Written evidence submitted by Southwark
Arts Forum (arts 44)
What impact recent, and future spending cuts from
central and local Government will have on the arts at a national
and local level?
— Reduction in choice of activities.
— Reduction in number of activities.
— Reduction in diversity of activity.
— Loss of artists and their skills, as
people change sectors because they can no longer sustain a living
as an artist.
— Funding criteria from Trusts & Foundations
more stringently adhered to and increase in applications to this
source of funding.
— Reduction in sponsorship from business
as the look to save costs themselves.
— Increased competition for private sector
funding generally.
— Leadership of arts organisations diverted
away from their core activity to spend more time on fundraising.
— Increase in demand for Fundraisers/ Development
Managers.
— Individual artists hit hard as they struggle
to find appropriate partnerships, space to work in and markets
for their work.
— Anxiety, stress & pressure.
What arts organisations can do to work more closely
together in order to reduce duplication of effort and to make
economies of scale?
— Shared office space, performance space
etc.
— Look for alternative currency, eg. sharing
skills or expertise in return for use of premises.
— There needs to be forums in every borough
to facilitate cultural networks so as to aid these efforts to
work together. Infrastructure to support ideas/info/skills sharing.
What level of subsidy for the arts is necessary
and sustainable?
— Arts organisations, particularly community
and volunteer led organisations are very good at working to a
tight budget. More often they are operating on the bare minimum
costs so as to get work done. The current levels of subsidy offered
by local and national government are sustainable with inflationary
increases. What should be applied to it is scaling down of support
to help them become more self-sufficient. So whilst organisations
would obtain three to five years funding. It would read something
like:
Whether the current system and structure of funding
distribution is the right one?
— A move to directly funding local government
to support the arts in their locality would be a better model.
With each borough having its own cultural agency to provide the
infrastructure to facilitate partnership working. Southwark is
a good example of how well this model works and has been held
up best practice example for others to follow. We are often asked
to advise others on how such a relationship can work.
— Works to local government agenda.
— Usually in synergy with central Government
objectives.
— Targeted to local needs.
— Support & sustainability is aided
as its readily seen by local people as actually benefiting them
and their community.
— Support for local individual artists
should increase.
Whether business & philanthropists can play
a long-term role in funding arts at a national and local level?
— Business have for many years supported
the arts both at national and local level and encouragement to
continue to do so is necessary. Tax incentives, employee's development
and community support. The support of agencies like Arts &
Business has been valuable in helping business to engage with
arts and culture.
Whether there needs to be more Government incentives
to encourage private donations?
— Match funding from Government.
— Recognition awards, like an "Investors
in People" Award.
September 2010
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