Aberdeen councillors have been accused of hitting the city’s arts charity “completely out of the blue” with “baffling and devastating” cuts of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The head of the local authority’s own body, Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA), claims they were given “no advance notice” that £225,000 was being pulled from a project to update His Majesty’s Theatre for the post-Covid era.
Another major funding partner, Scottish Enterprise, is now looking into how the situation affects a grant of £200,000 towards the regeneration.
Jane Spier claimed the now-troubled upgrades were giving the charity “hope for the future”.
Having delayed her retirement to ensure the arms-length external body (Aleo) sees it through the pandemic’s challenges, she also hit out at a 5% cut to overall funding from the council.
Necessary belt tightening or revenge?
Last night, the Labour-led administration balanced the city’s books while tussling with £32 million of required cuts.
Council culture spokeswoman Marie Boulton alleged the move, which she fears will mean the Covid-safe upgrades go “out the window”, was in response to her voting to sink pedestrianisation plans for Union Street.
Her administration leadership colleagues rubbished those claims though, instead saying the defeat on the Granite Mile’s future was reason to pause major investments until after May’s election.
What upgrades were planned for HMT?
Creating extra space for queueing at the box office within the 2005-built glazed HMT extension, plans involved removing the staircase.
The current cafe was to be moved upstairs to an “expanded” area, offering views of the refurbished Union Terrace Gardens which are due to reopen by the end of April.
In a letter seen by The P&J, Ms Spiers urged councillors to reconsider funding the project which “was to give us hope for the future”.
The surprise renege also puts £200,000 match funding from Scottish Enterprise in “jeopardy”, the outgoing chief executive claimed.
She told councillors in a late-night email: “The project is already underway, we’ve actually committed funds, paid invoices and have invoices pending for work outstanding to many local firms who are contractually on board.”
“We have kept the council appraised of the project and done everything we were asked to do. We presented an outline scheme, costs and a business plan in December, we have applied for planning and listed building consent, paid the building warrant, had several meetings with council officers and paid invoices to contractors.”
A spokesman for Scottish Enterprise said the government’s business quango was “aware of this situation”.
“We have approached Aberdeen City Council to better understand its current position.
“Scottish Enterprise is also in contact with Aberdeen Performing Arts to discuss the status of the theatre regeneration project.”
Pandemic’s ‘huge toll’ on Aberdeen Performing Arts
Aberdeen Performing Arts has managed to raise £4m from outside sources during the pandemic as they worked to keep 300 people in work – without any additional cash from the council taxpayer.
“It’s taken a huge toll on our organisation and we are still trying to get back on our feet,” Ms Spiers added.
This morning she told The P&J that the subsidy received from the council “goes straight back to the city”.
She concluded: “We are an arts charity, here for the city, not just for Aberdeen Performing Arts. We are in touch with the Council and are hopeful that a resolution can be found.”
Conservative Ryan Houghton, the council finance convener, said he would respond to the arts chief in person before making comment in the press.