It’s time to start asking questions about the arts bailout and what it will achieve

As the head of Bectu, the arts and entertainment trade union, I have been in the privileged position of representing the interests of the talented workforce that makes the UK creative industries the envy of the world.

The theatre industry is a huge part of that. Our members’ commitment and energy is what makes theatre so magical – they work tirelessly day and night to raise the curtain. However, the pandemic has changed everything. Overnight the industry went dark  and huge uncertainty continues about when it will open up again  in the future.

The much anticipated and lobbied for Culture Recovery Fund of £1.57bn was announced in July. At the time we said that the detail of the fund and how it was going to be distributed was crucial. I have personally written to culture secretary Oliver Dowden to congratulate him on achieving such a significant package to support our rich tapestry of cultural organisations.

However, I also highlighted Bectu’s deep concerns that the government’s focus to save the arts is failing the very people whose creativity and ideas are crucial to delivering them.

At the start of this month we were involved in consultation around 5000 redundancies and lay-offs taking place across the industry – a jump of close to 2000 in a month. This tsunami of redundancies, which don’t take into consideration the tens of thousands of freelancers without work, are only set to continue.

The details of the recovery fund and how it is to be distributed have just come too late. Theatres can  apply for either a grant or a loan – not both. Grants, capped at £3m which aren’t sufficient for iconic organisations to weather the storm, won’t be available until the end of September at the earliest. The criteria for loans, made available this week, revealed that funding won’t be paid out until mid-October. During that time employers are also being expected by Government to contribute to the cost of the furlough scheme. However, only a few of them are starting to think about how they can re-open again with socially distanced performances although they won’t bring in the revenue they need.

On top of that the funding criterion encourages organisations to ‘mothball’ rather than to get back to work and think about producing future innovative work.

It raises questions about whether this huge commitment of public money is going to achieve what many people hoped it would. Surely the aim of a package of this kind should be to stimulate the market and ensure people are employed? However it looks like it will in large part be supporting redundancy packages and building maintenance while the government claims that theatres are opening again, which just isn’t happening.

If there was ever an industry that was built on the talent of its workforce then it is the Arts, but the government’s approach risks cutting out both audiences and artists and leaving us with a collection of empty buildings. It’s like saving the Globe but sacking Shakespeare.

Bectu will continue to fight for a proper recovery package, one focused on preserving the things that make so many people in Britain proud of our culture and the people who bring it to life.