Bristol City Council Worries About Arts Funding Reputation

The council is concerned about its public reputation after a year of delay and changes to Bristol arts funding

Bristol arts organisations not receiving council funding requires PR mitigations, according to agenda papers to Cabinet next month. This is to stop them becoming a ‘threat’ to Bristol City Council’s Cultural Investment Programme.

A year-long delay to arts funding applications in the city, has put organisations at risk of closure and resulted in a demonstration at City Hall in July 2023.

The delays, the council say, is due to an assessment and independent panel process being delayed.

During these delays, Theatre Bristol an independent organisation supporting live performance development in the city has closed.

Cabinet papers for the meeting in December states on its Risk Register that ‘Some currently funded organisations are not being recommended for funding from 2023 onwards, and this will have an impact on these organisations.”

The ‘Key Mitigations’ for this states: ‘Arts and Events officers to offer follow up meetings with affected organisations. Manage the communications announcing the new grantees and work with the PR team and Mayors office.’

In further mitigations, the council worries that one of the ‘key consequences’ of the year-long delay affects its reputation as a grant funder – especially with attention on budget savings.

The document calls it a: ‘Reputational risk for BCC as a grant funder. At time of heightened scrutiny due to need for savings and budget review/s.’

The result of the 12 month delay is further concern for the council regarding its public reputation. It says that arts organisations which have waited a year for final decisions have experienced a ‘negative impact on their business planning and on the reputation of BCC as a grant funder.’

The council aims to develop public relations around such reputational damage. This will be done with a PR plan.

Papers state in mitigation to reputational damage it will ‘Re-build BCC reputation as grant funder through comms plan agreed with PR team, work with PR team and Mayors office.’

Bristol City Council’s new Cultural Investment Programme, says it aims to make ‘arts and culture accessible for all citizens.’

It has broken funding down into two streams – Openess and Imagination.

There were 34 funding requests for the Openness funding, with the following 15 recommended a total of £1,093,375 in funding:

ACTA
Artspace Lifespace
Asian Arts Agency
Bristol Pride
Circomedia
Creative Youth Network
Knowle West Media Centre
Paraorchestra
Rising Arts Agency
Spike Island
St Pauls Carnival
Tobacco Factory Theatres
Travelling Light Theatre Company
Trinity Community Arts Ltd
Unique Voice CIC

The following organisations were not recommended for funding:

A.P.E. Project
Bristol Old Vic
Encounters
Exchange Venue Bristol Ltd
In Between Time
MAYK
RWA
Saffron Records CIC
SS Great Britain Trust
St Georges
Trigger
Wardrobe Theatre
Watershed

Bristol Ideas and Theatre Bristol who had both made funding applications closed before reaching the end of the process.

For the Imagination Funding, The following 11 organisations were recommended funding for a total of £313,201.

A Single Thread
Action Hero
Ad Infinitum Productions CIO
Black Women Let Loose Theatre Company
Bristol Refugee Festival CIC
Community in Partnership Knowle West
Compass Film CIC
Design West
Lamplighters Arts CIC
Storytale Festival CIC
Threefold Theatre CIC

The following organsations were not recommended for funding

Air Giants Ltd.
Art in Motion
BJBF
Bristol Photo Festival
Bristol Improv Theatre
Bristol Reggae Orchestra
Cat & Mouse C.I.C.
Circus City
Children’s Scrapstore
Cloak Room CIC
Creative Shift CIC
Diverse Artists Network
Dragonbird Theatre CIC
Invisible Circus
Luke Jerram LTD
New Works Ballet Theatre
Noods Levels CIC
Prior Shop
Rogue Circus Company
Royal Photographic Society
Spike Print Studio
Window Wanderland
Wise Children

Bristol City Council says its independent panel was made up of ‘selected members’ from the Culture Board and a representative from Black South West Network.

The paper, authored by Director Management of Place Bristol City Council Patsy Mellor, says the process was created to be ‘diverse and representative in line with aims of the cultural investment programme. The process was supported by an independent consultant.’

The Bristol One City Culture Board, has no minute meetings uploaded since September 2022.

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