Taxpayers foot £5,000 a day bill for theatres overspend

WORTHING theatres cost taxpayers nearly £5,000 a day last year – just two years after £3,000 a day was considered too expensive.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Jun 2014, 19:30 BST
W03048H14-Theatre The Connaught Theatre Cinama Theatre Union Place Worthing ENGSUS00120140115173752W03048H14-Theatre The Connaught Theatre Cinama Theatre Union Place Worthing ENGSUS00120140115173752
W03048H14-Theatre The Connaught Theatre Cinama Theatre Union Place Worthing ENGSUS00120140115173752

Figures released for the 2013-14 financial year show the council-run service cost more than £1.78 million to run, a total of £484,000 over budget.

“The theatres are in intensive care at the moment,” said Worthing Borough Council leader Paul Yallop, who insisted the council could not continue to support such high costs.

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He added: “It’s not quite as bad as it sounds, as the budget includes things like capital charges. Clearly, it’s a very disappointing figure and we cannot afford for that to continue.”

Theatre management insisted the sum, amounting to £4,894 per day, was necessary to make Worthing ‘culturally thriving’ but pledged savings would be made in further years.

The overspend comes just over two years after the Herald revealed the daily cost of running the theatres was around £3,000 a day.

For the full story, pick up a copy of this week’s paper, out tomorrow.

Related topics:Worthing Borough Council