Powys council criticised over Theatr Brycheiniog bail out

The council-owned theatre was purpose built and opened on the canalside in 1997

An investigation has criticised the way Powys County Council gave a theatre a payment of £158,000 to keep it afloat.

A report said Theatr Brycheiniog in Brecon suffered "poor management" and would have closed without the extra funds spent on maintenance and repairs.

It claimed councillors were put under "considerable pressure" not to question the decision to hand over the money.

Recommendations include more scrutiny by council property managers, and more evidence to justify requests for cash.

Theatr Brycheiniog, which opened in 1997 on the canalside in Brecon, is owned by Powys County Council but run by a charity on a long-term lease.

Theatre bosses originally requested a loan to cover deficits, but the council decided instead to pay a contribution to maintenance and repairs in August 2018.

The report - by the council's audit committee chairman councillor John Morris and vice-chairman John Brautigam - said this was done to avoid EU regulations on state aid, and to ward off the risk of similar claims from organisations not based in council-owned property.

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The authors noted that if the theatre was forced to close, the council would have to repay the £1.6m Arts Council of Wales grant which funded its construction.

However, they questioned whether the request for the money and the way it was spent had been properly examined.

"Scrutiny chairs were put under considerable pressure to agree not to call in the decision," the report said.

"Insufficient information was available to make a proper assessment. We consider this to be unjustified and unnecessary."

The report added "no checks appear to have been made that the £157,920 had been spent on defects", noting there had been some expenditure on decoration and refurbishment.

Furthermore, it said there was "no evidence that the one-off payment was sufficient to ensure that the theatre continues on an ongoing basis".

The report will be considered by the audit committee on Friday, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.