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Blaenau Gwent Council condemn the Arts Council's cut to Gwent Theatre
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Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council has unanimously condemned the decision of the Arts Council of Wales to withdraw funding from Gwent Theatre and is asking for the decision to be postponed until after the inquiry into arts funding by the Welsh Assembly.
An emergency resolution put to the full Council on Thursday, 28 October 1999 welcomed the Assembly's announcement of an investigation by the National Assembly for Wales and asked that the Assembly and the Secretary of State for Wales should call for the Arts Council to postpone the present allocation of franchises for Theatre for Young People.
The Council re-affirmed its commitment to funding Gwent Theatre. Council Leader John Hopkins said: "The company is at the heart of arts activities in the community, particularly through the schools, and provides a superb service.
"This is a dreadful decision by the Arts Council and we shall fight it to the bitter end. I urge everyone to write in the strongest terms to Alun Michael the First Secretary, to Tom Middlehurst the Secretary for post-16 Education, to our A.M. Peter Law and to Llew Smith M.P."
Director of Education, Brian Mawby, said the local authority had not been consulted by the Arts Council over its drama review earlier this year. "When we did find out we questioned the strategy to reduce funding theatre companies for young people from eight to four to cover the whole of Wales and to cuts in grants from £888,000 to £720,000.
"We asked what was happening to the missing £168,000 but there was no clear response. Informed opinion is that it is going to Theatre Clwyd.
"The Arts Council increased the number of theatre franchises to five but the money was not increased.
"The whole procedure has been deeply flawed and none of the stakeholders, the funding partners, have been involved in the allocation of the new franchises. "The timing of the review was also inappropriate and last February we wrote to say that the National Assembly should be consulted before any decisions were made."
Councillor Alan Fox warmly praised the work of Gwent Theatre and said the company had also helped to pioneer the former South East Wales Arts Association "Night Out" scheme which subsidised live theatre at small
venues: "They have provided high quality professional theatre experience for generations of people. I hope the town and community councils will come on board this campaign."
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Gwent Theatre
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Friday, October 29, 1999 |
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