CALL TO HALT PUBLIC SPENDING ON THE PUBLIC

03-08-2007

The newly launched West Midlands branch of the Taxpayers Alliance has just kicked off its first campaign - an online petition calling for a halt to spending on The Public Arts Centre in West Bromwich.

TPA describes itself as Britain's independent campaign for lower taxes and better government.

Although it claims to be independent of any political party, supporters who showed their faces at its opening event outside The Public this week included local journalist and one-time Conservative parliamentary candidate Nigel Hastilow and two Sandwell Tory councillors Bill Archer and Ray Nock.

There again, no one - even Labour or Lib Dem voters - likes seeing their hard earned cash frittered away, and earlier this month we featured the TPA's national investigation into overspent projects, which included Birmingham's QE hospital (see our report here )

Regionally, The Public Arts Centre presents itself as barn-door sized target for their complaints, having so far cost £70 million in public money, around £30 million more than original estimates. Oh, and it's two years late too.

Campaign organiser Fiona McEvoy describes it as a “horrible white elephant” and reckons it's “draining the life out of taxpayers and the public purse”.

The organisations responsible for funding The Public - including Sandwell Council, Advantage West Midlands and the Arts Council - certainly haven't covered themselves in glory.

As we reported recently, more than £1 million of public money “went missing” because of poor financial management, eventually bringing the project down.

But from where we are now, would refusing to spend any more really offer best value for the taxpayer?

Surely the aim has to be to see the project through to the end, in the hope that it will fulfil its brief of bringing culture into a town which doesn't even have a decent bookshop.

If it doesn't, what chance of regeneration in places like this now that metal bashing is dying out?

Earlier this week, we pointed out that people in Sandwell have just 17p per head spent on them by the Arts Council, compared to £2.73 in Birmingham (see here)

Fairness would suggest we need more spending on the arts in the Black Country, not less.

To find out more about the Taxpayers Alliance and sign their petition click here http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/westmidlands/ Then join the discussion on our Message Board.