Date: Wednesday 14 June 2000
Time: 9.00am
Venue: Committee Room 1, National Assembly Building
The Chair of ACW was invited to make an opening statement. She considered that there were two major issues the organisation had to address:
Accountability and transparency
Its future vision, including partnerships
The ACW was one of the first public bodies in Wales to hold its meetings in public. The Council recognise that this does not go far enough towards total transparency; there are often two agendas and the public are excluded from "Agenda B" items. ACW want to move towards the presumption of one agenda. The Council is aware of the need to look at its internal structures, particularly the role of the area committees - although this will also form part of the review of management structures instigated by the Assembly Secretary. ACW are looking very carefully at the role of its area committees and a meeting is being held shortly in Aberystwyth, when each of the area committees will be able to have their say on their future role.
The Council recently agreed a new framework for local authority membership of area committees and are confident that this will provide a good basis for future partnership.
The Council recognise the importance of establishing a comprehensive performance assessment programme. It is committed to making assessment reports available to clients and to giving clients the opportunity to respond to those assessments.
The Council is review its Code of Practice and looking at other ways of improving transparency and accountability, including the introduction of a simplified complaints procedure and debriefing sessions for unsuccessful applicants. The Council welcomed the Assembly's advice on further developing its openness policy.
The Arts Council regrets that it no longer organises events such as exhibitions and tours, but such activities are devolved to other organisations for practical reasons. This policy could be revisited.
In response, to criticisms that ACW does not have a strategic vision, the Chair commented that ACW take many strategic decisions, but these never receive coverage in the press.
Amongst its other recent activities, ACW have commissioned Newidiem to produce a regional action plan to enable arts organisations to access Objective 1 funding. It has established an Arts and Young People Task Force and produced various documents on the economic impact of the arts.
In the future, its aims include taking explicit action on social exclusion; working to utilise lottery funding strategically; taking a more pro-active lead in celebrating and developing the arts of Wales and making its internal structures more accountable, transparent and responsive. The Chair of ACW also pointed to the fact that many of the concerns expressed by the arts community during the course of the review were down to the fact that ACW have been working to a standstill budget for the last five years.
The following points were made in the question and answer session:
In response to allegations of a lack of transparency of ACW's decision-making processes, Ms Crouch said that important lessons had been learnt about the manner and process of ACW's consultations. The Council is now committed to giving full explanations and briefing sessions to unsuccessful funding applicants. Under ACW's appeals procedure, each appeal is heard on its merits; the process is fair but the structure around it can be cumbersome.
There are arguments for extending the period of lottery funding for capital projects to a longer fixed-term period than 3 years, but 3-year funding should be seen as an opportunity rather than a potential burden. The ACW's additional function as a lottery distributor has strengthened its strategic role; ACW would not have a problem with Sgrin taking over the role of lottery distributor for film projects.
The Council is conscious that lottery investment in socially deprived areas is often in inverse proportion to the amount spent on lottery tickets in these areas. It has not been as successful as it hoped in encouraging applications from deprived areas, but it aims to allocate more staff to work alongside potential applicants.
In response to a question about the logic of ACW's structures (ie the split into Artform, Access and Lottery Divisions), Ms Crouch said that the organisation would be taking another look at its structures and that changes hadn't been ruled out. There is currently much cross-departmental working between the Divisions.
The ACW's committee structure reflects the structure of the organisation. The Committees are advised by "advisory panels", but are free to ignore this advice if they wish.
ACW admit that its over-arching strategic role is sometimes jeopardised by the burdensome pressure of bureaucracy and that greater streamlining is required to get rid of some of that bureaucracy.
As for its internal recruitment policy, ACW has its own equal opportunity policy. The organisation is not institutionally racist, as has been alleged in some quarters. Ms Crouch said that every institution should look to its own internal practices and ensure openness and accessibility.
Ms Crouch wanted the Committee to consider whether, in future, the posts of Chair and members of the ACW, should be salaried.
The Council has three area committees - North, Mid & West and the South East. Each local authority covered by the respective committees, is represented on them. Previous reorganisations within ACW have somewhat diminished the power of area committees, but a more robust and defined role is once again being considered.
In reply to a question about the ACW's relationship with other Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies (ASPBs), Ms Crouch said that there are frequent meetings and contact at Chief Executive level. The Council was previously involved in establishing an all-Wales Cultural Forum and see real benefits in the re-establishment of such a forum. The Forum is not mentioned in the organisation's corporate plan because that document deals mainly with spending plans. ACW also favours the idea of establishing a Creative Industries Task Force.
It is ACW's view that there should be a continuum between the amateur/voluntary and professional arts. The Council often make it a condition of grant for professional companies to extend their work into schools and communities. The Council has supported the "flagship" or National Performing Arts Companies to enable the development of artists in Wales.
The Council is concerned at the lack of investment in certain artforms such as dance. The situation of the individual artist is also of concern; the amount of money available for individuals is usually squashed because of the commitment to revenue support grants.
One of the Council's main aim tasks is to be an advocate for the arts in Wales, to take the lead on issues of good practice and to demonstrate the benefits incurred from supporting the arts, to government.
ACW recognise that the advent of the digital college represents a huge opportunity for artists in Wales, particularly in terms of devising content. Fostering good relationships with broadcasters is also essential and a Creative Industries Task Force could have a role to play here.
Summing up, Ms Crouch said that Wales needs planned investment in the arts, particularly in different parts of the infrastructure. ACW want to work within a programme of planned investment, which will deliver on the objectives of Better Wales. Ms Crouch was confident that ACW is the proper delivery body for any policies the Assembly decides upon.
Attendance:
Cynog Dafis (Plaid Cymru, Mid & West Wales: Chair)
Tom Middlehurst (Labour, Alyn & Deeside: Assembly Secretary) - not items 3&4
Elin Jones (Plaid Cymru, Ceredigion)
Alun Pugh (Labour, Clwyd West)
Jocelyn Davies (Plaid Cymru, South Wales East)
Christine Humphreys (Liberal Democrat, North Wales)
Lorraine Barrett (substituting for Christine Chapman) (Labour, Cardiff South and Penarth)
Apologies
Christine Chapman (Labour, Cynon Valley)
Jonathan Morgan (Conservative, South Wales Central)
John Griffiths (Labour, Newport East)
Officials
Julia Annand (Committee Clerk)
Stephen Thomas (Deputy Committee Clerk)
Richard Davies (Director, National Assembly's Education and Training Department)
Also in attendance
Ceri Sherlock (Committee's Arts and Culture advisor)
Declarations of Interest: None
Agenda Item 1: Policy Review: Arts & Culture in Wales
Questions were put to the Arts Council of Wales (ACW)
Representatives:
Sybil Crouch, Chair
Joanna Weston, Chief Executive
Ellen ap Gwynne, Board Member
Frances Medley, Planning Director
Robert Edge, Lottery Director
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