‘Community’ Theatre – or not?

When the new High School was built, Jim Tulips, then NAC’s PPP liaison officer, asserted that it would feature a ‘Flagship Community Theatre’ for use by Arran people. That was very welcome – but now there is doubt about whether the community can use the theatre for its own creative purposes or not. John Baraclough, who worked for 25 years in broadcast TV studios and has been involved in stage lighting for nearly 50 years, has been giving technical support to drama groups since the opening of the new building. He and others have made considerable improvements to the initial systems, providing additional equipment at their own expense. However, John has been told that members of the public, even if they are professionals in the field, must not handle lighting and sound equipment. The only people insured to do so are employees of MITIE, the contractors in charge of maintenance. Thus, Arran now has a Community Theatre that in effect cannot be used. Already, events are being re-booked at other halls, and there is doubt whether the annual Drama Festival can go ahead.

As everyone knows, the new High School was built through a PPP (Private and Public Partnership) deal between NAC and an international firm of developers, Hochtief. According to its own website, Hochtief is under a ‘hostile takeover bid’ from a Spanish consortium, ACS (Actividades de Constuccion y Servicios), but whatever the outcome, maintenance and running of the Arran High school building, including the Community Theatre, remains in the hands of MITIE, which stands for Management Incentive Through Investment Equity. This enormous enterprise has maintenance contracts for the Scottish Parliament and the Tower of London among countless others. Its website depicts a highly systematised profit-making machine, based on taking 51% equity stakes in start-up businesses that fall into its fields of activity. Its managers own a substantial minority stake in the business. MITIE’s home page states, ‘As a leading FTSE 250 business with over 56,000 people and revenues in excess of £1.7bn, our strategic input can add value at the highest level, while our practical management expertise can save clients money and maximise their returns.’

The client currently in question is North Ayrshire Council, but whether it is saving money through this venture is far from clear-cut. NAC receives monthly invoices from PPP Services (North Ayrshire) Ltd to cover the cleaning, maintenance and wages of janitorial staff. These payments are £159,000 a month. Since this sum covers all costs for ongoing maintenance, it is easy to understand MITIE’s exclusive approach to maintenance work. It is not in their interest to reduce costs, since all running expenses are met by NAC via PPP Services. Voluntary help from the community would undoubtedly be useful to the Council in its current economic crisis, but offers to make small improvements cheaply or at no cost have no place in MITIE’s business model.

A small but telling example of this conflicting interest has arisen since MITIE installed a triple-glazed window in the theatre’s sound control room. This window is totally soundproof, so nobody working in the control room can now hear anything that happens on the stage. John Baraclough offered to provide the necessary intercom system through Northern Lights for £700, but MITIE insist that it must be provided by their own suppliers at a cost of £5,700. The infinitely higher cost can be seen as an advantageous item on MITIE’s balance sheet, as NAC foots the bill at the end of the day.

Councillor Margie Currie stresses that NAC is happy to see the full use made of the Community Theatre, and hopes this will continue and develop. Robin Knox (NAC Contract Compliance Officer) initially agreed. He said the Council had ‘no agenda to make anyone’s ability to use the facility more difficult’ and added that it was ‘very much in NAC’s interests to ensure that the Community Theatre is used as widely as possible.’ However, as official pig-in-the-middle between NAC on one hand and PPP Services/MITIE on the other, he is in a difficult position. He stalled over any further questions, explaining that he was obliged to run our request for information past his Corporate Director and Communications Section for approval before saying anything further. Lynn McEwan, Head of Communications, said it is not Council policy to release news to community websites, even (or perhaps, we thought, particularly) if they are functioning as a newspaper or magazine. During a second phone call, Robin Knox pointed out that the terms of use laid down by MITIE have been known from the start.

Many people have been unhappy about the PPP deal from its inception, since it was imposed on the Arran community with no consultation whatever. The ring-fenced commitment to pay for the project over the next 30 years becomes increasingly alarming as financial constraints tighten – but the difficulties could have been anticipated. As early as March 2006 MSP Dennis Canavan asked a Parliamentary question about why the annual bill local authorities paid for PPP school projects had climbed from zero in 1999-2000 to £12m the following year, before reaching the vastly increased sum of £111m in 2006. He said, ‘This is a waste of taxpayers’ money and a millstone round their necks for years to come. Traditional public finance would have been far more economic and better value for money.’

George Monbiot suggested in the Guardian recently that such deals, established without any mandate from the community concerned, constitute what is legally known as ‘odious debt’. These enticing but expensive offers have a bad history of crippling Third World countries, and there have been successful cases in protesting that debts imposed this way, with no reference to the will of the people, are illegitimate and therefore can be written off. Although Arran can hardly be called Third World, it might very well claim to be saddled with exactly such an ‘odious debt’. Any resulting legal case could be very interesting. Meanwhile, on a more mundane level, the fact is that professional lighting engineers who have their own Public Liability and Accidental Damage insurance would probably be allowed to move lanterns on the lighting grid. The question of insurance cover to enable members of the community to use the theatre constructively and without financial threat to themselves must be solved. Otherwise, the so-called Community Theatre may become a white elephant, embarrassing to the Council and infuriating to Arran people.

Picture – Opera gala evening Mclellan Arts Festival in the Community theatre.

Comment.

£159,000 a month to cover the cleaning, maintenance and wages of janitorial staff…

How ironic. NAC built the new school to avoid costly maintenance on the previous building. – Chris Aitken, Brodick