Written evidence submitted by Regional Cities
East (RCE) (arts 148)
1. EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
1.1 Regional Cities East (RCE) is an alliance
of six cities in the East of England. The cities, Peterborough,
Luton, Ipswich, Norwich, Colchester and Southend-on-Sea, believe
that by sharing best practice, collaborating on joint ventures
and setting clear priorities, they can create more jobs and affordable
homes than they could by working alone.
1.2 Networks of high quality arts and culture
projects in smaller cities can offer solutions to a range of national
challenges. Continued investment and support for these networks
will help the Government reach its economic, social and democratic
ambitions despite the current economic climate. But, as much as
support will direct energy and resources in ways that have wide
ranging and positive local and national impacts, sudden withdrawal
of that support will have the inverse effect.
1.3 Together with central government and
the private and voluntary sector, our cities have made considerable
capital investment in the arts and heritage over the last decade.
The returns on this investment will be enjoyed over many years
to come in the form of economic growth, greater community cohesion
and higher levels of citizen engagement. However, these returns
are dependent on continued revenue investment to ensure the upkeep
and successful operation of the high quality projects that have
been developed. If that funding is withdrawn suddenly, without
alternative funding mechanisms being in place and a transition
to those arrangements having been agreed, the considerable capital
sums invested to date could be in vain. RCE recognises that cuts
are likely, and has explored the role that philanthropy and the
private sector can play in supporting the arts, but any transition
of funding must be handled in a measured and ordered way.
1.4 As these decisions are taken, consideration
should also be given to the way in which arts organisations can
work more closely together. We recommend:
— Developing functional cultural areas
within which local authorities, Arts Council England and the cultural
sector can develop a programme of co-investment that focuses resources
on key assets, organisations and high profile, high impact interventions.
Functional areas for culture should be factored into emerging
plans for Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).
— Collaborating to maximise resources and
impact: Functional cultural areas should see local authorities'
pool resources into shared Cultural Services teams and open up
collaborative commissioning opportunities.
— Empowering creative communities: Arts
centres of excellence should work with local government and other
organisations within the professional and amateur arts sector
to develop creative public engagement which strengthens communities
and enables cohesion and citizenship.
— Harnessing creative leadership: Arts
leaders can play a significant role as civic leaders, collaborating
with local authorities to shape local priorities, advocate for
the value and contribution of arts and culture to future well-being
and prosperity, and drive increased philanthropy locally.
2. INTRODUCTION
2.1 Regional Cities East (RCE) is an alliance
of six cities in the East of England. The cities, Peterborough,
Luton, Ipswich, Norwich, Colchester and Southend-on-Sea, believe
that by sharing best practice, collaborating on joint ventures
and setting clear priorities, they can create more jobs and affordable
homes than they could by working alone. They share a common belief—that
smaller cities can deliver economic growth in a sustainable way.
And they face common challenges—to improve infrastructure
and skill levels.
2.2 The cities of RCE have found that carefully
targeted support for the right arts and culture projects is a
good way to use scarce resources efficiently to engage society
in addressing the recession, rapid demographic change and an increasing
public scepticism towards institutions. Cuts to central and local
government funding that are not accompanied by a transition to
new funding models and ways of working will undermine the considerable
progress that has been made.
2.3 This submission will address two of
the key questions that have been posed by the Committee:
(i) what impact recent, and future, spending
cuts from central/local government will have on the arts and heritage
at a national and local level; and
(ii) what arts organisations can do to work more
closely together in order to reduce duplication of effort and
to make economies of scale
3. THE IMPACT
OF SPENDING
CUTS FROM
CENTRAL AND
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
3.1 Cuts will impact on the efforts of Regional
Cities East to rekindle economic growth, build community cohesion
and engage people in the Big Society.
Impact on economic growth
3.2 Arts and culture help to drive national
economic success. In 2007, before the global financial crisis
hit, the creative industries accounted for £59.9 billion
or 6.2% of UK Gross Value Added (GVA) with £16.6 billion
in exports and two million jobs.[113]
Arts and culture are central to tourism in the UK; this was worth
£86 billion in 2007—3.7% of GDP—and directly
employed 1.4 million people.[114]
Inbound cultural tourism is a vital export earner for the UK economy,
worth £16.3 billion to the UK economy in 2008.[115]
3.3 This national picture is supported by
numerous local investments by the public sector in the arts and
heritage. For example, firstsite in Colchester is a world-class
contemporary visual arts organisation founded in 1994, which runs
a host of outreach programmes working with art to engage schools,
universities and the wider community. Visitor numbers have grown
by 400% in the past ten years, so more space is needed.[116]
3.4 firstsite's new home, which has been
designed by internationally acclaimed architect Rafael Viñoly,
will include a gallery and presentation spaces; education spaces;
a 200 seat auditorium with conference facilities, a shop and a
café. It is expected to act as a cultural landmark for
the region and attract 1.5 million visitors over the next 10 years.[117]
£28 million has been invested in the visual arts facility,
which will open in autumn 2011.
3.5 One of the key economic benefits of
firstsite's new home is that it will act as a catalyst to transform
the run-down and neglected St Botolph's area into Colchester's
cultural quarter. The plans for the mixed-use regeneration scheme
put forward by Garbe Development in partnership with Ash Sakula
Architects have already levered in £50 million of investment.
The proposed scheme will include 12,000 sq ft of retail space
to let, a 7,500 sq ft creative business centre offering SMEs (small
and medium enterprises) support and networking opportunities,
up to 150 homes (50 of which will be affordable), a 90-bed hotel,
and a mix of independent retail, cafés and restaurants.
3.5 The ongoing funding model for firstsite
includes contributions from public, private and voluntary sources.
If public sector funding is cut without a transition towards an
alternative model being secured, then the public and private sector
investment so far could be jeopardised.
Impact on community cohesion
3.6 Arts and culture bridge community divides
and foster a sense of shared identity. As a major research project
backed by the British Council found "Culture enables us to
appreciate points of commonality and, where there are differences,
to understand the motivations and humanity that underlie them."[118]
3.7 The UK's journey towards multi-culturalism
has not been without difficulty. As a greater variety of ethnicities,
faiths and cultures have found themselves living side-by-side,
tensions have inevitable emerged. But diversity does not have
to mean fragmentation. Growing populations bring new cultural
assets and experiences to places, which can complement and combine
with the very best of all that has gone before. This type of cultural
interplay forges a sense of shared local identity. This not only
binds local people together, it creates the opportunity to present
a bold and confident face to the outside world.
3.8 The arts offer a forum for this cultural
interplay to occur. At their most fundamental the arts are about
people expressing themselves, their experiences and their understandings
of the world. Places where people best share their own cultures
and have an appreciation of local heritage are likely to be those
rich in opportunity for people to engage in artistic expression.
Thriving local arts are therefore an essential part of building
a cohesive sense of identity.
3.9 For local leaders in cities, the cohesion
challenge is particularly pressing. Cities tend to have higher
than average levels of diversity. This is true in the East of
England, where the majority of the region's Black and Minority
Ethnic community lives in urban areas—the minority group
percentage of the population in RCE cities is 14.11% in comparison
to 8.4% overall in the East of England. In smaller cities, simple
geography makes greater social interaction between different groups
much more likely.
3.10 The challenges of multiple identities
are compounded for smaller cities, whose diversity is set to increase
as their populations grow. Engendering a sense of shared identity,
which does not diminish the diverse other identities people hold,
is an issue that community arts and culture are well placed to
address. Opening up opportunities for people of all backgrounds
to tap and build on the artistic heritage of a city can help develop
a shared sense of identity.
3.11 This desire to develop a shared sense
of identity underpins the £7.3 million UK Centre for Carnival
Arts (UKCCA) in Luton, which opened in May 2009 and is the new
home of Europe's biggest one-day carnival. The event attracts
some of the world's best carnival artists to take part alongside
Luton's residents who can learn how to make costumes and engage
with carnival arts.
3.12 UKCCA is not only promoting cohesion
through the one-day annual event, it runs year round activity,
including dance and mask making. It ties in many of its activities
around calendar events such as Black History Month and International
Day for Older People. The centre complements the work of Luton
in Harmony, which is led by Luton Borough Council on behalf of
the Local Strategic Partnership.
3.13 The Carnival has a significant positive
impact on the economy of Luton, but the UKCCA itself depends on
public sector finance for its work throughout the year. Public
sector cuts before an alternative funding model has been found
would jeopardise the investment of public and private sector partners
to date.
Arts and culture as a route to the Big Society
3.14 Arts and culture provide the means
for people to make an active contribution to civic life. In 2004
a government study found that, "cultural activities can be
highly effective in improving the skills and confidence of individuals
and improving the quality of life and the capacity of communities
to solve their own problems. Such activities can contribute to
the physical economic and social regeneration of an area."[119]
3.15 A dominant story in the run up to the
2010 election concerned the public's increasing skepticism towards
institutions. Even setting aside the expenses scandal, which dominated
headlines, feelings of disengagement have been worryingly high.
In April-December 2009, only 37% of people felt they could influence
decisions in their local area, and only 20% felt they could influence
decisions affecting Britain8.
3.16 However, people are keen to play a
role in their communities and have an influence on the quality
of local life, with 41% of adults taking part in some sort of
formal volunteering at least once in 2009.[120]
This drive to encourage active citizenship needs to be met with
spaces where people can come together and find common ground to
make the change in their communities that the state cannot.
3.17 Citizen Power puts into practice the
principles that underpin the big society. Driven by the Royal
Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce
(RSA), this innovative programme includes a wide range of projects
that will help citizens become more self-reliant, resilient, altruistic
and creative. It is already helping Peterborough to overcome some
of the local challenges the city faces around drug-related crime,
educational attainment, in addition to building levels of engagement
and trust amongst local people.
3.18 Central to Citizen Power is the arts
programme. It will develop a series of creative events, artists'
residencies and high profile commissions in which international
and local artists will work with local people in Peterborough
to help create a blueprint for active, sustainable citizenship
in the city. This activity will build on the existing arts and
cultural landscape in Peterborough.
3.19 The objectives for Citizen Power are
to encourage creative, citizen-led policy innovation to enable
the public to come up with new ways of delivering policies and
services and also to grow a vibrant arts and culture offer.
3.20 While the Citizen Power programme builds
from the bottom up, it is dependent on funding from local government
to catalyse the actions of local people. Cuts to its funding would
cancel out the multiplier effect that such public sector investment
can have.
4. WHAT ARTS
ORGANISATIONS CAN
DO TO
WORK MORE
CLOSELY TOGETHER?
4.1 Across the RCE network of cities high
quality arts projects are making powerful contributions to tackling
the country's most pressing economic, social and democratic challenges.
They are doing so by working collaboratively and recognising the
value for money that investment in the arts and heritage represents.
Arts and culture delivering value for money
4.2 For every £1 that the Arts Council
invests, an additional £2 is generated from private and commercial
sources, totaling £3 income. At a local level this investment
can lever five times its worth.
What arts organisations can do to work more closely
together?
4.3 Across RCE, activities and interventions
must respond to a vision that is specific to each city's strengths
and needs in order to deliver high impact results. The six cities
have built on their existing strengths, led by arts organisations
with the potential to achieve a national and international profile,
delivering significant social and economic returns to the community
in which they are based. In this way, arts and cultural initiatives
in smaller cities offer a tantalising opportunity to deliver the
new principles of localism and decentralisation.
4.4 Based on the RCE experience, we recommend
four policy measures to ensure the success of arts and culture
in smaller cities:
— Develop functional cultural areas: Just
as the economy is driven by functional economic areas there is
the potential to develop functional areas for culture. Within
these areas local authorities, Arts Council England and the cultural
sector can develop a programme of co-investment that focuses resources
on key assets, organisations and high profile, high impact interventions.
Public money and the combined advocacy of the partners can be
used to lever other sources of investment finance and philanthropy.
Functional areas for culture should be factored into emerging
plans for Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).
— Collaborate to maximise resources and
impact: Functional cultural areas should see local authorities'
pool resources into shared Cultural Services teams. This would
enable efficiency savings and more effective exploitation of existing
cultural assets. Further linkage across local authorities could
enable collaborative commissioning opportunities for the cultural
sector to deliver services across the area.
— Empower creative communities: Arts centres
of excellence should work with local government and other organisations
within the professional and amateur arts sector to develop creative
public engagement which strengthens communities and enables cohesion
and citizenship. The big society thinking about the role of social
enterprise, mutuals and charities offers opportunities for new
financial vehicles and ways of working, for example through community
led trusts or partnerships.
— Harness creative leadership: Arts leaders
can play a significant role as civic leaders, collaborating with
local authorities to shape local priorities, advocate for the
value and contribution of arts and culture to future well-being
and prosperity, and drive increased philanthropy locally.
5. CONCLUSION
5.1 The coming years will be difficult.
Public spending cuts may make it tempting for vital partners to
withdraw support for arts and culture projects. This would be
a mistake. The value of arts and culture to the success of our
cities is apparent, so it is important that visionary schemes
such as those illustrated here continue to be backed and endorsed
by Government. Arts and culture projects that offer a high quality
experience to communities can drive economic growth, build social
cohesion, and encourage active citizenship. Thanks to this people
will be able to enjoy the benefits of living in vibrant, welcoming
areas able to approach the future with confidence.
September 2010
113 Arts Council figure: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/about-us/why-arts-matter/facts-and-figures/ Back
114
VisitBritain report-The British Tourism Industry Today, see p.6
of this report-http://www.visitbritain.org/Images/btfr%20full%20final_tcm139-173003.pdf Back
115
Office of National Statistics passenger survey see table on page
8 of this report-http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_transport/travel-trends09.pdf Back
116
Creative Collaborations: A Shared Prospectus for Growth 2009-2011,
EEDA and Arts Council England, 2009 Back
117
Creative Collaborations, EEDA and Arts Council England, 2009 Back
118
Bounds, Briggs, Holdon, Jones "Cultural Diplomacy" Demos
2007 Back
119
DCMS: Culture at the Heart of Regeneration Back
120
Ibid Back
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