News and Policy Briefing / March 11
There has been a slight lull in cultural policy developments over the past month. However, important changes continue apace at all levels of the education system including a major review of vocational education and a number of Select Committee inquiries. Read on for more sector specific policy updates.
Contents:
1) Education:
- Vocational Education
- Schools Education
- Higher Education
2) Growth Incentives
- Skills Fund
- LEP Update
3) Sector News
- Local Authority Funding
- Cultural Leadership Programme
- Philanthropy
- Building Digital Capacity for the arts
4) Publications
5) In Parliament
- In the Commons
- In the Lords
1) Education
Vocational Education
Wolf Review
There have been a number of recent publications relevant to vocational education. On 3 March the Department for Education published the Wolf Review, a major review of vocational education, commissioned by Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove and undertaken by Professor Alison Wolf. Selected conclusions from the review in summary are:
- A quarter to a third (300,000 – 400,000) of 16 to 19 year olds are on courses which do not lead to higher education or good jobs.
- High-quality apprenticeships are too rare and an increasing proportion are being offered to older people not teenagers.
- There are many good quality courses and institutions but they exist “in spite of” the current funding and regulatory system.
- Only 45 per cent of the cohort get a ‘C’ in GCSE English and maths at 16 and very few (four per cent) of those who fail then go on to achieve this from 16 to 19.
Four proposals from the review have already been accepted with the Department for Education currently considering how to implement further proposals. Accepted proposals are:
- To allow qualified further education lecturers to teach in school classrooms on the same basis as qualified school teachers.
- To clarify the rules on allowing industry professionals to teach in schools.
- To allow any vocational qualification offered by a regulated awarding body to be taken by 14-to19-year-olds.
- To allow established high-quality vocational qualifications that have not been accredited to be offered in schools and colleges in September 2011.
The Crafts Council believes that all students should be equipped with literacy, numeracy and practical skills and that only qualifications which meet stringent quality criteria should be offered in schools. However, we believe that the proposal that students aged 14 to 16 should spend no more than 20 per cent of their time on a vocational specialism still embeds a very heavy weighting of priorities in schools.
On a separate note, we welcome the increase in the availability of apprenticeships to people who are further on in their careers while noting that the requirements of apprenticeship schemes still make it difficult for craft professionals, typically sole traders, to afford to take on an apprentice.
Access the Review here.
Behaviour and Discipline in Schools – Commons Education Select Committee
Earlier in February, the Commons Select Education Committee released a report on behaviour and discipline in schools. The report contains welcome endorsements of practical and vocational learning and argues that children who are engaged in school learning are less likely to misbehave. The report states:
‘Ministers should bear in mind, when developing proposals for the new National Curriculum, that if the future curriculum is to have a beneficial effect on standards of behaviour in the classroom, it will need to meet the needs of all pupils and contain a mix of academic and vocational subjects, while being differentiated and enjoyable. We heard in evidence that pupils who are positively engaged in learning are less likely to have behaviour problems. Therefore we encourage the Government to revisit the issue of vocational and practical learning to ensure a balanced approach.’
Read the full report here.
Schools Education
Summary of Recent Developments
As we have reported over the past few months the Government is undertaking major reforms and conducting consultations at all levels of the education system and we thought that now might be an opportune moment to summarise relevant changes.
Recent developments in school education include the Department for Education’s publication of the Schools White Paper in November, signalling the introduction of wide reaching reforms across the schools system, followed by the Henley Review of Music Education in February, tasked with making recommendations on music education in schools. And as we reported in February, the Department for Education has committed to a further Henley Review examining the provision of cultural education more broadly although the parameters and timeframe are yet to be announced.
The Cultural Learning Alliance, of which the Crafts Council is a member, has written to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, highlighting potential terms of reference for the follow up Henley Review into cultural education.
National Curriculum Review
A number of consultations on school level education are also underway, and the Department for Education is undertaking a National Curriculum Review. The consultation contains questions on art and design and design and technology, examining whether or not they should remain National Curriculum subjects and if so at which key stages. The Crafts Council is preparing a response for the 14 April closing date.
Access the consultation here.
E-Bac – Commons Select Education Committee
We reported last month on the new English Baccalaureate (E-Bac) and the Crafts Council has now submitted written evidence to the Commons Select Education Committee inquiry into the E-Bac. Evidence must remain confidential until published by the Committee but was in line with our views on provision and the apparent weighting of value as expressed elsewhere.
On 22 March the Education Committee heard oral evidence on issues arising from the introduction of the E-Bac and its impact on pupils and schools, further and higher education and for employers.
Follow the inquiry here.
Higher Education
White Paper
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills is soon to publish a Higher Education White Paper and the Commons Select Business Innovation and Skills Committee has launched an inquiry into The Future of Higher Education. The Crafts Council submitted written evidence to the Committee on 10 March; as above, evidence is currently confidential but our response focussed on the future of craft in HE and its importance to the UK’s cultural and creative industries as explored in last year’s Making Value report.
The first oral evidence session on 22 March examined the Browne Review.
Follow the inquiry here.
REF Weighting
In further Higher Education news, HEFCE and the Devolved Funding Bodies have confirmed that they are placing a 20 per cent weighting on impact in the new Research Excellence Framework (REF), which will succeed the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) in 2014.
Details of decision on assessing research impacts are available on the HEFCE website.
These changes were broadly welcomed by the research community although there were some concerns that the impact weighting was still too high.
Read statements from the 1994 Group, Universities UK and Russell Group.
The Value of Arts and Humanities
The Minister of State for Universities and Science David Willetts has given a major lecture on arts and humanities in higher education. Speaking on 1 March at the British Academy the Minister addressed what he described as a ‘worry’ that the Coalition’s policies are a threat to arts, humanities and social science subjects. He placed welcome emphasis on the continuing significance of these subjects, arguing that whist they have lost their teaching grant this is because of their relative cost to teach rather than a bias against them and describing the funding policy as ‘scrupulously neutral’. The Minister also argued that in research the Government has maintained the ‘broad balance’ of funding between the Research Councils.
His speech also referred to the public value of arts and humanities which he argued ‘comes across most clearly when we see how the natural and medical sciences find themselves needing to draw on insights from arts, humanities and social sciences’. We strongly welcome recognition from the Minister of crossover between arts and other disciplines including science, which in the case of craft is also detailed in Making Value, but would like to see specific acknowledgement of the distinct public value of arts, humanities and social sciences.
Read the speech here.
2) Growth incentives:
Skills Fund
On 7 March, in another measure intended to drive growth the Secretary of State for Business, Vince Cable and the Minister for Skills, John Hayes launched a new skills fund. The Growth Investment Fund (GIF) aims to help employers overcome barriers to growth within their sectors and industries. BIS will invest up to £50 million a year in partnership with businesses into the fund, which could amount to £100 million annually. The GIF could be deployed to expand the network of National Skills Academies, for example, which already exist in 16 sectors such as Environmental Technology, Railway Engineering and Retail.
More here.
Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) – Update
On 7 March the Chairs from the 31 approved LEPs were invited to meet with the Prime Minister Deputy Prime Minister and other Ministers including Business Secretary Dr Vince Cable and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles, to discuss the role of LEPs which, as the Government has repeatedly stressed, centres on driving forward growth in the communities and rebalancing the economy.
See the BIS news item and the list of 31 approved partnerships here.
The Deputy Prime Minister also announced at the meeting that the successful bids to the Regional Growth Fund would be revealed shortly and that the second round of the fund would open on 12 April.
We have been reporting regularly on LEPs and the Regional Growth Fund, but as we commented last month, the emphasis on driving private sector growth and job creation suggests they will be less relevant to micro-businesses unable to scale-up to provide significant employment, and therefore to many craft businesses. However, as detailed below a specific question was asked on LEPs and the arts in parliament this month, indicating that some MPs may see them as a source of support for the cultural sector.
3) Sector News:
Local Authority Cuts
We reported on Local Authority arts budgets in our December brief, following the initial wave of announcements in which Somerset County Council became the first local authority to cut funding for the arts. In January we reported further cuts when London Councils announced that it would stop all funding for culture, tourism and the 2012 Olympics by June 2011, and we also reported that the MLA had published a list of Local Authorities considering cuts to discretionary services, under which arts fall.
Councils in London have now published their budgets for 2011/12 and there have been further funding announcements in some other local authorities. Notable cuts have occurred in Barnet where the Council has cut the entirety of core funding to artsdepot; the only professional arts venue in the borough and an important venue for craft, hosting the Crafts Council’s touring exhibition Lab Craft from May.
See the artsdepot statement here.
Croydon Council has also decided to considerably reduce its arts spend and will retain just one member of its current arts staff team. See The Stage for more information on cuts in Croydon and other London Councils.
Leicestershire County Council has also made further arts funding announcements. The Council initially decided that plans for a new contemporary art gallery were to be shelved following funding cuts, before announcing that this decision would be reviewed in the spring when the entire council budget was available. The Council has now confirmed to Arts Industry that 124 objects from its collection have been sold, Councillors say that the money will be put back into the arts and heritage service.
Manchester City Council is considering cutting £326,000 from its arts budget over the next two years. The Council is also planning a restructure of cultural services, moving them from the Chief Executive’s Directorate to within the neighbourhood services department. The move is reportedly to provide more coherence between culture and other services, including sport and libraries. Separately, it has been announced that, there will be a new collaboration between Manchester City Council and the University of Manchester, with Whitworth Art Gallery Director Maria Balshaw taking over the Directorship of Manchester Art Gallery. Balshaw will remain an employee of the University. There are no plans at this stage for other joint roles in the two organisations.
Read more here.
Meanwhile, some local authorities have voted to keep funding for arts at levels approaching their previous allocations. Worcester City Council voted to keep funding for arts organizations at the same level even though overall spending will fall by 20 per cent. In addition, Coventry City Council voted to only cut arts funding by 3 per cent amidst £39 million in spending cuts.
We want to continue to ensure that we have up-to-date information so that we can provide appropriate support. If you – or an organisation that supports you – has been notified that your local or regional funding is at risk, please contact Rosy Greenlees, Crafts Council Executive Director, via our Policy Officer Camilla Buchanan, c_buchanan@craftscouncil.org.uk.
Cultural Leadership Programme (CLP)
The CLP has announced that it will close at the end of March 2011 in response to the current ‘rapidly changing’ environment of the cultural sector. Established five years ago with a £12 million grant from the Treasury, the programme was designed to develop leadership across the arts and wider cultural and creative sector through training courses and fellowships and has been supported by ACE, the Museums Libraries and Archives Council and Creative and Cultural Skills.
Certain aspects of the programme will continue with ACE managing them in-house. These are:
- Clore Fellowships (4)
- Clore Short Courses
- Meeting the Challenge Development Programme
- Sync – Disabled Leaders Programme
- Leadership Advance
- The CLP website will be maintained as a source of leadership development insights.
This full announcement can be read on the the CLP website.
Philanthropy
As part of the Government’s drive to boost philanthropy the Secretary of State for Culture Jeremy Hunt has embarked on a letter writing campaign to CEOs of the FTSE 100 companies to encourage them to support the arts. As we have reported in previous briefs this new measure is part of broader Government initiatives on philanthropy including the ten-point action plan to boost philanthropy unveiled by the Culture Secretary in December.
Building digital capacity for the arts
As we have reported previously, ACE and the BBC are collaborating in a project aiming to maximize the creation and distribution of high quality arts content for audiences on digital platforms. The programme launch took place on 10 March 2011 and the initial programme will run from March 2011 – August 2012 and will comprise practical seminars, an online guide to commissioning, facilitated masterclasses and an online resource of filmed and streamed content. The Crafts Council attended the launch and will be participating in the programme.
More here.
5) Publications
ACE annual report on Regularly Funded Organisations (RFOs) for 2009/10
ACE has published its annual monitoring report on RFOs. The report is complied from annual RFO submissions to ACE and provides information on financial statements, number of performances, exhibitions, film screenings and educational activities, known and estimated attendance figures for these activities (where relevant).
Access the report here.
AHRC survey of public engagement in arts and humanities research
The AHRC has launched the first ever survey exploring factors affecting public engagement in arts and humanities research. Public engagement in the arts is well documented in on-going large-scale studies such as the Arts Council’s Taking Part research, but this new survey from the AHRC has been designed to gather information from arts and humanities researchers’ about their understandings of and activities in the area of public engagement. Research aims to promote national and institutional goals in public engagement and develop strategies to support arts and humanities academics in their engagement with the public.
Access the online survey here.
The Forgotten Half
Leading UK think-tank DEMOS has released a new publication exploring the school to work transitions of the 50 per cent of young people who do not go to university. It finds the educational offer for these young people severely lacking and makes recommendations for how to provide the employment premiums that will give this ‘forgotten half’ a fair chance in the labour market. The pamphlet argues that this can be achieved in a variety of ways: through technical education such as apprenticeships, cultivation of soft skills, improved literacy and numeracy, and through work itself. It also suggests that within schools, providing access to these premiums would mean a professionalised careers service and a move away from a focus on academic skills.
Access the publication here.
Personal Manufacturing
NESTA has published a new report exploring the rise of personal manufacturing. The report came out of the NESTA event ‘Personal Manufacturing: the new look entrepreneur?’ which considered how 3D printing is changing some industries and the impact it is having on entrepreneurs. The report examines the future of personal manufacturing, which includes 3D printing and a range of other technologies, and looks at the economic potential, as well as the opportunities and barriers associated with these technologies.
Digital technologies including 3D printing are increasingly deployed by some makers. Examples are featured in the Crafts Council’s current touring exhibition Lab Craft shows work by 26 makers who combine traditional craft techniques with cutting-edge digital technologies such as rapid prototyping, laser cutting, laser scanning and digital printing.
Access the NESTA report here.
AIR Research
Artists’ Interaction & Representation, an organisation which campaigns for measures that enhance artists working lives and their professional status, has conducted an E-survey survey of its members on the subject of access to art education. Key findings relevant to the craft sector show that members believe that:
- Cuts in HE will reduce access to opportunity and diversity in the visual arts
- Vital making and craft skills will be lost to society
- Art and design research fosters entrepreneurship and excellence
- Artists’ livelihoods and portfolio careers will suffer
Access the findings here.
In Parliament:
In the Commons
Arts and LEPs – March 9
In written questions to BIS Caroline Lucas the Green MP for Brighton Pavillion asked about the potential role of the arts and creative industries within LEPs, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise Mark Prisk replied that LEPs will decide their own actions for priorities although these are expected to reflect key sectors in their areas. Dr. Lucas also asked Ministers about the economic impact of the arts and their role in economic recovery.
See Hansard p17.
Compulsory teaching of arts subjects and IT in schools – 10 March
Helen Grant the Conservative MP for Maidstone and The Weald asked Nick Gibb about his policy on the compulsory teaching of drama, music, art and information technology in schools. The Minister responded that the current review of the national curriculum aims to focus the curriculum on ‘the essential body of knowledge in key subjects which all children need to learn in order to succeed in education and in life, and to give teachers greater freedom’, and will determine which subjects beyond science, maths and physical education should remain compulsory and at which key stages.
See Hansard p124.
In the Lords
Ethical and Sustainable Fashion – 3 March
Baroness Young of Hornsey introduced the first debate in the Lords on the ethical and sustainable fashion and clothing industry. The lengthy debate considered different facets of the fashion industry including, economic contribution, labour, trade and the environment and Lord Haskel called for the Government to produce an overall green strategy for industry, of which fashion must be a part.
See Hansard pp55-65.
The Crafts Council also attended the first informal meeting of a new All-Party
Parliamentary Group (APPG) on sustainable fashion, hosted by Baroness Young in the Lords on 16 March. Our recent briefing note on Crafts and Environmental Sustainability examines how makers are raising awareness of environmental issues through their work, challenging some of the conventions of a society based on consumption and pioneering sustainable practices.
Read the briefing here.
