Return to Agenda

ITEM EX11

EXECUTIVE - 3 APRIL 2002

ARTS DEVELOPMENT: REVIEW OF COUNTY COUNCIL INVOLVEMENT

Report by Director of Cultural Services

 

Introduction

  1. The report reviews the impact of the restoration of a funded arts development strategy, and proposes a future direction for the County Council in arts development in the county.

    2. Background

  2. The County Council reintroduced budgetary provision for arts development in Oxfordshire with effect from April 2000. This followed a period of some four years during which the Council made no financial allocation for this purpose. Provision was made of £50,000 in 2000/01, rising to £70,000 in 2001/02 and £100,000 in 2002/03. A further £10,000 was allocated annually to support the Oxfordshire Youth Arts Partnership.

  3. The policy objectives to be achieved were stated as:

    • Support for arts organisations

    • Links between Cultural Services and other Council services

    • Providing core funding to key organisations linked to partnership agreements

    • Spreading support between art forms and to participatory activities as well as building-based activities

    • Support for artistic excellence and innovation

    • Monitoring management practice, standards and value for money

    • Support for audience development initiatives which target the socially or geographically excluded, people on low incomes, the young, elderly and those living in rural areas.

  1. Allocation of the arts budget for 2000/01 to 2002/03 was made by the then Cultural Services Committee on the basis of previously identified priorities. In addition to the core grant aiding of nine arts organisations, a small development fund was identified to support new arts initiatives, and it was also agreed to use part of the budget to bring the payment of the County Council’s subscription to the Regional Arts Board up to scale.

  2. Use of the budget was reviewed by the Cultural Services Committee in March 2001, and the planned allocation of grants confirmed, with an increase of £1,000 to the Oxfordshire Youth Arts Partnership. The actual amounts of grant paid in 2000/01 and 2001/02, together with the agreed amounts for 2002/03, are shown in Annex 1.

    3. Impact of Arts Grants

  3. The County Council's decision to reinvest in arts development has been warmly welcomed by the arts sector and has had a significant effect in proportion to the relatively modest level of funding involved. That effect generally has been felt in terms of leverage of funding from other bodies, increased confidence in the organisations involved, improved partnerships with the organisations, and influence to achieve social benefits for the county through their work.

  4. Annex 2 contains a review by the County Council's retained arts consultant of the work of the individual grant-aided bodies, as well as his recommendations for future support, should additional funding become available.

  5. The budget set aside to support specific development projects (£5,000 in 2000/01 and £7,000 in 2002/03) have been used to good effect. However the small amount available has meant that only a handful of projects can be supported each year and at very modest levels. This leads to a disproportionate amount of officer and consultant time being spent on allocating the budget between competing demands which potentially far outstrip it. It has also meant that the availability of development grants has not been widely advertised in order to avoid building up false expectations: this potentially has implications for Best Value and equality of opportunity.

    6. Best Value Review

  6. Expenditure on the arts was included during 2000/01 in a Best Value review, which also encompassed sport, recreation and tourism. As a result service level agreements were introduced for all organisations receiving annual grants of £5,000 or more.

  7. Other actions arising from the Best Value Review were to create a partnership agreement with Southern Arts, and to formalise the contract with the arts consultant (to be reviewed in March 2003). Work was begun with Southern Arts to arrive at a partnership agreement, but that was overtaken by the announcement of the demise of Southern Arts (see below). A formal contract has now been agreed with the arts consultant.

    8. Local Cultural Strategy

  8. Consultation on the county-wide Local Cultural Strategy revealed strong support for the County Council’s involvement in arts development. Particular conclusions relating to the arts and reflected as high level objectives in the Strategy include:

    • a "cultural entitlement" for all Oxfordshire school children

    • investment in cultural education and training of young people, and opportunities for them to gain employment in cultural industries

    • reduced barriers to participation through targeted initiatives

    • promotion of multiculturalism

    • a festival culture which celebrates local creativity

    • an increase in public art, including a "percentage for art" in new development

    • a capital development plan for the county’s cultural buildings and facilities, and possible new ones

    • creative links between science, technology and the arts

    • maintenance of existing successful partnerships and development of new ones

    • cooperative marketing and audience development initiatives.

European Capital of Culture

  1. Another relevant development has been the County Council’s work with Oxford City Council, the two universities and Southern Arts to mount a bid for the title European Capital of Culture 2008. This has already begun to foster a shared sense of direction for arts development between the partners and potentially the other District Councils too.

  2. The broad themes adopted by the Oxford submission are:

    • the arts

    • inspiring children

    • lifelong learning

    • cultural research and development

    • science

    • sustainable development

  1. During the period April to December 2002 applications are being assessed. This means that particular attention will be paid to the detail of the submission and current programmes of cultural activity. If the title should come to the county, then this will drive the development of a coherent programme of arts and other cultural development building up to 2008 and beyond. An independent body, Oxford Inspires, is being created to champion the bid. (There is a possibility that its remit may eventually be to address cultural planning development across the county, whatever the outcome of the bid for the Capital of Culture title.) This body would be set up by the partner organisations in the form of a company limited by guarantee. Preparations for this are well in hand, but formal authorisation is now sought to enable the County Council’s participation to be formalised. The County Council would be entitled to appoint a person as a director of the company.

    2. Southern Arts

  2. In summer 2001 the Arts Council of England announced plans to disband independent Regional Arts Boards, replacing them with regional offices of the Arts Council itself. In addition it was declared that the areas covered by Southern Arts and South Eastern Arts would be merged in order to align with Government’s regional boundaries. These intentions are to be implemented with effect from 1 April 2002.

  3. The Arts Council’s decision seemed to have been taken unilaterally but comments were invited subsequently. Two questions were of particular concern to this County Council and to other local authorities. Firstly there was virtually no indication of what relationship the new regional offices would have with local authorities. Indeed, initially, the role played by local authorities in arts development received very little recognition. Secondly, given the size of the new South East region, it was important to understand how a sub-regional dimension would be reflected in the new arrangements. Separate letters written to the Chief Executive of the Arts Council on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council, Oxfordshire Arts Forum and the Thames Valley Cultural Consortium (an ACTVaR sub-committee) regarding these two issues received no response.

  4. Whilst there are indications that the Arts Council is beginning to address these issues, it is clear that the previous relationship which existed between the County Council and Southern Arts ceases on 31 March 2002. One consequence of this is that it will no longer be appropriate to make an annual subscription (£46,000). At a future time it may be that a partnership with the successor body will involve an agreement to make a similar sum available, but in the meantime this budget should be used to meet other arts development priorities.

    5. Proposals for Future Direction of Arts Development

  5. 2002/03 is the third year of the grant agreements entered into in 2000/01. No significant change should take place during that year. Furthermore the levels of grant aid for 2002/03 should be taken as the baseline for the negotiation of renewed service level agreements with the core-funded bodies. These should be rolling three-year agreements (i.e. reviewed and extended annually, so that there is always a three-year planning horizon).

  6. The possibility of enlarging any of these grants or of extending core-funding to other strategic arts bodies, as referred to in the arts consultant’s report (Annex 2) should be considered in the light of the priorities determined by the County Council in setting its policy and budget for 2003/04 and subsequent years.

  7. Any scope for reallocation of existing resources within the arts development budget should in the first instance be used to augment the scope for one-off development awards. These can then be used both to nurture initiatives taken by organisations not in receipt of core-funding, and to augment for a limited period (usually one year) the grant to a funded body in order to achieve some specified additional outcome. Priorities for the use of this budget should continue to be based upon the existing arts policy (paragraph 11 above). It should also support the objectives of the Local Cultural Strategy and projects with particular relevance to the European Capital of Culture bid.

  8. In particular it is proposed that the following should be given the highest priority:

    • engagement of children and young people (including creative education)

    • support for festivals

    • investment in the county-wide infrastructure of places for performance and exhibition

    • support for county-wide arts marketing and audience development initiatives.

  1. The contract with the arts consultant is due to be reviewed in March 2003. The crucial question will be how the County Council can most effectively ensure arts and cultural development across Oxfordshire in the longer term. The answer may be to continue to outsource this work in some way, or to create a post internally to pursue it, or to adopt a combination of these solutions.

  2. Whatever body emerges to replace Southern Arts it will be important to develop an effective relationship which ensures that Oxfordshire’s voice is heard in the region and nationally, and that the county receives appropriate benefits from the national arts funding and support structures.

    3. Financial Implications

  3. It is not proposed to make significant changes to the existing budgets for arts grants either in 2002/03 or in subsequent years.

  4. It is proposed that the opportunities for greater investment in the arts be weighed by the County Council in its deliberations on budget and policy priorities for 2003/04 onwards.

  5. Some limited re-allocation in the arts budget for 2002/03 will create a larger development fund which can be used for the priorities identified in paragraph 21 above. Principally this will come from the provision previously made for subscription to Southern Arts.

  6. Members will note that the County Council’s allocation of £35,000 in 2002/03 (£45,000 full year equivalent) for a Cultural Entitlement Officer to work with schools will support one of the priorities identified above.

    7. RECOMMENDATIONS

  7. The Executive is RECOMMENDED:

          1. to confirm the existing policy objectives for arts development set out in paragraph 3 of the report;

          2. to agree the approach to three-year rolling grant agreements set out in paragraph 18;

          3. that the possibility of enlarging any of these grants or of extending core-funding to other strategic arts bodies, be considered in the light of the priorities determined by the County Council in setting its policy and budget for 2003/04 and subsequent years;

          4. to agree that, while seeking an effective partnership with a successor body to Southern Arts, continuation of a subscription or its equivalent would not yet provide demonstrable value;

          5. to agree the objectives in paragraph 21 as the key priorities for the use of one-off development grants;

          6. to approve in principle the setting up jointly with other partners of a company limited by guarantee to achieve the objectives in respect of the Capital of Culture bid and otherwise as set out in paragraph 14 of the report, and authorise the Director of Cultural Services and the Solicitor to the Council, in consultation with the Executive Member for Learning & Culture, to take all necessary action for this purpose;

          7. to appoint the Executive Member for Learning & Culture, or such alternative person as he may nominate, to represent the County Council as director of the company when created.

RICHARD MUNRO
Director of Cultural Services

Background papers: Nil

Contact Officer: Richard Munro, tel 01865 810191

March 2002

Return to TOP