News and Policy Brief - October 10
Ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review, with the party conference season in full swing, petitions against cuts to arts funding gaining momentum and a number of major publications, last month was another hectic period for the sector.
1. Party Conferences:
Liberal Democrat Party Conference 17-22 September, Liverpool
Overall, there was little mention of culture at the party conferences although
Don Foster, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee for Culture, Media, Olympics and Sport and former Shadow Secretary of State for Culture did mention the DCMS’s importance as a department.
Read the speech here
Speaking at the conference, the business secretary Vince Cable reiterated arguments about the importance of innovative sectors, including creative industries, in economic recovery and the need for universities to supply business with the right skills. He also stressed the significance of alternative routes to employment and of shedding prejudices associated with vocational training.
Read his speech here
Don Foster was also the keynote speaker at the conference fringe event Britain: Creative Highway or End of the Road?, coordinated by NESTA. The panel discussed how innovative digital technologies can drive economic growth through arts and creative industries and Foster responded outlining necessary measures to create an enabling environment for the sector. Key points with relevance to craft included the need for university courses which deliver the requisite skills, and research into the link between cultural activity and creative industries.
He ended with a powerful statement about of the economic potential of creative industries:
“The figures are very clear…it is clear that if we get the framework and support right the creative industries could become as important to the UK economy as financial services are at the current time. I don’t think any government has yet articulated clearly enough what it is going to do.”
The discussion can be watched here
Labour Party Conference 26-10 September, Manchester
NESTA’s Britain Creative Highway or End of the Road?, event was also held at the Labour Party Conference. During the discussion, the then Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media, Sport and the Olympics, Ben Bradshaw said that he had argued for ‘exceptionalism’ for the cultural sector, saying it generates twice the income it receives and is only accountable for 0.03% of Government spending.
The discussion can be watched here
Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband has also appointed his shadow cabinet with Ivan Lewis, as shadow culture secretary.
Conservative Party Conference 3-6 October, Birmingham
On the final day of the conference, Secretary of State for Media Culture, Sport and the Olympics Jeremy Hunt, delivered a key note speech on the Olympics. NESTA fringe events focussed on how policy can be framed to achieve savings and assist economic recovery and create the right conditions for innovative companies that will generate sustainable growth.
The discussions can be watched here
2. Ministerial Activities:
Culture
Jeremy Hunt
Last month the Secretary of State for Media, Culture, Sport and the Olympics spoke at the Media Festival Arts, he reiterated key priorities for DCMS as:
- Ensuring that arts funding cuts do not affect the education/participation end of creative programming.
- Imaginative thinking about partnerships – especially between arts organisations and public service broadcasters.
- Long term arts policy designed to mitigate lasting damage to the sector and secure the UK’s position through long term funding settlements giving organisations a clear financial picture for the next four years.
Hunt also restated that arts must ‘share the pain’ of deficit reduction, but claimed that there is a clear understanding from David Cameron and the Treasury of the economic impact of the arts and of the 2 million people it employs.
More on the conference here
Ed Vaizey
The Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries used his keynote speech to the Museums Association conference in Manchester on 5 October to set out elements of the Government’s future policy direction for museums.
He reaffirmed the DCMS commitment to reducing government spending whilst focussing on front-line services, and discussed the future of the work currently undertaken by MLA, stating that government support for museums will continue and that following the Spending Review the DCMS will consider how the various elements of MLA’s work will be delivered in future.
The speech also set out a new direction for the Renaissance programme, which will move away from the current hub system in favour of a group of core museums with outstanding collections that offer exceptional services to large audiences. Alongside this, the Renaissance programme will be used to create a challenge-fund to give regional museums access to funding.
Read the full speech here
Alan Davey, Chief Executive of Arts Council England also spoke at the conference. As we reported in August, ACE is commonly expected to take over some MLA activity. Davey commented on the importance of Renaissance and said that ACE would need to bring the right expertise from the MLA should it take on some MLA functions. Davey also told the MA conference that ACE would inform its regularly funded organisations of their settlements for the following year as quickly as possible after 20 October.
More here
Vince Cable
Speaking at Queen Mary University on 8 September, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, gave some indication of Government’s strategic priorities for science, research and innovation. Cable underlined the connection between innovation and economic performance, arguing that from a national economic perspective it is important to further economic interactions between business and the research base. In research, Cable argued for targeted funding, awarded following specific criteria such as excellence.
Significantly for the cultural sector, the business secretary also spoke about the importance of artistic and scientific research. He said, “I fully accept that scientific enquiry, like the arts, has its own intrinsic merit. It is a public good. It helps to define the quality of our civilisation, and embeds logical scientific thinking into the decision-making of Government, businesses and households.”
Read the full speech here and the Crafts Council response here
David Willetts
On 9 September, at the Universities UK Annual Conference, the Minister for Universities and Science set out different options for the future of university funding. Although he stressed that final decisions would have to wait for Lord Browne’s report, he argued for efficiency savings, providing alternatives to university (i.e. FE and apprenticeships), and for graduate contributions. The report is due for publication on 12 October.
Willetts spoke about the need for renewed emphasis on teaching in universities. In research, he echoed Vince Cable, commenting on the significance of research and innovation to the UK economy.
Significantly for the craft sector, Willetts continued to underline the importance of different routes, other than HE, into employment. This also echoes an earlier speech by Vince Cable delivered on and 15 July in which he stressed the value of practical and craft skills which are commonly taught in FE institutes. Willetts said:
“We cannot have a society where university is the only route to a well-paid job and a career. That is bad for social mobility. We are committed to ensuring young people have a wider range of options to choose from: apprenticeships; places at FE college; part-time study; online learning; an ordinary degree first, and then honours – and not necessarily at 18 either.”
BIS will make changes relating to university funding shortly after the spending review, leading to an HE white paper in the autumn. Reforms will be implemented at the start of the 2012/13 academic year (subject to parliamentary time).
The transcript is available here
Michael Gove
The Secretary of State for Education delivered the keynote speech at the Edge Lecture on 9 September – Edge is a foundation which works towards raising the status of practical and vocational learning.
In his speech ‘Elevating the Practical’, Gove championed the significance of practical skills, including craft skills, at school level and as important routes to employment, particularly through apprenticeships. Although his definition of practical skills is broad, he made a number of comments stressing the specific importance of craft skills particularly in his critique of the delivery of practical and technical education under the last government. Commenting that Labour failed to have ‘…a passionate understanding of, and commitment to, the joy of technical accomplishment, the beauty of craft skills, and the submission to vocational disciplines which lie at the heart of a truly practical education.’
He also set out a number of recommendations for the future practical education which include: – Promoting new institutions designed to support high-prestige technical education with a clear link to employment and further study. – That every child should have the option of beginning study for a craft or trade from the age of 14 but that this should by complemented by a base of core academic knowledge. – Increasing the number of Free Schools and support for Studio Schools movement (offering both academic and vocational qualifications).
Read his full speech here
John Hayes
The Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, speaking at the Group Training Association England annual conference on 29 September, set out his vision for apprenticeships and reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to work-based learning and training. He identified key priorities for the development of the apprentice scheme: – Expanding the number of apprenticeship places on offer and prioritizing more advanced skills levels at level three and above; – Establishing what the employer contribution to apprenticeship programmes should be – Make it easier for businesses to access apprenticeships, particularly small businesses
More here
3. Sector News:
Making Futures
Plymouth College of Art has published the papers from the ‘Making Futures’ conference, held in September 2009. The Conference aimed to further understanding about contemporary crafts practice in relation to significant and emerging global environmental and sustainability agendas. The thirty-nine presentation papers from the conference are included in the new volume with an introductory essay Making Futures: the crafts in the context of emerging global sustainability agendas, by Malcolm Ferris, the Conference Curator.
Access the publications here
NCA Culture Forum
The Arts & Business/National Campaign for the Arts Culture Forum met for the third time last month. The meeting covered a spectrum of issues around philanthropy including increasing corporate support, gift aid and driving philanthropy outside London. The final report will be delivered to the Prime Minister, Chancellor, Secretary of State for Culture, Minister for Culture and senior officials before the Comprehensive Spending Review on 20 October.
We welcome the recognition in Forum minutes that the final report must reflect the needs of cultural practitioners including craft makers.
Minutes are available here
Digital Skills Initiative
The BBC Academy and Arts Council England have announced a new digital skills sharing initiative, running a series of workshops for arts organisations interested in developing their digital competencies. See the ACE website for further information.
Petitions Against Funding Cuts to the Arts:
Two new campaigns have been launched recently. Read more about I Value the Arts and Save the Arts
4. Publications:
Over the past month there have been a number of timely publications examining funding alternatives and the economic significance of the cultural sector.
Capital Matters
The latest consultation document from Mission Models Money, which is the culmination of five years research, argues for the development of financial resilience in UK cultural and arts organisations by moving from a subsidy (support for specific projects/programmes) to an investment (developing capital) funding model.
The document remains open for comment until 13 October and input will be considered along with the views 200 representatives from cultural organisations, including the Crafts Council, have already fed into the research. Access the report and contribute here
The Fuse: Igniting High Growth for Creative, Digital and Information Technology Industries in the UK
A new report from the Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE) argues that the UK’s future economic prosperity relies, in part, on rapid growth in its Creative, Digital and Information Technology businesses. The report makes a series of recommendations to the ‘golden triangle’ of government, higher-education and business which include the need for a joined-up approach, recognition of the economic significance of CDITs alongside STEM subjects and the importance of interdisciplinary courses in universities.
It is valuable to see recognition from the CHIE of the significance of the creative digital sectors. As both our own research and this report show, craft practices make significant, innovative contributions to numerous industry sectors including digital and information technology. And research increasingly embraces multidisciplinary work for example, weaving intelligent fibres into garments or “skins” that can transmit data and behave in response to the presence of a person (Fuse p25).
Access the report here
The Costs and Benefits of Creative Partnerships
A new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP argues that Creative Partnerships, the creative learning programme for schools established under the Labour Government, yields £15.30 for every £1 invested. Read the report here
5. Parliamentary Round up:
Culture Media and Sport Committee
Secretary of State for Culture, Media, Sport and the Olympics Jeremy Hunt, gave evidence to the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee along with the DCMS Permanent Secretary Jonathan Stephens on 14 September. He emphasised his department’s aim to halve administration costs and DCMS staff numbers by the next spending round in 2014/15 in order to protect frontline services, saving the department £28m. Hunt also faced scrutiny over the effect his proposed 25% spending cuts would have on the UK’s cultural and creative economies and his department’s apparent haste to close quangos.
View the evidence session here
In Parliament
As a result of the party conference season, recent activity in parliament has been limited. However, some questions were raised in written answers to DCMS about arts finance. On 13 September Valerie Vaz, MP for Walsall South and a signatory of the Arts Funding EDM, asked what recent discussions had occurred between the culture secretary and Chancellor around reductions in levels of funding for arts organisations and the future of arts funding. Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries Ed Vaizey replied that they are in regular discussion about the Comprehensive Spending Review and other matters.
Bob Russell, the Liberal Democrat MP for Colchester, asked the culture secretary on 13 September whether he will encourage ACE to relax its free entry conditions on grants to allow recipients to charge admission to art galleries and other arts venues and about future plans for regional arts councils. In answer to both questions, Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson referred to the Government’s arms length principle in relation to ACE, but mentioned that it has not been standard policy for ACE to stipulate free entry conditions.
The sports minister was also asked, by Chuka Umunna MP for Streatham, whether an impact assessment had been undertaken about the abolition of the MLA. Robertson replied that no formal impact assessment was commissioned and the basis for the decision was finding savings in all areas of the Department’s spending.
See Hansard pp105-8 for the series of questions.
