Council bails arts group out of spiralling cash crisis

STRUGGLING Horsecross Arts has been bailed out by Perth and Kinross Council, after it emerged a spiralling cash crisis had put staff wages at risk.

In April, the operators of Perth’s theatre and concert hall were told to turn around their performance record and boost attendance figures, following serious concerns about poor financial management.

The local authority has now been forced to fast-track funding for Horsecross to ensure its 150-strong workforce got paid.

The council said it has “no option but to take further, immediate remedial action to ensure the survival of the company”.

Head of culture and communities Fiona Robertson, who led Perth’s bid for City of Culture 2021, has been appointed in the meantime to lead Horsecross, while the authority’s chief accountant Scott Walker will step in to provide financial management. A new interim chief executive is being sought “as a matter of urgency”.

Council leader Murray Lyle said: “The council has repeatedly advised Horsecross Arts to improve its financial governance.

“Council funding to the organisation has remained considerable, despite diminishing resources and increasing demands on public monies.”

Mr Lyle said he was confident Ms Robertson and Mr Walker could work with the board to turn around Horecross’s fortunes.

Horsecross chairman Magnus Linklater said he was grateful to the council for releasing funding that had been pledged in February during budget talks, when the Tory/Lib Dem administration agreed to grant £180,000 to Horsecross “subject to a revised business operating model”.