THE Dunfermline Theatres Working Group has a six-month remit to try to develop a "closer working relationship" between the Alhambra and Carnegie Hall.

Set up by Fife Council, the aim is to adopt a co-ordinated approach to theatre provision and programming for Dunfermline to save money and avoid duplication.

It's been given a deadline of September and follows last month's decision to suspend the award of one-year funding of £150,000 to the Alhambra.

Two Dunfermline councillors, the SNP's Fay Sinclair and Labour's William Campbell, were last week voted onto the working group, which will have representatives from the council, Fife Cultural Trust – which operates Carnegie Hall – and the Alhambra Theatre Trust (ATT).

It will have no budget setting or directive powers but will give a progress report to the executive committee on June 21 and present the "final outcome of the discussions" to the same committee on September 6.

The council is hopeful that the discussions will lead to joint operating proposals and the best way forward for the popular venues.

ATT were invited to talks by the council last year with the aim of bringing the two theatres together to save the council money and avoid damaging competition.

The trust requested £350,000 to run both the Alhambra and Carnegie Hall in the first year, “decreasing annually to £215,000 in the fifth year”, with the reduction in funding a result of increased income and efficiencies.

An alternative was put forward by the council of funding of £150,000 a year for three years, as well as up to £50,000 a year to support the costs of booking major West End shows.

The report to the executive committee had also warned that the Alhambra could shut if funding was not granted.

ATT played this down but admitted that without extra funding "the current business model may not be sustainable in the long term".

The committee agreed to one-year funding of £150,000, which ATT said it “never asked for, and does not intend to accept”.

The trust said they had made it clear to the council it was not interested in an “Alhambra-only funding package” and at the start of February, councillors agreed with the recommendations of a scrutiny group to suspend the funding proposal.