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Llew Smith claims that the ACW's franchise decision was prejudiced |
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A LEAKED report from the Arts Council of Wales has cast huge doubt on the quango’s ability to make fair and impartial decisions, according to Blaenau Gwent MP Llew Smith. A copy of the report, passed to The Western Mail, has re-ignited the bitter row over which theatre companies should have been awarded franchises to provide theatre for young people in Wales. Last month the Arts Council of Wales decided Gwent Theatre should not be awarded a franchise for the east Valleys, deciding instead to award it to Cardiff-based Theatr Iolo, despite a successful track record in the area for the Valleys company. The theatre is now appealing against the decision, along with two other theatres, Theatr Powys and Clwyd Theatr Cymru, who failed to win franchises in their respective areas. Mr Smith claims that the Arts Council of Wales failed in its duty to fairly evaluate the merits of the different theatre companies and instead reached decisions based on “preju-dice”. According to the confidential Arts Council report, Theatr Iolo was awarded a near-perfect score from the quango’s evaluation panel, something officers at Gwent Theatre claim is impossible. A set of 13 criteria was used to evaluate each theatre company’s performance, with a maximum total score of 72 points. Theatr Iolo scored 65 points, compared with Gwent Theatre’s 44 points. “We are aware that by releasing this report we are putting ourselves at a disadvantage because we scored low,” said Mick Morden, the chairman of the theatre’s board. “But we are querying Theatr Iolo’s score.” The theatre’s officers are querying how the theatre could achieve a score of 65 despite not having a base in the Gwent Valleys (worth up to five points if it did) or financial support from local authorities in the area (also worth up to five points if there was evidence of support). Assuming the theatre was given the minimum of just one point in each of those categories it would lose eight points, giving the theatre a maximum score of 64. “We can have conspiracy theories - I think it was decided beforehand who was going to be successful and they then adjusted the scores to fit their prejudices. Someone has got a lot of explaining to do,” said Mr Smith. The politician has renewed his call for the Arts Council to release all documentation relating to the decision process. He also wants all the different theatre companies to publish details of their submissions to the quango. “I believe that the Arts Council of Wales as a public body should be accountable. This kind of information should be out in the public domain,” said Mr Smith. The Arts Council of Wales says its policy on openness and accountability matches that of the National Assembly of Wales. The quango says individual theatre companies bids are not made public because of commercial confidentiality. But Mr Smith said, “We are not talking about an arms manufacturer flogging dodgy weapons. This is a drama company. If they haven’t got anything to hide they would have made this information available.” Joanna Weston, chief executive of the Arts Council, said the quango would not make a comment based on an alleged leaked document. “There is an appeal pending and it is standard practice that you do not prejudice the appeal process,” she said. “We are funding a national provision for drama for young people. There is no one else in the UK that is doing that,” she added. |
| Western Mail web site: www.icwales.com |
| Darren Waters e-mail: |
Tuesday, December 21, 1999 |
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