The Society of London and UK Theatre have published an election manifesto, urging the government to allocate funding to educational establishments to take children to the theatre.
The document, sent out to political parties, calls for a three-pronged approach to supporting British theatre; funding and growth, talent development and international collaboration and condemns the “serious impact” of declining arts subject take up in schools, and argues that it should be made easier for pupils to engage with the theatre.
They urge the government to “enable and incentivise schools in the most deprived areas to use their local theatres. This could be done through a government-supported scheme rather than isolated philanthropy or one-off grants.”
Referencing schemes in London boroughs Newham and Southwark, it also suggests that funding could be used to offer free transport to venues. Transport for London already offers this for schools travelling at off-peak times, but suggests it could be extended to other areas of the country.
There has been a steady decline in the number of schools attending performances, with cost being a major factor in this.
The manifesto goes on to say: “The removal of local government funding is by far the greatest threat to prosperity and growth in our sector…As local councils look to train 100% of business rates to meet the costs of services, many have begun withdrawing the 20% discretionary relief available to those of our members who are charities. We ask for this relief to be maintained.”
Other points in the manifesto include:
- Maintaining theatre tax relief
- A fund for the theatre sector to weather the financial cost of Brexit
- Reforming the Apprenticeship Levy to introduce a Skills Levy that would allow money to deliver T level placements
- Support to enable people receiving benefits to undertake paid work experience and placements in theatres
- Including at least one theatre delegate on all overseas trade missions
