Need for capital investment in theatres
Theatres Trust responds to Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State’s appearance before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State and Susannah Storey, Permanent Secretary, Department for Culture, Media and Sport appeared before the committee to discuss the work of the department.
Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the CMS Committee revealed that the £85m Creative Foundations Fund for urgent capital works was almost nine times oversubscribed, receiving applications worth over £700m. Dinenage described it as showing “the huge long term capital need, a black-hole in funding” and asked if there would be more money going into that fund.
Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State for Department for Culture, Media and Sport responded recognising the need for more capital investment, saying “There comes a tipping point when buildings aren’t viable or it costs more to do the work”.
“This is one of the things in the brief that keeps me awake at night. Many of those buildings were built around the same time and have had very little in the way of capital investment and are in a really dire state”.
Nandy went on to say that she is keen to address this issue and acknowledged that there has been nothing comparable to the Museums Fund for theatres.
Permanent Secretary Susannah Storey commented that the department’s business planning for the remainder of the Spending Review period would look at how remaining £2.9bn can be allocated in the best way.
Joshua McTaggart, CEO of Theatres Trust says “The fact that the Creative Capital Foundations fund was nine times over-subscribed comes as no great surprise. The true need for capital investment will be even greater than £700m, as the fund was only open to projects at RIBA Stage 3. We know first-hand from our work supporting all of the UK’s theatre, that the need for capital investment is widespread and critical. Our team of expert sector specialists are poised to support those theatres who have made it to the next round of the Creative Capital Foundations process, and we are also on hand to advise those who now need to raise capital investment elsewhere.”
“We welcome that the Secretary of State acknowledged that theatres need urgent capital funding after years of under-investment. Theatres Trust will continue working with the government to identify how future capital funding can be targeted to those organisations that need it most, ultimately ensuring that our nation's theatres continue to play a vital role in empowering communities, driving national economic growth, and enhancing our world-wide reputation."
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