‘Shabby’ theatre set to lose out on £10m of UK Government funding

Richard Evans, local democracy reporter

Venue Cymru looks set to lose out on a multi-million pound boost, with the UK Government expected to  U-turn on awarding £10 million of  Levelling-Up funding to the theatre.

The venue was awarded the money last year after the last Conservative government announced it had set aside £100m for levelling-up culture projects.

However, following the Labour victory in last summer’s general election, it now seems likely the money will now no longer be available.

The £10m award would have likely seen Llandudno library move to Venue Cymru, a move that was hugely unpopular in the town.

‘Shabby’

Speaking at a finance and resources overview and scrutiny committee this week, during a discussion on capital business cases, both councillors and officers admitted that the theatre was looking ‘shabby’ and ‘sad’.

Cllr Louise Emery asked the authority’s head of finance Amanda Hughes to update councillors on the situation.

“I note that they haven’t been successful in getting the £140K to redecorate the outside of the building, which is looking pretty shabby,” she said.

“Is that because there is still a hope we are going to get the Levelling-Up bid with all the works to do with moving the library and all the controversy around that, but never mind – what is the latest on that please?”

Ms Hughes answered: “In terms of Venue Cymru, I think the non-inclusion of the painting here was purely based on affordability. Having said that, I appreciate the point you make about it looking sad, I guess, and certainly I’ve had this discussions with Sarah (Ms Ecob, Venue Cymru manager) about how we might do that potentially through the Theatre Levy or other things.”

‘Vitally important’

Ms Hughes then asked leader Cllr Charlie McCoubrey to elaborate.

He said: “As far as I’m aware we haven’t had the final decision about the Levelling-Up funds. I would have to say, though, the tone was not terribly positive.”

Cllr McCoubrey added: “We’ve had quite good meetings with Welsh Government about different funding pots to try and develop Venue Cymru. I think we realise how vitally important it is to Llandudno, the county, and the region.”

A spokeswoman for Conwy County Council said: “As part of the Autumn Budget Statement (30 October 2024), we were informed that the UK Government was minded to withdraw the funding for culture projects announced in the Spring Budget 2024 – this included the £10 million for Venue Cymru.

“The UK Government has since been carrying out a consultation with potential recipients to establish if any exceptions should be made. We have fully engaged with that process and expect to hear the outcome of their consultation in due course.”