Shropshire arts groups braced for cuts to funding

Shropshire Council has come under fire for proposals to save £58,460 on its arts budget. The council uses the budget to put on events and also provides £64,000 of grant funding and additional funding for an arts development officer.

But Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for business and culture, says that "minimal levels of central government funding" mean that organisations need to be self reliant.

In the future more of the things that we expect to see as part of the fabric of Shropshire society will have to be provided by volunteers.

And those volunteers will have little choice, which will mean they are not really volunteers as the word is generally understood.

They will have been pressed into service by the actions, or rather inactions, of Shropshire Council, which is looking to take a step back from providing various services directly, and wants to have them provided by people in the communities instead.

This is a change in the traditional role of the council. It will not be a council which is serving the people, but looking to the people to serve themselves in a number of areas.

Voluntary groups have always done their bit in Shropshire, but things are being taken to a whole new level which is going to test the willingness of ordinary folk to do things which they may well think the council should be doing.

The strategy was outlined to Bridgnorth Town Council by Shropshire Council chief executive Clive Wright, and the concerns expressed are indicative of some of the problems that are going to be encountered.

"People will have to accept that the services traditionally provided by their council have to change and communities will have to take on more responsibilities themselves," Mr Wright said.

Among the points raised by the Bridgnorth councillors were these: Will Bridgnorth have enough willing people to do what is expected of them? Even if there are enough volunteers, who is going to pay to give them the skills and training that they are going to need?

These issues are not going to be particular to Bridgnorth, but will be mirrored across the Shropshire Council patch where the voluntary sector is going to be acting on a kind of compulsion, since if it does not step in to do things that Shropshire Council stops doing, then the council will be able to say the services themselves do not enjoy adequate community support, and are dying through a lack of local will to keep them going.

The background of huge budget cuts is well understood. With the security of council provision taken away, there is going to be a patchwork in which some communities will fare better than others.

As an elected body, the council has a responsibility to make a difficult transition as smooth as possible.

He said: "Shropshire Council recognises the important role that the arts play in making Shropshire a great place to live, work and visit, and its significant role in the economic, educational and cultural well-being of the county.

"However, the council is responding to both the current and future financial challenges the public sector is facing by redesigning everything we do. This is to help make the county as resilient and self-reliant as possible, realistically anticipating a near-future in which minimal levels of central government funding are available."

Supporters of the Arts Revenue Grant say that it helps to raise more than £1 million for the Shropshire economy, figures that have been confirmed by the council.

An online petition calling for plans to cut the grant to be shelved has been backed by nearly 2,000 people.

The petition was launched in October by Mike Layward, artistic director of Shrewsbury-based group Disability Arts in Shropshire, and attracted 800 supporters within its first 24 hours.

Councillor Charmley said the authority has been discussing its proposals with arts groups and expects to consider recommendations next month. He said: "As part of this process the council will be changing the way it supports the arts sector and the arts development officer role.

"The arts development service currently has one full time arts development officer. During 2015/16 the council has awarded £46,900 through the revenue client grant scheme to arts organisations/venues and arts festivals across the county, who deliver a high-quality, regular programme of arts activity. The grants awarded have ranged from £500 to £8,000.

He added: "A set of recommendations for the future role of the arts service and Revenue Clients funding have been made, following the feedback and discussions from the meetings and ongoing dialogue with the arts sector. These recommendations are now being considered and will be discussed further at a meeting with the Revenue Clients in early December 2015."