Jobs look set to go in a review of South Kesteven District Council arts and cultural services as the council grapples with funding cuts from central government.

A £10,000 report by external consultants has recommended a restructure of such staffing, along with a move to a 'trust' model of delivery, as used in North Kesteven.

The measures are to be discussed by a special meeting of SKDC's Culture and Visitor Economy Overview

General Fund services.

"Staff costs were £1,090,232 in financial year 2019/20, plus further costs for the Head of Arts and Cultural Services."

Only the Stamford Arts Centre cinema delivered a return to the council of £90,000, it said.

Grantham, for example, has annual staffing costs of £320,495 and coupled with depreciation, makes an annual loss approaching £900,000.

The report called for more hiring of Grantham Arts Centre facilities for private events and more revenue generations through food and drink sales, plus buffets.

The individual arts centres, the report continued, operated independently, with their own technical, marketing, box office and other staff. This limited their ability to support each other and use council in-house expertise such as communications.

The report recommended that in the next six months, a review of staffing takes place to merge 'duplicate functions' and save £277,000 a year. Arts centre hours should be reviewed and SKDC should look at creating small developmental trusts for one off events, which can gain access to wider sources of charitable funding, not possible under a council-provided model.

Over the next year or two, the council should develop a Strategic Plan for arts, culture and events, looking at their objectives and analyse the best management model for delivering these services.

Then, after two years, it should look at a trust model for delivering all these services.

Councillors at Tuesday's meeting are expected to represent their comments on September 8 to produce final recommendations to the council's cabinet when it meets on September 14.

The 'full' council will consider the recommendations on September 23 and, if approved, formal staff consultation will begin.

The report, prepared for Tuesday's meeting added: "The financial outlook for the Council is challenging and every opportunity should be taken to review how services are delivered and consider opportunities to reduce operating costs where necessary.

"The arts service is the biggest financial discretionary service and has remained as such for many years. Within the context of the financial outlook it is appropriate to challenge and reduce the operating costs of the service."

The external report also commented on the district's two major festivals- Gravity Fields and the Stamford Georgian Centre.

It noted the economic benefit Gravity Fields brings to Grantham, with it also helping to improve the town's image.

It said: "The Festival has significant potential to build a role as a national pioneer, demonstrating the synergy between the Arts and the STEM learning agenda (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

"The Festival offers excellent potential for schools and outreach projects and linkages with Higher Education and the wider science sector."

The Stamford Georgian Festival was also praised but the council's £25,000 funding towards the Deepings Literary Festival could be better directed towards 'reluctant readers' as literary festivals are a 'crowded market,' the report also said.