Written evidence submitted by Nottingham
City Council (arts 218)
Nottingham City Council welcomes the opportunity
to contribute to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry
into funding of the Arts and Heritage. In making this submission
whilst we recognise the difficult public funding environment being
faced, we also appreciate the contribution that a relatively small
level of public funding made within Arts and Heritage does significantly
help deliver a broad range of economic and social regeneration
issues. In particular for Nottingham:
— Playing a key role in defining Nottingham
as an International City of Culture, Learning, Science and Sport.
— Supporting Nottingham's objectives to
increase tourist bed nights by 50% by 2020.
— Acknowledging the opportunity that the
creative industries provide for future employment and future economic
prosperity.
— Creating a sense of place and helping
the City build, diverse and cohesive neighbourhoods.
— Support in raising aspirations and help
improve skills and health.
Recently a report by Experian entitled Unlocking
the potential of the Creative and Cultural Sector published
March 2010, identified that in the East Midlands the economic
output for the regional economy was significant. Experian forecasts
suggest that the Gross Added Value (GVA) output for the creative
and cultural sectors in this region was equivalent to around £2.95
billion in 2009—or around 4.3% of total regional GVA.
Moreover, the creative and cultural sector's
contribution also makes a significant contribution to the physical
landscape of Nottingham City, helping ensure that the City is
a great place to live, work and visit. Indeed a wide body of academic
research points to the central role creative and cultural assets
play in supporting the economic competitiveness of regions. The
sector plays an important role in developing aspirations and helping
improve life skills and health and, Nottingham in the last number
of years the City has worked with a variety of partners to help
support a range of large cultural regeneration projects in key
development areas of the City, examples include; The New Arts
Exchange (Hyson Green), Broadway Cinema & Media Centre (Hockley)
and the Nottingham Contemporary Gallery (Lace Market).
Therefore any potential loss of national &
regional investment through Government and related agencies such
as EMDA, MLA and the Film Council could have a serious knock-on
affect for a urban Capitals such as Nottingham. Decreasing funding
will make it more difficult for Nottingham to sustain a meaningful
cultural offer or have the opportunity to obtain the required
and on-going investment needed into the Arts, Libraries and Museum
and Heritage sectors for the area.
Nottingham has already undertaken quite an extensive
programme of change to make economies of scale and look towards
merging of institutions. Nottingham Contemporary is a product
of merging the funds, skills and experience of former Angel Row
Gallery (operated by Nottingham City Council) and Bonnington Galleries
(operated by the University of Nottingham). The New Art Exchange
brought together a number of individual arts organisations in
the minority ethic arts delivery to create a truly multicultural
arts centre and facility. The Museum service some time ago undertook
a radical restructuring, including the relocation of some collections
and the closure of the City's Costume Museum and reduced opening
hours of its Wollaton Hall Industrial Museum.
The Library and Information Service has also
been engaged in a modernisation programme of the range of services
it provides and how it delivers them. Difficult decisions have
been taken to close under performing community libraries and re-invest
in fewer but better facilities supported by more flexible outreach
services together with electronic resources and services that
support a number of corporate priorities and offer improved value
for money. A great deal of progress is being made in achieving
a modal for genuine community engagement via the BIG Lottery funded
Community Libraries project and the service already benefits from
the support of a wide range of volunteers that add value to the
service. Plans are well developed to provide new library facilities
in two joint service centres whilst the City Council has invested
in the existing Central Library building in order to re-locate
it's Customer Contact centre to develop a city centre "one
stop shop" for citizens. It is considered that the City Council
continues to meet it's statutory obligations but if it is to remain
cost effective, relevant and inclusive then adequate attention,
support and investment needs to be made available to allow Library
Services to evolve and respond positively.
The City Council Museum Service has played a
key regional role within the Renaissance East Midlands Partnership
and monies from the Renaissance in the Regions initiative from
MLA has been key in linking communities to museum collections
and cultural activity and providing opportunities for some of
the most disadvantaged in the region. This has been achieved within
the East Midlands partnership by working closely in concert with
other museums [local authority, National Trust and voluntary operated]
to develop skills and expertise, by sharing relatively modest
resources and by combining activity to achieve demonstrable economies.
Renaissance in the Regions has yielded opportunities for our Service
to engage with local communities within the City and, in partnership
with other Services, to take a lead role for community engagement
work throughout the East Midlands. It is very much hoped that
Renaissance funding will, even if reduced by economic necessity,
be continued in this vital area of matching communities to their
cultural heritage.
Whilst in principal Nottingham City Council
is not wedded to the fact that governing structures within Arts
& Heritage don't need to change, it is important in such changes
and announcements already made concerning the future of the MLA
that its sartorial voice in Library's and Museum is not lost in
any future succession structures being proposed.
In terms of funding for the Arts & Heritage,
how much, who should pay? In the short term we need to be realistic
as to the shift in culture required and relevant incentives that
need to be put in place in order to move from our present reliance
on the public purse patronage to increased private donations.
Most certainly some freedoms and relaxation of rules in respect
of charging opportunities for Libraries or from funding implications
in respect of Heritage Lottery Funding Awards previously taken
would assist in re-balancing the present state funding mix. Similarly
the announcement of potential increased Lottery funds back to
the Arts & Heritage is welcomed and again this offer needs
to come with a better understanding of allowing funding between
capital and revenue and without previous strings attached in respect
of matched funding, if this type of opportunity is truly going
to be embraced and positively used.
Finally, whilst we acknowledge the challenges
to the UK economy, we also need to be mindful of areas where future
growth in the UK economy are likely to come from and in this context
it might be short-sighted to underplay the potential role that
Arts and Heritage still play in stimulating Tourism, and nurturing
broader commercial creative industry sectors.
September 2010
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