News RSS Feed


Councillor Robert Rams describes cuts to artsdepot grant as 'small amount' of its budget

7:20am Thursday 27th January 2011 in News Photograph of the Author By Alex Hayes

Protesters are cazlling for artsdepot and museum funding to be maintained Protesters are cazlling for artsdepot and museum funding to be maintained

CASH being cut from a North Finchley theatre by Barnet Council is “a small amount” according to the councillor leading the plans.

Cash subsidies given to the artsdepot in North Finchley, Church farmhouse Museum in Hendon and Barnet Museum in High Barnet are set to be scrapped as the council looks to save £54m over three years.

Campaigners fear the complete retraction of funding will see the three venues facing closure.

Opposition councillors tabled motions and questions at Tuesday night's council meeting urging Councillor Robert Rams, who is in charge of community involvement, to change his mind.

In one question a Labour councillor branded the council “philistines” for threatening the budgets, whilst others asked what future the museums had.

An idea put forward by Labour Councillor Ansuya Sodha was to cut the amount spent on consultants next year by the same amount as the cancelled subsidy.

When asked about the future of the artsdepot Cllr Rams said: “Our proposal is only to cut eleven per cent of the total funding of the artsdepot, a small amount in the scheme of things.

“We're committed to funding the excellent work it does for people with special needs. I hope artsdepot will survive and I look forward to them coming forward with ideas for funding.”

When asked about the future of the museums he admitted the Church Farmhouse building, the oldest house in the borough, could be sold for a commercial use.

He added: “I hope the museums stay where they are. I believe they will come forward with business plans to take on the lease of the properties. If that's not the case we have a number of suggestions of locations they could be put in.”

The motions did not have tome to be debated, but Cllr Rams' amended motion got unanimous support from the Tories and was voted through.

At the same meeting council leader Lynne Hillan admitted the e-recruitment project, which was due to save around £160,000 for the council this year, would not go live until March.

She said the savings figures would be “amended” in future projections, but denied they put in jeopardy the numbers for the One Barnet project forecast.

Comments(11)

danhope says...
10:48am Thu 27 Jan 11

I have served as a trustee on this body and seen it's attitude to money and the local population. I've seen first hand that they struggled to run the catering let alone anything else!

The biggest shock about funding for Arts Depot Trust (ADT) is not that it has been cut now but £millions have been poured into it from the Council budget during the Freer / Hillan period.

It should have been cut a lot faster and deeper. My view is clear, this is an aloof and wasteful organisation.

The HUGE subside the Council gives to ADT is the use of that massive building with so much potential and they, in my view, have singularly failed to make the best of it.

I was 'dragged' to attend what should have been a sell out event only to find, embarrassingly, the main theatre on a Saturday night was 90% empty, for a top rated performer.

The Council should be content to see Creative / Entertainment / Cultural use for this facility but the ADT as an organisation has blown the huge opportunity it has been given.

It should be allowed to fail and an open Big Society process find an organisation(s) that wants to work with local people and their needs and not look down their noses at them.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

mrsangry999 says...
12:37pm Thu 27 Jan 11

Whatever the criticisms of the Arts Depot, it is a fact that Barnet's present Tory administration are utterly philistine in their outlook, and place no value on the arts, heritage, or cultural activities. In fact, it seems they value nothing that you cannot sell off. It seems extraordinary to me that in a borough with so much diversity and history, that we can allow the 'small amount' of funding needed for our arts venue and museums to be slashed to such an extent, when so much is wasted by the council on ludicrous things like paying millions of pounds for consultants, to the lesser but more puzzling expenses such as social service fees for hiphop artistes (yes, really) conference expenses at Spurs football ground, and hotels, etc etc: take a look a the online expenses if you are interested. The Arts Depot may survive its loss of funding: the museums will not. We have a wealth of history in this borough, and we should be celebrating it, and using it for the education of children and all residents, and promoted as a local attraction, a reason to visit Barnet, and help our local businesses. Instead we are shoving our heritage in cardboard boxes and putting Church Farmhouse Museum up for sale to the highest bidder. I think that is a pretty good example of philistinism, don't you?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

danhope says...
12:45pm Thu 27 Jan 11

As I said, the building should be used for similar purposes but now it sits like a white elephant.

The huge space is used intermittently and the 'snotty' attitude of ADT is out of kilter with local residents.

The Arts Depot has become a 'museum' not a vibrant place. It could be, it should be but won't be as long as the 'sniffy' ADT are running things.

The Council should not be in the business of running Arts, they couldn't run a whelk stall. The Community under Eric Pickles' localism bill should take over the massive space and make a real resource out of it.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Hunted999 says...
1:20pm Thu 27 Jan 11

I think you are being a bit harsh. Most residents recognise The Council could run a whelk stall...it's just the running of a council they question. The sooner our tory councillors commit to whelk retailing and get out of local government the better.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Mr Reasonable says...
3:21pm Thu 27 Jan 11

Dan, I think this merits a wider discussion as to where the problems lie. Are they management or is it linked to the design and in particular the capacity of the Artsdepot. If it is a management issue then there are plenty of venue operators who may be able to do a better job but I have a sneaking suspicion that the issue is design led. For example, from my recollections of attending events at the Artsdepot, the main auditorium is actually very small (c.400 seats). On the commercial entertainment circuit it is often very difficult to attract artists or shows to small venues simply because it is uneconomic for the artist - why come to the artsdepot when they could go to another venue with 1,000 seats. Look at the Colosseum in Watford which is just in the middle of a £5.5m refurbishment programme. That venue has 1,400 seats, and is able to attract a much broader variety of acts. Let's have an open dialogue about what the issues are, what residents want and what is achievable given the restrictions that exist but please don't just let it fail and then try and pick up the pieces. That helps no one.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

danhope says...
4:47pm Thu 27 Jan 11

John,

You may have some points there. There were many criticisms about the design and location, car parking etc

The truth is though that I cannot see this discussion taking place with the, in my view, insular and snobby ADT in the frame.

They are insistent and proud that they are not looking for 'commercial' acts unless they are required to fulfill their lofty artistic plans.

This is a real opportunity for a community led discussion on the future of the space. Maybe it's a useless design and the Council should take the money and relocate the facility.

The concept of a well meaning bunch of people 'doing' art to the local people rather than this public steering how they want this building to serve them isn't really in the spirit of the moment.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

mrsangry999 says...
6:05pm Thu 27 Jan 11

On a practical note, I would suggest that the Arts Depot would benefit from far better signing - the entrance tucked away in the rather grim alley does it no favours. There should be a huge sign on the approach to the building from the south, perhaps a large digital sign similar in design to the RNT one on the south bank, advertising a. that the place exists and b. what's on.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Mr Reasonable says...
7:26pm Thu 27 Jan 11

Dan, the key issue now is if the funding is cut in April there is a real risk that the centre will close. I would implore Cllr Rams to at least give the centre a chance to engage with the residents, to understand what they want and what they are prepared to pay to see, do some market research (which can be done inexpensively) and identify a strategy which will give it a sustainable future. Mrs Angry's comment about the entrance and the signage is spot on. If they could have a stay of execution from cuts for 12 months to put the plans into action it might actually save more money in the long term. The last thing anyone wants is an empty arts centre which will still need maintenance and security but will have no income.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

localres01 says...
12:08am Mon 31 Jan 11

The article above suggests that the Council is proposing to cut just 11% of the funding it receives from the Council. This is factually incorrect - they are actually proposing to cut 100% of artsdepot's core funding, which equates to 11% of artsdepot's turnover. artsdepot is also facing huge cuts from other public sector bodies such as London Councils - approximately £130k per year.

The Council also says it is committed to supporting the excellent work it does with people with special needs - what about the brilliant work it does with refugees and asylum seekers, young offenders, young people with mental health problems, children in hospices, young people who are excluded from education and older people. If these cuts go ahead, the Council is putting the most vulnerable people at even higher risk (at a time when they should be protecting them) which will cost society more money in the long run.

If the sum of money is "small in the scheme of things", then why is it being cut? Is £10m spent on external consultants -surely this can be reviewed?

The Councillor's need a reality check and should perhaps look at cutting their allowances for the good of the local community...

artsdepot is a community hub - it is not snobby, it is open to everyone. I am a local resident and regularly attend the centre - the staff and friendly and welcoming. With 110,000 people attending the centre each year, i is certainly not a white elephant!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

localres01 says...
12:14am Mon 31 Jan 11

The article above suggests that the Council is proposing to cut just 11% of the funding it receives from the Council. This is factually incorrect - they are actually proposing to cut 100% of artsdepot's core funding, which equates to 11% of artsdepot's turnover. artsdepot is also facing huge cuts from other public sector bodies such as London Councils - approximately £130k per year.

The Council also says it is committed to supporting the excellent work it does with people with special needs - what about the brilliant work it does with refugees and asylum seekers, young offenders, young people with mental health problems, children in hospices, young people who are excluded from education and older people. If these cuts go ahead, the Council is putting the most vulnerable people at even higher risk (at a time when they should be protecting them) which will cost society more money in the long run.

If the sum of money is "small in the scheme of things", then why is it being cut? Is £10m spent on external consultants -surely this can be reviewed?

The Councillor's need a reality check and should perhaps look at cutting their allowances for the good of the local community...

artsdepot is a community hub - it is not snobby, it is open to everyone. I am a local resident and regularly attend the centre - the staff are friendly and welcoming. With 110,000 people attending the centre each year, it is certainly not a white elephant!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

oneandall says...
11:50pm Thu 3 Mar 11

Like danhope I was a trustee and director of Arts Depot and I agree with some of Mr Hope's comments. I'm not sure I'd call the Arts Depot Trust 'snobby' but there were certainly substantial shortcomings with both management and board when I was there. In fact I resigned my trustee role
because I felt the board and management were so dysfunctional as to be beyond repair. My view was, and is, that the company needs an entirely new executive and board of trustees.
While it remains such a dysfunctional organisation the question of whether public money should be invested in it at all needs serious consideration.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

More News stories

Local Businesses

Most popular