Minister in pledge over The Public
A Government culture minister has promised to look into the way the Arts Council dealt with the £72 million Black Country arts centre The Public – and pledged that the results of an inquiry will be published.
A Government culture minister has promised to look into the way the Arts Council dealt with the £72 million Black Country arts centre The Public – and pledged that the results of an inquiry will be published.
Ben Bradshaw, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, has told Tom Watson, Labour MP for West Bromwich East, that the result of any inquiry into the way the Arts Council dealt with the scheme would be made public.
The Arts Council spent £33 million on the West Bromwich centre, but then withdrew from the project in January this year, passing control to Sandwell Council.
Sandwell Arts Trust has since been established to take over the running of the centre.
Mr Watson raised the issue at a select committee meeting. He said: "I told Mr Bradshaw that the Arts Council had recently walked away and was concerned that it might make the same mistake again."
