Arts Council England Response
Summary
We welcome the Committee's timely inquiry into the
work of the Arts Council. It is positive that the committee has
received evidence from a wide range of stakeholders representing
the diversity and complexity of the arts and culture sector in
England. The report makes a number of interesting and useful recommendations.
We are pleased that the committee acknowledges that
there is "much to praise in the hard work of the Arts Council",
and the work we are doing to address the historic challenges to
rebalancing. We will continue to balance our investment intelligently—to
build capacity across England, whilst not damaging the infrastructure
in the capital and we will continue to actively seek a shift in
the balance of our resources that are invested outside of London.
However the Arts Council's reducing income presents a challenge
to faster action.
The report highlights the crucial issue of Local
Authorities' support for the arts and culture during this period
of austerity. We will continue to use our on the ground expertise
and knowledge to build connections and broker partnerships with
partners including local government, business, higher education
and others around the country.
The committee rightly warn of the danger of fragmenting
funding. We are clear that we will continue to use all our funding
streams to support excellent work while prioritising the reach
and impact it has. Our work should be judged by its contribution
to our agreed goals, rather than by imposed targets.
The report backs the Arts Council's view that no
school should be considered excellent by Ofsted unless it has
a strong cultural offer across the curriculum and school life.
We are working with Ofsted to improve the consideration of culture
in inspections and believe progress is being made.
Finally, it is positive that the Committee feels
the Arts Council's Grant in aid should not be reduced, and should
be increased once the economy has recovered. It is right that
further provision in future spending rounds should be prioritised
to bolster the national arts and culture ecology outside the M25
in areas of low engagement.
Response to the Committee's recommendations
1. A strategic direction for the Arts Council
would best be set by a clear overall policy statement by the Government.
We recommend that the Government produces and publishes a comprehensive
arts policy. (Paragraph 9)
It is for DCMS to set out their plans to produce
such a policy statement.
The Arts Council's 10 year strategy 'Great art and
culture for everyone' was devised in 2010 following consultation
with the sector. We work with guidance from Government but make
funding decisions independently from DCMS.
2. We welcome the involvement of the Arts Council
in museums and libraries. Though this is modest in funding terms,
museums and libraries provide important physical spaces that enable
individual and collective cultural development in the widest sense.
The Arts Council should remain alert to the important role museums
and libraries have in promoting education across all disciplines.
(Paragraph 15)
We believe it is vital that all arts and cultural
organisations work closely with young people to ensure fresh and
stimulating arts and culture provision and interaction.
All museums we fund in the portfolio for 2015-18
have committed to Goal 5 which aims to ensure that every child
have the opportunity to experience the richness of the arts, museums
and libraries and all funded organisations committed to this goal
will develop high-quality arts and cultural experiences for, with
and by children and young people. In addition to facilitating
relationships between arts and museums we also work with 10 regional
museums whose schools partnerships have been awarded a total of
£3.6 million funding until 2015 through our Museums and Schools
programme.
We are the national development agency for libraries,
and although we are not responsible for providing or funding library
services, (which remains the sole responsibility of local government)
we do play a significant role. We fully recognise the broad contribution
of public libraries to communities across England recognise the
contribution that libraries make to lifelong learning. We have
established partnerships with CILIP, SCL, DCMS, The Reading Agency
and the LGA to ensure that libraries continue to deliver relevant
educational programmes and bring particular expertise to their
role as cultural hubs in communities.
We are committed to working with partners to increase
the opportunities for libraries and museums to deliver educational
projects. We will continue to facilitate local partnerships to
ensure a coherent, national approach to the provision of excellent
arts and culture for all children and young people.
3. We welcome the Arts Council's role in distributing
funds for music education hubs, and agree with the Arts Council
that schools cannot be considered excellent unless their pupils
receive a thorough grounding in the arts. (Paragraph 17)
We welcome the Committee's backing that schools should
not be rated as excellent by Ofsted unless their pupils have the
opportunity to see, participate and talk about their experiences
with arts and culture.
Recent Ofsted guidance for inspectors clarifying
that arts should be included 'spiritual, cultural and moral development'
is encouraging. We will continue to work with Ofsted on this issue.
Arts Council England is passionate about cultural
education and invests in a wide range of music and cultural education
programmes that play a crucial role in the delivery of a broad
and balanced curriculum. We believe that every child has the right
to have their cultural talent to be developed, and to have the
opportunity to see, participate and talk about their experiences
with arts and culture.
4. We welcome the fact that there are very significant
national museums based outside London. It is most important that
this presence is consolidated and, where possible, built on. The
Science Museum Group, for example, has an established and valuable
presence not only in London, but also in Bradford, Manchester,
Shildon (County Durham) and York. (Paragraph 23)
Responsibility for policy and funding of the national
museums such as the Science Museum does not sit with the Arts
Council, but with DCMS.
Arts Council England is committed to working alongside
museums to ensure that everyone, everywhere has the chance to
access to the rich wealth of national treasures in our great public
collections. Our Major partner museums play a significant role
nationally and many are members of the National Museum Directors'
Council (NMDC). Funding for MPMs will increase to £22.6 million
per year in 2015/18 to support 21 Major partner museums.
The increased investment offers greater opportunities
throughout the country, not just in terms of geographic spread,
including both rural and urban museums; it also allows our Major
partner museums to provide a wider leadership role. We also focus
strategic funding on building the resilience of museums and facilitating
close partnerships with other funders and cross-sector bodies
to make best use of the resources available.
5. We welcome the Arts Council's decision to increase
the budget to Grants for the Arts. We hope this will fund emerging
talent throughout the country, not just in areas traditionally
well provided for. (Paragraph 26)
We are grateful for the committee's recognition that
the increase in the Grants for the arts budget to £70 million
will further support individual artists, community and cultural
organisations. Our intention is that this will support emerging
talent nationwide. Grants for the Arts budgets are calculated
using a formula including population and demand. Success rates
for Grants for the Arts are already higher outside London.
We are also undertaking further analysis of applicants
and working towards increasing applications from areas of low
arts engagement and working to increase success rates from underrepresented
groups.
We are committed to increasing the number of successful
applications across the country, and in particular outside London,
utilising our expert staff and data. Area staff and expert Relationship
Managers already forge relationships with developing artists and
smaller organisations and hold regular local sessions to encourage
arts organisations and individual artists to apply for our funds,
including Grants for the arts.
6. We welcome the assurance from the Chair of
the Arts Council that the national institutions in London will
be required to perform a "genuinely national role" as
part of their new NPO settlements. In general, we believe that
any National Portfolio Organisation or Major Partner Museum should
seek to extend further its reach wherever it might be based. This
includes: touring productions and exhibitions (though we recognise
that that is expensive); using new media more creatively to widen
access (including making whole collections accessible electronically)
and developing initiatives such as the showing at cinemas of performances
of plays and operas. It also includes pro-actively putting the
expertise available to NPOs and MPMs at the service of smaller
local organisations. (Paragraph 28)
During 2012-15 we are investing in a total of 691
National Portfolio organisations (NPO) and 16 Major Partner Museums
(MPM) across England. From 2015-18 we are investing in 670 NPOs
and 21 MPMs.
As well as building capacity and infrastructure we
are becoming a more demanding partner of the NPOs and MPMs we
fund. Companies play a part in wider artistic and talent development—all
national companies have partnerships across England. All organisations
we fund, particularly the largest, must ensure they have robust
delivery plans for their activity and we work with them to ensure
their plans focus on their role as leaders and partners with smaller
organisations in the wider arts ecology.
Our evidence to the committee set out the various
activity national organisations are undertaking around the country
including development work with smaller organisations and touring
nationwide. As we said, London has a higher number of touring
companies than any other region with 53% of its portfolio touring
and 78% of that activity taking place outside London.
In addition to NPO funding our £45m Strategic
touring fund is focussed on ensuring that more high-quality work
reaches people and places with the least engagement and stronger
relationships forged between those involved in artistic, audience
and programme development. We have allocated £23 million
to this fund for 2015-18 to make a significant impact outside
of London. As mentioned in our evidence to the committee, organisations
with London postcodes received 42% of the value of our Strategic
Touring programme; only 8% of that value was delivered there.
We are committed to continuing the work which supports more people
to engage with work through touring.
Digital access is also enabling companies to reach
geographically dispersed audiences as well as building partnerships
and capacity. NT Live broadcast Manchester International Festival's
production of Macbeth last summer to cinemas across the UK. Last
season Royal Opera House attendances in cinemas nationwide reached
215,000 and 80% of this audience was based outside Greater London.
We are also working with partners such as the BFI
on exploring alternative content models which are aimed at working
with the sector to offer greater access to LIVE performances.
Arts Council is implementing its creative media policy which enables
partners to share best practice and encourages arts organisations
and museums to increase the reach of their activities through
the development of digital content and distribution.
7. While there is surely scope for any arts organisation
to raise more money through philanthropy, £5 cheques—even
lots of them—will only go so far. Any constraints attached
to public funding both for the arts in general and for specific
projects ought to be informed by a realistic, quantitative assessment
of the scope for philanthropic giving and self-help. (Paragraph
31)
Encouraging philanthropic support outside London
and helping smaller organisations to increase their capacity to
earn income from different sources are important goals for the
Arts Council.
We are supporting 218 smaller organisations, mostly
outside London, with grants of 60k to 120k to build fundraising
expertise through our Catalyst programme. We also deliver a £7
million capacity-building scheme for consortia of organisations
with limited or no fundraising experience. We also work with CAUSE4
to increase philanthropy skills and development.
We are also investing in the development of a new
cadre of fundraisers in the sector to begin a cultural shift in
organisations awareness of, and approach to, seeking philanthropic
donations.
Shortly we will publish an interim evaluation of
our Catalyst programme. This analysis will help us to determine
how we can continue to support organisations to raise private
investment in the future.
8. The Arts Council should redouble its efforts
at brokering cultural partnerships involving businesses, local
authorities, local enterprise partnerships, universities and international
organisations, particularly within the EU, which might provide
additional funding sources. (Paragraph 32)
Brokering partnerships is key to ensuring arts and
culture survives and thrives in the current financial climate
and we are taking an active approach to doing so.
Local government remains the Arts Council's most
important strategic, funding and delivery partner. Our approach
to our partnership with local government is set out in our joint
statement of purpose agreed with the LGA. We recognise that local
government is an investor in its own right and brings to the partnership
local reach, community priorities and legitimacy. In turn, Arts
Council England brings a national perspective and development
for the sector.
We recognise that local authority budgets are under
significant pressure, and we work with local government to find
ways to sustain and grow local cultural offers. We recognise
the importance of local political leadership in this. In partnership
with the LGA, the Arts Council pays for and helps deliver leadership
academies for elected members with responsibility for cultural
services. We are supporting local government to consider new models
of delivery and support that can help sustain investment in culture.
This has included research into community libraries and the role
of libraries in rural areas, and in raising awareness amongst
local government of the range of delivery models that can be considered.
In July 2014 the New Local Government Network published research
into new delivery models, which was funded through an Arts Council
grant. This research, The Show Must go On, was the subject
of significant press coverage and is used by the Arts Council
in its work with local government. We are working with the Cabinet
Office's Mutuals Support Programme to disseminate good practice
in mutualisation of previously local government cultural services.
We are also supporting local cultural services to
diversify their income streams and thus lessen their reliance
upon direct council subsidy by cultural budgets by helping them
to secure public service commissions for health, wellbeing and
social care. Between 2013 and 2016 the Arts Council will invest
just under a million pounds in the Cultural Commissioning programme
to do this. In this way we also support art and culture to promote
health and wellbeing, and thus add greater value to individuals
and communities.
Local Government remains the most significant investor
in arts and culture in England. The effectiveness of our own investment
often depends upon local authorities who co-invest in organisations
with us.
The committee is right to point to the need for partnerships
in places with a range of partners. New partnerships are already
being forged. We are investing with Derby University to support
Derby Theatre, and with Northumbria University to support Baltic
39 in Newcastle where a joint professor is held between Baltic
and the university.
LEPs are increasingly important to the Arts Council
as we seek to realise the economic contribution of arts and culture.
We have undertaken advocacy with LEPs to help them understand
how culture can contribute to local growth priorities. We work
with individual LEPs to help them develop priorities and action
plans for culture, tourism and the creative industries. We want
our investment to help drive growth where it can, and we have
written to the chairs of all of the 39 LEPs to ensure that they
are aware that Arts Council funding can act as match for the LEPs'
allocations of EU Structural and Investment Funds and our willingness
to discuss shared investment strategies. In addition, we are in
discussion with DCLG and BIS about an Arts Council strategic fund
to incentivise investment by LEPs in growth through culture, to
launch in 2015.
We are working with the LEP network on the extent
to which arts and culture were taken account of in LEP Strategic
Economic Plans. While there is still clearly much work to do to
ensure that LEPs fully realise the potential of arts and culture,
we were heartened by the ambitions of a number of LEPs to use
culture to help grow tourism and the creative industries. We
will build on this work and continue to work with LEPs.
Alongside this, the €455m Creative Europe fund
provides a major opportunity for the sector to attract funding
to support growth. We are also aiding organisations access Creative
Europe by providing advice for those who would like to apply.
9. National Portfolio Organisations that receive
Arts Lottery funds should demonstrate how they put this to use
in ways that satisfy the additionality principle; examples could
include, but need not be restricted to, wider community engagement
and new touring activities. The principle of additionality should
be adhered to both in spirit and in practice. (Paragraph 35)
Lottery funding is distinct from government funding
and adds value. Although it does not provide a substitute for
Exchequer expenditure, where appropriate it complements government
and other programmes, policies and funding.
The Arts Council distributes both Grant in Aid and
National Lottery funds in a mixed funding model. In the last investment
process we used Lottery funding as part of the overall total budget
for our national portfolio. This was for a distinct purpose—touring
and work with children and young people.
For our plans for investment in 2015-18 we have looked
at ways we will again be able to help support a thriving National
portfolio by using some of our Lottery revenue. We are satisfied
that we can do this and still fulfil the principle of 'additionality'.
By doing this in a uniform way across the portfolio we will be
able to fund a greater number of organisations.
There will be some National portfolio organisations
that are funded wholly with National Lottery revenue, while others
will be wholly funded with Grant in aid, but all will be treated
in the same way.
10. Given the scale of the reduction in grant
in aid that the Arts Council has absorbed, we welcome the Minister's
assurance that he will seek to protect future funding. While it
is essential to acknowledge the prevailing financial climate,
we would be disappointed if the Arts Council saw any further fall
in its grant in aid. (Paragraph 37)
We welcome this recommendation which acknowledges
the complexity of the work the Arts Council undertakes. The arts
contribute to a number other policy areas meaning this investment
works hard for the public and the government.
The report also recommends that our grant in aid
income should not be cut further—and indeed levels of GIA
should be restored when the economic picture improves. This is
a significant vote of confidence in our work and the value of
arts and culture to everyone in in England. Any future cuts to
our Grant in Aid we receive would mean we have to take difficult
decisions about how best to apply those reductions to all of the
portfolio and strategic funds.
11. The Arts Council should do more to explain
the criteria on which it apportions funds to different art forms.
It should provide detailed information both on the absolute and
relative number of applications received and rejected, and the
funds requested, broken down by general genre and geographical
area. (Paragraph 43)
We are exploring how data collection and sharing
regarding our grant funding will become more transparent over
the coming funding period and this will no doubt have an impact
on some of the points raised here. This includes data relating
to equality and diversity.
12. The involvement of local authorities is a
welcome reflection of the desirability of providing some democratic
input into decision-making. However, we believe there is more
scope for involving local communities and businesses. Art and
culture can and should be available to all, and engagement will
be increased if individuals feel they have had some influence
in a decision to fund a particular activity or organisation. (Paragraph
47)
The approach we take to working with local authorities,
LEPs and others is set out at point 8.
Local engagement is an important part of this approach.
Our Statement of Purpose with the LGA sets out that the Arts Council
brings an expert national overview and local reach; local government
has the democratic legitimacy and depth of understanding of the
communities that they serve. We consider this partnership—nationally
with the LGA and locally with individual local authorities—is
a vital strength of the way we operate. We seek to maintain our
own intelligence and knowledge about how we work locally. As
we set out in our evidence to the committee, all of our decisions,
including those made by our National Council, are informed by
the expertise and local knowledge of our staff on the ground,
who are close to where our money is invested. We have protected
this local presence despite cuts of 50% to our administration
budgets.
Crucially, we have built local perspectives into
our decision making. Our five Area Councils are made up of leading
local individuals from the arts and culture sector as well as
business leaders. We also have reserved places on each area council
for local authority members. As detailed in the evidence to the
committee, Area and National Councils have distinct responsibilities
for decision making using their local knowledge and art form expertise.
Our £37m Creative people and places programme,
targeted in the areas of least engagement in the country, specifically
includes local artists and communities in the shaping of each
project. Creative People and Places is being extended over the
forthcoming funding period.
13. A redistribution of funds along the lines
suggested by the authors of Rebalancing our Cultural Capital
would do much to redress the imbalance in funding to benefit England
as a whole. We believe this could be achieved in a timely fashion
without threatening London's world status as a cultural centre.
(Paragraph 67)
We are pleased that the report acknowledges the work
we are doing to increase levels of funding outside London. Over
70% of lottery awards have been made outside London in the last
few years, compared to a lifetime average of 60%. Between 2008-12
49% of NPO funds were awarded outside London, in the 2015-18 portfolio
this figure will be 53% and 91% for Major Partner Museums. We
will look to increase the proportion of lottery funding going
to organisations outside London over the next three years and
expect to see progress. This is positive, but it must be done
carefully, building capacity and investment which can be sustained.
As the report acknowledges, London's share of arts
funding reflects its "position as the capital city and a
world cultural centre". So we must be careful not to act
in a way that damages what is already working well, including
the thriving cultural life of our capital city.
We note that the GPS Culture authors set out a different
proposal in their later publications, The PLACE and Hard Facts
to Swallow, and in their oral evidence to the committee. The original
proposal assumed a lottery income at least £100m a year higher
than we actually have.
Finally, the ongoing pressure on Local Authorities'
budgets is an important factor in our ability to invest in organisations
all over the country. As set out in points 8,12,14,15, and 16
we are building strong and meaningful local partnerships to ensure
the continued commitment of arts and culture investment from local
authorities. We welcome the Committee's suggestion of additional
resource to support our ambition to achieve this but this needs
to be considered alongside the capacity of local government to
support a healthy and sustainable cultural infrastructure.
14. We agree with the Chair of the Arts Council
that the trend in shifting lottery funds outside London should
continue. However, we believe the pace of change should be much
faster than it has hitherto been. The Arts Council is well-placed
to be the agent of this distribution—but only if it engages
fully with elected local authorities and regional strategic organisations
with the best local and regional knowledge. (Paragraph 70)
As set out at point 13, there has been a shift in
the right direction and we are grateful the committee has recognised
this. We share the committee's desire for a speedy response to
the historic challenges to rebalancing, and are working hard to
ensure a genuine shift happens.
The Arts Council retains a great deal of local and
regional knowledge through our relationship managers based around
the country. Our relationships with local authorities and other
partners are set out at points 8, 12, 15 and 16.
15. We recommend that the Government emphasises
to local authorities the advantages associated with an appropriate
level of engagement with cultural policy and provision—including
what funding opportunities ought to be developed. However, we
stop short of recommending the introduction of statutory requirements
of a kind that rightly applies to libraries. (Paragraph 74)
It is for DCMS to set out Central Government's case
for local authority investment in the arts.
We have set out our approach to working with Local
Authorities in points 8, 12, 14 and 16. The Arts Council will
continue to make the case for local investment in arts and culture
to local authorities, and others including the LGA, the Rural
Services Partnership and the Core Cities. We will continue to
engage directly with councils to help them develop a strategic
and sustainable vision for the role of culture in local communities.
16. The Arts Council should take a far more robust
stance than it already does with local authorities, such as Westminster,
who show little inclination to support the arts. There is little
point in pumping public money into areas that do not particularly
want or need it, or do little themselves to support the arts.
(Paragraph 80)
Our relationships with local authorities are set
out at points 8, 12, 14 and 15. We want to support councils who,
despite financial pressure, continue to prioritise the importance
of funding arts and culture in communities. We are not in a position
to take a tougher or oppositional stance with councils who want
to withdraw or reduce their funding commitments. We are working
hard to maintain our partnerships with local authorities in each
of our Areas.
Instead we are working strategically with authorities
to ensure our investments are co-ordinated and strategic. We have
robust conversations with them to ensure all the options are considered
before a decision takes place. This will include the availability
of local government support to make our investment sustainable
and effective.
17. Local authorities rightly have responsibility
for coming to their own decisions on what funding to provide to
culture in their areas. That is no reason for the Minister, with
his strategic oversight of arts policy, to shy away from challenging
any in danger of acquiring the status of cultural pariahs. Any
Arts Minister should use his or her position to champion the arts
at every opportunity, including in dialogues with local authorities.
Like the Chair of the Arts Council, we deplore the decision of
Westminster to cut its arts investment, relying instead on funds
from lottery players in less well-served parts of the country.
(Paragraph 82)
Our relationships with local authorities are set
out at points 8, 12, 14, 15, and 16. It is properly for the Minister
to decide how to take this recommendation forward.
18. Public funds should be used to support cultural
activities that demonstrably contribute to the highest standards
of excellence in art, engagement of communities and sustainable
economic growth. (Paragraph 84)
The committee is right to conclude that public funds
must demonstrably contribute to excellence and engagement. Supporting
excellence is Goal 1 of our 10 year strategy. All art and culture
is funded from the starting point of excellence. We aim to use
our expertise, national overview and local knowledge to invest
in such a way that encourages and requires artistic and cultural
excellence in arts organisations and regional museums.
We are committed to increasing engagement as Goal
2 of our strategy. From 2015-18 all NPOs and MPMs are expected
to show how they will contribute to widening access to the arts
and engage local communities. In addition our strategic funds
such as Creative People and Places, as well as Strategic Touring,
are helping to address this.
19. It is important to avoid fragmenting funding
to the extent that few benefit. Inevitably, regional centres of
excellence will attract a larger share of funding. However, cultural
hubs outside London ought to be getting a greater proportion than
they currently are. (Paragraph 85)
The committee is right to recognise the dangers of
fragmentation which could stem from an approach insufficiently
focussed on quality with a transparent, fair, and competitive
application process.
We concentrate investment in urban centres to ensure
that the largest numbers of audiences can access the most exciting
and inspiring work and build critical masses of infrastructure.
Taking a 20 mile radius around cultural hubs outside London shows
the Newcastle area receives £25 per head of NPO investment,
Manchester £10 per head, and Liverpool £11 per head
compared to £27 per head for London.
We have set out our approach to increasing levels
of funding outside London at points 13 and 14. We are already
moving in this direction, however it is difficult to act very
rapidly when there is continued pressure on our income.
20. The Arts Council should be more proactive
when it comes to encouraging high quality applications from around
the country and establishing the underlying reasons for any current
imbalance. (Paragraph 87)
We are working towards increasing applications from
areas of low levels for all of our funding. The Arts Council continues
to collect data from applicants to map where improvements can
be made. See point 5 for further details.
21. Just as the Arts Council has played its part
in helping to tackle the deficit, so should it be considered a
beneficiary in the event of economic recovery. Once the Government
is satisfied that resources allow, it should consider an increase
in Arts Council grant in aid. This new money should be earmarked
for the English regions, beyond the M25 area. (Paragraph 90)
We welcome the report's recommendation that Grant
in aid be maintained at its current level and that this should
be increased in the event of economic recovery. We have been clear
that any further provision in future spending rounds should be
prioritised to bolster the national arts ecology outside the M25.
22. The Arts Council is well-placed to tackle
the clear imbalance of funding that favours London unfairly. It
must do so with greater urgency if it is to realise its declared
ambition to engineer the provision of great art and culture for
everyone. (Paragraph 91)
As we have set out at points 13, 14, 19 and 21 action
is already being taken to increase our levels of funding outside
London and we are pleased the committee acknowledges this. The
pace at which we can continue to achieve this is in part dependent
on the income levels we receive.
As set out in points 8 and 16, Local Government is
the most significant investor in arts and culture and we have
no direct control over this funding.
Conclusion
We will continue to balance our investment intelligently—to
build capacity outside of London as quickly as possible, but without
damaging the infrastructure in the capital.
Local Authorities and other partners in place across
the country are crucial and we will build partnerships with all
of them to ensure that arts and culture continue to thrive nationwide.
As we approach the 2015 election it is good to see
arts and culture moving up the political agenda; helping to support
cultural education and opportunity, health and well-being, the
creative industries and urban regeneration across the entire country.
It is vital that in challenging economic times we
continue to demonstrate the value and impact of arts and culture
investment across England and ensure that this case is heard in
Government departments, town halls, universities and homes up
and down the country.
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