Rose losses questioned

Cllr Howard Jones, Leader of Kingston Conservatives has called for a detailed list of all the services provided by the Rose Theatre in return for Kingston Council’s annual £500,000 funding.      This week’s Surrey Comet said the request had been made by Cllr Jones in response to the Rose Theatre posting a £204,000 loss in its latest accounts for 2012/13. This loss is despite the half a million pounds of council taxpayer money they receive each year, plus an additional £380,000 from Kingston University.

Cllr Jones said he had asked Kingston Council officers to provide a breakdown of each payment made to the theatre by the Council annually, in order to see what exactly residents get for their money. He said ‘I have asked officers to prepare for me a list of payments the Council makes to the theatre. We can see the overall lot, but there should be a list of what we are actually getting for our money. If we had a service level agreement we would be able to see if we are receiving value for money in terms of what we pay for our annual half a million pounds.’