More than half or 56% of administrative staff of capital associations of the Ministry of Culture work in one to seven jobs, as concluded by the State Audit.
The State Audit notes that data from the revenue service on employment indicates that 56% of the administrative staff have from one to seven jobs. The State Audit allows that it may be necessary to review the administrative capacity and workload in capital associations.
Auditors reminds that the recommendation provided in 2018 regarding the optimisation of administrative functions in two capital associations remains relevant and the optimisation of administrative activities should be considered in other capital associations as well.
According to State Audit, the free ticket policy employed by capital associations is unreasonable: they are allowed to issue more tickets for representational purposes than for charity. As a result, the majority of capital associations focused more resources on the promotion of services than on charity in 2022. The State Audit also point towards the fact that theatre, opera, ballet and circus art is concentrated in Riga. At the same time, The Ministry of Culture puts a low score for Riga theatres, Riga Circus and Latvian National Opera and Ballet.
The State Audit stresses that the number of performances outside usual premises is low even though one of the objectives of the culture policy is to ensure the availability of culture in regions. For example, in 2022 only 4% of Riga’s theatres provided performances were held outside their usual premises.
The State Audit also notes that the Ministry of Culture has a tool to help implement Latvia’s cultural policy – 14 capital associations in which the ministry holds 100% of shares and which operate in professional theatre and musical art. State Audit stresses that the state budget grants provided by the Ministry of Culture go up every year. In 2023, for example, grants reached EUR 40 million, which is equal to 63% of general income.
The State Audit also concluded that the Ministry of Culture has not achieved significant changes or improvements with management of its capital associations. The institution believes the Ministry of Culture needs to improve monitoring of its capital associations’ duties and use of resources, as well as data acquisition and compilation about the market situation in the field of theatre and musical art.
In order to justify that the society obtains the best possible product from the implemented cultural policy and the state funding allocated accordingly, the Ministry of Culture should have comprehensive, transparent and comparable information and data not only on its 14 capital companies, but also on other non-governmental sector organizations in the field of professional music and arts. The fact that services in this field are of the highest quality when provided by state-owned capital associations cannot be taken for granted, the State Audit notes.
State Audit council member Inga Vilka notes that the operation of the Ministry of Culture is necessary not only to justify the existence of state capital companies, but also to determine, evaluate and inform the public about the performance of capital companies, especially since, on average, 70% of the total income of the Ministry of Culture’s capital companies in the last two years is made up of public funding.
At the same time, Latvia’s population, including the number of people who consume culture, has a tendency to go down. The government is invited to combine capital association that have the same or similar goals.
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State Audit reveals problems with management of capital associations owned by Ministry of Culture
