Minimum Fee Guarantee to Artists

The request was successful.

Dear Scarborough Borough Council,

When booking an artist for a show, agents often insist on a minimum fee guarantee for their artist so they are not left out of pocket if an event unexpectedly fails, isn't promoted well enough and doesn't achieve the ticket sales expected.

With this in mind, for each of the following venues, please could you list the number of acts that have been booked with a minimum fee guarantee, the total sum underwritten by Scarborough Borough Council to book those acts.

Please provide this information for:

The Open Air Theatre
The Spa
The Futurist Theatre

Yours faithfully,
Tim Thorne

Diane Cross, Scarborough Borough Council

FOIA No: 2512
Date of Receipt: 8 March 2013
Last Date for Response: 9 April 2013
File Ref: CP01/00000152
 
Thank you for your written communication of 8 March 2013.  The information
that you require is not included within the Council’s formal publication
scheme and a referral has been made to the responsible officer to collate
a response.
 
You may expect to receive a response to your request by 9 April 2013, that
is within twenty working days of its receipt by the Council.
 
In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, we
will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.
 
Please ensure that any further communication in relation to this matter is
sent by you to the Freedom of Information Officer at the above address
quoting the reference in the subject line of this communication.
 
Kind regards
 
 
 
 
Freedom of Information Officer
 

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Europe's Most Enterprising Place - Winner 2009
International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) - Project of the Year Award 2009
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Stuart Clark, Scarborough Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Thorne

 

Please find attached a response to your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 - FOIA2512

 

Regards

 

 

 

Stuart Clark

Parking and Venues Manager

Tourism and Culture

Scarborough Borough Council

t: 01723 232453

e: [email address]

w: www.scarborough.gov.uk

 

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Europe's Most Enterprising Place - Winner 2009
International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) - Project of the Year Award 2009
Academy of Urbanism - 'The Great Town' - Winner 2010

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Dear Scarborough Borough Council,

Many thanks for your reply and confirmation that Scarborough Borough Council has not used Council money to underwrite minimum fee guarantees for artists at both The Spa and The Futurist venues.

I would like to query your response to information requested for the Open Air Theatre venue. I am not requesting detailed commercial information for specific acts as I understand the commercial sensitivity rule. I would like just the total number of acts booked with a minimum fee guarantee and the total sum paid out for the venue. I feel this information is generic enough to withstand the request failing the test under the commercial sensitivity rule.

Obviously if you've only underwritten only one act I wouldn't expect you to divulge that information. You are welcome to indicate one act (if that is the case) and I'll close the FOI request.

Yours faithfully,
Tim Thorne

David Kitson, Scarborough Borough Council

Dear Mr Thorne

 

I write pursuant to your request for a review of the Council's response
reference FOIA2512.

 

Your original request was in the following terms:

 

"When booking an artist for a show, agents often insist on a minimum fee
guarantee for their artist so they are not left out of pocket if an event
unexpectedly fails, isn't promoted well enough and doesn't achieve the
ticket sales expected.

With this in mind, for each of the following venues, please could you list
the number of acts that have been booked with a minimum fee guarantee, the
total sum underwritten by Scarborough Borough Council to book those acts.

Please provide this information for:

The Open Air Theatre
The Spa
The Futurist Theatre"

 

You request for review stated the following:

 

"I would like to query your response to information requested for the Open
Air Theatre venue. I am not requesting detailed commercial information for
specific acts as I understand the commercial sensitivity rule. I would
like just the total number of acts booked with a minimum fee guarantee and
the total sum paid out for the venue. I feel this information is generic
enough to withstand the request failing the test under the commercial
sensitivity rule.

 

Obviously if you've only underwritten only one act I wouldn't expect you
to divulge that information. You are welcome to indicate one act (if that
is the case) and I'll close the FOI request."

 

Your request for review is therefore somewhat different from your original
request. Nonetheless, I have treated it as a review. You now appear to be
asking for the following information:

 

1. The number of acts who have been booked to perform at the Open Air
Theatre (OAT) with a minimum fee guarantee; and

 

2. The total sum paid out for the venue (therefore the overall cost to the
Council of running the OAT).

 

You will no doubt be aware that Apollo were initially contracted to run
the venue. The information provided below therefore relates to the period
when the Council resumed the running of the OAT.

 

In answer to the first question, in 2012/13 the Council booked 5 acts with
a contractual minimum fee guarantee. One other act performed however they
were not booked by the Council, instead the promoter hired the venue and
arranged for the booking of the act themselves. In that respect the
Council had no direct contractual relationship with the performers
concerned, and therefore no minimum fee guarantee was in place involving
the Council.

 

In answer to the second question, I am informed by the accounts section
that the OAT cost the Council £222,567 for the financial year 2012/13.

 

Review

 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may now
apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF | Tel: 01625 545745 | Fax: 01625 524510 | Web: | [1]www.ico.org.uk |

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

David Kitson
Solicitor

Deputy Monitoring Officer

Regulatory and Governance Manager

Democratic and Legal Services, Scarborough Borough Council

 

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Dear Scarborough Borough Council,

My request for review is for exactly the same information as was initially requested, which you have now provided. Thank you.

As you are now aware, this information was incredibly easy to find and disseminate. It is a shame it has taken four months for you to provide this information.

I hope that you can begin to answer future requests for information in a more timely fashion. It would save having to request internal reviews and subsequent complaints to the ICO about non-responsiveness to requests for information and requests for internal review, which both appear to be ignored.

I think we can close this request now.

Yours faithfully,
Tim Thorne