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Following is a question by the Hon Fred Li and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, in the Legislative Council today (March 28):
Question:
Over the past three financial years, the number of performance activities held by five publicly-funded non-profit-making arts organisations (namely the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Dance Company, Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, Hong Kong Philharmonic Society and Hong Kong Arts Festival Society) at various cultural performance venues in the New Territories decreased annually, and none of their performance activities was held in some relatively remote districts such as North District and Tai Po. On the other hand, the usage rates of some performance venues in the New Territories were only 60% in the corresponding period. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities will, in terms of venues, support services and publicity, launch initiatives to encourage the above organisations to hold performance activities at various performance venues in the New Territories, with a view to promoting cultural activities at the district level; if so, of the details;
(b) whether it has studied if the infrequent use of certain performance venues in the New Territories by the above organisations has contributed to the lower usage rates of such venues;
(c) whether, in reviewing the cost-effectiveness of subsidising the above organisations, the authorities will require that prescribed targets on the number of their performance activities held in various districts in the New Territories be met, and that as publicly-funded organisations, they should discharge their duty of holding performance activities in remote districts to extend the audience base in the New Territories and meet the needs of the local communities; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(d) of any other measures in place to boost the usage rates of performance venues in the New Territories?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) To encourage the five major arts organisations to make a better use of all the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) performing arts venues, LCSD has been implementing the following measures at the venues:
(i) priority booking of venues two programme seasons in advance;
(ii) professional technical services for the arts organisations' performances at the venues ;
(iii) concessionary rates for hiring wall-banner sites to publicise their performances; and
(iv) assistance in marketing and promotion of their performances at these venues such as liaison with shopping arcades in the vicinity of the venues for distribution of programme publicity materials, featuring their performances in the monthly programme publicity leaflets of the venues and allocation of special display panels at the foyer of the venues for publicising the programmes, etc.
In June 2006, the Committee on Performing Arts, established by the Home Affairs Bureau to advise it on performing arts services, submitted its first recommendation report to the Government. It recommended, amongst other things, the introduction of a Venue Partnership Scheme for the 13 venues of LCSD, starting as a pilot project for three years. The objective of the scheme is to establish a partnership between LCSD venues and the performing arts groups to help establish the artistic character of the individual venues, to enlarge audience base, to develop venue-based marketing strategies and to facilitate the solicitation of corporate or private sponsorship and to encourage community involvement in the development of the arts. An Invitation for Expression of Interest for the Venue Partnership Scheme was issued in August 2006. Following up on the recommendation of the Committee on Performing Arts, a Venue Partnership Committee was established in November 2006 to provide dedicated advice to LCSD to develop and implement the Scheme. The formal invitation for proposals is expected to be issued by the middle of 2007.
Upon the implementation of the Venue Partnership Scheme, the venue partners of the respective New Territories venues will be expected to put the venues to maximum use, to develop their characters, to promote arts and cultural activities, including activities at the district level.
(b) The usage rates of the different performing arts venues vary and are affected by factors such as location, accessibility, types of facilities available, hiring charges, audience profile and level of activities organised by arts organisations in the catchment area of the venues etc.
Based on the booking records at the New Territories venues over the past three years, it was inconclusive as to whether there was a direct causal relationship between bookings by these five groups and the usage rates of the respective New Territories venues. For example, in the case of the Sha Tin Town Hall Auditorium, the annual usage rate over the past three years was 83.6% in 2003-04, 95.96% in 2004-05 and 96.15% in 2005-06. The booking rate of these venues by the five organisations together only accounted for 2.79% in 2003-04, 6.94% in 2004-05 and 1.92% in 2005-06.
(c) No performance indicator or requirement on developing New Territories venues has so far been included in the funding and service agreements with the above-mentioned arts organisations for the purpose of providing subvention. Following up on the recommendation of the Committee on Performing Arts, a Funding Committee for the Performing Arts to advise the Government on the future funding arrangements for the 10 major performing arts groups (including the four groups subvented by LCSD, namely, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Hong Kong Dance Company, the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society; and the six three-year grantees of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, namely, the Hong Kong Ballet, Chung Ying Theatre Company, the City Contemporary Dance Company, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Theatre Ensemble and Zuni Icosahedron) was set up in November 2006 to develop a new set of funding assessment criteria and a new model of funding to be put in place for implementation in April 2009. The new funding criteria will take into account the artistic and community impact, quantitative output and corporate governance of these arts organisations. The commitment to conduct outreach activities for the local community and in the New Territories would be considered as one of the assessment criteria. Consultation on such assessment criteria and the funding mechanism will be carried out with stakeholders including the arts organisations.
(d) Over the past three years, the usage rates of LCSD performing arts venues in the New Territories ranged from 56.8% (at the North District Town Hall Auditorium in 2004-05) to 98.48% (at the Kwai Tsing Theatre Auditorium in 2004-05). Of these venues (in Sha Tin, Kwai Tsing, Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, North District and Tai Po), those at Sha Tin, Kwai Tsing and Tai Po had relatively good usage rates at an average of around 90%. The venues in Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long had an average usage rate of over 70%. The average usage rate at the North District had been slightly below 60%. Various measures have been adopted to boost the usage of all these New Territories venues including:
(i) intensive marketing efforts targeted at potential hirers such as arts groups, schools and district arts organisations;
(ii) encouraging district arts organisations to organise arts activities at the venues through waiver of hire charges;
(iii) offering concessionary hiring rates to non-profit-making arts organisations;
(iv) organising cultural presentations and audience building programmes at the venues; and
(v) venue sponsorship for performing arts groups to stage their programmes at the venues.
We are exploring new arrangements under the Venue Partnership Scheme to encourage a greater use of the New Territories venues. LCSD will also continue to strive to improve the standard of provision of services and facilities at these venues to attract bookings.
Ends/Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:25
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