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Advocacy & Campaigns

Advocacy & Campaigning

Members looking for a full list of consultation responses, advocacy work and our monthly advocacy briefings, please log in and visit the Advocacy Page in our members' area.

UK Theatre believes that theatre and the performing arts matter; to the public, to society, to education, to the economy. We make this case to local and national Government to make sure that the sector’s voice is heard, and to make sure that theatre and the performing arts continues to play a vital role.

We respond to the external environment, advocate and campaign on issues affecting the theatre industry in the UK. We keep members involved and provide responses to recent consultations and briefings on key issues.

These include, but are not limited to: diversity, funding and income generation, theatre and performing arts workforce, cultural education, access and changes to working practices. More detailed information on our goals can be found in our Business Plan.

In April 2018, alongside SOLT and Education and Employers, we launched our Inspiring the Future of Theatre Campaign.

UK Theatre support campaigns including Family Arts Campaign, Culture Counts, and What Next? We deliver the Hearts For The Arts, on behalf of the National Campaign for the Arts. UK Theatre is proud to be a strategic Partner of Parents in Performing Arts (PIPA).

If you have any queries about any of our current campaigns or briefings, do get in touch on 020 7557 6700 or email Hannah our Advocacy Manager.

Become a UK Theatre member

UK Theatre and Society of London Theatre (SOLT) have been appointed the secretariat, providing organisational, staff time and strategic support.

Led by Giles Watling, Conservative MP for Clacton, and Tracy Brabin, Labour MP for Batley and Spen – both former professional actors with experience of the theatre industry – the cross-party group has been founded to support the resilience and relevance of theatre in the UK for audiences, its workforce and society.

Please see the APPG for Theatre webpage for more details. If you want to know more please contact Hannah.

As we move closer to a General Election, we have written our Manifesto to send to the political parties.

In addition to asking for a commitment to continued public funding (local and national), there are three main themes:

Income generation, funding and growth
Talent development, diversity and cultural education
International opportunities and strong connections

Please visit our 'Preparing for Brexit' page to access the slides and recordings of the presentations from our regional sessions.

Since the referendum we have been working on ensuring that theatre and the performing arts’ voice is heard as we prepare to leave the EU. We have done this through policy discussions with government and other stakeholders; through responding to requests for information from DCMS; asking members for information; or attending roundtables and meetings. In late 2017 we also proactively began our own Impact of Exiting the EU surveys series of research.

The surveys asks organisations to provide us with indicators and signs (including potential opportunities and challenges) of the impact of leaving the EU. This evidence will allow us to see if there are patterns or commonalities where we could all take action to ensure our sector is able to continue to flourish here and abroad. We will collect the data every six months for around five years. We hope this will help us to monitor impact between now, March 2019, and beyond.

The data gathered so far has provided some essential benchmarks and some indications of current and potential impact. The information in the first and second surveys has been provided by a small cross-section of performing arts organisations which have agreed to participate in the survey series. The third survey was open to all UK Theatre & SOLT Members.

We have shared the first two surveys with stakeholders including: Arts Council England, frontbench DCMS & Shadow teams, DCMS, The Migration Advisory Committee, the DCMS Cultural Negotiating Hub team.

DEFRA non-elephant ivory trade: Call for Evidence - August 2019 (joint response with the ABO)

Review of Consumer Contract Regulations 2013: Call for Evidence - April 2019 (joint response with STAR)

Migration Advisory Committee, Call for Evidence on the Review of the Shortage Occupation List - January 2019

Charity Tax Reliefs - July 2018

Draft London Culture Consultation - June 2018

Taylor Review Employment Status Consultation - June 2018

Civil Society Strategy Consultation - May 2018

Taylor Review - Response to Consultation on Transparency - May 2018

Ecodesign and energy labelling (stage lighting) - May 2018

Review of Post-18 Education and Funding: Call for Evidence - April 2018

Submission to the DCMS Inquiry into Live Music - February 2018 (Published September 2018)

CMS Select Committee - Social impact of participation in culture and sport inquiry - February 2018 (Published June 2018)

Implementation of T Level Programmes - February 2018

Draft Transport Accessibility Action Plan Consultation - November 2017

Migration Advisory Committee, Call For Evidence on EEA Workers - October 2017

New Secondary Ticketing Laws - September 2017

Building Our Industrial Strategy - April 2017

DCMS Select Committee Inquiry into Ticket Abuse - March 2017

Immigration Inquiry - January 2017

Culture Media and Sport Select Committee Inquiry: Countries of Culture - May 2016

Implementing the English Baccalaureate - January 2016

Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2016 to 2017 and an Offer to Councils for Future Years - January 2016

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Get in touch

32 Rose Street
Covent Garden
London
WC2E 9ET

enquiries@soltukt.co.uk

+44 (0)20 7557 6700

"UK Theatre" is the operating name of UK Theatre Association, a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales, whose registered office is at 32 Rose Street, London, WC2E 9ET, Company No 323204.