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£2.6bn!Dateline: 9th May, 2004£2.6bn - that's the amount that a report from ACE says theatre is worth to the local economies of those places which have theatres. Those who go to theatre in the provinces spend an additional £7.77 over and above the cost of their tickets, while the corresponding figure for the West End is an amazing £53.77. Compare this to the £121.3m that we give in subsidy to theatre and it's pretty obvious the taxpayer is getting a damned good bargain! The subsidy is less than 1% of the return to the local economy. And remember, this does not take into account the actual payments made to the theatre's box office. It may well be argued that this is just moving money around which would otherwise be spent on something else, but, whilst there is some truth in this, the West End gets a considerable amount of its income from foreign tourists, a reasonable proportion of whom - as anecdotal evidence suggests - come to London specifically for the theatre. Just as important is the effect upon jobs. A sample of 259 theatres which took part in the survey provides an average of 46.2 jobs, 24.2 of them full-time positions. In discussions about public funding for theatre, the focus is usually upon the cost per seat - the taxpayer pays £X per seat, which is seen as all of society subsidising a small minority - and the result is that theatres are told they must increase their audiences to justify their funding. Now, for the first time, we have a clear picture of the actual benefits to the local economy of theatre subsidy, and we see that they far outweigh the costs. This report should put the final nail in the coffin of the market-orientated approach to theatre funding, which is seen for what it is, superficial and politically-motivated. Articles Indices:
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