A MORE secure future is being promised for two of the borough's cultural institutions as the council moves to take control of Fairfield and the London Mozart Players (LMP).
The decision to turn the two into separate council-controlled charities is expected to be approved at Monday's meeting of the cabinet.
The message coming from Councillor Tim Pollard, cabinet member with responsibility for culture, is that the move will ensure best value for money from the council's investments in the two organisations but it does not mean the council interfering in the day-to-day running of either.
Cllr Pollard said: "The council does not have the expertise to run Fairfield or the LMP; that is not what we do.
"But, given that we are investing capital and revenue money, we do need a mechanism in place to ensure that if the boards go bonkers we can say; 'hang on a minute you can't do that'."
The council is committed to investing £27 million in renovating and refurbishing the 50-year-old Fairfield complex with the aim of restoring it to the ranks of Britain's leading cultural and entertainment centres.
It is also making a grant of around a £1 million available, to help with Fairfield's running costs.
A further £90,000 goes to the LMP to support its work, which includes educational programmes in schools.
Cllr Pollard added: "Both the LMP and Fairfield are synonymous with Croydon and we are proud of their heritage and committed to their future.
"We think this proposal is the best way of supporting Fairfield and the LMP through challenging economic times, while ensuring value for money already committed to Fairfield's refurbishment programme and effective accountability of public funds."
Simon Thomsett, chief executive of Fairfield, said: "I believe this is a vote of confidence in what we have managed to do and it gives us some sort of financial security. If the council did not have this confidence the easy thing would have been to close us down and sell off the land."
Simon Funnell, managing director of the LMP, added: "We are delighted. The council has always been supportive and now, when times are very difficult, we are very pleased that the council is continuing to support us."
