Council to move ahead with plans to cut theatre’s grant

Royal and Derngate theatre in Northampton is set to lose £30,000 of its annual £300,000 subsidy from West Northamptonshire Council, after the local authority agreed its budget for the next financial year.

Speaking before the council, councillor and former mayor of Northampton Dennis Meredith, said he was “quite horrified” by the plan and that the venue was already producing shows “on a shoestring”.

“Every single year, you pick on the Derngate,” he said. “If you’re not careful, we’re going to lose the Derngate, and that is a fact.”

A council spokesperson told the BBC that the £30,000 reduction reflected “continued financial challenges”.

The council said it “greatly valued” the venue but added that “like all councils nationally, we have had to make difficult decisions to deliver savings across all non-essential services so we can balance the book for taxpayers”.

Royal and Derngate, which receives 15% of its annual income from Arts Council England and Northamptonshire Council grants, said that any decrease in funding “is always of concern” but was “grateful to its stakeholders and funder”.