Equity Welcomes Shift in ACE's Position on ENO Following Campaigning Efforts

Reacting to the announcement today (Thursday) from Arts Council England that English National Opera will receive a further grant of £24 million to fund its work from April 2024 to March 2026 in London, Equity claimed a win in its nine month campaign to reverse ACE’s ultimatum to the opera company.

The union welcomed the news that substantially more time has been granted to ENO to manage a proper transition to a new model which retains the company’s London presence whilst building on its successes to expand to new audiences elsewhere in the country. 

But Equity said key issues still remain to ensure Opera remains truly affordable and accessible. The union is calling for sufficient public funding, and protection of the specialist workforce engaged on  union terms and conditions, all underpinned by a proper opera strategy, which to date has been lacking. 

Taking the campaign to parliament

The shift in ACE’s position was a direct result of a dedicated campaign by Equity members, their colleagues in related entertainment unions, and other allies who supported the campaign to reinstate funding, protect jobs and ensure that widening access to Opera across the country does not come at the cost of working class Londoners.

The union staged a number of high profile interventions to pressure ACE into reversing its highly political decision. These included ENO workers giving testimony about the threat to their jobs to Members of Parliament; getting unanimous support from the London Assembly and Mayor of London in a motion calling on ACE to reverse their decision; to demonstrating outside ACE offices. Across the last 9 months, ACE has been forced to shift their position in a steady movement away from the catastrophic removal of funding announced back in November 2022. 

A number of politicians have been allies in this campaign, in particular Sir Bob Neill MP, who chaired a cross-party roundtable at which Equity members spoke, and London Assembly member Elly Baker who tabled a motion to protect the ENO workforce that was supported unanimously by all political parties.

Fight for the ENO’s future is not over

Equity’s campaign will now focus on ensuring that the jobs of London based members in the Chorus and Stage Management are protected and that the commitment to a substantial season at the London Coliseum is honoured in any new business plan. Any reduction in the length of the Opera season at the London Coliseum presents a risk both to the highly specialised workforce and to the identity of an Opera company whose established London presence has been key to building its international partnerships and donor base. Furthermore, this London presence will prove vital to the success of activity outside the Capital.

Ronald Nairne, Equity Deputy, ENO Chorus said: “In the last twenty years salaried jobs in the arts for performers have all but been wiped out. The last nine months have left us with huge uncertainty about future income. I cautiously welcome today’s news that funding has been granted enabling ENO to continue producing Opera at the London Coliseum but the devil will be in the detail - retention of a permanent Chorus and Orchestra is vital to prevent turning a highly skilled profession, that my colleagues and I have spent years training for, into a hobby.”

Checca Ponsonby, Equity Deputy, ENO Stage Management said: “I have regularly been engaged as a freelancer at the ENO for over a decade. I have studied, trained and dedicated my career in Opera and so the last 9 months have been a time of stress, anxiety and uncertainty for myself and my colleagues. News about additional funding from ACE is welcome, as is the commitment to a substantial season at the London Coliseum.”

Paul W Fleming, General Secretary, Equity said: “Today’s announcement from ACE and ENO represents much of what Equity has been demanding for the last 9 months – a retention of ENO in London, giving a strong foundation from which to expand its activity to another location, and more time for the company to create a workable plan for this. This climb down could not have happened without the relentless campaigning of Equity members. We will continue to work alongside our members to ensure that unionized jobs in the chorus and stage management remain protected and that our members have a strong voice in what comes next for ENO. Serious questions remain about how fit for purpose the National Portfolio approach is, and this decision stands in stark contrast to the continued failure to secure producing theatre in Oldham.” 

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