Arts Council's funding cuts to hit Norwich

4.05.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 14th Jan 2008

Cuts

Councillor Felicity Hartley, Spokesperson for Culture for the Liberal Democrat Group in Norwich, speaks out over the proposed funding cuts by the Arts Council.

"It is over 40 years since I wrote my first bid for financial support from an Arts Funding body. It was a surprisingly straightforward business then, no boxes to tick, just the preparation of a good financial estimate of our likely costs and the collection of reputable references and we got money towards our costs for a trip to the Edinburgh Festival. Since then the whole business of obtaining grants has become immensely more complicated and what should surely be the foundation of a claim for support, namely the quality of the work seems to get forgotten in a plethora of aims and policies. Or so one might conclude from the Arts Council's proposed reduction in support for Arts organisations across the country and particularly in Norfolk.

The cause of the Norwich Puppet Theatre has clearly resonated strongly with many people who are appalled at the prospect of losing such an exceptional venue but Creative Arts East, Eastern Angles and Community Music East are also on the hit list. The latter has been enormously supportive to many smaller groups such the Snappy Drama Group for children and young people with Downs Syndrome that will in turn suffer if CME fails.

There has been a national outcry not just at the proposals, but at the way they have been introduced with no warning for the Puppet Theatre for example and no time for it to address the stated reason, namely its reliance on ACE funding. Presumably the management was devoting time to programming quality work as regular funding allowed it to do. The Arts have always needed patronage, whether from individuals, the state, or big business, but surely we have a right to expect that the main state funding body carries out that patronage with care and consideration without destroying so much of what it is supposed to promote as these present proposals are likely to do."