A new review examined the governance of the theatre as it was ‘facing a critical juncture in its history'
“So many people tried to give advice to the Coliseum, but this didn’t lead to change”: A report looking into the reasons which led Oldham Coliseum Theatre to the brink of collapse has found a board culture of insufficient ‘constructive challenge’ and a lack of accountability.
The Arts Council would not comment publicly on what specific issues had been affecting the theatre, but a spokesperson said: “Oldham Coliseum Ltd has been facing financial and governance challenges for some time and as guardians of public money we could not invest in an organisation which we assessed to be such a high risk.”
It also looked at a number of documents, including a governance report carried out in February last year by thiNKnow Ltd, as well as carrying out ‘semi-structured’ interviews with people involved with the Coliseum, the council, and ACE. “The interviews highlighted that OCT had been on the Arts Council risk register for some time due to its fragile financial and operating model, and this had been shared with OCT on a number of occasions. There is little evidence that this risk was mitigated.”
“The culture and practices within the board led to insufficient constructive challenge or relevant questioning. Where there are gaps, the board is advised to bring in specialists with appropriate technical skills to advise them. Oldham Coliseum Theatre Ltd has been selected as the anchor tenant for the new £24m theatre building, which is planned as a redevelopment of the former Post Office and Quaker Meeting House on Union Street – for which a planning application was lodged by the council last month.
A second report also commissioned by the new board examined the physical condition of the Fairbottom Street building – which is owned by Oldham council and had been leased to the Coliseum. However it says that most of a wide range of defects identified are ‘relatively minor maintenance issues’.
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