Agenda item

(Councillor Ferguson to raise)

            Councillor Ferguson informed the Committee that PLACE NI played a vital role in promoting the built heritage and environment and that it had delivered many valuable projects across the City. She reported that the organisation had been informed recently by the Arts Council that its application for funding for next year had been unsuccessful and that PLACE NI had raised concerns around the process which had led to that decision.  Therefore, the support of the Council was essential in ensuring that PLACE NI could continue to operate.

            Councillor O’Hara highlighted also the significant work which PLACE NI had delivered and confirmed that it had an important part to play, in the context of meeting the challenges faced by the City in relation to, for example, climate change and resilience. He too expressed concerns regarding the removal of funding by the Arts Council and stressed that the Council should examine ways in which to support PLACE NI. 

            The Committee was informed that a number of representatives of PLACE NI were in attendance and Ms. A. Neely, Acting Chief Executive, was invited to provide further details around its current funding issues.

            Ms. Neely informed the Committee that PLACE NI researched, designed and delivered creative projects which connected people to place and delivered a public programme of tours, talks, exhibitions and festivals. The Council had been instrumental in its establishment in 2004, by providing both a premises and officer support.

            She reported that PLACE NI had, for fifteen years, been core funded by the Arts Council which, in turn, had allowed it to lever financial support from other sources. She explained that it was the organisation’s view that the decision to refuse funding had been based upon inaccuracies and that it had requested a review of the Arts Council’s procedures and was appealing the decision through the Ombudsman’s Office. She stressed that the removal of funding was placing the organisation at immediate risk of closure and that, at this point, it would be unlikely to operate beyond 31st August. In terms of impact, its closure would lead to the loss of four jobs, numerous freelance contracts and volunteer opportunities, a resource for students and educators, significant tourism opportunities and contracts with artists and partner organisations. Ms. Neely concluded by inviting the Council to support PLACE NI by making available emergency financial support and by requesting the Arts Council to reconsider its decision to remove funding for next year.  

            In response to a question from a Member, Ms. Neely confirmed that the funding which PLACE NI had, in the past, received from the Arts Council represented approximately 50% of its overall budget and had been used primarily to cover salary costs. The amount requested from the Arts Council for next year had been £87,000.

            The Chief Executive informed the Committee that the budgets for Council Departments were established each February, as part of the rate-setting process, and that it was difficult for funding requests to be considered outside of that framework. She confirmed that an end-of-year finance report was due to be submitted to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee in June and that requests for funding would have to be considered in the context of that report. 

            After discussion, the Committee:

                      i.     agreed that a letter be forwarded to the Arts Council and to the Department for Communities, its funding provider, affirming the Council’s support for the work of PLACE NI and inviting the Arts Council to re-examine its funding application;

                     ii.     agreed that officers meet with representatives of PLACE NI to discuss other ways in which the Council could support the organisation in the short and medium term; 

                    iii.     agreed that the end-of-year finance report being submitted in June to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee should include PLACE NI’s request for funding; and

                   iv.     agreed that a report be submitted to a future meeting providing an update on the funding of PLACE NI.