other income streams.

This feeling was shared by Emma Buckmaster, an artist who joined a group of protesters outside the council’s offices in February.

Artist and Green parliamentary candidate Emma Buckmaster (Image: Emma Buckmaster)

She said a better option would be to keep 80 per cent of the money as core funding, while the rest could be offered for new projects — this was presented to the council in February but rejected.

Ms Buckmaster, who stood for the Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket constituency for the Greens in July, coming fourth, said the change would be "extremely testing" for the nine organisations which lost the guaranteed money.

She added: “The objectives and outcomes of the existing core funding were exactly the same as that outlined for the new project, particularly to reach out to the most vulnerable in our communities.

“Perhaps the difference is that this can easily be cut at the end of the year, helping the council to balance the books.”

Also addressing the council’s announcement, Iain Croker, the area official for Equity, the performing arts and entertainment trade union, stressed although the union welcomed the U-turn on the complete cut of the funding, after a 3,500-strong petition, the new funding was still lacking.

Waveney Valley MP Adrian Ramsay and Andrew Stringer with other demonstrators at an Equity protest (Image: Contributed)

He said the new model was still "a smaller cake cut into many different slices" which would "inevitably lead to disappointment to those not successful in their bid".

Mr Croker said: “Many of them already perform a huge amount of community outreach and provide opportunities for those on low income and marginalised groups.

“Biddable arts funding is welcomed, but it should not replace core funding, the loss of which has brought uncertainty to the county’s permanent arts and cultural venues.

“Equity remains committed to working with the local political parties that previously offered support ahead of local government elections next year.”