Written evidence submitted by North Kesteven
District Council (arts 131)
North Kesteven District Council is an innovative
high performing authority employing full and part time staff of
388.4 full time equivalents. The District is one of seven in Lincolnshire
and covers an area of 356 square miles or 92,000 hectares of which
94% is classed as green open space. Over the last three years
the Council has demonstrated continuous year-on-year improvement.
The Council has become well known for its cultural services and
since 1974 has provided a wide range of services which has enhanced
the lives of its residents and visitors. It has a well established
arts development team which comprise performing and visual arts
who work in rural areas delivering art activity. The arts team—arts
NK have been recognised for the expertise they have developed
over 20 years and have been commissioned to work in other authorities
on major projects. The National Centre for Craft and Design in
Sleaford which was opened in 2003 has the largest contemporary
exhibition gallery the UK and delivers 5 main exhibitions a year
some which are curated in house and tour both home and abroad.
Design Factory a business support organisation for craft makers.
Design Factory has been championing the region's craft and design
sector for over five years. Through its professional and market
development programmes, the organisation has created a brand synonymous
with high quality craft and design and a selection model that
designer/makers aspire to, increasing competitiveness, and raising
the standard of contemporary craft and design produced in the
region. The organisation now operates on a regional basis but
organises exhibition opportunities both in the UK and abroad.
The authority also operates heritage sites which include a water
mill, Sleaford Navigation House, Cranwell aviation centre and
a museum—Mrs Smiths Cottage.
In 2003 the Leisure and Cultural Services was
contracted out in a very innovative partnership with Leisure Connection.
The partnership has been extremely successful and the authority
is currently considering an integration of the National Centre
for Craft Design with Design Factory and arts NK to make efficiency
savings and develop a robust arts organisation for the future.
What impact recent, and future, spending cuts
from central and local Government will have on the arts and heritage
at a national and local level
The nature of our Leisure Partnering contract
has to an extent protected our services and the funding they receive
from the District Council. The small amount of cuts in grant funding
from the arts council has been inconsequential this year, but
it is clear that further reductions are inevitable. The Leisure
Partnering contract does make provision for the partner and the
Council to work together in the event of a loss of funding to
either look to obtain new funding or reduce the service accordingly.
Although the recent impacts have not had an effect in this authority
we have seen neighbouring authorities take more drastic steps.
Funding in arts provision has been cut as a non- statutory service,
inevitably loosing out when difficult decisions have to be made.
A number of Arts Development Officers and Cultural Officer posts
have already gone, rural arts centres closed, projects cut back
and museums closed. The very real danger is that with further
cuts if no protection is offered to arts funding, cultural provision
could disappear from rural areas, leaving village and town residents
excluded, forced to drive hundreds of miles to access building
based, centralised provision.
The leisure and cultural services partnership
in North Kesteven District Council has been very beneficial to
this authority making savings while maintaining a high quality
service. We are currently working with our partner to look at
efficiencies by integrating our arts services and making them
less dependent on external funding and robust for the future.
The arts team are also undergoing an organisation review which
will look specifically at other commercial and funding opportunities.
What arts organisations can do to work more closely
together in order to reduce duplication of effort and to make
economies of scale
We believe money invested in the arts delivers
significant benefits, as every evaluation and survey shows, impacting
positively on economic, health and social development targets.
Gone are the days of art for arts sake. Arts organisations have
grown to realise they have to deliver in return for their public
funding.
Each organisation has evolved separately to
take its place in the counties arts ecology and it was easy to
think that our separateness was essential to the artistic product
delivered. Like other local authority service areas, we have been
looking at where savings can be made or improvements delivered
through collaboration, and have started to make the necessary
structural changes to reshape the counties arts ecology. Over
the last year Lincolnshire has looked at, and started to realise,
where we can get best value from local authority and government
investment in the arts by working together and by sharing resources,
skills and expertise. This has been spearheaded through the Lincolnshire
One Thrive Organisational Development review process. Audience
Development Officers have been employed to work with a number
of venues and a shared funding post is being developed as a way
of ensuring all funding opportunities are taken. The joint programming
of venues is also being investigated. This is a very different
way of operating Arts Services and there is a danger that if resources
are withdrawn before there has been sufficient time to develop
these important step changes that would make arts organisations
more robust and able to survive, the whole thing could fall apart
mid evolutionary change.
The private sector should not be discounted
in this new way of working. The model here in North Kesteven has
proved successful with a private partner operating sports, leisure,
arts, visitor attractions and countryside services. Their expertise
in marketing, venue operation, and by operating under a trust
model has proven successful. Similar arrangements could offer
lifeline to arts organisations with a collaborative partnership
arrangement and economies of scale.
What level of public subsidy for the arts and
heritage is necessary and sustainable
The level of public subsidy of the arts should
have a direct relationship to the value of what is delivered.
Projects that contribute to societies need, be it social, economic
or health related, justify investment from the public purse. But
this formula should also be applied to the private sector. Businesses
benefit from a healthy culture and a happy community—people
want to live and work in places that have a vibrant cultural life—so
businesses wishing to expand should be required to invest. The
arts have proven that they can shape effective programmes that
overlap with the agendas and purposes of a wide range of charities,
trusts and agencies. These should recognise the value artists
and arts organisations make, and be encouraged to fund them accordingly.
The future of arts funding is therefore in a robust formula that
shares the responsibility of funding with all those who gain value,
either directly or indirectly.
Whether the current system, and structure, of
funding distribution is the right one
It is the one that has evolved, so it is the
best starting point on offer. Arts organisations are capable of
change, they can be given a task to respond to need within parameters,
and they will come up with an answer. The purpose of government
and perhaps local authority funding, is to get as much resource
to the point of delivery as possible with minimum spillage or
evaporation. ACE has proven it can do this, so unless there is
a new form of watertight organisation on the shelf, it should
be the trusted to carry on.
The current system of funding distribution may
be changed or alternatively reduce and supplemented by other methods
of funding which are briefly touched upon later and include perhaps
incentives for Private or Corporate funding and Percentage for
Art schemes from Developers.
What impact recent changes to the distribution
of National Lottery funds will have on arts and heritage organisations
The diversion of funds to the Olympics meant
smaller projects lost out, and particularly, in our rural district,
those that were grown locally, at a community level, disappeared.
Whether the Olympics will make a significant return on this investment
remains to be seen. The offer of funding for the Cultural Olympiad
provides an opportunity to develop projects that can excite communities
about the Olympics and provide opportunities for legacy. The funding
available was pitiful and in Lincolnshire alone well over 40 projects
have applied for just £100,000. Many of these projects will
add value by other investment but it is clear the limited funding
available will water down the end result and excellent innovative
projects will not be realised.
Whether the policy guidelines for National Lottery
funding need to be reviewed
If the plan is to return the funds to the original
"good causes" then no. If it isn't, then yes they need
to be reviewed. The arts can survive, just about, if the lottery
resource is available to rejuvenate thirsty organisations "just
in time." The best strategic plan would be to make sure key
organisations are sustained to get through the drought and be
able to rejuvenate the sector once the Lottery funds begin to
flow again.
The impact of recent changes to DCMS arm's-length
bodies—in particular the abolition of the UK Film Council
and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
We have already seen reductions in Arts Council
funding which will result in a reduction of service. Sport England
and the loss of funding from the free swimming capital modernisation
programme has put a new leisure centre project at risk and could
see a leisure centre close within eight years leaving no public
swimming pool for a catchment of 30,000 people. The impact of
the arm length bodies mentioned above to this authority has been
negligible.
Whether businesses and philanthropists can play
a long-term role in funding arts at a national and local level
Yes because we all, individuals, public and
private sector, have a vested interest in creating a balanced,
happier, society. If the England team are winning, we celebrate;
we feel healthier and happier and spend more. It is in the interests
of all business to build societies that are culturally aware and
active and happy. They should fund arts organisations in proportion
to the value they draw from there programmes, visible and obvious
as well as less tangible. In times of recession this can be problematic
and there needs to be incentives from Government to stimulate
this type of investment.
Whether there need to be more Government incentives
to encourage private donations
Private donations could be away of generating
some investment in the arts but the incentives would need to right
to encourage this investment. It is unlikely that this could ever
replace the funding that has been available through Arts Council
and the heritage lottery fund in times of plenty but there are
good examples in Europe and in the United States which should
be investigated
The potential to evolve arts based plans/policies
for developer lead investment in local communities, examples already
exist of "Percentage for Art" within local planning
framework documents. The establishment of firm guidelines for
developer investment would help establish certainty for developers
and offer a firm plan for the future that would be firmly based
in community consultation and delivery. Recommend considering
the publishing of national guidance/policy on art and environment.
In the States of Jersey Percentage for Art,
was introduced by in 2007 and encourages owners of large residential
or commercial developments to invest a percentage of their development
costs into the provision of art in the built environment. Percentage
for Art advisors work with the developer, advising them on appropriate
artists and art forms as well as managing the commissioning, delivery
and installation of the art.
September 2010
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