Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure

Legacy Report

2007 - 2011

Remit and Powers

The Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure is a Statutory Departmental Committee established in accordance with paragraph 8 and 9 of the Belfast Agreement, Section 29 of the NI Act 1998 and under Assembly Standing Order 48. The Committee has a scrutiny, policy development and consultation role in respect of the Minister of Culture, Arts & Leisure and has a role to play in the initiation, consideration and development of legislation.

The Committee has the power to:

• Consider and advise on Departmental budgets and annual plans in the context of the overall budget allocation;
• Approve relevant secondary legislation and take the Committee stage of primary legislation;
• Call for persons and papers;
• Initiate inquiries and make reports; and
• Consider and advise on matters brought to the Committee by the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure.

Membership

The Committee has 11 members, including a Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson, with a quorum of 5 members.

A comprehensive list of membership of the Committee can be found at Appendix one of this report.

Committee activities, outputs and achievements

Libraries

In the session 2007 and 2008/09 the Committee considered the Libraries Bill and received evidence from a number of stakeholders including the Education and Library Broads and the Department of Finance and Personnel. There were a number of amendments recommended by the Committee relating to a number of clauses and these were accepted by DCAL. For example, the Committee was anxious to ensure that members of the public had access to material relating to the heritage of their areas. As a result of an amendment by the Committee, all libraries throughout Northern Ireland now contain material relating to heritage.

In the session 2008/09, the Committee engaged with LibrariesNI as they worked towards the implementation of ‘Stage I – Greater Belfast: Meeting the Demands for a Modern Public Library Service within Northern Ireland’. LibrariesNI is one of the Arms Length Bodies of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and the Committee voiced their concerns over the proposed closures of a number of libraries. The Committee made representations to Libraries NI to prevent the closure of Whitehead, Carrickfergus and Cloughfern libraries.

Townland Names

Throughout the 2008/09 and 2009/10 sessions, the Committee was keen to preserve and promote the use of townland names in Northern Ireland. Townland names are in the common ownership of the entire community and all traditions and remain an important part of the shared heritage of the people of Northern Ireland. As a result of the Committee’s efforts, the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Education agreed to adopt the use of townland names in their addresses. Other government departments made commitments to use the townland name when it had been used in correspondence to the department.

Inquiries and Reviews

During 2007/2011, the Committee carried out three inquiries and one review. In the session 2008/09, the Committee commissioned and published a report on ‘The Development of a Museums Policy for Northern Ireland’. The Committee was concerned that the lack of a museums policy was impacting negatively on the museums sector. The report contained 28 recommendations. On 12 January 2009 the Assembly debated and approved the Committee’s report. The Minister accepted the Committee’s recommendation for a Museum’s policy and a policy was adopted by the Minister at the end of the mandate. The Committee contributed significantly to the policy development of this key policy.

In the session 2008/09, the Committee carried out and published a report ‘Into the Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland’. Although the arts is one of the key spending areas for the Department, there was growing concern at the relatively low levels of funding to the arts spending per capita in Northern Ireland as compared to other countries and regions. The report made 14 recommendations. The Committee highlighted the important role community arts has on community regeneration across a range of departments. On 24 November 2009, the Assembly debated and approved the Committee’s report. The Committee has continued to pursue the implementation of the recommendations, including the need to revisit the methodology used to calculate arts spend per capita.

In the sessions 2009/10 and 2010/11, the Committee commissioned and published a report into ‘Participation in Sport and Physical Activity in Northern Ireland’. The Committee was concerned over the decline in participation levels across the population and sought to analyse barriers to participation and identify possible solutions. On 13 September 2010, the Assembly debated and approved the report, which contained 24 recommendations.

In the session 2010/11, the Committee commissioned and published a short review on ‘The Impact and Value of Museums in Northern Ireland’. The purpose of the review was to provide a supplementary report to the 2008/09 Museums inquiry. The review focused on assessing the economic and social impact and value of the museum sector in Northern Ireland. On 23 March 2011, the Assembly debated and approved the report.

Legislation

In the session of 2008/09, the Committee approved three statutory rules to bring in the provisions of ‘The Safety of Sport Grounds (NI) Order 2006’ and the rules were used as a basis for the sports law and spectator control clauses of the Justice Bill (NI) 2011.

Although the Committee for Justice was the lead Committee in relation to the Justice Bill, the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure provided a detailed response to the Committee for Justice on Part 4 of the Bill which relates to Sport. The Committee considered written evidence from a number of sporting bodies and received oral evidence from the Department of Justice and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure on 2 December 2010. The Committee suggested a number of amendments, mainly surrounding the definition of terms such as, ‘regulated grounds’, ‘drunk’, ‘chanting’ and ‘lawful excuse’ and requested that the use of laser pens was also banned. The Committee’s response was forwarded to the Committee for Justice for consideration on the 10 December 2010.

In the sessions 2008/09 and 2009/10, the Committee approved the amendment to the Fisheries Regulations (NI) 2003 which allows the EC European Eel Regulations No 1100/2007, which established measures to recover eel stock to be implemented in DCAL inland waters and allowed a cessation of commercial eel fishing. Other statutory rules were agreed which amended fishing and eel fishing licensing duties and The Fisheries Act (NI) 1966 was amended to reflect the transferring of responsibility for issuing licenses from the Fisheries Conservancy Board to DCAL.

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)

In the session 2008/09 the Statutory Rule which updated the rules on admittance applying to those using PRONI’s on-site facilities was approved by the Committee and came into operation on 1 April 2009.

Budget scrutiny

Throughout the Mandate, the Committee has considered and advised the Department on the management of its annual budget through quarterly monitoring rounds and revised spending plans.

During the course of the comprehensive spending review period for 2011-2015, the Committee engaged with the Department and key stakeholders on a regular basis on the impact of budget cuts to culture, arts and leisure. In September 2010 the Committee was briefed by the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Sport NI, the Arts Council for Northern Ireland, Libraries NI, National Museums for Northern Ireland, NI National Museums Council and NICVA. In November 2010 the Committee was briefed by the Construction Employer’s Federation and held a ‘round robin’ event with numerous arts groups who highlighted the detrimental impact the proposed cuts would have on their organisations. Members were also briefed by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Northern Ireland Theatre Association in January 2011 on the draft DCAL budget. The Committee published a budget report, on the Committee website outlining the Committee’s findings. The Committee was concerned that savings from cuts to the DCAL budget would make a negligible difference to the overall NI budget but would have a disproportionate effect on creative industries, job creation, sports, culture and tourism. Throughout the budget process, the Committee continually campaigned for a “fair deal for the arts” and supported the view that arts funding should be proportionately cut. Likewise, it supported the protection of libraries and museums and warmly welcomed the additional funding that became available in the final budget for arts, libraries and museums. The Committee also welcomed the budget allocation of £110m for the multi stadia development and the further capital allocation of £11.6m for the development of the 50m pool on top of £3.5m already allocated. The Committee had supported the need for greater investment in capital infrastructure in sport, throughout the mandate.

Committee approach in its scrutiny, policy development and consultation role

Throughout the 2007/2011 mandate, the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure sought to engage with stakeholders through events, Committee meetings and Committee visits. 277 Organisations met with the Committee and in total, the Committee held 300 evidence sessions. The Committee held some 159 meetings; the second highest amount of meetings held by any statutory Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Of these meetings, the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure had the highest amount of meetings classified as ‘open’ to the public at 84.1%. Further statistics can be found at Appendix two of this report. The Committee fulfilled its policy development role through regular briefings, inquiries and the commissioning of 22 research papers.

The Committee held two major stakeholder events, with 88 organisations in total attending. The first event, held in June 2009, promoted the use of townland names with over 100 people in attendance and included a performance by Armagh Rhymers and an exhibition of quilts. A representative from Land and Property Services attended to provide a demonstration on computer software that researches townland names. The other event was in March 2010, which gathered evidence from over 30 people from 21 organisations for the Committee’s inquiry into adult participation in sport and physical activity in Northern Ireland.

The Committee was also very supportive of community arts through the sponsorship of events such as ‘Mathemagic’ by Cahoots, ‘In Your Head’ by BEAM Creative Network. It also supported young musical talent through the sponsorship of Ballyholme Primary School and Waringstown Primary School (winners of the BBC Songs of Praise Choir Awards) and 13 year old Chloe Coyle, winner of the RTE1 All Ireland Talent show. Each year the Committee also congratulated local sportsmen and women from Northern Ireland on their sporting achievements, highlighting their successes to the Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure.

From 2007/2011 the Committee visited 26 places which reflect the remit of the work of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. For example, in the 2007 and 2010/11 sessions, the Committee visited libraries in Belfast and Antrim; in 2008/09 the Exploris Aqarium, Portaferry and Waterways Ireland, Enniskillen; three football stadiums in 2009/10; the Gaeltacht quarter of Belfast in 2009/10; seven venues related to heritage and museums and nine venues related to the arts which included Liverpool City of Culture in 2008/09 and the ‘Game of Thrones’ set in 2010/2011.

Issues and Matters an incoming Committee may wish to consider:

DCAL Budget 2011-2015

A new Committee will wish to be briefed on the outcome of the consultation on the draft DCAL budget and be provided with details of DCAL’s budget for 2011-2015.

Review of Arms Length Bodies

The Committee, in the previous mandate, agreed to undertake a review of the effectiveness and efficiency of arms length bodies in October 2010. However on hearing that DCAL was intending to undertake a similar exercise it decided not to undertake this review to avoid duplication of work. A future Committee may wish to monitor the progress of this Departmental review, its findings and recommendations.

Review of the impact and value of museums

The Committee published its review of the impact and value of museums on 23 March 2011. A new Committee may wish to consider this report and seek a response from the incoming Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure.

Cultural Awareness Strategy

The draft Culture Awareness Strategy was out for consultation towards the end of the previous mandate. The Committee was briefed on the consultation on 3 March. The consultation closed on 18 March. A new Committee may wish to be briefed on the outcome of the consultation and contribute to shaping the new cultural awareness strategy.

Museums Policy

The Museum’s Policy was finalised just prior to dissolution. A new Committee may wish to monitor the implementation of the new policy and ensure that the previous Committee’s recommendations on outstanding issues are addressed in the future.

June 10 – An Cultúrlann Centre

A Regional and Minority Languages Strategy

Libraries NI – Stage 2 Consultation – Delivering Tomorrows Libraries

Towards the end of the previous mandate, Libraries NI consulted on the proposed closures of libraries outside the greater Belfast Area. The Committee was briefed on the draft proposals on 17 February 2011 and on 23 March 2011, Members heard evidence from the residents of Greystones and Fintona on the proposed closure of their libraries. In March 2011, the Committee held a special meeting for the children of St Mary’s Primary School, Draperstown, who briefed the Committee on the proposed closures to Draperstown Library. Three children gave evidence and this was the first time children of primary school age had presented to any Stormont Committee. The children handed a petition over to Committee Members for onward transmission to Libraries NI. A delegation of Committee Members met with children from Carnlough Primary Schools on the closure of Carnlough Library. The Committee also formally responded to the consultation, detailing that the closure of any library should not be presumed and that every effort should be made to find an alternative solution to closure. A new Committee may wish to be briefed on the outcome of the consultation and the proposed way forward.

Waterways Byelaws Consultation

Waterways Ireland is due to go out to consultation on its byelaws. The previous Committee was briefed by the Waterways Ireland in December 2010 on a number of issues including tourism and protection of the waterways. This Committee has been concerned about protecting the waterways due to tourism potential and a new Committee may wish to consider how to take a lead in this respect.

Stadia Development

The previous Committee welcomed the successful outcome of the bid for stadia development of rugby, soccer and Gaelic football. A new Committee may wish to monitor progress on stadia development to ensure the timely completion of these projects for events such as the World, Police and Fire Games in 2013 and other important sporting fixtures.

Jan 11 - The Committee with Jonathan Edwards, Olympic Champion

2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

The Special Olympics Ulster (SOU)

The previous Committee was concerned that no CSR bid was submitted by DCAL in relation to funding Special Olympics Ulster. This was an ongoing issue towards the end of the Mandate and the Committee was assured that the DCAL Minister was attempting to address the funding deficit with other Departments. A new Committee may wish to monitor progress in relation to securing funding for SOU, which was identified as critical to the future of the organisation.

World Police and Fire Games

The Committee expressed its support for DCAL’s bid to support the World, Police and Fire Games, the largest of its kind in the world. This major event represents an enormous opportunity in terms of boosting the local economy and promoting Northern Ireland on the world stage. A new Committee may wish to monitor the delivery of DCAL targets to ensure the successful delivery of the games.

2013 City of Culture

A new Committee may wish to apprised of progress in relation to the delivery of the 2013 City of Culture in Derry/Londonderry.

Opening of new premises

European Issues

During the previous mandate, the Committee began monitoring the level of engagement by DCAL and its arms length bodies on EU policy and legislation. The Committee was disappointed to learn that the Department had not availed of funding under the EU Programme for Culture 2007-2013. A new Committee may wish to develop its monitoring role and improve engagement with Europe, with particular focus on the EU Programme for Culture 2014 onwards.

North South Language Bodies

The Ulster Scots Agency recently completed a review of its core funded bodies. However there were delays in relation to a value for money assessment of the Ulster Scots Agency. Foras na Gaeilge also conducted a review of core funded bodies and is working towards an implementation of a new funding framework for the Irish Language Sector. A new Committee may wish to monitor progress on the outcome of both reviews and related implementation plans.

Appendix one

Committee for Culture Arts and Leisure

The membership of the Committee since 9 May 2007 has been as follows:

Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr Declan O’Loan (Deputy Chairperson) c, g
Lord Browne of Belmont
Mr Thomas Burns g
Mr David Hilditch d
Mr William Humphrey e Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Billy Leonard f
Mr David McClarty h
Mr Ken Robinson a
Mr Pat Sheehan b

a Mr Ken Robinson replaced Mr David Burnside with effect from 18 June 2007.
b Mr Pat Sheehan replaced Mr Raymond McCartney with effect from 13 December 2010. Mr Raymond McCartney replaced Mr Paul Maskey with effect from 10
March 2008.
c Mr PJ Bradley replaced Mr Pat Ramsey with effect from 29 June 2009.
d Mr David Hilditch replaced Mr Trevor Clarke with effect from 13 September 2010. Mr Trevor Clarke replaced Mr Jim Shannon with effect from 15 September 2009.
e Mr William Humphrey replaced Ms Michelle McIlveen with effect from 4 October 2010. Ms Michelle McIlveen replaced Mr Nelson McCausland with effect from 15 September 2009.
f Mr Billy Leonard replaced Mr Francie Brolly with effect from 7 January 2010.
g Mr David McNarry ceased to be the Deputy Chairperson and Member of the Committee with effect from 12 April 2010. Mr Declan O’Loan was appointed Deputy Chairperson with effect from 13 April 2010. Mr Thomas Burns replaced Mr P J Bradley as with effect from 24 May 2010. Mr P J Bradley replaced Mr Declan O’Loan as Deputy Chairperson with effect from 28 May 2010. Mr Declan O’Loan replaced Mr P J Bradley as Deputy Chairperson with effect from 28 June 2010.
h Mr David McClarty was appointed as a Member with effect from 13 April 2010. Mr Dominic Bradley ceased to be a Member with effect from 13 April 2010.

Appendix two

Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure

Committee meetings & visits

Statutory Rules

Committee Inquiries

Committee Reports (excluding Bill and Inquiry reports)

Budget Scrutiny

Primary Legislation Scrutiny