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Submission to National Assembly Post-16 Education and Training Committee |
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Arts Council of Wales January 2000 Submission to National Assembly Post-16 Education and Training Committee Vision and Priorities for the Future The Council is encouraged by the background paper produced by the Committee as the priority areas identified reflect the range of activities covered the Corporate Plan. This demonstrates that the Council and the Committee have a shared understanding of the basis on which the review of the arts and culture is to be carried out. The Council is keen to assist the Committee with the review in order to develop the partnership between the Council and the Assembly. Corporate Plan The Council’s vision for the future is encapsulated in the key priorities of quality, access and participation. These priorities govern the entire work of the Council as embodied in the Corporate Plan and reflected in the day to day work of the Council’s officers through our regional office structure. In order to agree how these priorities are developed into a vision for the future it will be important for the Assembly to decide what is meant by the arts and culture and where the focus of cultural policy should be. Cultural Democracy The Council’s Corporate Plan needs to specify how it will support the Assembly’s own priorities e.g employment, education, health and quality of life, based on our belief that cultural policy should tend more towards true cultural democracy than may be the case in other UK countries. The nature of Wales’ bilingual culture and traditions of participation in cultural activities such as bands and choirs as well as the existence of organisations such as the Urdd, mean that access to the arts in Wales is more than a matter of increasing access to a set of ‘approved’ arts and cultural activities. Access to the arts is also fundamentally about the development and nurturing of local indigenous Welsh culture and the development of excellence at all levels of activity. Funding Patterns Traditional funding patterns reflect the relatively more expensive artforms which are normally considered examples of excellence; the four Welsh National Performing Arts Companies are examples of this. While ACW is proud to have these large companies amongst its client portfolio the Assembly should recognise by their very nature they have a high fixed cost base and other variations in their operating conditions can quickly have deleterious effects on their financial performance. ACW has no unallocated funds to help when such situations arise. The process of extending these traditional funding patterns to develop support for indigenous culture, often represented by community, voluntary and youth arts, is difficult without increased resources. Voluntary and Community Arts The Council’s role of supporting voluntary and community arts was inherited on amalgamation with the Regional Arts Associations, although the funding of this sector was relatively small. At the same time the Council became a Lottery distributor, and was able to use this opportunity to develop this area of its work through the Lottery capital and revenue funding. There are some excellent examples of how this has been used in the GlynneathTraining Centre (a grass roots organisation providing training and exhibition opportunities in the arts) Broli in Mostyn (conversion of the Old Clock Tower to provide accredited training for disadvantaged youth in circus skills and other art forms), the Deiniolen Band Hall (which also serves as the community centre for the village) , the Powerhouse in Llanederyn Cardiff, (with music practice and recording facilities for the Estate),Gilfach Goch Community Association (which has provided arts activities that have empowered the local community) and Canolfan Rhys at Penrhys Estate (providing a range of arts facilities as well as workshops and training). Artform Development and Access Development The above examples are in addition to the work the Council funds in the more traditionally subsidised artforms. Examples of this work can be found in the highly popular work of Earthfall Dance, the Torch Theatre, the increase in the quality and quantity of indigenous writing in Welsh periodicals such as The New Welsh Review and Barn as well as the diversity in music from the work of Mid Wales Opera to the innovative developments through Music Theatre Wales. Part of the access agenda is developing this work and making it available to a wider audience. We have been able to use our Lottery funds to assist many access developments such as Theatre Brycheiniog in Brecon and the extension to the Grand Theatre Swansea. The Changing Role of the Council Strategic Development The Council has moved away from its historic role as a direct service provider towards becoming a strategic development body. As a strategic development body the Council has sought to divest certain function to parties better place to provide direct services. Examples of this are the establishment of Sgrin, the Media Agency for Wales, which works in partnership with the Lottery Division to manage the development and funding of film in Wales. Since Sgrin has been established its work has had a real and measurable impact on the sector with films like Rancid Aluminium, Solomon and Gaenor and House of America released in the recent past. The Council has divested the writers in residency programme to Yr Academi, the development of public art and visual arts residencies to Cywaith Cymru and is working with Craft Forum Wales to become the independent umbrella body for the craft sector in Wales. Strategic Intervention The Council now focuses on strategic intervention where a need is identified and there is no one body capable of taking this forward. The Arts and Young People Taskforce is an excellent example of a multi-agency partnership that has been developed to manage this piece of work. The Council is currently working in partnership on the development of a marketing initiative in North Wales. The opportunities presented through Objectives 1, 2 and 3 are being tackled directly by the Council who are working in partnership with bodies including the Welsh Development Agency and the Wales Tourist Board to develop a framework for arts and cultural projects applying for European funds. This work will build on the outcome of the European Social Fund training project that the Council is currently involved in. This project seeks to identify the training needs and aspirations of the arts sector in Wales and involves establishing a Training Forum. The Lottery Strategy published in the autumn of 1999 clearly outlines the Council’s priorities for Lottery funding following the Government’s priorities as expressed in the 1998 Lottery Act. Research Part of the Council’s role is to carry out research as a step towards identifying the need for strategic intervention. The Economic Impact Study is an example of this work as is the regular research carried out by Beaufort Research into the patterns of arts attendance across Wales. The Council plans to extend the Beaufort Research during 2000 to include young people. Information on young people is essential for the Council to develop the work of the Taskforce. The latest Beaufort research for 1998/99 shows an increase in adults in Wales attending the type of events supported by ACW from 42% to 45%. Rationale Behind the Drama Strategy The proposals in the Drama Strategy were based on an expectation that the levels of grant in aid available from the Assembly would remain within the current projections for the next three years, that is that there would be no growth beyond inflation. In addition, the size of the Drama spend at £3.3 million - the largest sector in ACW’s grant in aid budget - implied its prioritisation for growth in the coming years would be unlikely. Rationale Improve the sustainability of funded organisations following a period of standstill funding and ‘inflation only’ growth estimates Address the historically large number of full time theatre organisations through a new strategy framework for funding fewer better within defined Funding Agreements Take note that Scotland in 1998-99 supported 8 drama revenue clients (7 with grants > £150k pa) compared with Wales supporting 20 drama revenue clients (4 with grants > £150k) Improve the quality of drama production Focus support for new writing Address the reduction in funding from local authorities, changes resulting from the introduction of local management of schools and the National Curriculum Over time, strengthen the links between producing and presenting organisations Develop a national English language theatre company with a national remit Develop a national Welsh language theatre company with a national remit Key Points of the Drama Strategy (Published June 1999) ACW intends to: establish Clwyd Theatre Cymru as a national English language theatre company develop, in partnership, a new national Welsh language theatre organisation referred to under the working title of ‘Y Pwerdy’ research proposals for a new combination of roles for the Sherman Theatre building increase support the Torch Theatre to provide a production, presentation and touring role restructure the eight company based provision for TYP consult on new ways forward for developing new writing build new writing development and staging into ACW’s funding agreements continue dialogue on new writing with the broadcast media and with other stakeholders offer one time-limited funding agreement for experimental theatre to Volcano support new work through the project scheme increase funding opportunities for one off production projects with presenter involvement through the projects scheme continue to stimulate international performing arts visits through the Interlink scheme offer the Centre for Performance Research a fixed term funding agreement. make available its written performance reports to client theatre organisations. Key Dates June 1998 Building a Creative Society published for consultation; separate consultation paper on the Drama sector published for consultation 6 July 1998 A separate paper on TYP published for consultation August 1998 consultation on Building a Creative Society closes October 1998 Analysis of Responses to the TYP consultation published 13 November 1998 Summary of Responses to Building a Creative Society published 21 January 1999 Draft Drama Strategy published for consultation 1 March 1999 consultation on Draft Drama Strategy closes 19 March 1999 Council adopts Drama Strategy with some revision as a result of consultation and agrees to implement proposals. Annual revenue funding for Hijinx Theatre reinstated. Timetable for implementing funding agreements for TYP changed from January 2000 to April 2000. Funding to Clwyd Theatre Cymru increased June 1999 Analysis of Responses to Draft Drama Strategy published June 1999 Drama Strategy Published June 1999 Invitation to bid for TYP franchises issued 12 September 1999 Closing date for bids for TYP franchises 4 October 1999 Interviews of applicants for TYP franchises 22 October 1999 Announcement of the awarding of the TYP franchises in four areas 15 November 1999 Announcement of the awarding of the TYP franchise in remaining area 19 October 1999 Invitation to bid for the New Writing Initiative funding agreement 1 December 1999 Closing date for outline proposals for the New Writing Initiative 13 December 1999 Brainstorming session to discuss the Welsh Language Theatre 14 January 1999 Interviews with applicants for the New Writing Initiative Week of 17 January 2000 Announcement to applicants of the recommended award of the New Writing Initiative Week of 17 January 2000 Consultation paper on the new Welsh Language Theatre company issued January to March 2000 Appeals against TYP franchises heard 11 February or 17 March 2000 Council considers appeal decisions regarding TYP franchises End of February 2000 Closing date for consultation on the new national Welsh Language Theatre Company 1 April 2000 TYP funding agreements commence and funding increases take effect to other drama organisations as in strategy June 2000 New Writing Initiative funding agreement commences 2000-2001 development of Welsh Language Theatre Company governance and planning with intention for new funding base and operation to begin in April 2001 The Future The Council was instrumental in establishing the network of theatre in education companies across Wales and was proud of its achievements. The combination of declining funding from local government and standstill grant in aid funding meant that the Council had to seek ways to improve the quality of the productions and strengthen the network within existing resources. Funding fewer companies better was considered the best way to achieve sustainability and an improved product through a stronger network. We acknowledge that historically consultation exercises have not always been successful. Whilst the Council has consulted in good faith it understands that this is not always how it has been perceived. In particular we know that in relation to the Drama Strategy some people feel that we have not listened to what they said as part of the consultation. The Council will continue to monitor and evaluate the output of the Drama Strategy over the next few years. In future we will publish the responses to consultation exercises in full and will explain why comments have been taken into account or not. This is a new arena for the Council and it acknowledges the need to review operational practice to ensure transparency. In future the Council will : consult more systematically and routinely through umbrella bodies to ensure that consultation on matters of detail is focused. establish working groups with representatives from the sector concerned to work on consultation exercises with us. seek to develop stronger partnerships through consultation. Arts review - Questions to the Arts Community 1. Other then providing additional funding, what do you feel the Assembly can/should offer the arts in Wales and how could the Assembly develop its own definitive Arts and Cultural Policy? The Assembly can provide definitive statements about the benefit of the arts to all aspects of Welsh society. The diversity of opportunity offered by the arts includes addressing social inclusion through capacity building and routes back to training and employment . The Assembly could take a proactive approach to promoting the arts in Wales and outside of Wales through integration of the arts into conferences and trade missions. A cross party, cross cutting forum involving all interested parties could be established to develop a cohesive arts and cultural policy for Wales. Part of this work needs to decide on what is meant by arts and culture, does it for example include heritage. The arts agenda needs to become integrated into the traditional and new mainstream agendas for example craft is an example of rural diversification, the overlap with tourism and the economic benefit of the arts. 2. What should be the principle objectives of an arts and cultural policy for Wales? The six areas for particular attention in the terms of reference could equally be the principal objectives of an arts and cultural policy for Wales. The six elements have the cross cutting principles embodied in them and seem to broadly reflect the range of activities that involve the arts. These elements also reflect closely the key themes in the Council’s Corporate Plan and Mission Statement of access, quality and participation. 3. Should the priority of such a policy be based upon the arts in Wales or on Welsh arts? What should the balance be between the two? The focus of the policy should be on the creation and presentation of arts in Wales for the people in Wales the creation of arts in Wales for the people outside of Wales the presentation of arts from outside of Wales for the people in Wales the development of robust and sustainable arts infrastructure in Wales capable of supporting art development in Wales ( from training to exhibition/performance space) and touring and exhibiting work from outside Wales. A definition of ‘art in Wales’ and ‘Welsh arts’ would be helpful when focusing the answers to this question. 4. Given a ‘clean sheet’, how would you suggest the Assembly structures its funding and management/development of the arts in Wales? The Council would not wish to comment on this question other than to say that the arms length principle needs to be redefined in the new political context of the National Assembly. 6. Do you feel the Council’s structure and organisation is appropriate to enable it to develop national arts strategies and to manage the distribution of Assembly funding? The Council is currently evaluating the restructuring carried out in 1996. The evaluation aims to see how the 1996 restructuring has worked in practice and identify any areas where the structure may need to be changed further. Which body/bodies should play a key role in the management and distribution of European funding for the arts? It is not clear whether this question relates just to Objectives 1,2 and 3 or whether it includes the wider range of European funding available. The Council would wish to be involved in partnerships distributing European funding to the arts as well as working closely with other distributors to ensure that arts projects are integrated into other development, for example economic development projects, as appropriate. What more can WAI, or others, do in promoting Wales’ creative industries abroad? Wales Arts International is a collaboration between the British Council in Wales and the Arts Council to provide a single point of contact for all International arts activity into and out from Wales. It’s aims are to: promote Wales arts and artists overseas increase the arts economy of Wales through the export of cultural services promote an understanding in other countries of contemporary Wales through its arts and cultural industries enhance the availability of quality international arts in Wales influence policy making in the arts in Britain and Europe. The current business plan shows that Wales Arts International aims to become the Welsh Assembly’s principal focus for cultural relations with other countries and regions, and as such to act as a key player in the Welsh, European and international strategies for Wales. Current resources are focused on the arts element of the collaboration although additional resources would allow the work of Wales Arts International to develop the cultural industries aspect of the work. The Assembly’s interest in developing a Cultural Industries Taskforce is welcome and is something that the Council’s Corporate Plan identifies as a priority. 11. How do you feel the arts can contribute to tackling social exclusion in Wales and what barriers presently exist which hinder progress? The Policy Action Team 10 report Arts and Sport identifies the importance of these activities in overcoming social exclusion. The report quotes some examples of arts projects working in this field in Wales. The report of the Culture Makes Communities conference organised by the Council with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in July 1999 will identify ways that arts and culture can work in the fields of capacity building and social inclusion. It is important to note that a significant sector of the arts community do not think that the Council should be spending its limited budget in the social exclusion, voluntary and education fields. This work is not seen to be consistent by that sector with developing excellence in the arts. The Council however believes this is to take the narrow view of the arts and that providing access and participatory opportunities to those traditionally excluded with have the effect of improving social cohesion and active citizenship. 12. What support should the Assembly be providing to sustain or increase the viability and income of the creative industries in Wales? There are a range of things that the Assembly could do to improve and develop the creative industry sector. Some of the things like tax breaks are a matter of advocacy and making representations to the UK government. The important thing to note is that the problems experienced by small and medium sized enterprise are multiplied when looking a the creative industries many of which are best categorised as micro enterprises. The development of training and skills particularly in enterprise and entrepreneurship are key. The Assembly could assist this sector through the distribution of European funding streams by ensuring the eligibility criteria take account of the needs of this sector. Encouraging Welsh artists and designers to become involved in fields of policy for which the Assembly is responsible is fundamental to development of the indigenous creative industry sector in Wales. |
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Wednesday, January 19, 2000 |
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