Peter Hewitt, Chief Executive of the Arts Council of England (ACE), recently spoke at the first National Summit for Local Government and the Arts. In Part 1 of his opening address, Hewitt describes how the relationship between the Arts Council and local government is entering what he believes is its third phase – and outlines the vision of the ACE to maximise the benefits of this partnership.
This is the first time the Local Authority members of all the regional arts councils have come together with Arts Council staff from across the whole country to form a joint vision for the arts.
I’m going to set the scene for our discussions, by describing the opportunity, as I see it, which we now have as the major stakeholders in the arts in this country. I’m going to suggest that, by sharing our vision and defining how best to use our joint resources over the next three years, we can make the strongest possible case for the arts as a driver of economic and social policy, at the heart of local government.
This is a big claim, but I believe it is within our grasp, for the first time in the history of our relationship.
As I see it, the relationship between local government and the Arts Council has been through two principal stages. We are about to enter a third, which promises to be the most effective yet. First, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, there was a period of working together on an ad hoc basis, often with a primarily local focus, in response to local need. With the establishment of the independent Regional Arts Boards in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the relationship became more structured and consistent, with a place for Local Authorities on those boards and the opportunity for local authorities to influence regional arts policy.
Now, the merger of the Arts Council and the former Regional Arts Boards into a single body, has resulted in formal places for elected members from local authorities on the new Regional Councils. This means that, at last, Local Government has a place and a voice, by right, inside the new national body for the arts in England. This has never before been the case.
This is an extremely important and positive result of our modernisation. It means we can get much more than ever before from our mutual relationship. And, crucially, we can work together to embed the arts at the centre of local government policy and strategy.
We begin from a position of strength. Through our partnership we already invest close to £700 million a year in the arts in England. But by joining up our thinking and deciding what our shared priorities will be for the next three years, we can have greater impact and win greater support, including access to more financial resources for arts activities that will benefit communities throughout England – despite the very considerable financial pressures facing local government at this time.
I’d like to say a few words about where we, the Arts Council, are with our programme of modernisation. You will be aware that this has been progressing over the past year. Now, after months of planning, we are very close to announcing the early results, and we will be going public with some of that in the New Year.
Our National Council has set us an exciting agenda that is, first of all, about growth, and about how we, as England’s national body for the arts, can use our investment to lever greater resources for the arts. That may be through strengthening existing partnerships, and it may be through creating new partnerships in the public and private sector.
The new agenda is very much about winning even greater support for the role of the arts in our national life. Our Council is inspired by the idea of the transforming power of the arts: power to transform people’s lives and communities. Alongside our remit to develop the arts, they have set us the task of being proactive in promoting the arts as a powerful force for change and renewal. As the single voice for the arts in England, it is now our job to win hearts and minds in the form of greater public and political support for the arts.
We are at the stage now of turning these aspirations into concrete plans, and indeed, we will publish our Corporate Plan in April 2003. In the meantime, we already have some operational benefits to show as a result of being one organisation. The best example is the streamlining of around 110 separate funding schemes, which exist around the country, into just two – one for individuals and one for organisations. These new schemes will open for applications next April, with a single application form, wherever people are based.
For artists and for people who use the arts as part of their work in whatever field – be it social inclusion work with young people, or regeneration – this will be a vast improvement in our service.
The modernisation of the Arts Council and the regional offices, means that the partnerships fostered over many years between the former Regional Arts Boards and local authorities will be more important than ever as we go forward. As the democratic bodies with permanent responsibility for local quality of life, councils are essential partners in our ambition to promote the transforming effect of the arts in all our lives.
Watch Arts Hub next week for Part 2 of Peter Hewitt’s speech, in which he details examples of how the arts are being used in social regeneration.
