The Public branded a waste of money
Monday 28th March 2011, 5:00PM BST.
The Public centre was today labelled as “perhaps the worst example of a gross waste of public money” in a damning report by MPs on the Arts Council.
The report into how the arts are funded heavily criticised the quango for its role in the West Bromwich arts centre, which has cost £72million and ran £49m over budget.
The Arts Council has spent more than £32m of taxpayers’ money on the project.
MPs on the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee accused the Arts Council of a “failure of leadership” on The Public — one of the strongest terms of criticism that can be levelled against a public body.
They accuse the Arts Council of huge levels of “waste” during the years before the recession. But today the Arts Council said The Public was “old news” and not representative of the quango’s investments.
West Bromwich East Labour MP Tom Watson, who sits on the commons committee, said: “The Arts Council is displaying outrageous complacency and breathtaking arrogance.
“It is unacceptable to describe their role in the mismanagement of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money as “old news” when they have not held a single inquiry of their own.
“They should do so immediately and it should start with the word ‘sorry’.”
Sandwell Council today pledged it would “never again” allow itself to be put in a position where it would have to act as guarantor on such a project. In the report, the MPs said: “We note that the case of The Public gallery in West Bromwich is perhaps the worst example of a gross waste of public money by the Arts Council.
“The inability of the current chief executive to provide answers to our questions or demonstrate any serious attempts to learn lessons from the failure of the project does not inspire confidence in the Arts Council or its leadership.”
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This only goes to prove the residents of Sandwell have been right all along and it’s about time the councillors listened to the people that put them there to do just that.
It’s about time they lost their arrogance and started doing what the people put them there to do, save what taxpayers money they can by using it correctly in the first place.
It was a mistake from the start but they just didn’t listen and they are doing the same at Burnt Tree, another £12 million mistake.
As we all know the Public will fail and eventually close so why not put an end to it now and save further money losses and the insecurity of it’s staff.
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And you will vote Labour like all the others in Sandwell.
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Well done Sandwell Council on yet another fine job of wasting our money. I mean seriously, an arts centre in West Bromwich?! What form of research was carried out to decide that’s what was needed in West Bromwich? Obviously funding this monstrosity and not spending money towards refurbishing our leisure facilities and closing down swimming pools seems to be the way forward…
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No doubt you’ll vote Labour too.
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And what is it to you! Its our vote and we can vote for anyone we like! Who would you like us to vote for?
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Conservative actually, not sure what point you are trying to make, maybe if you ‘read’ the article then you will see how much money has been wasted. If not then there are a few schools in Sandwell you can enroll at unless they have been closed down due to lack of money
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Conner, why do you assume a criticism of this facility and the Council automatically represents a desire to vote Labour? Not everyone in Sandwell supports them; as it stands I’ll probably vote for neither Labour nor Conservative. Isn’t the issue here the grossly excessive and needless waste of public funds? We’re told the obvious when we knew it all along: this facility was a costly mistake. Yet still, the powers that be persisted is throwing money down the drain. Too late for buck-passing, too.
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And you think it would make a difference who you vote for Connor? They all waste money. Dudley council wasted money by trying to build a bypass using substandard material. They now have to put it right costing another few million pounds. They are Tory controlled. Like I said they are all the same.
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Have you read the article? THis is about the arts council walking off!!!
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not good enough all including councillors who had any part of this should be sacked instantly no compensation or golden handshakes words cannot explain how angry this makes me
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Total waste of money, and it will be interesting to find out about what profit they have made since opening!!
The money could have been spent on rejuvening the town exisiting shopping complex
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What you dont seem to realise is the fact The Public was built meant that funding was put into rejuvenating the town centre, with Sandwell College, Tesco, the new bus station!Obviously you have not noticed these things being built.
and whilst i’m on the subject, has anyone on this comment list ever looked into how much money the arts council wastes on decorating their offices??!! amongst other frivolities!
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It is just a slash in the ocean compared with the millions upon millions spent on the Millenium Dome in London.
Don’t remember too many enquiries into that fiasco.
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I’m an artist and a musician, on paper i should love this place but it’s such a rediculous waste of money. £72 million, just £1 million would have helped the youth arts group i volunteer for keep open for a good few years and instead we have to result to fund raisers while this monstrosity still exists. Support what we already have rather than building something we really didn’t need, now most of those kids that come in will possibly be bored on the streets if we can’t keep it running.
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The execution and project management of the pulic was indeed extremely poor to say the least. However, the intent and desire to have something for the residents of West Brom to look to as a beacon for better things was correct. West Bromwich hit its peak in the late 70′s. It has been nothing more than a forgotten post-industrial wasteland since. If the public had not have been built, we would not have had the new bus station, the new Tesco complex, or the investment for the new college, firestation island works, new BT building, and the new Police station.
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We need to find ways to use the Public building. It may have lost money, but at least this area got some sort of investment – it would have gone somewhere else otherwise, and the money was for a project such as this, not swimming pools. If West Brom didn’t have the Public, it wouldn’t have an ice rink in place of it. I agree though that these funds could have in hindsight been spent better but also this area has suffered from a lack of ambition for ages.It is always pushed to the back.
The Express and Star and Daily Mail are constantly being negative – which doesn’t encourage the future usage of the building and ways to get money back. The building is also something to be proud of and is revered in Europe more than it is here. The E and S should be ashamed of being detrimental to the area it covers and not reporting the full and balanced picture.
Otherwise let London or Manchester have all the money for these projects and lets all move there and let the rest of the country turn into a wasteland. This needs support now and to not become a entity for political leverage at the cost of local people. The real issue and question is how this building can represent and improve the creative activities of those in the area and bring interest into the town from outside. Not how we can make this a pub table political debate without actually doing anything constructive. We shouldn’t confuse those who were trying to enrich the area and create a space to be used by all sections of the community with those happy to allow another Tescos to be your weekly shopping entertainment, meeting space and spiritual nourishment. Or is that all you want and need?
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here here!
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I really find it difficult to understand how anyone would have thought spending that sort of money on another white elephant ever got cleared in the 1st place. Labour are without doubt at fault for such poor control and waiste of money in the last 10 years or so. I find it hard to believe that they have the neck to call the current govenment in place. Really don’t know what will have with this sad horrid looking building, its pure rubbish.
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Maybe Tom Watson should stop wasting his time on meaningless Committee’s & concentrate on representing his constituents needs in this ever worsening finacial crisis.
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Stop being so negative. It could have obviously been better managed and less of a waste of money. But it is there now and how many of the above have actually been to visit it. I went last week and the place is brilliant. Friendly and helpful staff. There is also an excellent Pink Floyd tribute on in a couple of weeks so I will be going back!
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Have any of you commenting ever been? Have you taken part in anything there? Do you know what goes on there? Or are you riding on preconceptions?
Again, would you rather see the money have been spent elsewhere? Perhaps it goes to show that a place ultimately gets what it deserves and that those negative people afraid of change with lack of vision are holding everyone back.
With nothing being built now anyway, the doom mongers should be glad of this in a few years. Nothing happens overnight. Most towns are rotting from the inside out. At least West Brom has something at it’s centre. Make use of it.
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You say towns are rotting. Perhaps that is down to councils allowing this to happen. Schools are in need of money spending on them yet this council chose to waste money on the public. The same council that is now having to make 20 million pounds of cut backs. I wonder what cut back it would have had to make had it not wasted tax payers money on this place?
I am all for the Arts and good music venues,anything that can improve our area.It doesn’t matter if you have never visited the place. It cost millions and will never give a return on the money it costs. Schools need money more as do towns that like you say are suffering. Suffering from council neglect!!
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What everyone seems to miss is that the majority of the funding was arts council – money for the arts – not to be spent on schools not buildings and shopping centres! Why does no one seem to understand it comes out of a different pot – yes since then the coucil has had to put up funds – but would have never had to put in as much if it wasn’t for the Arts Council handling the way it did! Why dont we all just leave west brom to rot with its 99p stores and grotty pubs, just put all the money into places that matter like London and Manchester. Who cares about the scummy working class, their all on the dole anyway right?!
incase you didnt get that I was being sarcastic.
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Arts council money is tax payers money. They are still asking Sandwell for more money to keep the place going. £39 million pounds the arts council gave, and who donated the rest to make a grand total of £79 million? Perhaps we could have invested the money on things West Brom really needs for its people. Like good schools and jobs.
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The criticism here is levelled mainly at the Arts Council, not at Sandwell Council.
The Arts Council has been a nice, middle class quango for decades and pours public money into nice, middle class pursuits for the benefir of the nic middle classes.
The Public was the result of a daft idea that plonking an arts centre in a deprived area would somehow ‘regenerate’ the area. Mind you, Walsall did the same with Forest Arts Centre on a smaller scale. That didn’t work either.
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So Bob your saying that even if Sandwell Labour Council did waste £72 million pound on this abortion, that’s a good thing because if Sandwell Labour Council Sandwell Labour Council didn’t waste the money, another council would have got it and they would have wasted the money? I will remember that when I am paying 70 pence in the pound on my fuel.
And you’re telling us even though we all know it was a waste of money we should embrace its conception, only a Sandwell Labour Councillor would take that view!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KT the arts council doesn’t have any money, they have access to taxpayer’s money, and that money is our money, we are the taxpayers, perhaps if we were not taxed so heavily we could afford to pay for quality products at reasonable prices and remember the tax made by the government out of those 99 pence shops goes direct into supplying the schools, hospitals and services for the population of the UK, now ask Philip Green why he like thousands of other doesn’t pay tax to the British Government?
Jim of Bearwood
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To Echo everyone’s sentiment (apart from Bob’s). No matter where the money came from (Arts Council, Sandwell Council etc…) the money was still TAX PAYER’S MONEY – E.G. OUR MONEY.
So no, I don’t think anyone who hates the public and the humungous amount of stupid money it has had thrown at it at all is missing any point.
The point is IT WAS STILL THE TAX PAYER’S MONEY – E.G. OUR MONEY!!
Have you got that point now Bob?
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We all know the Public went over budget, but does the Express & Star need to keep going on about it? What’s done is done and I don’t think constant negative reporting is helpful. The Public is here and I for one support it. It’s a great facility for Sandwell residents and we should take full advantage of what it has to offer. To people who have made negative comments on this page and actually haven’t visited the centre. I suggest they give The Public a chance after all it employs local people and given half a chance it could become very successful and good for the local economy.
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Ian – I did visit it. I went with my wife and kids. Kids were bored out of their skulls within 15 mins – we were bored long before that!
Should have built a leisure centre. Oh, what’s that again “the money was from the Arts Council so not for a leisure centre”… I refer back to comment 15 – it was THE TAX PAYER’S MONEY – E.G. OUR MONEY!
We should have had a vote on what was wanted and needed as Sandwell residents – a leisure centre would have ended up employing far more people, would have generated revenue (people would actually pay to use a leisure centre), and it could have had a big leisure complex associated to it (cinema, bowling complex, decent restauarants etc..) again, all bringing in employment and generating much needed revenue to the area.
Whether we like it or not, when you force something that has not been asked for onto people who don’t want it – they will reject it with all their might – take Windows Vista as a perfect example.
However, I do enjoy the debate – and do appreciate all views even though I may not agree with them.
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