Arts Council England had ‘concerns’ over the management of Oldham Coliseum

Arts Council England have told the Oldham Evening Chronicle that they were concerned about the “high-risk” application for funding from Oldham’s Coliseum Theatre.

In November. Arts Council England (ACE) pulled 100% of their funding to the theatre, resulting in the announcement that the curtain was to come down at the Fairbottom Street site after over 100 years.

Sarah Maxfield, North Area Director of ACE – and a member of the Northern panel which made the decision - said the Coliseum had been underperforming for some time.

“We distribute public money, so we have a monitoring relationship to ensure that the investment is being used well.  Oldham Coliseum Limited has been in serious difficulties: audience numbers had declined 30% between 2017 and 2021, pre-Covid.  It was particularly concerning that it was regular attendees that had stopped buying tickets.

“In addition, the organisation has a history of instability.  There have been 4 Chief Executives and 3 chairs between 2017 and 2021.

“Arts Council England have tried to help.  We’ve paid for arts and business consultants to go in and see how they could stabilise the company.  We also commissioned an independent review to assess the performance of the management of the company, which was highly critical.”

Maxfield says they were very much aware of the strength of feeling about the Coliseum and its ‘venerable’ history in the town.

“We were incredibly struck by the affection and passion for the theatre and arts in the town, which is why we have ringfenced the £1.8m for spending exclusively in Oldham.

“These are very difficult circumstances, and the passion is great to see.  What we understand and acknowledge is the current strength of feeling that people have, and the huge affection for the building and the history.”

At a meeting of supporters at the Coliseum last night, many attendees suggested a ‘pincer movement’ between the council and ACE has resulted in the funding being moved from Oldham Coliseum to the local authority, something Maxfield categorically denies.

“There is no truth to those concerns.  We have always been clear in our criteria that funding will not automatically roll over, and everybody who applied for funding will be treated in the same way.

“There was an enormous demand for funding from over 1700 across the country, and quite simply, the Coliseum did not make a strong case.  Other organisations had better plans.  We can’t justify the bid on its own in terms of putting public money in."

Whilst admitting the strength of feeling in Oldham, Ms Maxfield said it was “unfair” to criticise ACE for “treating Oldham Coliseum in the same was as the other 1699 applications.”

“We’re being criticised for operating a process which had been clearly advertised and treating everybody the same – and doing what we said we’d do.”

Oldham Council are now submitting plans to ACE on how they intend to invest the £1.8m ringfenced for arts and culture in the town, those plans include the building of a new theatre on Union Street – understood to be called ‘Oldham Coliseum’.

“The name honours the long history of theatre in the town”, says Maxfield.  “This transfers the legacy.  What this shows is that it’s not necessarily the bricks and mortar that impacts on people, it’s the experience of theatre, and it shows what matters is that the performance is happening.”

Arts Council England is funded directly from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (£686m in 2021/22), with additional funding from the National Lottery (£252m in 2021/22).

The ACE funding for the Coliseum will continue until the end of March.  The company has also been awarded an additional £350,000-plus of transition support to cover freelance contracts and other financial commitments.

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