ENO says it fears reduced funding if government money to the Arts Council does not increase. ENO chief executive, Loretta Tomasi, was quoted on the BBC News website as saying: "Many options have been considered to achieve increased flexibility and a decrease in these 'fixed' costs and, whilst we believe it is vital that ENO retains a strong core of staff, the contractual overhaul includes the potential loss of around 45 jobs across the company."
Commenting on the company's financial position, BECTU's Gerry Morrissey said: "This announcement comes on the back of the government reducing grants to the arts over the last couple of years and most companies are at best expecting a standstill budget for the next financial year. We cannot help but believe part of this is down to expenditure on the Olympic Games by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport."
He continued: "However, the DCMS has failed to take into account the significant impact organisations like the ENO have on the economy in general, and London in particular, and it will be a retrograde step if we see arts organisations closing for long periods of the year or radically reducing the number of new works they put on."
(Lee Baldock)
