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Details of the Made in Wales appeal to the Arts Council of Wales |
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Dear Ms Weston New Theatre Writing Initiative Appeal We refer to our letter of 12th April 2000 and note that we have not heard from the Arts Council of Wales ("ACW") further in relation to the meeting of the Appeals Committee. Please confirm the date of the Appeal Committee Hearing. For the avoidance of doubt, our clients (Made In Wales) wish to make it clear that they require the opportunity to attend and make representations at the Appeals Committee Hearing. We have now had the opportunity to discuss the matter with our clients and to take their instructions. We would first point out that this appeal is made without prejudice to any further review of the ACW's decision that our clients may pursue. Our letter of the 20th March 2000 requested the Arts Council if Wales should suspend its Drama Strategy pending the outcome of our clients' appeal. This is essential as the result of ACW's decision effectively means that our clients' funding has now ceased. Please now confirm that the Drama Strategy has been suspended. Your letter of 7th April 2000 requests further details of the facts surrounding the claim which was placed before the Appeals Committee. We further note the contents of your letter dated 6th April 2000 in relation to the request that has previously been made for documentation and in particular the release of Minutes of Meetings and Panels and Committees. We repeat that without this information, our clients cannot make a full and detailed appeal as they were not party to all the conversations that took place. As you have rightly pointed out the Arts Council of Wales is a publicly accountable body and therefore under a duty to ensure that the decisions they reach are procedurally fair. The parties involved have a right to receive reasons as to the decision made and to receive information as to how these reasons were formulated. However, our clients will provide what further information they can at this stage. Our clients find themselves in this invidious position due to the ACW's decision to reduce spending on the New Writing Initiative. There has been a reduction in New Writing funding by £90,000 necessitating the consequent reduction in funding to New Writing Theatre Companies. Rather than this reduction being borne across all companies, the Arts Council of Wales instigated a New Theatre Writing Initiative under the auspices of the Drama Strategy. In essence existing New Writing Theatre Companies were invited to tender for the reduced funding available. The Theatre Companies approached were Dalier Sylw, Made In Wales and the Sherman Theatre Company. In addition the Arts Council placed a condition on the consultation that the initiative should be bilingual. No indication has been given as to the merit of proposing a bilingual new writing strategy and certainly our clients are instructed that the Writers' Guild of Great Britain are opposed to the strategy. We refer you to the attached summary of facts supporting Made In Wales' appeal. Please confirm the date of the appeal hearing and provide the further information that we have previously requested. Please also confirm the identity of the individuals that will consider the appeal and that they have had no involvement in ACW's Drama Strategy/New Writing Initiative. Finally, please provide us with a copy of the Welsh Assembly documents to which you refer in your letter dated 6th April 2000. SUMMARY OF MADE IN WALES' REASONS FOR PURSUING AN APPEAL OF THE ARTAS COUNCIL OF WALES' NEW THEATRE WRITING INITIATIVE EVALUATION This is not an exhaustive summary given that Made In Wales have had limited disclosure of documentation from the Arts Council of Wales. The Appeal Summary is therefore based only on the documentation that has been provided to date which consists of the Arts Council of Wales' Evaluation Panel Report and its meeting on 11th February 2000 Agenda item 37B 8.5. 1. Cessation of funding of Made In Wales will directly result in cessation of services and activities. 2. The all new bilingual New Writing Theatre Company based on the proposals put forward by Dalier Sylw will not replicate all aspects of Made In Wales' work. 3. No reasons or qualitative research has been provided to establish why it is an essential component of the New Writing Initiative for the Theatre Company to be capable of developing and delivering bilingual productions. 4. The decision reached to award the funding to proposals put forward by Dalier Sylw is in any event conditional in its nature as it is dependent on their securing co-operation from the Sherman Theatre/Grand Theatre. 5. The Evaluation Panel's recommendation to the Arts Council of Wales was not achieved fairly. It is in our clients' reasonable interest to know what the process was by which the Council reached their decision. Documents in relation to this have not been disclosed. We consider that in making the recommendations to the Council, the Evaluation panel showed an unreasonable exercise of power. We specifically refer to the attached statement of Olwen Wymark which has previously been sent to the Arts Council of Wales. The statement clearly identifies the unsatisfactory nature in which the final decision was made, specifically :- i. The constitution of the Evaluation Panel is questioned given that at least one member of the Panel had previously made public statements concerning the Arts Council of Wales' strategy towards new writing. ii. Lyn Jones was identified as the Chair for the Panel. However, from review of the limited information concerning the decision making process, in reality Mr Mike Baker acted as a Chair directing the discussion and decisively intervening. iii. Made In Wales were not provided with clear information as to the voting procedure and still have not been provided with this information. This procedure itself was unclear even to the panellists as demonstrated by Olwen Wymark's statement. iv. The Panel was pressured into a vote when further time/further consideration/ further questions of the applicants should have been pursued. v. The discussion of accepting the bid in the basis of the - 'Grand Theatre, Swansea option' was not based on any factual information. It was the emphasis placed on this aspect of the successful candidate's proposal that resulted in the shift of one Panellist's vote and the outcome for the Company awarded funding. Made In Wales were specifically told by an Officer from the Arts Council of Wales that they had to apply to operate the New Writing Initiative from the Sherman Theatre and that they should not pursue alternative options. This information was provided as part of the Consultation process. It is quite clear that either Dalier Sylw were not applying under the basis of the same consultation, that Made In Wales were mislead or that the panellist involved was mislead. 6. The significant changes that have ensued in the New Writing Initiative based on the Drama Strategy have taken place with undue haste and have been ill-thought out. These problems with the New Writing Theatre Initiative stem from the serious flaws with the Arts Council of Wales' Drama Strategy which we understand is in itself under review by the Welsh Assembly. 7. Three of the four political parties represented in the Welsh Assembly have called for or agreed that the Arts Council of Wales' New Theatre Writing strategy should be suspended. 8. Made In Wales specifically requested that the New Theatre Writing/Drama Strategy should be suspended pending their appeal. No comments have been received from the Arts Council of Wales in this regard and our clients are left in the position that within the space of two months their funding has ceased. 9. The Writers' Guild of Great Britain has clearly indicated their opposition to the Arts Council of Wales' strategy, as have many of the leading theatre practitioners in Wales. 10. The Arts Council of Wales' insistence on pursuing the New Writing Theatre initiative in the given time-scale flies in the face of the rules of Natural Justice. Different companies were advised of different strategies. The Arts Council of Wales has not pursued their decision by a fair process. This summary is without prejudice to the ability of Made In Wales to alter or add further facts if and or as and when further information is provided by the Arts Council of Wales. |
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| Jeff Teare e-mail: |
Friday, April 28, 2000 |
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