Sixteen jobs to be axed at The Public

Sixteen jobs are to go at Black Country arts centre The Public. The job cuts come as it emerged today the West Bromwich centre will still benefit from a new £100,000 grant from the Arts Council.

The £72 million centre, which is set to lose exhibition and administration staff when existing Arts Council cash runs out in March, was originally told funding would end this year. But the funding U-turn is the clearest indication yet that the New Street venue could could be given further cash from the taxpayer to stay open.

Long-term funding plans for the centre will be revealed at the end of March.

Linda Saunders, managing director of The Public, said: "Sixteen people have been told their jobs are at risk. We are in the same position as everyone else at the moment."

On the latest cash handout she said: "I have no idea how it bodes for the long- term funding of the centre, but in terms of the present, this grant will take us through to September, which is really exciting."

In January 2009, Arts Council England, which has provided a total of £32m to the centre, refused to give any more cash to the project after rejecting a new business plan put forward by previous management, The Public Gallery Limited.

Instead it gave a final £3m to Sandwell Council as a farewell gesture, to ensure the building opened. This has now been spent and The Public, now run by Sandwell Arts Trust, is waiting to hear whether it will be given further handouts from the Arts Council towards its annual running costs of £2.2m.

Sandwell Council provides £1.1m of that figure. The rest comes from grants from arts groups and income raised by hiring out the building and holding events.

Councillor Ann Shackleton, Sandwell's leading member for culture, said: "It's really good to see the Arts Council continuing to commit to The Public. Sandwell Arts Trust have made impressive progress in the last 18 months with visitor numbers set to top 140,000 for 2010/11."

The latest grant will pay for art activities and workshops from April until September.