| "There Will Be No Professional Sector in 10 Years”- Arts Council of Wales |
Arts Council Uncovered |
| Arts Councils Latest , Wales, Scotland & England. , November 28, 2024 |
These are not easy days for the Arts Councils of Great Britain. Governments are tightening budgets. Some small nations of Europe view culture as a means to influence. The Republic of Ireland was explicit on its intent and strategy. The Government of Wales has ratcheted down cultural expenditure to be Europe's lowest. The official record for the Senedd of 13th November 2024 includes an exchange between back-bencher and Minister. Heledd Fychan said: “This is 14 years of underinvestment in culture and sport—no strategy from Welsh Government” Jack Sargeant, Culture Secretary: “We've had 14 years of policies from a Westminster Government. That impact of austerity is very real, and the situation that is in front of the arts, culture and sports sector faces up to the reality of those policies. And that was a choice by the Conservative Government.” Heledd Fychan: “But we're talking about the Welsh Government.” * * * * In Scotland the Scotsman reported on 30th August: “Creative Scotland is facing a projected £47.5m shortfall to meet demand from some of Scotland’s best-known arts organisations and still does not have a budget for the three-year programme ahead of a planned announcement in October. “The Government’s arts agency has warned for two years that standstill funding is “no longer viable” for organisations in the face of rising inflation and costs, and suggested it will have to fund “far fewer” organisations unless it receives significantly more government funding. “Thousands of jobs and livelihoods are at stake as the future of the arts industry hangs in the balance. The creative industries are said to support more than 90,000 people and be worth more than £4.5 billion to the Scottish economy. "However, thousands of freelancers also depend on the Scottish arts industry and public funding for support. These include writers, actors, directors, producers, technicians, sound crews, set builders and designers.” * * ** The BBC continued: “Hundreds of arts organisations across Scotland are facing a further three-month wait to hear if they have been awarded funding. “A total of 281 organisations have applied for Creative Scotland’s new three-year funding stream and had expected to hear if they had been successful in the next two weeks. “But the funding body says it has had to delay decisions until January because the Scottish government will not confirm its own allocation of funds until its budget in December. “The Scottish government said it could only provide more information on budgets once Chancellor Rachel Reeves sets out the UK budget at the end of October. “The 281 organisations hoped to secure annual funding of £87.5m from the Multi-Year Fund and the delay comes against a background of closures and cutbacks across the culture sector. “Angus Robertson said budget pressures meant the government had to postpone funding decisions. In a letter to Creative Scotland chair Robert Wilson, Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said the Scottish government could not set budgets for the coming financial year without know what its own budget will be. “Mr Robertson said the Scottish government was working hard to ensure the arts sector receives at least £100m more funding annually by 2028-29. “News of the Open Fund being halted prompted the Campaign for the Arts Scotland group to warn the country was heading towards a "cultural catastrophe" without more arts funding and security. Some of the country's most popular music arts, such as Paolo Nutini, Biffy Clyro and Franz Ferdinand signed an open letter saying that cuts had sparked the worst crisis the arts in Scotland had ever faced.” * * * * Arts Council of England has been subject to a steady drip of criticism not just to its judgements but as to its loyalties. Darren Henley, Chief Executive, was obliged to write to the Stage on 29th August a letter that had an editorial sub-heading “Arts council open to all political perspectives.” Henley rebutted “claims that earlier this year Arts Council England made threats to defund political work, following government calls for political censorship. This is simply not true...Let me be clear, we welcome applications for work of a political nature, as long as that work promises to be high-quality, ambitious work.” The Council itself had been undergoing a review at the hands of the former government which lapsed with the ending of that government. The distemper in England has several roots. One is its attitude to opera. It confected a report to the effect “The overwhelming response was that the stories told through contemporary opera needed to be more relevant and appeal to a wider audience.” To support its decision, ACE issued statistics falsely claiming to show opera audiences were declining faster than any other art form. The opposite is true. The other cause of rumpus was the perceived lowering of interest by the Council in the arts. The Stage published articles that applicants down-played the art in order to meet the strategy of the Council. Michelle Dickson, Director Strategy, was obliged to write a letter to say this was not the case. Producer Peter Wilson accused ACE of allowing itself to “become an instrument of government rather than culture. * * * * Radio 4's nightly “Front Row” lands on Wales from time to time. Rarely is it to report good news. Dafydd Rhys featured on 24th January: “This is a significant cut to the arts. In 2010 ACW was receiving somewhere in the region of £35m from the Welsh Government. In 2024 the proposed budget is £30m. So, in real-terms it’s a cut of something in the region of 37% since 2010.” * * * * The BBC cited Dafydd Rhys in a news item of 14th November. “If funding cuts to the arts industry continue “there will be no professional sector in 10 years”, the chief executive of Arts Council Wales has warned. “Dafydd Rhys is calling for statutory funding for the sector from the Welsh government. "It comes as the council publishes a report into the economic impact of the arts in Wales which reveals that for every pound spent there is a return of £2.51. “The Welsh government said it is "determined" current financial challenges will not restrict its "long-term ambitions for the sector". “Arts Council Wales has received a 40% cut in funding in real terms since 2010 and Mr Rhys says he has grave concerns the sector will not exist in a decade. “...I doubt very much of it will be there in 10 years' time, other than it might be in the hands of some very, very rich benefactors, and won't be available for everybody at an affordable price,” he added. “The report has been published, Mr Rhys said, “as an advocacy tool” to fight for the sector and its funding. “In December, the Welsh government will publish its draft budget. The turnover of the sector and the creative industries and culture is something like £1.6bn," Mr Rhys added. "The employment is in the region of 40,000, which is similar to things like insurance or the financial sector, it’s similar to telecoms. This is a serious professional sector and it needs to be supported because it cannot go on as it’s been.” “Mr Rhys also believes the arts should receive statutory funding status from the Welsh government. “Because the arts are not a statutory responsibility, it is somewhere that local authorities can go to look for savings," he said. "I think that the Welsh government should consider ringfencing that funding. It puts a responsibility on the local authorities that they cannot go there as a first place of call to make the cut." “In June, research commissioned by performing arts union Equity revealed that in real terms, overall arts funding in Wales had dropped by 30% since 2017. “This is compared to a drop of 11% in England, 16% in Northern Ireland, and an increase by 2% in Scotland. “The Welsh government said the arts sector made "a vital social, cultural and economic contribution to our society, enriching communities and inspiring future generations". “It added that the current financial challenges should not restrict its long-term ambitions for the sector. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd0gkkv220yo * * * * Opera rankles with those in power. Although it was not always the case. Edwina Hart once challenged a Minister, of her own party, who said of opera "we don't want to bother with that, ordinary people aren't interested." Her response: "I know miners who know more about bloody opera than anyone in this room." In May an open letter was signed by 175 artists including Sir Bryn Terfel, Katherine Jenkins, Michael Sheen and Ruth Jones calling for emergency funding for Welsh National Opera, after it received a funding cut of 35% from Arts Council England and 11.8% from Arts Council Wales. “Elizabeth Atherton, an opera singer, said she had “no confidence” that the Welsh or UK governments were taking the matter seriously enough and said morale within the sector was "at an all-time low". “With careers collapsing and organisations struggling to keep afloat, artists are increasingly having to leave the industry completely, and arts organisations are diminishing their output as they fight for survival,” she said. “Without serious investment from government we will soon have nothing left for future generations.” “Yvette Vaughan Jones, chairwoman of Welsh National Opera said “continued cuts to the arts are a significant concern". “With further cuts, there is not only a risk to the artistic quality and talent development of our artists and arts workforce, but also a real risk to cross-sector work including in health and education which has a huge impact," she said. Composer Geraint Cynan spoke on Radio Cymru's Sunday Supplement on 22nd September: “We're happy to label ourselves the land of song. But we're in the middle of loads of cuts at Welsh National Opera at the moment. Politicians of all colours are willing to laud the ability of Wales to front the world, tenors, singers, actors, but are they willing to fund it?” Mid Wales Opera was removed from public support by the Arts Council of Wales this financial year. |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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