Session 2009/2010

Third Report

Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure

Report on the
Committee’s Inquiry into
the funding of the arts in
Northern Ireland

Together with the Minutes of Proceedings, Minutes of Evidence,
Memoranda and written submissions Relating to the Report

Ordered by The Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure to be printed 12 November 2009

Report: NIA 05/09/10R (Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure)

This document is available in a range of alternative formats.
For more information please contact the
Northern Ireland Assembly, Printed Paper Office,
Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast, BT4 3XX
Tel: 028 9052 1078

Membership and Powers

Powers

The Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure is a Statutory Departmental Committee established in accordance with paragraphs 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 with respect to the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure and has a role 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 five members.

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

Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr PJ Bradley ***
Mr Raymond McCartney **
Mr Francie Brolly
Ms Michelle McIlveen *****
Lord Browne
Mr Ken Robinson *
Mr Trevor Clarke ****

* Mr Ken Robinson replaced Mr David Burnside with effect from 18 June 2007
** Mr Raymond McCartney replaced Mr Paul Maskey with effect from 10 March 2008
*** Mr PJ Bradley replaced Mr Pat Ramsey with effect from 29 June 2009
**** Mr Trevor Clarke replaced Mr Jim Shannon with effect from 15 September 2009
***** Ms Michelle McIlveen replaced Mr Nelson McCausland with effect from 15 September 2009

Table of Contents

Report

Executive Summary

List of recommendations

Introduction

1. Per capita spend on the arts – comparisons with other countries/regions

2. Methods for sourcing additional funding

3. Measuring the economic and social benefits of the arts

4. Distribution of funding

5. Arts funders – comparisons with other regions

6. Art forms not receiving adequate funding

Appendices

1. Minutes of Proceedings

2. Minutes of Evidence

3. List of Written Submissions to the Committee

4. Written Submissions to the Committee

5. List of Witnesses who gave oral evidence to the Committee

6. List of Research Papers

7. Research Papers

8. List of Additional Information considered by the Committee

9. Additional Information considered by the Committee

10. List of Abbreviations

Executive summary

Purpose of the Report

The arts are one of the key spending areas for the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. However, over recent years there has been a growing concern at the relatively low levels of funding to the arts in Northern Ireland as compared to other countries and regions.

In this report, the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure has sought to establish how and to what level the arts are funded in Northern Ireland by the public and private sectors, the impact of this funding, and how monies are allocated across the various art forms.

Main Findings

The Committee came to the conclusion that there is a lack of information regarding how much money the public sector invests in the arts. Research is required to ascertain how much government departments, other than the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, spend on the arts.

In order to increase funding for the arts an inter-departmental approach is required, as the social and economic benefits of the arts meet the objectives of a range of departments.

In relation to allocating existing funding, the Committee came to the view that more money should be spent on community and voluntary arts, given their impact on regenerating communities and providing people with opportunities for participating in arts activities.

The Committee was particularly concerned that arts groups in communities without a history of arts funding should be pro-actively encouraged to access available monies. To this end the Committee recommends that the Start Up programme operated by the Arts Council continues and develops.

List of recommendations

1. We recommend that DCAL undertakes research to ascertain how much money is being spent on the arts by other government departments. This information should be used by DCAL and the Arts Council to gain a wider understanding of where arts funding is currently being targeted and to identify areas which receive little or no funding from any department.

2. We recommend that DCAL works with local councils post-RPA to assist them in reviewing how much they spend on the arts, with a view to ensuring that there is a greater degree of equality in arts provision across the different council areas than exists presently.

3. We recommend that DCAL targets its investment in the arts in such a way as to further embed the arts in people’s everyday lives right across Northern Ireland. The Committee is of the view that greater participation and access to the arts will lead to greater support both among the public and within government for increased funding for the arts.

4. We recommend that DCAL sets up an inter-departmental group on funding for the arts.

5. We recommend that the Arts Council pro-actively seeks out arts organisations that may be eligible for EU funding and assists those organisations in making applications for such funding.

6. We recommend DCAL and the Arts Council work together so that budgets for coming years can be finalised in the January ahead of the new financial year in April, so that arts organisations are given as much prior notice as possible of their funding position.

7. We recommend that DCAL and the Arts Council work with Arts & Business NI to ensure that more support is given to community based arts organisations in terms of accessing private sponsorship.

8. We recommend that the Arts Council increases the level of funding which goes to community arts organisations.

9. We recommend that the Arts Council requires professional arts organisations which it funds to increase the amount of outreach/community work they currently deliver.

10. We recommend that the Arts Council sets up a specific funding programme for community arts organisations that deliver participation opportunities to people living in Super Output Areas ranked in the top 20% of areas of deprivation according to the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure.

11. We recommend that the Arts Council increases the current budget for the Start Up programme which will distribute grants to community based groups which have received little or no previous funding from the Arts Council.

12. We recommend that in distributing these funds, the Arts Council pro-actively identifies groups which may be eligible for this funding.

13. We recommend that given its levels of participation, we recommend that the Arts Council increases the level of funding which goes to voluntary arts organisations, such as those involved in amateur drama or the traditional arts.

14. We recommend that in the interests of transparency and fairness, the Arts Council should establish a feedback process for unsuccessful funding applicants to clarify why they did not receive funding.

Introduction

Inquiry Terms of Reference

1. The Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure agreed to conduct an inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland on 8 January 2009. The terms of reference for the inquiry were agreed at the Committee meeting on 29 January 2009.

Terms of Reference for the Funding of the Arts

• To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.
• To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.
• To carry out a stocktake of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.
• To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors;

b) target social need;

c) encourage community regeneration; and

d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

• To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.
• To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.
• To report to the Assembly making recommendations to the Department and/or others.

The Inquiry Process

2. The Committee made the decision to hold an inquiry into the funding of the arts on 8 January 2009. Advertisements requesting submissions by 27 February 2009 were placed in the local newspapers on 3 February 2009. In addition, the Committee agreed to write to 134 individuals and interest groups, to request submissions on each of the matters included within the terms of reference. A list of those individuals and groups that submitted evidence is attached at Appendix 3.

3. The Committee received 71 submissions and considered oral evidence from 20 key stakeholders, including the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. A list of witnesses who provided oral evidence to the Committee is attached at Appendix 5. Transcripts of the oral evidence sessions are attached at Appendix 2.

4. In addition the Committee received additional information, to further inform the inquiry. A list of the additional information considered by the Committee can be found at Appendix 8. Copies of these additional papers are included at Appendix 9.

5. The Committee also commissioned 9 research papers on funding of the arts:

• The first paper examined the economic and social benefits that can be derived from sport, arts, museums and libraries in both the UK and USA.
• The second paper outlined the decision of the Project Steering Group in relation to the PricewaterhouseCoopers study to abandon Phase 2 of the research into the economic modeling of quantifiable benefits of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure.
• The third paper looked at the funding relationships between the arts and the business sector throughout the regions in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
• The fourth paper examined the per capita spend on the arts in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
• The fifth paper highlighted the social impacts of the Arts.
• The sixth paper provided details on the levels of funding for arts and culture in various European countries. The paper highlighted individual countries approaches to funding and the mechanisms they use to contribute to the arts and culture.
• The seventh paper addressed further issues regarding per capita spend breakdown in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
• The eighth paper looked at the auditing and monitoring procedures within the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s grant management processes.
• Finally, the ninth paper provided further insight into the social impacts of the arts. It considered health, participation amongst those with a disability, and grants awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Copies of these papers are included in Appendix 7.

6. On 17 September and 1 October 2009 the Committee reviewed the evidence to the inquiry.

7. The Committee considered sections of a draft report at its meetings on 8 October, 15 October, 22 October and 5 November and on 12 November 2009 the Committee agreed its final report and ordered that the report be printed.

Acknowledgements

8. The Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure would like to express and record its appreciation and thanks to all the organisations who contributed to the inquiry.

Chapter 1
Per capita spend on the arts –
comparisons with other countries/regions

Per capita spend figures

9. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) has produced per capita arts spend figures for Northern Ireland. The latest figure available is for 2008/2009 and is £7.58. Northern Ireland has the lowest figure for the UK and Ireland. The figures for the other regions are:

• England - £8.47
• Wales - £10.10
• Scotland - £14.04
• Republic of Ireland - €17.92[1]

10. The figure for Northern Ireland is based only on what the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) spends on the arts, and does not cover capital spend. Funding for the arts from other government departments is not included. The ACNI explained:

For comparative purposes, we agreed with the other arts councils what we would and would not count. None of the other arts councils take into account spend from other Government Departments or local authorities. We are talking about per capita spend from central Government, from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, from DCAL, and from their counterparts in the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. Those are the figures that we are using for comparison.[2]

11. The per capita figure produced by the ACNI does not include spend on the arts by local government, the private sector or philanthropic giving/donations. The ACNI told the Committee that it could not provide a figure on the spend on the arts by all government departments and by local councils, and that to do so would require an extensive piece of research.[3]

12. However, the evidence submitted by DCAL, both in writing and orally, questioned the per capita figure produced by the ACNI and its usefulness in understanding funding for the arts in Northern Ireland.

13. In his evidence to the Committee, the Minister queried the value of a figure which does not include all public expenditure on the arts:

The first point is about per capita spend on the arts. Currently, there is no universally accepted indicator of that nature, which creates a difficulty. It is vital that any comparisons made are like for like and that they adequately capture all public expenditure on the arts here and in other jurisdictions . . . In Northern Ireland, however, money may well come in from the Exchequer and be directed into another Department, but still end up by an indirect route being spent on the arts. It is important to take all those factors into account when we are looking at figures . . . .[4]

14. DCAL also made the point that Northern Ireland may have different needs than other regions in terms of the level and scale of arts provision. For example, during oral evidence DCAL officials made the point that the per capita figure for spend on the arts in Scotland (£14.04) includes funding for the Scottish Opera, the Scottish Ballet and the National Theatre of Scotland. Similar institutions do not exist in Northern Ireland, and it was the Department’s view that it is not clear whether Northern Ireland has the capacity for such organisations:

For example, Scotland has the Scottish Ballet and a national theatre. We do not have those, and we do not know whether we could sustain them if we did. If a comparison is undertaken, it is important to understand what is being compared and whether a region such as Northern Ireland needs exactly the same investment as other regions.[5]

Comparisons with other countries/regions

15. The ACNI was of the view that comparisons between spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with other European countries/regions were not feasible. They explained:

It is difficult to directly compare spending on the arts in many European countries and regions with that of the UK. That is because of different systems of support for creative and cultural life and the way in which they are defined in different countries and, even, in different regions of the UK. The ranges of legal structures and cultural policies that exist also have an effect . . .Other European countries have different funding models. For example, many countries, instead of having arm’s-length bodies, have ministries of culture that directly fund museums and heritage organisations and perhaps national companies. However, those ministries tend not to fund the independent arts sector, including the community and voluntary sectors. Therefore, it is difficult to draw comparisons with other European countries.[6]

16. The Arts Council of Ireland was of the same view, and made the point that:

To compare the way in which different jurisdictions fund the arts is like comparing apples and oranges.[7]

17. This view was backed up by a research paper commissioned by the Committee. That paper made the point that in most countries spend on culture only refers to contributions made by the culture ministry, and that there is a lack of a coherent definition of culture. Comparisons are further hampered by the fact that most European countries/regions present spend on the arts in terms of a percentage of GDP, rather than by using a per capita spend figure.[8]

18. Based on the evidence presented, the Committee came to the view that there is a lack of clarity regarding the amount of funding which is spent on the arts in Northern Ireland. It is not currently known how much local councils and the various departments spend on the arts. Given that there is considerable variation between local councils in terms of their arts budgets, there is perhaps the opportunity to leverage more funding from the arts through this source. This option could be explored as part of the Review of Public Administration. This point was made by Voluntary Arts Ireland who suggested:

We also recommend that the Department grasp the opportunity presented by the review of public administration (RPA) . . . There may be an opportunity for the Department, when looking at moving funding across to local authorities, to encourage them to match that and encourage some sort of continuity or consistency across the different local authorities, because it will vary. It can be quite random what is done in one area compared to another.[9]

19. The FLGA also drew attention to the variation in spend between the 26, soon to be 11, local councils:

There are 26 local authorities, each of which operates in a different way . . . Some councils do not place as high a value on the arts. I cannot speak for them, but that is an area of concern for all of us and for the Committee . . . Per capita spend ranges from £30 down to 37p in certain areas. The range is colossal.[10]

20. The Arts Council provided details of its most recent local authority arts expenditure survey from 2006/2007. The per capita spend per council is set out in the table below:

Council	Per capita spend
Belfast	£28.94
Cookstown	£24.22
Armagh	£23.37
Lisburn	£16.58
Strabane	£14.68
Fermanagh	£11.62
Coleraine	£8.94
Newry and Mourne	£8.30
Antrim	£8.17
Moyle	£7.97
Newtownabbey	£7.77
Ballymoney	£7.65
Down	£7.62
Omagh	£6.74
Craigavon	£6.66
Derry	£5.84
North Down	£3.58
Dungannon and South Tyrone	£3.50
Ards	£3.49
Ballymena	£3.44
Banbridge	£3.38
Limavady	£2.11
Carrickfergus	£1.82
Larne	£1.58
Castlereagh	£1.08
Magherafelt	£0.37

21. Based on the evidence presented the Committee makes the following recommendations:

We recommend that DCAL undertakes research to ascertain how much money is being spent on the arts by other government departments. This information should be used by DCAL and the Arts Council to gain a wider understanding of where arts funding is currently being targeted and to identify areas which receive little or no funding from any department.

We recommend that DCAL works with local councils post-RPA to assist them in reviewing how much they spend on the arts, with a view to ensuring that there is a greater degree of equality in arts provision across the different council areas than exists presently.

Rationale used by other countries/regions to increase funding

22. The Committee acquired information on two different regions which have in the recent past increased their funding of the arts. The Committee obtained information relating to the Republic of Ireland from the Arts Council of Ireland, and information on Liverpool through a study visit as part of the inquiry.

23. The Arts Council of Ireland was of the view that in its case, the growth in funding for the arts had resulted from investing in the arts at a grass roots or community level. In the 1980s the Arts Council of Ireland undertook a capital development programme which focused on every town having its own arts centre. In its view this led to a normalisation of spend on the arts, as the arts became embedded in people’s every day lives. It explained:

Back in the 1980s, rather than simply sending the arts on tour by having shows touring around the country, we decided to also build up an indigenous arts community or arts practice in every town and village. That was done so that every county, town or village would have its own artist and its own very particular and distinctive type of artistic impression. That is where it started; I do not think that there have been any simple and immediate, or expedient and pragmatic arguments made. I really believe that the arts must be embedded into the society in which people spend their day-to-day lives.[11]

24. The Arts Council of Ireland further made the point that public support is crucial for the arts to be able to attract funding:

Investment comes from the taxpayer and is guarded and administered by politicians. Investment will not be made unless the body politic really believes that the arts is important to people’s day-to-day lives. Our argument is based on those beliefs and values.[12]

25. In addition, the economic value of the arts in terms of the creative industries, cultural tourism, and their role in attracting foreign investment have also been put forward as reasons to fund the arts in the Republic of Ireland:

. . . the most recent Fáilte Ireland report indicates that that industry is worth €5·1 billion. An industry that is worth €5·1 billion is riding on public investment of about €80 million, which represents very good value for money. Furthermore, such an international reputation brings in foreign investment also . . . It is difficult to measure, but there is no doubt that, according to visitor surveys, it appears that people do not come here for the weather. They come here because they have built up an expectation from the films and television programmes that they have seen. One of the key things about tourism is that it has to deliver on that expectation. Therefore, traditional music sessions — whether in the pub, the club or outdoors — are important. The fact that it is a living tradition is critical . . . As well as making sense for lots of intrinsic reasons, it makes economic sense that, if you want to attract and retain inward investment, culture is one of the pieces of the jigsaw.[13]

26. During its evidence, the ACNI also referred to the economic arguments put forward in the Republic of Ireland for investing in the arts:

Culture was seen as a driver of the wider economy, and the investment that was made in arts and culture was regarded by successive Governments as a proud example of a mature and culturally confident society on a world stage.[14]

27. In the case of Liverpool, the Committee was informed that the impetus behind the city’s bid for the Capital of Culture title 2008, which required a significant expenditure on the arts, was both to boost the economy and tourism, and as a way to regenerate communities. The Lord Mayor of Liverpool quoted research which claims that being capital of culture generates 14,000 new jobs for a city and attracts £2 million in investment.

28. In terms of how more money could be levered for the arts in Northern Ireland, the Minister told the Committee that he recognised the many benefits of the arts:

It is clear that there is much support for the arts sector and a genuine desire to ensure that appropriate levels of funding are allocated to the arts to enable the sector to continue to grow and develop. It is also apparent that there is widespread recognition of the many benefits to be gained from such funding. The arts and creative sectors contribute to the cultural, social and economic life of all the people of Northern Ireland. In addition, the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) estimates that more than 36,300 people were employed in the creative industries or creative occupations in Northern Ireland in 2007. That equates to 4·6% of the workforce, which demonstrates the significance of the creative sector. It has been recognised for some time that the most prosperous economies are characterised by a strong creative sector. Creativity generates innovation, and the two are inseparable. In turn, innovation drives productivity by introducing new and higher value added products and processes, leading, ultimately, to wealth creation.[15]

29. However, the Minister made the point that resources were limited and that DCAL has to compete against other departments in terms of budgets:

I recognise that we have a responsibility to make the case for the importance of arts funding. However, it would be unrealistic to do so without recognising the very tight public expenditure conditions in which we currently work. We are competing with other Departments for scarce resources and we need to be realistic as to what we can achieve and deliver.[16]

30. On the basis of the evidence presented the Committee makes the following recommendation:

We recommend that DCAL targets its investment in the arts in such a way as to further embed the arts in people’s everyday lives right across Northern Ireland. The Committee is of the view that greater participation and access to the arts will lead to greater support both among the public and within government for increased funding for the arts.

Chapter 2
Methods for sourcing
additional funding

Encouraging more private sector investment

31. During the course of the inquiry the Committee discovered that arts organisations in Northern Ireland are already using a range of different methods to try to obtain funding in addition to what they receive from the public purse.

These methods include:

• Private sponsorship
• Box office income
• Membership schemes
• Fund raising events
• Social enterprise
• Trading

32. Arts & Business NI in their evidence to the Committee made the point that there is the potential to increase the level of philanthropic giving, gift aid, and business support for the arts. However, levering this suppport requires time and resources:

. . . there is definitely an opportunity around trusts and foundations. The key factor in that regard is the lack of staff in Northern Ireland and the lack of time.[17]

33. In relation to community arts organisations, Arts & Business NI were of the view that the opportunities were there:

There is a lot of potential — particularly in community areas — to engage with communities and businesses in those regions. With the right skills, training and resources, arts organisations and community organisations can still get a return.[18]

34. However, community arts groups told the inquiry that they needed more help to access private funding. Such groups usually do not have the staff to be able to devote time to sourcing potential sponsorship. Mid Armagh Community Network explained the difficulties:

Some local businesses may sponsor a cup for a competition, but, beyond that, we have not had a great response from private sponsors.[19]

35. ArtsEkta were of the view that more support was needed from government to help them access private sector sponsorship:

If bodies such as Arts and Business, the Arts Council or DCAL openly acknowledge that some arts organisations are carrying out events that could be of benefit to businesses, that is an endorsement that could possibly lead to arts organisations receiving greater support from the business sector. Arts & Business tends to rely on us doing all the work and it then supports us, but another side to its work should be to present opportunities to businesses.[20]

36. New Lodge Arts were of a similar opinion:

An increase in the lobbying of potential funders might help. Perhaps the Department could meet prospective funders and provide opportunities for them to meet representatives of the sector to find out more about the potential benefits to them. It has been extremely difficult for us as a small organisation.[21]

37. Given the evidence presented, the Committee makes the following recommendation:

We recommend that DCAL and the Arts Council work with Arts & Business NI to ensure that more support is given to community based arts organisations in terms of accessing private sponsorship.

The need for a cross departmental approach

38. In terms of new ways of obtaining additional funds, many arts organisations suggested that there needed to be more emphasis on departments other than DCAL investing in the arts. A number of organisations made the point that the work they carry out meets the objectives of a range of departments. For example, ArtsEkta said:

As I said, we do all sorts of cultural diversity and section 75 work. It has been quite a challenge for our organisation to go to the racial equality unit here and request core funding. We do not meet its requirements, as it does not fund any arts projects. It pushes us towards the NI Arts Council, which has recently given us project funding.[22]

39. The lack of recognition by other departments of how arts organisations are relevant to their priorities was also mentioned by Féile an Phobail:

There are massive tourism and social-development aspects of our programme, yet we receive little or no support from DSD. We have brought up the matter locally and at MLA level, but we have had no joy in getting what we should receive.[23]

40. Belfast Community Circus School also emphasised the cross-departmental value of its work:

There needs to be connectivity. What we are going to be contributing to Northern Ireland’s economy and society will meet the Department of Education’s objectives for youth work; the Department for Social Development’s objectives for community and capacity building; and tourism objectives. Therefore, responsibility should not fall to simply the Arts Council.[24]

41. There was a strong feeling among those who gave evidence to the inquiry that DCAL should set up an inter-departmental group to encourage other departments to invest in the arts. This point was made by the FLGA, Belfast Community Circus School, Young at Art, New Lodge Arts, the Lyric Theatre, ArtsEkta, Féile an Phobail, and the Community Arts Forum.

42. ArtsEkta were of the view that a cross-departmental strategy or policy could lead to more funding for the arts overall:

Along with the arts sector, the Arts Council could be lobbying for an inter-departmental arts policy across all Departments. If every Department were to have a ring-fenced budget for the arts, that would help to increase the per capita spend on arts in the region.[25]

43. CAF put forward a similar argument:

If there were a cross-departmental policy, such as those of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS), every Department would have some responsibility for the delivery of the arts and for supporting the arts. There should be some acknowledgement and recognition that the arts have an impact on all areas of Government. Therefore, all Departments should have responsibility for the arts, and it should not fall back solely on DCAL.[26]

44. Voluntary Arts Ireland highlighted the fact that other departments have much larger budgets at their disposal compared to DCAL. Therefore, if these departments could be persuaded to spend even a very small percentage of their budget on the arts, this could pay significant dividends:

It is not a magic answer, but, in most cases, the other Departments to which we talk have budgets that are enormous compared to the culture budget. To lever out a small part of such a budget is of benefit to the arts as a whole and to the work of the Culture Department.[27]

45. The Lyric Theatre made the point that a cross-departmental strategy would also help to raise the profile of the arts and embed them in people’s everyday lives:

The Arts Council, the Government and the media need to find a combined approach, through joined-up thinking, and develop a strategy to increase the profile of the arts throughout society. They need to help people to realise how it affects them on every level.[28]

46. When questioned on this topic the Arts Council were not averse to the idea of a cross-departmental strategy for the arts, but cautioned that other departments needed to bring funding to the table:

We believe that the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), which is our parent Department, should lead the co-ordination of funding. I add a note of caution in that looking at the arts without additional funding may not bring about the result that we need, which is more funding. The establishment of an interdepartmental co-ordinating mechanism needs to come with a commitment to increase funding.[29]

47. The Minister’s view was that although there is no cross-departmental strategy for the arts, DCAL does work with other departments on specific projects:

At present, there is not a cross-departmental or formal strategy for the arts. Having said that, however, as members will be aware, the Department works with other Departments on various initiatives that support the arts sector, an example of which is the Re-imaging Communities programme, in which the Department for Social Development, the Department of Education, the International Fund for Ireland and the PSNI are all involved. There are many examples of cross-departmental working.[30]

48. However, the clear view coming from the arts sector is that they believe a formalised cross-departmental approach to the arts would bring benefits, and that an ad hoc approach regarding certain projects was not sufficient. On the basis of the evidence presented, the Committee therefore makes the following recommendation:

We recommend that DCAL sets up an inter-departmental group on funding for the arts.

The need for longer funding cycles

49. Arts organisations were of the view that one method of assisting their financial situation would be to change the length of funding cycles. At present funding is awarded by the Arts Council on a 1-year basis, with some organisations being given an indicative budget for 3-years. However, some arts organisations reported that a 3-year cycle was not long enough. Féile an Phobail explained:

Equally, however, Féile an Phobail’s long-term objectives are not helped by the current funding arrangements, which mean that the longest that we can plan to fund certain posts for is three years. That does not help us to achieve a five- or 10-year plan, which féile and other festivals across the city and beyond hope to implement, so that we can help to stimulate tourism and community regeneration.[31]

50. Similarly CAF said:

We also recommend that, in consultation with the arts sector, DCAL and ACNI should develop and implement a long-term funding strategy and introduce appropriate five- to 10-year funding programmes. That would help support stability and sustainability in the sector. Arts Council funding packages are for three years, and, even within that, it is necessary to reapply year on year.[32]

51. Other organisations made the point that although they were awarded 3-year funding in principle, in reality funding was only confirmed on an annual basis. The Lyric explained:

We are part of a three-year funding programme with the Arts Council, but it is three-year funding in name only, because the Arts Council is wholly reliant on funding from the Department that is provided on a yearly basis.[33]

52. The Arts Council’s evidence backed up this point, as they explained:

On the Exchequer side of the house, we admit three-year clients to give them a modicum of stability. We ask for a three-year programme of activity, and each year we ask them to give us the programme for the next year. As the Committee knows, the confirmation of our funding comes on an annual basis only. Often, our funding decisions are not confirmed until February . . . However, the sad reality is that that is the way that Government funding works and we can only pass on what we have. We have tried to move to three-year funding.[34]

53. The Minister confirmed that DCAL can only confirm budgets on a 1-year basis:

The Department is tied into the wider public expenditure process, which means that its budgets are confirmed for one year only and it cannot give formal commitments outside that. I do not know whether there is scope for the Arts Council to do something on the basis of a semi-formal understanding.[35]

54. The Minister also made the point that the downside to a 3-year or longer funding commitment is that there is less flexibility and scope for new organisations to receive funding for the first time:

A difficulty with three-year funding is that it commits large amounts of money and smaller organisations that are trying to get in for the first time can have some difficulty. Longer-term funding has pros and cons that need to be considered carefully.[36]

55. The Committee understood both arts organisations’ frustrations at only being able to plan spend one year ahead, but at the same time is cognisant of the fact that departmental budgets are only confirmed on an annual basis. However, the Committee would like to see DCAL and the Arts Council working together to ensure that decisions on a coming year’s budget are taken at as early a stage as possible. On the basis of the evidence presented, the Committee therefore makes the following recommendation:

We recommend DCAL and the Arts Council work together so that budgets for coming years can be finalised in the January ahead of the new financial year in April, so that arts organisations are given as much prior notice as possible of their funding position.

Access to EU funding

56. In terms of accessing more funding, some arts organisations were of the view that EU funds were a potential source of untapped resources. However, these organisations stated that they require more assistance and guidance from the Arts Council in terms of accessing this money. For example, Belfast Community Circus School made the following point:

It is rather sad that the Arts Council does not play a proactive role in identifying any funding outside its own remit. Sadly, we have probably missed a lot of boats in respect of European funding. Certainly, if one looks across at Gateshead and Newcastle, their cultural renaissance was brought about through a combination of the National Lottery and Government agencies linking in with European moneys; whereas, over here, we have, apparently, an expert on European funding in the Arts Council, but that has never seen results . . . My point is that, in essence, applying for European funding will be complicated and complex, and, without any support and guidance, scary . . We need someone with expertise to sit down with groups and explain how the application process works.[37]

57. The Committee received correspondence from the Arts Council at a late stage of the inquiry process (29 October 2009) on what it is doing to assist local arts groups access the €400 million EU Culture Programme Fund. The Committee was concerned that the Arts Council had only invited 12 groups to an event on 06 October 2009 promoting the Culture Programme. Given the current constraints on departmental budgets, the Committee thinks it is vital that alternative sources of funding for the arts in Northern Ireland should be fully explored. It therefore makes the following recommendation:

We recommend that the Arts Council pro-actively seeks out arts organisations that may be eligible for EU funding and assists those organisations in making applications for such funding.

Chapter 3
Measuring the economic and
social benefits of the arts

The ValCAL study

58. It is widely accepted that investing in the arts has a range of benefits on very many different fronts. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in their evidence to the inquiry summarised these impacts as follows:

The arts have an economic development impact through direct employment and income. Earlier, members talked about the spend that is associated with people going out for a night to an arts event, or a community arts festival that brings people together, as a result of which people spend more money in the shops. There is a tourism impact. The arts have the potential to attract visitors to the area, and there is strong evidence that tourists come to Northern Ireland to visit its arts venues and festivals. There is an education impact. The arts contribute to the education sector and therefore, in relation to public spending, save the public purse by adding to the quality of the education system. There is a health impact as well . . . The final area of impact is social inclusion and community cohesion, including, potentially, a reduction in crime.[38]

59. It was against this recognition of the value of the arts, among the other activities funded by DCAL, that the Department commissioned PWC to carry out a study of the social and economic value of its business areas. This study was completed in 2007 and is entitled “Research into the Social and Economic Value of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland" (known as the ValCAL Study).

60. During the oral evidence sessions, PWC explained the background to the study:

The study was trying to see if there is a model that can demonstrate impact. For example, if the Department puts £X million into a particular project or programme, what jobs, employment and income — what economic measurables — will that produce?[39]

61. However, the ValCAL Study did not proceed beyond phase 1 because it became apparent that there was a lack of sufficient data to carry out a meaningful assessment of the economic and social benefit of investment. As PWC said:

We discovered that there is not a lot of information available about some of the economic impacts that would allow us to build a model.[40]

62. Departmental officials in their evidence to the inquiry backed this up, setting out the obstacles as follows:

. . . it was felt from the evidence that was presented in the phase 1 report that there was not sufficiently robust data to allow us to go forward and produce an economic model that we could stand over.[41]

Other evidence

63. In their written submissions, arts organisations referred to numerous studies which attempt to measure or quantify the impact of investment in the arts. For example, the Lyric Theatre referred to economic studies carried out on itself and the Grand Opera House:

KPMG and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland carried out economic studies on both the Lyric Theatre and the Grand Opera House. There is evidence to suggest that every £1 of funding that the Arts Council invests in the Lyric Theatre generates £3·25 in the local economy. That is a significant economic driver. The Grand Opera House is an economic generator, because it contributes more than £5 to the local economy for every pound that it receives in public subsidies.[42]

64. The Lyric Theatre referred to the economic importance of the creative industries:

Of Northern Ireland’s population, 4·6% — about 33,000 people — are currently employed in the creative industries, which puts them on a par with agriculture. That compares with the average of 6·8% for the rest of the UK. In an Assembly debate on 9 October 2007, the then Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Edwin Poots, reported that emulation of what was occurring in the rest of the UK could potentially generate the substantial figure of a further 11,000 new jobs in the creative industries in Northern Ireland.[43]

65. The FLGA also flagged up the role of creative industries in the economy going forward:

I notice that the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts has said that the creative industries are predicted to be a major high- growth contributor to the UK economy in the next five years. That information was published on 9 March, so its facts are up to date. That organisation says that, on average, creative industries are set to grow by 4%, which is more than double the rate of the rest of the economy. By 2013, the number of creative businesses is likely to have risen from 157,000 to 180,000, with employment of 1·3 million people, thus outstripping the financial sector.[44]

Difficulties in measuring economic and social benefits

66. Despite the various studies referred to above, it is clear that there are problems in measuring the effectiveness or impact of a particular piece of artistic endeavour. The Lyric Theatre stated:

We achieve a lot, but our achievements are difficult to put down on paper. Nowadays, people require facts and figures. They want to know how many people watched a play, but one cannot make value judgements about how effective a play is or how it affected those who viewed it.[45]

67. Féile an Phobail also referred to the problems of measuring benefits, particular on the individual:

Measuring the exact impact of community events is a grey area. I have not heard of anyone — from here to the States — who has been able to do that. It is hard to measure the social impact of the arts, particularly on individuals.[46]

68. This point was backed up in the research papers provided to the Committee by Assembly Research Services. During an oral evidence session, the researcher explained the problems of quantifying both economic and social benefits:

Impacts such as community cohesion, education, reduction in crime and social inclusion are complicated to quantify. The difficulty with these impacts is their nebulous nature. With many of these impacts, the benefits cannot be measured initially or in financial terms. Any benefits derived are more likely to be seen at a local and community level, rather than providing an overarching regional benefit. It is more appropriate to provide benefit ratios for types of projects and initiatives, but it is not appropriate to estimate the benefit ratio of funding at the individual community and regional levels. The data is either not available or does not lend itself to analysis at those levels.

Economic impact analysis is concerned with identifying and measuring the changes that occur, or would be likely to occur, in an economy as a direct or indirect result of a new public and private initiative. Indirect costs and benefits can prove more difficult to evaluate, particularly if they have no market price. A cost-benefit analysis attempts to determine the value of an activity to society as a whole. That economic methodology sees the social value of an activity as based on individual valuations of that activity, with a focus on economic efficiency.[47]

Lack of resources required to measure impact

69. In addition to the methodological issues, a number of arts organisations made the point that measuring the impact of their activities would require resources which they do not have. For example, the Ulster Orchestra stated:

I can only offer anecdotal evidence. We do not have the resource to follow that up in a scientific way. It would be wonderful to take a large sample of pupils and follow them from Key Stage 1 through to the end of their education and into their working life in order to see how many people stay with us.[48]

70. Féile an Phobail made a similar point:

It is a matter of funding — we would love to do another economic audit of our annual festival programme, but it comes down to whether we put funding towards a festival or towards an economic audit.[49]

71. In his evidence to the Committee, the Minister also referred to the cost of carrying out the necessary research to measure the impact of the arts:

However, there is no commonly agreed approach to the measurement of that, nor is there an accepted multiplier that can easily be applied to capture direct and indirect employment and productivity effects. That lack of a commonly agreed approach has been widely recognised, and to attempt to assess the impact at a Northern Ireland level would require a bank of relevant data to be collected, which would then need to be built up and quality assured. That would take time to construct and would require additional resources.[50]

72. Based on the evidence, the Committee came to the conclusion that there is a lack of specific research about the benefit of the arts in Northern Ireland. However, there are problems both in capturing and analysing the data, particularly in relation to the benefits of the arts at a community or individual level. At the same time, any research which could be produced will be of benefit in terms of making the case, particularly to government departments outside DCAL, of the clear benefits of investing in the arts.

Chapter 4
Distribution of funding

Balance of funding between community and
professional arts

73. Stakeholders made the point that there are overlaps between professional and community arts. Professional organisations do some work in communities, and some community groups would describe their work as highly professional.

74. For example, Voluntary Arts Ireland stated:

. . . as regards the arts in general, there is no clear distinction between the voluntary, community and professional arts. There is a lot of overlap, with the big beasts of the jungle and the insects all totally reliant on each other . . . professional arts could not survive without amateurs. Many professionals start as amateurs and many amateur groups employ professionals. That is an important part of the arts ecology.[51]

75. Similarly, the Ulster Orchestra made the point:

Our prime purpose is to be an excellent classical symphony orchestra and to have excellent access and outreach — one informs the other. We cannot have a true community arch without a centre of excellence.[52]

76. The Arts Council backed up the view that professional and community arts are intertwined:

The reality of artistic practice over the past 20 years or so has meant that the distinctions between the different branches of the arts, including community and professional arts, have lost much of their definition and significance. They are much more fluid. Many practitioners would no longer recognise themselves as belonging to fixed categories of artistic practice.

Many who work in communities describe themselves as highly professional, and that is a view to which we also subscribe. Professional artists of a high calibre also work in various community contexts.[53]

77. Furthermore, the Arts Council were of the view that professional organisations had begun to take a more serious interest in undertaking community based work in the recent past:

Over the past six or seven years, I have discerned a trend of change in the orientation of many arts organisations and a recognition that they need to go in and work in local communities. Education, outreach and access are not simply bolted on by organisations; they take that seriously, and we have encouraged them to do so for a long time.[54]

78. In relation to the question of how funding is distributed, the Arts Council told the inquiry that 20% of their funding goes on community art. However, various community arts groups which presented evidence to the inquiry stated that only 9% of the Arts Council’s budget goes towards community arts. The Arts Council provided the following explanation for the discrepancy in the figures:

The Arts Council disputes the figure of 9%. In my role in the Arts Council, I have a portfolio of clients who are classified as community arts clients. That is not to say that other organisations that funded through the arts councils do not carry out community arts activity. I assume that the figure of 9% is drawn from the portfolio that I look after as regards the Annual Support for Organisations Programme. Therefore, the figure of 9% is not a clear one. A number of organisations do not sit in my portfolio for operational reasons but do carry out community arts activity. For example, the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast, Best Cellars Music Collective, which is based in east Belfast, and the Playhouse in Derry/Londonderry. They would see themselves as delivering community arts activity, but they do not sit in the community arts portfolio. Therefore, the grant, or the moneys, that we award them, would not have been calculated in that figure of 9%.

The figures in that breakdown show that in 2008-09, community arts were receiving around 20% of the grants that we gave out. [55]

79. In terms of other public funders of the arts, Belfast City Council allocated 46% of its budget to community arts groups:

Some 54% of arts programme funding goes to professional arts organisations, and 46% goes to community-driven schemes, which reach participants on the ground. Therefore, a good balance has been created.[56]

80. However, the community arts organisations which presented evidence to the Committee were strongly of the view that more funding needed to be invested in community arts. This point was made by Greater Shantallow Community Arts, Arts Ekta, and CAF among others who stated that community arts have a tangible outcome in terms of regenerating communities and transforming individuals’ prospects and opportunities.

81. Based on the evidence presented, the Committee makes the following recommendation:

We recommend that the Arts Council increases the level of funding which goes to community arts organisations.

82. When questioned by the Committee, the Minister made the point that because many professional groups in receipt of funding do community work, it is not possible to define spend on community arts as simply money allocated directly to community groups:

However the fusing of these sectors (professional and community arts) means that efforts to assess the actual spend on the community arts sector are more complex than a simple and crude assessment of funding to those organisations formally classified as the community arts sector.[57]

83. The Ulster Orchestra was one of those professional groups who provided information on the community outreach work it is involved in:

Although it is hard to give a number, there are probably 20 people constantly involved in that work. Sometimes we pull in other people for bespoke projects. However, close to a third of the orchestra is heavily committed to that work on an ongoing basis.

Everyone is involved when we stage full orchestra concerts as part of our outreach work for the education boards. However, at the individual level, people must want to do such work and be comfortable doing it. It is not what they were trained to do.

Some years ago, we went down the route of attempting to get everyone to do education work by making it part of the contract. However, someone is employed by the orchestra, in the first instance, because he or she is a wonderful clarinet player or trumpet player. That person might be death in a classroom and not suited to such work.[58]

84. While the Committee welcome the work currently being carried out by professional organisations, it believes there is scope for more initiatives in this area.

85. Based on the evidence presented, the Committee makes the following recommendation:

We recommend that the Arts Council requires professional arts organisations which it funds to increase the amount of outreach/community work they currently deliver.

Funding to target social need

86. In their evidence to the inquiry, the Arts Council stated that they give 56% of their total funding to the 20% most deprived communities in Northern Ireland. In doing so, they claim they are working in such a way as to target social need. They stated:

The Arts Council is conscious of its obligation to target social need, and 56% of its funding goes to the 20% most deprived communities in Northern Ireland.[59]

87. However, a number of groups challenged the figures presented by the Arts Council and claimed that the methodology used to produce them is flawed. The Arts Council confirmed that the figures are based on the postcode of where the organisation in receipt of the funding is located.

88. Belfast Community Circus School made the point that this meant that funding for the Grand Opera House, which is located in a deprived area by postcode, would be included in these figures, despite the fact that its ticket prices would suggest that it is more likely to attract audiences from more affluent areas.[60]

89. Greater Shantallow Community Arts made a similar point in relation to funding for the arts in its area:

As of yesterday, the Arts Council’s website suggested that 97% of funding awarded in the Derry City Council area through the Arts Council’s programmes has gone directly to Londonderry’s most deprived areas. That leads me to ask — is our city centre deprived? It must be, because 97% of funding went to organisations based in the city centre.[61]

90. There did not seem to be any consensus within the arts sector on whether the Arts Council is distributing funding in a way which adequately takes account of targeting social need. While the Arts Council explained that they do give additional scores to applications from organisations who are operating in an area of social need, it does not appear that the Arts Council is actively seeking to fund a certain number of projects or allocate money to groups in areas identified as TSN areas.

91. Based on the evidence presented, the Committee makes the following recommendation:

We recommend that the Arts Council sets up a specific funding programme for community arts organisations that deliver participation opportunities to people living in Super Output Areas ranked in the top 20% of areas of deprivation according to the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure.

Engagement with communities without a history of arts funding

92. The Committee heard evidence from three groups which reported that communities such as theirs without a history of accessing arts funding had found it difficult to break into the funding world. These groups were Cairncastle LOL, the Mid Armagh Community Network and the Ulster Scots Community Network.

93. Cairncastle LOL reported that until recently they had been unaware that that the Arts Council could fund small organisations like themselves:

We talked to the Arts Council this year, which was the first time. We never realised that the Arts Council could fund us.

It was only through luck that I got on to the Arts Council for Northern Ireland, which does not seem to sell itself. We attended a number of roadshows for funding bodies, but the Arts Council has never been represented.

We had not realised that the Arts Council could fund us. We thought that the Arts Council awarded grants of £50,000, £60,000 or £100,000 and that it was interested only in the more upmarket projects, not the grass roots.

We are just country folk who are trying to find our way. We need an organisation such as the Arts Council to work with us, advise us and point us in the right direction.[62]

94. Mid Armagh Community Network stated that they had found it difficult to build a relationship with the Arts Council, and that they felt that the needs of their group are not understood well:

In the early years, we found that a community group from a Protestant area was viewed with suspicion, because there was no history of community- group organisations in those areas, and that probably hindered us to some degree.

It is important for the organisation that funds any group to keep an eye on what that group is doing. A relationship should grow up between the two and there needs to be familiarity. We have extended invitations for various events at which we performed, including our annual concert. The response of the Arts Council in attending those showcase events was pretty poor.

. . . there is an onus on the Arts Council to be proactive in how it promotes the funding that it can make available, especially to Ulster-Scots groups. Perhaps it is down to a lack of awareness; groups may think that they cannot apply for funding because they do not realise what is there to be attained.[63]

95. The Ulster Scots Community Network supported the view put forward by Cairncastle LOL and the Mid Armagh Community Network that the Arts Council needed to do more to advertise its existence to those groups outside the funding circle. In their view the Arts Council should take a more pro-active strategic role and identify groups who need funding and help them make the applications:

The network receives funding from the Arts Council, but we need a more strategic and proactive approach from the Arts Council. In working with it, we are trying to build that relationship to our mutual benefit.

The major difficulty is that Ulster-Scots community groups have started from a low level . . . The groups lack the capacity, confidence and ability to tackle the major funding streams. The expertise does not exist on the ground to apply for the £30,000, £40,000 and £50,000 Arts Council projects.[64]

96. CAF, which is the umbrella organisation for community arts groups, argued that it is challenging for new groups to obtain funding for the first time because they are competing against well-established groups who know the system. They explained:

I will talk about some of the obstacles that groups face accessing funding. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) is the main source of funding for the arts in Northern Ireland. Competition for those funds is very high. It can often be difficult for new and community-based groups to compete for funding with well-established arts groups that have been working for many years.[65]

97. In their evidence to the Committee, the Arts Council said that they recognised the difficulties for new groups, particularly for those who were located in communities without a strong arts infrastructure. In response to this need they have run the Start Up programme:

The STart UP programme was originally funded by DSD under its renewing communities programme, whereby we had £100,000 for a one-year programme; through our officers we provided developmental support and 100% grant aid to local organisations.

DSD funding ceased. However, we have found a small budget from our 2009-2010 resources and intend to resume that funding to seed-fund small organisations, which could move on to other schemes.

During the STart UP programme, we employed officers whose job it was to work in areas that had been identified as receiving low levels of funding. They worked with the community relations officers and local authority arts officers to identify groups that they could contact.[66]

98. The Committee welcomes the Start Up programme and believes it can help address the problem of small community groups being unaware or unable to access arts funding.

99. On the basis of the evidence presented, the Committee makes the following recommendations:

We recommend that the Arts Council increases the current budget for the Start Up programme which will distribute grants to community based groups which have received little or no previous funding from the Arts Council.

We recommend that in distributing these funds, the Arts Council pro-actively identifies groups which may be eligible for this funding.

Chapter 5
Arts funders – comparisons
with other regions

100. As part of the inquiry, the Committee was interested to learn whether data existed which would allow comparison between government funders of the arts across these islands. In particular, the Committee sought information on how the various funding bodies – in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales distributed their budgets between different art forms.

101. In its written submission, the Arts Council stated that this sort of information was not readily available:

Arts Councils in each of the UK regions and the Republic of Ireland support artists and arts organisations through Exchequer and Lottery funds. A breakdown across the various art forms for each of the Councils represents a significant piece of research in its own right owing to issues of consistency and comparability between budgets and systems of classification.[67]

102. The Minister made the point in his evidence that while such information would be useful, each region has different needs in terms of how it spends its arts budget:

It is important to understand and, where appropriate, learn from the funding- allocation process used by other organisations that provide public funding to the arts. However, every region is different and Northern Ireland, like other regions, has its own unique cultural demographic and social characteristics that are reflected in the allocation of funds to various art forms.[68]

103. This was backed up by the information provided by Assembly Research Services who pointed to the fact that different regions have their own leanings towards certain art forms, perhaps as a result of their cultural history:

There are differences in preferences among the EU countries in the allocation of public spending on culture. For example, spending on cultural heritage and museums is highly prioritised in Greece, Italy, Malta, Cyprus, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Performing arts, including music, theatre and dance, are primarily subsidised in Austria, Germany, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.[69]

104. The Committee therefore came to the conclusion that while this kind of comparative data across the regions would be of interest, it may not necessarily be required to assist public funders of the arts in Northern Ireland in allocating their budgets.

Chapter 6
Art forms not receiving
adequate funding

Funding for voluntary arts

105. There are a range of art forms currently funded by the Arts Council and other public bodies and the Committee recognises the value of each of them. The Committee is also cognisant that budgets are currently stretched and that many arts organisations believe that more funding for the entire sector is required.

106. However, during the inquiry the Committee came to the view that voluntary arts is a sector that is underfunded and under-recognised in terms of the opportunities it gives people for participation. Voluntary Arts Ireland made the following point during their evidence:

The voluntary arts also make a key contribution to volunteering, the economy, lifelong learning, mental and physical health, regeneration, community cohesion, etc. Nobody joins an amateur arts group to make a contribution to regeneration or social cohesion. People join because they want to sing, act or dance. However, those community groups create a by-product that affects a lot of those other agendas, many of which pertain to other Departments.

For years, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in England has had public service agreement targets to raise levels of arts participation, and for years it has singularly failed to meet those targets, largely because it works primarily through Arts Council England, which then charges its regularly funded organisations — about 800 arts institutions — with increasing participation. That is not where participation happens: it happens in small community groups that are not funded through any Government or Arts Council programme.[70]

107. The Committee noted that despite DCAL having Public Service Agreements with targets of increasing the number of people participating in arts activities, the Arts Council does not weight the number of people participating in a project when it is scoring applications:

There is no weighting given for the number of participants/audience as this varies greatly from organisation to organisation and from artform to artform. One of the principal criteria of all Council funding programmes is the artistic quality of the programme. We recognise that innovative/challenging work does not attract huge audiences but should be supported because of its developmental nature. The other principal criterion is that of public benefit which is assessed against the level of interaction with the public.[71]

108. Based on the evidence, the Committee therefore makes the following recommendation:

We recommend that given its levels of participation, we recommend that the Arts Council increases the level of funding which goes to voluntary arts organisations, such as those involved in amateur drama or the traditional arts.

Feedback for unsuccessful funding applicants

109. In terms of how the Arts Council makes decisions on allocating funding, some witnesses expressed a number of concerns about this process. CAF were of the view that some kind of appeals process was required:

In consultation with the arts sector, we would like DCAL and ACNI to develop and implement a transparent policy and procedures for reviewing ACNI decisions. At present, if groups do not receive ACNI funding, there is no appeals process, and that can be frustrating for groups.[72]

110. One such group, New Lodge Arts, spoke of its frustration at not been given a clear reason as to why its application for funding had failed:

A recent attempt by New Lodge Arts to secure Arts Council Annual Support for Organisations (ASOP) funding was unsuccessful, despite scoring highly in the application process. We were told that the application was unsuccessful because of standstill funding within the Arts Council and that funding had to be targeted at organisations that were seen to be more strategically important in the sector . . . I found it frustrating that, although we had scored highly, we did not get that funding . . Perhaps there could be more transparency around which organisations are funded and whether they are funded according to how well they meet the criteria or whether they are deemed to be more strategically important in the sector.[73]

111. Based on the evidence, the Committee therefore makes the following recommendation:

We recommend that in the interests of transparency and fairness, the Arts Council should establish a feedback process for unsuccessful funding applicants to clarify why they did not receive funding.

[1] Arts Council of Northern Ireland written submission, Appendix 4

[2] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[3] Additional Information, Appendix 9

[4] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[5] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[6] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[7] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[8] Research paper, Appendix 7

[9] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[10] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[11] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[12] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[13] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[14] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[15] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[16] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[17] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[18] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[19] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[20] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[21] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[22] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[23] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[24] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[25] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[26] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[27] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[28] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[29] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[30] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[31] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[32] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[33] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[34] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[35] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[36] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[37] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[38] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[39] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[40] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[41] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[42] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[43] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[44] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[45] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[46] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[47] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[48] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[49] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[50] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[51] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[52] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[53] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[54] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[55] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[56] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[57] Additional information, Appendix 9

[58] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[59] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[60] Additional information, Appendix 9

[61] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[62] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[63] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[64] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[65] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[66] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[67] Written submission, Appendix 4

[68] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[69] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[70] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[71] Additional information, Appendix 9

[72] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

[73] Oral evidence, Appendix 2

Appendix 1

Minutes of Proceedings

Thursday 29 January 2009
Ulster American Folk Park, Omagh

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Ken Robinson MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Antonia Hoskins (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Mrs Angela Aboagye (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.48 a.m.

6. Consideration of Draft Terms of Reference for Arts Inquiry

Agreed: The Committee agreed the terms of reference for the inquiry.

Agreed: The Committee agreed the press notice seeking written submissions for the inquiry.

Agreed: The Committee agreed that the closing date for written submissions would be 27 February 2009.

Agreed: The Committee agreed that the first oral evidence session would be with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Agreed: The Committee agreed that the second oral evidence session would comprise a presentation from Assembly Research and Library Services on the VALCAL study and related issues, along with a presentation from the authors of the VALCAL study and the Department.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.40 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 5 February 2009
Room 152, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Lord Browne MLA
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Antonia Hoskins (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Mrs Angela Aboagye (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.35 a.m. The Deputy Chairperson took the Chair.

7. Inquiry into the funding of the arts

The Committee noted the outline plan for its inquiry into the funding of the arts.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 1.00 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 12 February 2009
Room 152, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Mr Francie Brolly MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Antonia Hoskins (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Mrs Angela Aboagye (Clerical Officer)
Ms Meadhbh McCann (Research & Library Services)
Ms Ruth Barry (Research & Library Services)

The meeting opened in closed session at 10.36 a.m.

The meeting moved into open session at 12.45 p.m.

8. Inquiry into the funding of the arts

The Committee noted the response to the inquiry from the Committee for Finance and Personnel.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 1.05 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 19 February 2009
Room 152, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Mr Dominic Bradley MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Antonia Hoskins (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Mrs Angela Aboagye (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.07 a.m.

10.10 a.m. Mr McCartney joined the meeting.

10.15 a.m. Mr Shannon joined the meeting.

8. Inquiry into the Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland

The Chairperson advised the Committee that the Arts Council will give oral evidence to the inquiry at the meeting on 26 February 2009.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.53 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 26 February 2009
Room 144, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Mrs Angela Aboagye (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.05 a.m.

3. Inquiry into the Arts

The following representatives from the Arts Council joined the meeting:

Ms Roisin McDonough (Chief Executive)
Ms Noírín McKinney (Director of Arts Development)
Ms Lorraine McDowell (Director of Operations)
Mr Nick Livingston (Director of Strategic Development)

11.45 a.m. Mr Bradley left the meeting.

The Committee took oral evidence from the representatives from the Arts Council. This was followed by a question and answer session. The Arts Council agreed to forward further information to the Committee on its budget.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 1.05 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 5 March 2009
Room 152, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr Francie Brolly MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Antonia Hoskins (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Mrs Angela Aboagye (Clerical Officer)
Ms Meadhbh McCann (Research Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.35 a.m.

5. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee received a briefing from Ms Meadhbh McCann, Research and Library Services on ‘Economic and Social Impacts arising from Sports, Arts, Museums and Libraries’ and ‘Economic Modelling of Value Impacts of DCAL Investment’. This was followed by a question and answer session. Ms McCann agreed to provide further information on the economic value of sport.

The following representative from PricewaterhouseCoopers and officials from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure joined the meeting:

Mr Philip McDonagh (PricewaterhouseCoopers)
Dr Michael Willis (DCAL Head of Statistics Branch)
Ms Anne Tohill (DCAL Arts Branch)
Ms Michelle Scott (DCAL official)

11.07 a.m. Lord Browne joined the meeting.

11.12 a.m. Mr Bradley joined the meeting.

The representatives and officials briefed the Committee on the ValCAL study. This was followed by a question and answer session. The departmental officials agreed to forward further information to the Committee.

The Deputy Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.07 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 12 March 2009
Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart

Present: Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Antonia Hoskins (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Mrs Angela Aboagye (Clerical Officer)
Miss Meadhbh McCann (Research Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.31 a.m.

5. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee discussed the selection of witnesses to give oral evidence to the inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to receive oral evidence from the Ulster Orchestra, Belfast Community Circus School, Young at Art, Arts and Business NI, Voluntary Arts Ireland, the Lyric Theatre, the Arts Council and the Department.

Agreed: The Committee agreed that a selection of community based arts organizations should also be invited to give oral evidence. The Clerk agreed to produce a list of potential organizations for the Committee to consider at the next meeting.

The Committee received a presentation from Miss Meadhbh McCann, Research and Library Services, on ‘Per Capita spend on the Arts in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’. This was followed by a question and answer session.

Agreed: Miss McCann agreed to come back to the Committee on a number of issues.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Arts Council to ask how it produces figures for the per capita spend on the arts.

The Committee noted an email forwarded by Belfast City Council’s Arts Officer on a conference entitled “Participate – Harnessing cultural value in tough economic times". Mr Brolly indicated that he may be able to attend the event.

The Committee noted the response to the inquiry from the Minister for the Environment.

The Committee noted the response to the inquiry from the Minister for Regional Development.

The Committee noted the response to the inquiry from the Minister for Finance and Personnel.

The Committee noted the response to the inquiry from the Minister for Health.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Minister for Health to request that the Committee receives a copy of the review into spending on artwork in the design and construction of healthcare facilities when it is completed.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Minister for Health to request a breakdown of the spend on the arts in hospital and healthcare settings for the last three years.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Arts Council to ask what its role is in the selection of artwork for hospitals and healthcare settings.

The Committee noted an article by Roisin McDonagh in Agenda NI relating to the inquiry.

Mr McCartney adjourned the meeting at 11.41 a.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 19 March 2009
Room 152, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Antonia Hoskins (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Mrs Angela Aboagye (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.21 a.m.

4. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee noted the additional information from the Arts Council on pressures to its existing budget.

Agreed: The Committee agreed the outline plan for the inquiry into the funding of the arts.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to invite ArtsEkta, Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group, Greater Shantallow Community Arts, and New Lodge Arts to give oral evidence to the Committee on the inquiry.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to invite Belfast City Council to give oral evidence to the Committee on the inquiry.

10.33 a.m. Mr McCausland joined the meeting.

10.34 a.m. Mr Robinson joined the meeting.

Mr McElduff declared an interest as a member of Omagh Borough Council.

Mr McCausland declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council.

Mr McCarthy declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

Mr Ramsey declared an interest as a member of Derry City Council and Director of the Millennium Forum.

Mr Robinson declared an interest as a member of Newtownabbey Borough Council.

Mr Shannon declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

The following representatives from the Ulster Orchestra joined the meeting:

Mr David Byers (Chief Executive)
Mr Colm Crummey (Finance and Administration Manager)
Mr Colin Stark (Orchestra Player)

10.45 a.m. Lord Browne joined the meeting.

Lord Browne declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council.

The representatives briefed the Committee on the Ulster Orchestra. This was followed by a question and answer session.

11.35 a.m. Mr McNarry left the meeting.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 11.47 a.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 26 March 2009
Room 152, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Mr Dominic Bradley MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Antonia Hoskins (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Miss Heather Galbraith (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.35 a.m.

4. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Chairperson advised that the Arts Council has requested a list of all those organizations and individuals who had submitted written evidence to the inquiry.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to publish the list of organizations and individuals who submitted written evidence to the inquiry, on the Committee website.

10.37 a.m. Mr Robinson joined the meeting.

The Committee noted the additional information from the Department following the evidence session on 12 March 2009.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to ask the Department what actions were taken as a result of the research report “A Review of Community Arts in Northern Ireland".

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Arts Council to ask for an update on the feasibility study for a new art gallery, and to ask for its views on a recent media report concerning a new art gallery in Belfast.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Arts Council to request a copy of its organizational structure and details of its various funding streams.

The Committee noted the revised outline plan for the inquiry.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to consider at its next meeting additional community based organizations which could be invited to present oral evidence to the inquiry.

The Committee noted the summary of key issues raised in written submissions to the inquiry.

The Chairperson advised that the Clerk represented the Committee at the Belfast City Council conference on 25 March 2009 entitled “Participate – Harnessing Cultural Value in Tough Economic Times". The Clerk provided a report to the Committee on the conference.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to ask Belfast City Council if it intends to make the speeches and presentations from the conference available on its website.

The Committee noted the summary of evidence to the inquiry given by the Ulster Orchestra.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Ulster Orchestra to request further information on its outreach/community based work and for an assessment of the number of performances it puts on per year as compared to other orchestras.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the First Minister and deputy First Minister to ask them to consider hosting two events per year on behalf of the Ulster Orchestra.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Arts Council to ask for details of whether it has a service level agreement with the Ulster Orchestra, and how it evaluates the output of the Ulster Orchestra.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Department to seek its views on the outputs of the Ulster Orchestra.

11.35 a.m. Mr McNarry left the meeting.

Mr McElduff declared an interest as a member of Omagh District Council.

Lord Browne declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council.

Mr McCarthy declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

Mr McCausland declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council and Belfast Education and Library Board.

Mr Ramsey declared an interest as a member of Derry City Council and Director of Millennium Forum.

Mr Robinson declared an interest as a member of Newtownabbey Borough Council.

Mr Shannon declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

The following representative from Belfast Community Circus School joined the meeting:

Mr Will Chamberlain (Director)

Mr Chamberlain briefed the Committee. This was followed by a question and answer session.

11.55 a.m. Mr McNarry rejoined the meeting.

12.20 p.m. Mr Ramsey left the meeting.

12.20 p.m. Mr Robinson left the meeting.

The following representatives from Young at Art joined the meeting:

Mr Joe Kelly (Chairman)
Ms Ali Fitzgibbon (Director)

Mr Kelly and Ms Fitzgibbon briefed the Committee. This was followed by a question and answer session.

12.45 p.m. Mr Shannon left the meeting.

12.50 p.m. Mr Brolly left the meeting.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 1.04 p.m..

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 2 April 2009
Room 152, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Mr Ken Robinson MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Antonia Hoskins (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Miss Heather Galbraith (Clerical Officer)
Miss Meadhbh McCann (Research & Library Services)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.35 a.m.

4. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee noted the Research and Library Services paper on Business in the Arts.

The Committee noted the paper on suggestions for potential visits.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to visit Liverpool as part of the inquiry into the funding of the arts.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to request oral evidence from the Arts Council of Ireland, Mid Armagh Community Network, Ulster-Scots Community Network and Féile an Phobail.

The Committee noted the response from the Arts Council on the selection of art works for hospitals and health care facilities.

Mr McElduff declared an interest as a member of Omagh District Council.

Lord Browne declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council.

Mr McCarthy declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

Mr McCausland declared an interest as member of Belfast City Council, Belfast Education and Library Board, and the Ulster-Scots Community Network.

Mr Ramsey declared an interest as a member of Derry City Council and Director of the Millennium Forum.

Mr Shannon declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

The following representatives from Arts and Business Northern Ireland joined the meeting:

Ms Mary Trainor (Director)
Ms Lesley Wake (Director of Operations)
Ms Joanne South (Research Manager)

The representatives briefed the Committee. This was followed by a question and answer session.

11.32 a.m. Mr Bradley joined the meeting.

12.05 p.m. Mr Ramsey left the meeting.

The representatives from Arts and Business Northern Ireland agreed to forward further details of its membership.

The following representatives from the Forum for Local Government and the Arts joined the meeting:

Ms Noelle McAlinden (Chairperson)
Mr Mac Pollock (Vice Chairperson)
Mr Malcolm Murchinson (Arts Manager, Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart)

12.26 p.m. Mr McCausland left the meeting.

The representatives briefed the Committee. This was followed by a question and answer session.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.58 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 23 April 2009
Room 152, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Francie Brolly MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Antonia Hoskins (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Miss Heather Galbraith (Clerical Officer)
Ms Meadhbh McCann (Research Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.35 a.m.

4. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee received a presentation by Ms Meadhbh McCann, Research and Library Services, on European Funding of the Arts and Culture. This was followed by a question and answer session.

The Committee noted the additional information on per capita spend provided by Research and Library Services following the Committee’s meeting on 12 March 2009.

The following representatives from Voluntary Arts Ireland joined the meeting:

Mr Robin Simpson (Chief Executive Voluntary Arts Network)
Ms Brenda Kent (Chief Officer Voluntary Arts Ireland)
Mr Stephen Brown (Chairperson Voluntary Arts Ireland)

11.03 a.m. Mr McCartney left the meeting.

11.36 a.m. Mr Shannon left the meeting.

The Committee took evidence from the Voluntary Arts Ireland representatives. This was followed by a question and answer session.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to commission a paper from Research and Library Services on the costs associated with the monitoring and auditing processes involved in grant awards to arts organisations.

The following representatives from the Lyric Theatre joined the meeting:

Mr Ciaran McAuley (Executive Director)
Mr Richard Croxford (Artistic Director)
Mr Dan Gordon (Board Member)

The Committee took evidence from the Lyric Theatre representatives. This was followed by a question and answer session.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.47 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 30 April 2009
Room 152, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Antonia Hoskins (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Miss Heather Galbraith (Clerical Officer)
Ms Meadhbh McCann (Research Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.08 a.m.

4. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee noted the information supplied by the Arts Council detailing groups which received over £10,000 in funding for 2008/2009.

The Committee noted the information supplied by the Arts Council detailing groups which received over £100,000 in funding for 2008/2009.

The Committee noted the response from the Arts Council on the methodology used to calculate per capita spend on the arts.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to forward the Arts Council’s letter to the Department for comment.

The Committee noted the response from the Arts Council on its organisational structure and overheads.

The Committee noted the response from the Arts Council on its distribution of funding for super output areas.

The Committee noted the response from the Arts Council on how it evaluates the work of the Ulster Orchestra.

The Committee noted the response from the Ulster Orchestra detailing its outreach and community work.

The Committee noted the response from the Minister on how the Department evaluates the work of the Ulster Orchestra.

The Committee noted the additional information supplied by the Forum for Local Government and the Arts on “Local Authority Arts Expenditure Survey".

The Committee noted the additional information supplied by Arts & Business NI on their membership.

The Committee noted the information forwarded by Voluntary Arts Ireland on the hardship fund being set up by the Arts Council of England.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Arts Council to ask if it has any access to unused lottery funding and whether it has received any indication that its’ funding will be reduced as a result of the Budget.

The Clerk updated the Committee on the proposed itinerary for the committee visit to Liverpool.

The Committee received a presentation by Ms Meadhbh McCann, Research and Library Services, on “The impact of the arts on social needs". This was followed by a question and answer session.

Agreed: Ms McCann agreed to come back to the Committee on a number of issues.

Mr McElduff declared an interest as a member of Omagh District Council.

Lord Browne declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council.

Mr McCarthy declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

Mr McCausland declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council, Belfast Education and Library Board, and the Ulster-Scots Community Network.

Mr Ramsey declared an interest as a member of Derry City Council and Director of the Millennium Forum.

Mr Robinson declared an interest as a member of Newtownabbey Borough Council.

Mr Shannon declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

The following representatives from New Lodge Arts joined the meeting:

Ms Katrina Newell (Youth Arts Coordinator)
Ms Danielle Fields (Youth Advisory Group)
Mr John Paul McBride (Youth Advisory Group)

The Committee took evidence from the New Lodge Arts representatives. This was followed by a question and answer session.

The following representatives from Greater Shantallow Community Arts joined the meeting:

Mr Oliver Green (Director of Arts)
Mr Joe Campbell (Youth Intervention Coordinator in Arts Development)

The Committee took evidence from the Greater Shantallow Community Arts representatives. This was followed by a question and answer session.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.10 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 7 May 2009
Room 152, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA

Apologies: Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Antonia Hoskins (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Miss Heather Galbraith (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.37 a.m.

5. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee noted the draft itinerary for the visit to Liverpool on 9-11 June 2009.

The Chairperson advised the Committee that a request has been received from the Community Arts Forum to present oral evidence to the inquiry.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to hear oral evidence from the Community Arts Forum.

Mr McElduff declared an interest as a member of Omagh District Council.

Lord Browne declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council.

Mr McCarthy declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

Mr Ramsey declared an interest as a member of Derry City Council and Director of the Millennium Forum.

11.12 a.m. Mr McCausland joined the meeting.

The following representatives from Féile an Phobail joined the meeting:

Mr Sean Paul O’Hare (Director)
Ms Jenny Gillespie (Events Coordinator)
Ms Elsie McLaughlin (Marketing Officer)

The Committee took evidence from the Féile an Phobail representatives. This was followed by a question and answer session. The representatives agreed to forward a number of documents to the Committee.

11.45 a.m. Mr Ramsey left the meeting.

The following representatives from ArtsEkta joined the meeting:

Heather Floyd (Board Member)
Mukesh Sharma (Treasurer)
Nisha Tandon (Development Manager)

The Committee took evidence from the ArtsEkta representatives. This was followed by a question and answer session.

12.10 p.m. Mr McElduff vacated the Chair.

12.10 p.m. Mr McNarry assumed the Chair.

12.17 p.m. Mr McElduff resumed the Chair.

The following representatives from the Arts Council of Ireland joined the meeting:

Ms Mary Cloake (Director)
Mr Martin Drury (Arts Director)

The Committee took evidence from the Arts Council of Ireland representatives. This was followed by a question and answer session.

12.35 p.m. Mr McCausland left the meeting.

1.00 p.m. Mr McCartney left the meeting.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 1.12 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 14 May 2009
Room 152, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Antonia Hoskins (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Miss Heather Galbraith (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.35 a.m.

6. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee noted the response from the Department on behalf of the Arts Council on audit and monitoring procedures on grants awarded.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Arts Council to ask for its views on the possibility of costing its audit and monitoring procedures.

The Committee noted the response from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland advising that they are unable to access the funding stream that allows the Arts Council of England to operate a £40 million hardship fund.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to ask if they have considered a hardship fund.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the National Lottery Distribution Body to inquire if the Arts Council of Northern Ireland could access unused lottery funds.

The Committee noted the response from the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister relating to the Ulster Orchestra.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to forward the letter to the Ulster Orchestra for information.

The Committee noted the response from the Minister advising what actions have been taken by the Department as a result of the review of Community Arts in Northern Ireland.

Mr McElduff declared an interest as a member of Omagh District Council.

Lord Browne declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council.

Mr McCarthy declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

Mr Ramsey declared an interest as a member of Derry City Council and Director of the Millennium Forum.

Mr Robinson declared an interest as a member of Newtownabbey Borough Council.

11.01 a.m. Mr McNarry left the meeting.

11.08 a.m. Mr McNarry rejoined the meeting.

The following representatives from Community Arts Forum joined the meeting:

Ms Heather Floyd (Director)
Ms Caragh O’Donnell (Information Officer)
Mr Connor Shields (Treasurer)

11.41 a.m. Mr Shannon rejoined the meeting.

The Committee took evidence from the Community Arts Forum representatives. This was followed by a question and answer session. The representatives agreed to forward further information to the Committee.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.06 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 21 May 2009
Room 152, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Miss Mairéad Higgins (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Jonathan Lamont (Clerical Supervisor)
Miss Heather Galbraith (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.31 a.m.

5. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

11.07 a.m. Mr Shannon joined the meeting.

11.10 a.m. Mr McCausland rejoined the meeting.

The Committee noted the additional information provided by Research and Library Services on “Social Impacts of the Arts".

The Committee noted the response from the Arts Council on the proposed feasibility study for a new art gallery.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Arts Council to request clarification on what was meant by “expenses" in relation to the proposed consultants’ costs.

Lord Browne declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council.

Mr McCarthy declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

Mr McCausland declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council, Belfast Education and Library Board, and the Ulster-Scots Community Network.

Mr Ramsey declared an interest as a member of Derry City Council and Director of the Millennium Forum.

Mr Robinson declared an interest as a member of Newtownabbey Borough Council.

Mr Shannon declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

The following representatives from Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group joined the meeting:

Mr Bobby Acheson (Chairman)
Mr Adrian Rolston (PR representative)

The Committee took evidence from the Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group. This was followed by a question and answer session.

Agreed: The Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group agreed to forward their business plan to the Committee.

Mr McNarry proposed that Mr Ramsey do take the chair of the Committee. Mr Shannon seconded the proposal. No other nominations were received by the Clerk, and Mr Ramsey was duly elected as chairperson.

11.50 a.m. Mr McNarry vacated the chair.

11.50 a.m. Mr Ramsey assumed the chair.

The following representatives from Mid Armagh Community Network joined the meeting:

Mr Conrad Clarke (Director)
Ms Hilary Singleton (Committee Members and Dance Coordinator)

The Committee took evidence from Mid Armagh Community Network. This was followed by a question and answer session.

12.06 p.m. Mr McNarry rejoined the meeting and assumed the chair.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to forward details of Arts & Business to the Mid Armagh Community Network.

12.25 p.m. Mr Brolly left the meeting.

12.37 p.m. Mr Robinson left the meeting.

The following representatives from the Ulster-Scots Community Network joined the meeting:

Mr William Humphrey (Director)
Mr Iain Carlisle (Operations Manager)

The Committee took evidence from the Ulster-Scots Community Network. This was followed by a question and answer session.

12.47 p.m. Mr McCarthy left the meeting.

12.50 p.m. Mr Bradley left the meeting.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to consider a visit to the Ulster-Scots Community Network premises at a future date.

The Deputy Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 1.12 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 25 June 2009
Room 152, Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Nelson McCausland MLA
Mr Pat Ramsey MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs Ashleigh Mitford (Assistant Clerk)
Mr Jonathan Lamont (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Chris Baird (Clerical Officer)

10.33 a.m. The meeting opened in closed session.

11.03 a.m. The meeting moved into open session.

5. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

Lord Browne declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council.

Mr McCarthy declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

Mr McCausland declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council, Belfast Education and Library Board, and the Ulster-Scots Community Network.

Mr Ramsey declared an interest as a member of Derry City Council and Director of the Millennium Forum.

Mr Robinson declared an interest as a member of Newtownabbey Borough Council.

Mr Shannon declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

The following representatives from Belfast City Council joined the meeting:

Deirdre Robb (Acting Manager of Culture and Arts Unit).
Heather Bulfin (Cultural Communications Officer).

11.10 a.m. Mr McNarry rejoined the meeting and assumed the chair.

The Committee took evidence from Belfast City Council. This was followed by a question and answer session. The representatives agreed to forward further information to the Committee.

11.27a.m. Mr Brolly left the meeting.

11.37a.m. Mr Bradley joined the meeting.

11.39a.m. Mr Ramsey left the meeting.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.30 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 2 July 2009
Room 152 Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr PJ Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA

Apologies: Mr Raymond McCartney MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Ashleigh Mitford (Assistant Clerk)
Mr Jonathan Lamont (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Chris Baird (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.32 a.m.

3. Inquiry into the Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee noted a written submission from the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister.

The Committee noted the correspondence from the Arts Council on auditing/monitoring procedures.

Mr McElduff declared an interest as a member of Omagh District Council

Lord Browne declared an interest as a member of Belfast City Council.

Mr McCarthy declared an interest as a member of Ards Borough Council.

Mr Robinson declared an interest as a member of Newtownabbey Borough Council.

10.40 a.m. Mr Shannon joined the meeting.

Evidence Session with the Arts Council

The following representatives from the Arts Council joined the meeting:

Roisin McDonough (Chief Executive).
Lorraine McDowell (Director of Operations).
Damian Smyth (Head of Drama & Literature).
Joan Dempster (Arts Development Officer/Community Arts)

This was followed by a question and answer session. The representatives agreed to forward further information to the Committee.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to forward additional questions to the Arts Council in writing.

Evidence Session with the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure

The Minister and the following officials joined the meeting:

Linda Wilson (Director of Culture).
Anne Tohill (Head of Arts & Creativity).

This was followed by a question and answer session.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to forward additional questions to the Department in writing.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 1.14 pm

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 10 September 2009
Room 152 Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr PJ Bradley MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA
Mr Jim Shannon MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA

Apologies: Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Ashleigh Mitford (Assistant Clerk)
Mr Jonathan Lamont (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Chris Baird (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.36 a.m.

3. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee noted responses from the Minister and from the Arts Council to additional questions relating to the inquiry.

The Committee noted information supplied by the Community Arts Forum relating to spending on community arts in other countries and regions.

The Committee noted correspondence from the Arts Council regarding its allocation under the CSR.

The Committee noted the Clerk’s report of the visit to Liverpool.

The Committee noted the timetable for completion of the inquiry.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 1.04 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 17 September 2009
Room 152 Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Trevor Clarke MLA
Ms Michelle McIlveen MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA

Apologies: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr PJ Bradley MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Ashleigh Mitford (Assistant Clerk)
Mr Jonathan Lamont (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Chris Baird (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.30 a.m.

12.31 p.m. The Deputy Chairperson declared the meeting closed to the public.

9. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee considered the draft recommendations for Terms of Reference 1 -3, an issues paper and a summary of oral evidence.

Agreed: The Committee agreed the draft recommendations for Terms of Reference 1 – 3.

The Deputy Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.38 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 01 October 2009
Room 152 Parliament Buildings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr PJ Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Trevor Clarke MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Ms Michelle McIlveen MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Ashleigh Mitford (Assistant Clerk)
Mr Jonathan Lamont (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Chris Baird (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.32 a.m.

12.29 p.m. The Chairperson declared the meeting closed to the public.

6. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee noted a letter from the Arts Council.

The Committee considered the draft recommendations for Terms of Reference 4 -7.

12.37 p.m. Mr. McNarry re-joined the meeting.

12.40 p.m. Mr. McCarthy left the meeting.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to re-consider the draft recommendations at next week’s meeting.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.59 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 08 October 2009
Sean Hollywood Arts Centre, Newry

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr PJ Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Trevor Clarke MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Ms Michelle McIlveen MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA

Apologies: Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Ashleigh Mitford (Assistant Clerk)
Mr Jonathan Lamont (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Chris Baird (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.37 a.m.

11.44 a.m. The Chairperson declared the meeting closed to the public.

10. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee noted revised draft recommendations for Terms of Reference 4 - 7, an issues paper and a summary of oral evidence.

Agreed: The Committee agreed a number of amendments to the draft recommendations for Terms of Reference 4 – 7, to be presented at next week’s meeting.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.06 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 15 October 2009
Room 21 Parliament Buildings, Stormont

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr PJ Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Trevor Clarke MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Ms Michelle McIlveen MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA

Apologies: Mr Dominic Bradley MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Ashleigh Mitford (Assistant Clerk)
Mr Jonathan Lamont (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Chris Baird (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.36 a.m.

11.50 a.m. The Chairperson declared the meeting closed to the public.

11.51 a.m. Mr McCarthy re-joined the meeting.

7. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

Agreed: The Committee agreed the revised draft recommendations that relate to Terms of Reference 4 and 6.

The Chairperson advised that the draft report will be presented at next week’s meeting.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 11.57 a.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 22 October 2009
Room 21 Parliament Buildings, Stormont

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr PJ Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Ms Michelle McIlveen MLA

Apologies: Mr Trevor Clarke MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Vivien Ireland (Assistant Clerk)
Mr Jonathan Lamont (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Christopher Nickle (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 1.05 p.m.

The committee moved into closed session at 3.13 p.m.

9. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee considered its draft report and made a number of amendments to Chapter 1.

The Chairperson advised that the revised draft report will be presented at the meeting of 5 November 2009.

3.17 p.m. Mr PJ Bradley left the meeting.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to host a musical event in the Long Gallery to mark the launch of the report.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 3.31 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 05 November 2009
Room 21 Parliament Buildings, Stormont

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr PJ Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Ms Michelle McIlveen MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA

Apologies: Lord Browne MLA
Mr Trevor Clarke MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Ashleigh Mitford (Assistant Clerk)
Mr Jonathan Lamont (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Christopher Baird (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.37 a.m.

The Committee moved into closed session at 12.33 p.m.

10. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee noted the revised chapter 1 of the report which incorporates the amendments agreed on 22 October 2009.

Agreed: The Committee agreed the revised chapter.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to table a motion to debate the report in plenary.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 12.44 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Thursday 12 November 2009
Room 21 Parliament Buildings, Stormont

Unapproved Minutes of Proceedings

Present: Mr Barry McElduff MLA (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry MLA (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley MLA
Mr PJ Bradley MLA
Mr Francie Brolly MLA
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Trevor Clarke MLA
Mr Kieran McCarthy MLA
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA
Mr Ken Robinson MLA

Apologies: Ms Michelle McIlveen MLA

In attendance: Dr Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Mrs Ashleigh Mitford (Assistant Clerk)
Mr Jonathan Lamont (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Christopher Baird (Clerical Officer)

The meeting opened in public session at 10.35 a.m.

Mr Brolly left the meeting at 12.13 p.m.

Mr PJ Bradley left the meeting at 12.38 p.m.

The Committee moved into closed session at 12.42 p.m.

11. Inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

Agreed: The Committee agreed the following sections of the report:

Executive Summary - read and agreed.

List of Recommendations - read and agreed.

Introduction – read and agreed.

Chapter 1– read and agreed, subject to a minor amendment.

Chapter 2– read and agreed, subject to an additional paragraph to be approved by the Chairperson.

Chapter 3– read and agreed.

Chapter 4– read and agreed.

Chapter 5 – read and agreed.

Chapter 6– read and agreed.

Agreed: The Committee agreed that the following papers should be appended to the Committee’s report:

1. Minute of Proceedings

2. Minutes of Evidence

3. List of Written Submissions to the Committee

4. Written Submissions to the Committee

5. List of Witnesses Who Gave Evidence to the Committee

6. List of Research Papers

7. Research Papers

8. List of additional information

9. Additional Information

10. List of Abbreviations

Agreed: The Committee ordered the report to be printed.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to send embargoed copies of the Report to the Minister and to the Arts Council 3 working days in advance of the plenary debate.

The Chairperson advised members that there will be a draft press release for the Committee to consider next week which would be issued the day of the plenary debate.

The Committee moved into open session at 12.55 p.m.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 1.03 p.m.

[EXTRACT]

Appendix 2

Minutes of Evidence

26 February 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Francie Brolly
The Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Mr Nick Livingston Ms Roisín McDonough Ms Lorraine McDowell Ms Nóirín McKinney

Arts Council of Northern Ireland

1. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): Good morning. I welcome Ms Roisín McDonough, Ms Nóirín McKinney, Ms Lorraine McDowell and Mr Nick Livingston from the Arts Council. The Committee is grateful for your early submission, Roisín. Thank you for accommodating us in the way that you have done.

2. Ms Roisín McDonough (Arts Council of Northern Ireland): My senior team is with me this morning. Mr Nick Livingston is the council’s director of strategic development; Ms Lorraine McDowell is our director of operations; and Ms Nóirín McKinney is the council’s director of arts development. We will all make a contribution in the course of our presentation.

3. I thank you for the opportunity to address the Committee. We spent considerable time pulling together as much evidence as we could in answer to the Committee’s questions. That is still a work in progress, and we are happy to return in future if there are any further issues or questions that we can help members with. Nóirín McKinney will address points 1 and 2 of the terms of reference for the Committees inquiry.

4. Ms Nóirín McKinney (Arts Council of Northern Ireland): The Committee will be aware that Northern Ireland is still renowned for having the lowest per capita spend on the arts in the UK and Ireland. That, of course, has had a direct impact on artists and arts organisations here. For example, we have just made decisions on the 129 applications that we received under the Annual Support for Organisations Programme (ASOP). The total value of those applications was £13·5 million, but the funding budget that was available was £10·1 million. The paper that we submitted to the Committee sets out in more detail the gap between the need for funding and the money that has been available from the Arts Council over the past number of years. That is still a critical problem.

5. It is difficult to directly compare spending on the arts in many European countries and regions with that of the UK. That is because of different systems of support for creative and cultural life and the way in which they are defined in different countries and, even, in different regions of the UK. The ranges of legal structures and cultural policies that exist also have an effect. We have set out the arts spending per capita in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, because those figures can be more easily and readily compared.

6. There are other innovative sources of funding. To put the issue in context, we felt that it was important to set out the current sources of funding. We have included a list that members will be familiar with. The Arts Council is the primary funding source for Government expenditure on the arts, followed by the other Departments, and, obviously, local authorities. Box office income through ticket sales and merchandising is another main source of funding, particularly for performing arts organisations. Many such organisations run membership schemes, patronage schemes and fund-raising events. However, those sources of funding, by their very nature, are transient or short-term, and cannot replace core funding.

7. Given the cocktail of funding that makes up the arts sector in Northern Ireland, it is difficult for organisations to offer full-time or part- time positions, and the sector relies very heavily on voluntary support, which is another source of invisible subsidy. Arts organisations have reported that almost 2,400 individuals work in a voluntary capacity in both formal and informal roles. That is critical to and has a huge impact on the sector.

8. There are risks to current funding. The Department of Education and the Department for Social Development (DSD) are reviewing policies. That will probably have a negative impact on arts funding. Members will be aware that the Department of Education funds the Creative Youth Partnerships (CPY), and we recently received confirmation that that funding will continue for another year.

9. Mr McCarthy: That is good news. That group visited the Committee recently and was concerned about the funding.

10. The Chairperson: Will the Department of Education and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) fund the Creative Youth Partnerships?

11. Ms McKinney: The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure’s money is ring-fenced, but we were awaiting a steer from the Department of Education on its future position. That Department will provide £50,000. However, there is less good news, because it is reviewing its community relations policy through which the Arts Council receives — and has done for a number of years — over £200,000. We have used that money to fund much of the traditional arts sector, because it is under their Cultural Traditions programme. We are still awaiting the news that that funding is likely to be reduced substantially. That has had a negative impact on our overall funds for 2009-2010.

12. DSD’s review of the neighbourhood action plan might cause organisations such as the Greater Shantallow Community Arts to lose vital finances. Again, given that it is such a fragile ecosystem, all those small amounts of money can have a negative impact, and many of those organisations have asked us to replace that funding. We are simply unable to do so. Local government has experienced unprecedented financial pressure, and we are aware that Belfast City Council, for example, has to review whether it is able to organise large-scale cultural events in the city. It will be disappointing if the council has to cancel popular events such as Opera in the Park. The recession might impact on box office receipts and the levels of discretionary spend by the public. We are waiting to see what impact the recession will have on the arts.

13. Furthermore, under the review of public administration (RPA), we will work closely with local authorities to maximise the transferred amount of funding for the arts and to ensure that, when the money transfers, it is ring-fenced for the arts and does not become lost in general provision. We have much work to do in order to address those pressures.

14. Sponsorship is important. Our submission outlines the Arts and Business definition of sponsorship. Importantly, Arts and Business conducts an annual survey on private investment in the cultural sector (PICS), which revealed that the arts accounts for 18% of the UK’s total sponsorship market. In 2007-08, Northern Ireland received 1·2% — £8·5 million, which includes in-kind support, from the UK private investment total of £687 million. Therefore, those are small amounts of money.

15. The £8·5 million comprises investment of £3·9 million from business, £2·2 million from individuals and £2·3 million from trusts and foundations. Funding is, unfortunately, on the decline, and business investment has decreased by 8·9% since 2006-07. Business investment accounts for 47% of the total private investment in Northern Ireland. The business sector is, therefore, extremely important.

16. It must be remembered that the small-scale level of private enterprise in Northern Ireland has limited the number of companies and businesses that can be approached for sponsorship deals. Large-scale corporations, or their headquarters, simply do not exist in Northern Ireland, and that too has a negative impact. The Arts and Business PICS survey does not cover only the arts; it covers the entire cultural sector, including museums and heritage. Therefore, that figure is diluted even more.

17. We gave the Committee our survey of the arts organisations that we fund directly. We gathered the figures on how much sponsorship they are able to raise, which further refines the information for the Committee. Our submission illustrates that, in 2006-07, sponsorship of our revenue clients was only £1 million, which is approximately 4% of their total income, and the top 10 of our funded clients received £436,000 of that amount, which is about 40% of the total.

18. Since the publication of that data, the Belfast Festival at Queen’s secured a major sponsorship deal with the Ulster Bank for a three-year period, and the Committee will be aware that the Lyric Theatre secured an individual donation of £1 million for its new theatre. Those are fantastic examples but, in a Northern Ireland context, they are exceptional.

19. Philanthropy in Ireland has been increasing, as the press coverage shows, and the figures suggest that there may be as many as 100,000 millionaires. Although the overwhelming trend is that individuals with high net worth are willing to fund the arts, they will not do so to the same extent as they fund other sectors. The arts sector is low on their list of priorities.

20. Trust foundations and charitable giving play their part: the Paul Hamlyn Foundation; the Joseph Rowntree Foundation; and schemes such as Comic Relief and Children in Need are vital to the arts. However, the funding opportunities that those organisations choose are often project-based and time bound, and they simply cannot guarantee the long-term sustainability of arts organisations.

21. Published in December 2008, the report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, ‘Managing in a Downturn’ contains breaking news on the effect of the recession and highlights the widespread concern that most sources of income will remain at best static and that income from trusts, corporate foundations, and legacies in particular, will decrease. As might be expected, there is no good news in that report.

22. EU structural funding has been important to the arts in Northern Ireland, but the revised rules place priority on supporting countries that have, or will, become EU members from 2004 onwards. Therefore, the UK is no longer a priority for EU funding.

23. Gift aid is the key element of tax-efficient charitable giving in the UK, but there is little information on what percentage of that goes directly to benefit the arts. We do not, unfortunately, have that information.

24. We have studied some models of innovative approaches to funding. For example, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has diverse income streams. Its earned income is 40%, its endowment income is 40% and fund-raising accounts for between 10% and 15%. The museum focuses on exploiting its assets, which, in its case, are considerable, and does what is known as “sweating the asset" to the maximum.

25. The context in Northern Ireland is different; wonderful, extraordinary collections are available in the UK. Endowments in the USA will suffer because of the recession, and I heard only yesterday that Harvard University’s endowment, which is vast, has decreased by approximately 33%. We often regard with envy the funding of arts in the United States, but that decrease will have a big impact.

26. The move towards social enterprise, as opposed to charitable enterprise, is more relevant here. The creative industries sector operates with a very different model and focus, and, even though it is more entrepreneurial, it still cannot exist without public subsidy. The Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast is a very good example of a social enterprise organisation, but it obviously required Government funding to help set it up.

27. A number of the clients that the Arts Council supports have established a trading wing. Such examples include the Belfast Print Workshop and the Belfast Community Circus. They fully exploit the services that they provide to the community and can charge for those services. Other opportunities are seized by arts organisations, and they tend to be very imaginative; for example, through accessing vacant and derated commercial premises. Again, it is important to point out that those are short-term solutions to longer-term problems.

28. Mr Nick Livingston (Arts Council of Northern Ireland): The third item in the inquiry’s terms of reference is:

“To carry out a stocktake of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts."

29. I congratulate the Committee for taking on such an ambitious task, because those objectives are very challenging. The arena is complex and, in the 20 years or more that I have been following the issue, there has been a substantial growth in the level of information that emanates from that.

30. Literature that primarily emanates from an advocacy perspective has been hotly disputed — often by cultural economists — for a variety of reasons, not least because the basis upon which the intervention was made was not always clear. For example, it is not always clear how the problem of time lag will be dealt with, how there is clear correlation and how we can attribute some of the findings in the studies to the claimed changes.

31. Looking at the scene across different jurisdictions, at times one will read such literature and almost think that it is a distraction from the underlying reasons why the public fund the arts in the first place — public value and the benefit that emanates from them.

32. Therefore, there are both theoretical and practical problems that are linked to that aspect of the terms of reference. I want to put it on record that there is a dearth of dedicated impact literature in that area in Northern Ireland. That is partly because we in Arts Council have been bounded and cautious about the extent of our claims, and I have highlighted some of the problems related to that, but also because we have preferred to capture evidence from the evaluation of our own funding and projects and the impact that they have had.

33. The Committee knows that there are many ways in which participation in the arts has brought improvements to quality of life and social cohesion. It has also helped to develop community relations and foster local identity. Therefore, in the portfolio, we have assembled a list of areas that the Committee might like to consider. Those areas are listed in section 3 of the submission.

34. We are aware of the increasing importance of the creative industries, which are increasingly being seen as part of a modern knowledge-based economy. There have been a number of landmark studies on the issue by Robert Cushing, Robert Solow of MIT and David Romer of Stanford University. Perhaps the best known one is ‘The Rise of the Creative Class’ by Richard Florida. Those studies have tried to develop theories and metrics on the issue. However, I cannot compress all those studies for the purposes of today’s discussion, so I will lift some key points from them.

35. First, the creative economy helps to reshape our thinking about the economic dynamic. Secondly, the relationship between the most successful cities and regions often attributes importance to drivers that rank talent and creativity highly. Thirdly, regions that attract investment often do so, not from a low-cost base, but because of the amenity of the place and the benefits that it brings.

36. The other point that I want to address is about how the creative industries have expanded to other areas such as film, advertising, production, branding and other forms of commercial manifestation.

37. These have presented all sorts of development opportunities for people working in the arts-sector organisations that we have funded. In recent years, we have seen those opportunities, and the demand for them, grow. Specialist centres in art, design, fashion and communication industries are now prominent throughout the UK.

38. An estimated 3,500 people are employed in the creative industries in Northern Ireland, which represents about 4% of the work force. Northern Ireland lags behind the rest of the UK, not least because it cannot be disassociated with historically low levels of public investment in the arts.

39. I turn now to employment in our sector and its footprint. Our organisations report to us through the review of regularly funded organisations. In 2006-07, the 147 organisations that completed the return accounted for some 3,128 individuals; of those, some 2,300 were artistic staff. That is a combination of those working in a full- and part-time capacity. Volunteering is an important element in a sector that is in many ways under-funded as well.

40. I will touch briefly on our capital programme, the details of which are set out in members’ papers. We have been able to encourage the development of 13 cultural buildings in Northern Ireland; they are now established landmarks that play a prominent part in the communities in which they are located. They are not situated solely in the main conurbation of Belfast; three quarters of awards were made outside Belfast.

41. The arts have helped to establish Northern Ireland as a tourist destination, brought distinctiveness to the tourism product and helped to shape consumer perceptions about Northern Ireland. Vibrant local arts festivals offer year-round programmes, and I have mentioned a few of those by way of illustration.

42. Sending artists abroad reaps much wider benefits and projects a much more vibrant image of Northern Ireland. Projects such as the Venice Biennale, the South by Southwest and Smithsonian festivals have raised the profile of arts from Northern Ireland; they have also attracted significant interest in Northern Ireland as a tourist destination.

43. Regarding children and young people, we touched briefly on skills and employability. That is a key area that the Committee will want to turn to, and we have set out some salient points about Creative Youth Partnerships and the equivalent programme in England.

44. Moving briefly to the social benefits, there are some high-level impacts on healthcare, such as the Dreams Project and the work of the Arts Care initiative. We know that the Committee is particularly interested in regeneration. We have mentioned the large capital programme and the benefits that have attached to it: Armagh, for example, attracts several specialist programme activities, such as the John Hewitt summer school. Those activities are not located just in the main conurbations and cities; many transforming benefits have happened in small and rural communities.

45. The Arts Council takes its obligations on equality and inclusion under relevant legislation very seriously. It has introduced a premium payment programme, and I have explained some of the benefits of that. Many of the organisations that we fund offer rich examples of work that they undertake with people who have disabilities.

46. We will return to the Re-imaging Communities programme shortly. There are also projects which have been directed solely at ethnic minority groups.

47. Ms McDonough: The reality of artistic practice over the past 20 years or so has meant that the distinctions between the different branches of the arts, including community and professional arts, have lost much of their definition and significance. They are much more fluid. Many practitioners would no longer recognise themselves as belonging to fixed categories of artistic practice.

48. Page 23 of our submissions lists a range of artistic activity. It is a fragile, hugely interconnected eco-system; therefore, a small loss in one sphere can have disproportionate consequences. We believe that it is the role of an Arts Council to support the pursuit of excellence and the integrity of artistic practice.

49. We have provided the Committee with a list of the programmes that we run, and with a graph showing the value of grants awarded and the pattern of distribution. The graph of “combined arts" on page 25 includes festivals, venues and cross-artform activity; therefore, although it may look as though combined arts has received a great deal, that figure denotes funding in all those areas. The graph was laid out in that format because all the Arts Councils in these islands have agreed a common classification system for the purposes of establishing, as best as possible, comparability.

50. Community-based arts activity runs as a golden thread through each of the classified art-form areas. I know that the Committee is particularly interested in community arts and arts based in the community; therefore, we have endeavoured to give you a pattern of the spatial distribution of funding in that area. You will want to know, I am sure, why community funding was so high in 2004-05 but greatly reduced in 2005-06. That is not because we reduced our funding to community organisations; rather when we award a three-year grant, it is denoted on the graph in the year in which it is awarded. However, as that grant runs for three years, it will give a slightly different picture.

51. The Arts Council is conscious of its obligation to target social need, and 56% of its funding goes to the 20% most deprived communities in Northern Ireland. We have amended all our application forms and scoring criteria to take into account the rural and urban split and delivery in disadvantaged communities.

52. Ms Lorraine McDowell (Arts Council of Northern Ireland): There are several basic programmes addressing the areas that, historically, have been unable to access funding. Over the past few years, we have reduced the level of partnership funding that community groups must find to access funding. In many cases, the Arts Council funds between 90% and 100% of the cost, where previously it funded between 50% and 75%

53. The Awards for All programme has been running for several years; it is a joint scheme run by all the Lottery distributors. In the past five years, under that scheme, the Arts Council has given £2·7 million to groups, 59% of which have been outside the main areas of Belfast and Derry. As you may know, the Awards for All scheme is coming to an end, and the Arts Council recently launched its own small-grants programme, which will make its first awards at the beginning of April.

(The Deputy Chairperson [Mr McNarry] in the Chair)

54. Under the distribution of grants by the Awards for All programme, traditional arts do very well; for example, through the funding of local Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann (CCE) and other groups. Amateur drama groups and amateur music groups also do well out of that programme. Since 1995, we have awarded grants of £3·9 million to the marching-band sector, 91% of which was allocated outside Belfast and Derry.

55. The STart UP programme was originally funded by DSD under its renewing communities programme, whereby we had £100,000 for a one-year programme; through our officers we provided developmental support and 100% grant aid to local organisations.

56. DSD funding ceased. However, we have found a small budget from our 2009-2010 resources and intend to resume that funding to seed-fund small organisations, which could move on to other schemes.

57. The Art of Regeneration programme looked at positioning the arts at the centre of society and meeting some of Northern Ireland’s social challenges through the arts; key themes were the environment, good relations and antisocial behaviour. In total, we made 10 awards worth £2·4 million to local authorities, both working together as networks, but also with a diverse range of delivery partners, ranging from traditional music schools to community safety partnerships and tenants’ associations.

58. Re-imaging was one of the main programmes that Nick referred to earlier. It is a good example of interdepartmental and interagency working, with funding from the Department for Social Development, the International Fund for Ireland, the Office of the First Minister and the deputy First Minister, and the Housing Executive. Re-imaging considered and addressed neighbourhood renewal areas, anti-sectarian and racist strategies.

59. Page 35 shows where the money has gone. We have supported 112 projects to date: 57 situated in predominantly Protestant areas, 20 in predominately Catholic areas, and 35 in areas that could not be classed as single identity. The effect of that programme is that there is now a great deal of work available throughout Northern Ireland, which can be seen in various areas — 49 of the programmes are in housing estates, 15 are on arterial routes, six are on main thoroughfares and 12 are on interface areas. Its effect has been substantial; we are proud of the programme and would like to see it continue. We are making efforts to secure funds to continue it beyond 2009-2010.

60. Ms McDonough: As regards question 5, we are more than happy to support Research and Library Services in getting that kind of analysis to the Committee. We are pledged to play our part.

61. Finally, there will be a couple of sentences on question 6.

62. Ms McKinney: We have tabled a new page 37 because the figures were wrong in the document, for which I apologise.

63. Question 6 focuses on whether respective art forms receive adequate funding. We have been holding independent reviews of each art form. The Committee will be aware that we made a presentation on the needs of the drama sector, and, soon after, we followed that with a review of dance, which has been published and is being implemented. We are out in the field doing visual arts and opera, and those are due to report, through council, by June 2009. We are looking at all those needs.

64. In the recent past, we looked at architecture and craft. There are some areas in which we feel that we do not need to undertake a root-and- branch review, because the sectors are doing relatively well and we are aware of their needs. However, continuing that programme of work across other areas will depend on available funds.

65. We have set out how well we have been able to meet the requested amounts of funds from each sector through our schemes. However, the whole sector is underfunded, and that is a critical problem across all the art-form areas. Some of the programmes that we mentioned earlier, which are coming to an end — EU and DSD programmes — are having a negative impact. The funding that we give, which is reflected in the table, does not describe all the developmental needs of those organisations and the potential to grow those sectors by any means. It is a hand-to-mouth existence. The areas of artistic quality, marketing and promotion, and education and outreach are just ripe for development, but we do not have the funds to do that.

66. The Deputy Chairperson: Thank you very much for your presentation; there is much to digest. Those who have digested it fully will ask questions.

67. Mr P Ramsey: Róisín, you are very welcome. The Assembly has an accelerated-passage procedure; you gave an accelerated presentation. You did very well, given the context and the breadth of material covered.

68. You must have been busy bees in your office. I take your point about the Re-imaging Communities Programme, and we all recognise that there is such a thing as cultural poverty. The Arts Council creates the capacity for confidence in communities; however, there is not enough money to go round.

69. We talk about the needs of the various Departments and particularly those of the voluntary sector in regard to the cocktail of funding available. Have other regions developed models of practice to mainstream the arts sector and make it easier to access funding? I imagine that the job of co-ordinating funding for the arts — let alone creating an interest in them among young people — is the main problem.

70. Is the Arts Council aware of any innovative approaches that have been used in other countries and regions for generating income for the arts, beyond central Government and lottery funding? Are there any best practice models? Are you aware of any other models or principles for the allocation of funding that overarch the two arts councils on the island?

71. It took a long time even to prepare the original brief, but the more we examined this issue, the more we wondered whether we were wise to do what we were doing, given that the VALCAL report failed because it could not find qualitative evidence. Can we get the evidence? We are not trying to reinvent the wheel, but we are mindful of the contribution that culture, arts and leisure make to communities.

72. Ms McDonough: I am willing to have a stab at answering those questions.

73. The Deputy Chairperson: There is no stabbing here. [Laughter.]

74. Ms McDonough: Other European countries have different funding models. For example, many countries, instead of having arm’s-length bodies, have ministries of culture that directly fund museums and heritage organisations and perhaps national companies. However, those ministries tend not to fund the independent arts sector, including the community and voluntary sectors. Therefore, it is difficult to draw comparisons with other European countries. That is my first point.

75. We are happy to play whatever part we can and to conduct an international literature review of the different types of funding that are available in Europe. Indeed, we have already endeavoured to give you a hint of what it is like in America, where public subsidy for the arts is anything between 5%, 10% or 15%. That money is raised through income tax, endowments, and high-net-worth individuals. If one sits on a board for the arts in America, one is expected to make a direct financial contribution.

76. We do not have such a system here; we do not have the capacity to generate such funding. As I said, we are happy to work to support Library and Research Services and to conduct the international literature search on the different models of funding. We meet other arts councils regularly to exchange information; we also have joint funding schemes on aspects of our programming. Essentially, all the arts councils have the same characteristics, because they were born out of the same post-Keynesian model that said that the arts require public subsidy.

77. Of course, we always encourage our arts organisations to diversify their income streams as best as possible. Nóirín already described endeavours in that regard. We are very grateful for the money that we received for the creative industries; I am sure that you heard the Minister announce that we are processing 340 applications. Even the creative industries, which have a more entrepreneurial dimension, need public subsidy to grow from a micro- business to a standard small or medium-sized business.

78. It is a complex and difficult matter. I do not know how to answer your question. I do not think that there are even one or two simple — or even complex — transferable models, because the context in which we operate is very different from that of countries outside these islands.

79. Mr P Ramsey: We can consider models of best practice in Europe or America. Can we genuinely, and from a distance, measure the outcomes of the culture ministry in Budapest, for example?

80. Mr Livingston: That would be very difficult; the analytical framework makes it difficult to make comparisons. Interventions and the policies that drive them might be different; even simple things such as time lag would have an effect. There might be a delay between an intervention occurring and the change that is attributed to it being recorded. I imagine that it would present difficulties.

81. Mr McCarthy: You have given us a comprehensive presentation. According to your written submission, the Republic spends twice as much — and more — on the arts, and that seems to have been the case for some time. Does the border make such a difference between the psyche in the arts in the North and in the South to cause such a vast difference in funding?

82. Ms McDonough: Yes.

83. Mr McCarthy: How could we get the powers that be here to come up to the mark? The needs of the South are the same as ours.

84. Ms McDonough: There are a couple of elements. First, the advent of the Celtic tiger, which, sadly, has gone, produced a society with increased wealth, ambition and aspiration. Culture was seen as a driver of the wider economy, and the investment that was made in arts and culture was regarded by successive Governments as a proud example of a mature and culturally confident society on a world stage. Michael D Higgins, a former Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, developed a strong policy of support for the arts, which has continued for many years. The situation has altered, and the Arts Council in the Republic has been forced to reduce its budget and its support for arts organisations. Nevertheless, the disparity between North and South exists.

85. Mr McCarthy: I remember Michael D Higgins; he was a high-profile character. Should we have someone like him to attract more funding?

86. Ms McDonough: As Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, he laid a strong foundation to build on.

87. The Deputy Chairperson: Are you concerned, Kieran, that the Celtic tiger’s ceasing to roar will have a knock-on effect? Significant reductions are being made there, but will the loss of the buoyancy in the South’s arts sector be reflected here in that we do not need to compete with it as much?

88. Mr McCarthy: Yes. It will affect us, because we are all in the same boat; we will have to cut our coat according to our cloth. It is disappointing that, in the twenty-first century, the arts are living from hand to mouth. Keep up the good work.

89. Ms McDonough: Thank you.

(The Chairperson [Mr McElduff] in the Chair)

90. Mr K Robinson: Thank you for your comprehensive presentation. Have you identified those communities that have historically received low levels of funding for the arts? When you allocate money for the arts, how do you take into account the need to engage with communities that have found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and access arts funding?

91. That question comes up again and again. Communities may approach their MLA and ask whether there is funding for an arts project that they wish to undertake. We may suggest the Arts Council; but community representatives’ reaction is often that they are not artistic and so should not approach you. I know that the Arts Council has amended its forms; however, community groups used to be daunted by enormous forms — not just from the Arts Council but from other bodies too. That frightened off many people.

92. Ms McDowell: When identifying areas we consider the whole funding picture. We established the profile of our funding over a five-year period and asked ourselves whether any areas had missed out completely on funding. During the STart UP programme, we employed officers whose job it was to work in areas that had been identified as receiving low levels of funding. They worked with the community relations officers and local authority arts officers to identify groups that they could contact. You will see from the list of groups that we worked with that it does not necessarily reflect everyone’s perception of where the Arts Council’s money goes.

93. Our arts officers work constantly with organisations to identify groups that we have not funded before. I hope that our forms are not as horrendous as they once were; to some extent, we have standardised them. We have a group of officers and assistant officers who work face-to-face with organisations to help them to complete forms and to get them on the first rung of the funding ladder so that they can make progress.

94. Mr K Robinson: Your officers go out and meet those groups, which is good since a hand-holding exercise is often required; one sees it in different facets of society. How do you hold the community’s hand through completing forms and helping them to know what to do with the funds that they might receive?

95. Ms McDowell: We guide them through the process by talking to their committee, considering their strengths and weaknesses and helping them to identify people, apart from Arts Council officers, who can help them through the process. We offer help in governance, and we offer training in how to manage financial systems. We have people who study an organisation’s financial system, and they will suggest improvements if necessary. We also provide lists of artists who can help.

96. Mr K Robinson: Page 23 of your submission states:

“a recent illustration of this finely balanced symbiosis".

97. What exactly do you mean by that word?

98. Ms McDonough: The arts sector hangs together. There is a “symbiotic" relationship; that is a medical term. The arts sector is a living organism.

99. Mr K Robinson: Does it require surgery?

100. Ms McDonough: To use a health analogy, we would like a radical cash injection.

101. Mr K Robinson: Will the patient recover?

102. Ms McDonough: The patient would be alive and well and very well developed.

103. The Chairperson: I prefer “the synergy of two art forms" to “symbiosis".

104. Lord Browne: You referred to the community arts sector, but the professional arts sector is also important. How do you decide how much to distribute to each? Do you monitor the figures from the professional arts community?

105. Ms McDonough: In our presentation, we endeavoured to show the diversity in artistic practice. Many who work in communities describe themselves as highly professional, and that is a view to which we also subscribe. Professional artists of a high calibre also work in various community contexts. There is a mixture of artistic practice and engagement in communities, as well as community arts organisations that are concerned as much with the process of engagement and how people access the arts as with the product achieved as a consequence of that or the performance that is staged.

106. Therefore, the diversity of practice is huge. If people look at many of our festivals, they will gain an appreciation of the spread that exists. Some people may have a certain perception about professional artists and professional arts organisations. In our presentation, we have tried to give a sense that they are actually delivering services and are being funded to do that work in communities. As I said, almost 60% of our funding goes to the 20% most deprived areas in Northern Ireland. We are very pleased with and proud of that record, because some people still have a lingering perception, which you referred to, that the arts are not for them.

107. Indeed, the very term “the arts" can be off-putting. When one engages with some people to describe what the arts might involve, it enables and facilitates them to access certain aspects that they previously did not necessarily consider to be part of “the arts". They simply viewed them as something that they enjoy doing.

108. The Chairperson: Recently, someone told me that I was not really a patron of the arts and that I just liked to have fun, as if the two were mutually exclusive.

109. Ms McDonough: They are not incompatible, and we know that.

110. Mr McCartney: I want to expand on that, not to make a criticism but to give a general viewpoint. Sometimes people say that there are community arts that are not necessarily community based. A lot of community arts exhibitions might take place at a city-centre venue, but some people might say that they feel distant from that. Do you have anything in place to bridge that gap?

111. In another Committee, we are looking at budgets and have invited groups to talk about that. Where do you see the main gaps in funding in the provision of the arts? Do you have an estimate of the minimum amount of funding that is needed to fill those gaps?

112. There is a sense that a lot of repeat funding is provided. Do you set any targets for certain groups to bring sustainability to a project to run alongside their reliance on funding so that they can be weaned off that reliance?

113. Ms McDonough: Your first question was on the perceived gap between community arts based activities in a particular geographical community as opposed to those that other arts organisations might run for educational purposes and for reaching in to those communities. There is no easy answer to that question in that we believe that when arts organisations reach in and do work alongside local people in communities, it can sometimes stretch their experience of the arts. That is very important, as is their own artistic practice in their local communities.

114. There should always be a healthy mixture right across the artistic spectrum, because that is how people learn and engage. That can be very pleasurable and very stimulating. Over the past six or seven years, I have discerned a trend of change in the orientation of many arts organisations and a recognition that they need to go in and work in local communities. Education, outreach and access are not simply bolted on by organisations; they take that seriously, and we have encouraged them to do so for a long time.

115. We have provided some figures on the gap. We reckon that, in any one year, the funding gap is anywhere between £3 million and £4 million, depending on the range and type of programmes.

116. Our bid was outlined in our ‘Time for the Arts’ submission, and it was for core funding. We were not looking at the additional schemes, such as Creative Youth Partnerships and the many other hugely important programmes that we run, including Re-imaging Communities. I hope that we have shown that the picture has not altered since we made that bid. We have had a bit more money; however, most of our money was backloaded into the third year of the comprehensive spending review, because there are a number of new venues coming on stream and they will require additional support.

117. We are concerned, though, that we may lose some of the gains that we made, particularly in year three, and we want to work with the Committee to ensure that that money is not pulled back to the detriment of the arts, especially given the fact that we are in a very different and difficult economic climate.

118. Mr McCausland: Thank you for your presentation. It raises a lot of questions and contains a lot of information, and it is very valuable.

119. You mentioned 13 major capital projects, and your submission lists some others, such as An Gaelaras, which was funded through the integrated development fund (IDF). Does that not fall within the 13 major capital projects?

120. Ms McDonough: The Arts Council co-funded it.

121. Mr McCausland: Was that included in the 13, or is it an extra one?

122. Ms McDowell: Thirteen is the total.

123. Mr McCausland: How much money do you have in your budget each year for capital works? Is it a single tranche?

124. Ms McDowell: Capital projects were previously funded through Lottery money. That has dwindled, so we now have a capital line under ISNI II, which shows investment over the next 10 years. For 2009-2010, we have a budget of £2 million, which increases to £4 million over the life of the ISNI. That £2 million is split between a number of programmes. We fund equipment, we fund —

125. Mr McCausland: Out of the £2 million?

126. Ms McDowell: Yes. We have to find money for equipment, public art, musical instruments for bands, and construction. That is the basis of it.

127. Mr McCausland: As regards construction, is it right to say that you are talking about quite a small amount?

128. Ms McDowell: Yes, and we would profile it. Given that we have a guarantee that that £2 million increases to £4 million over the life of the ISNI, we will have to start profiling in future financial years.

129. Mr McCausland: Are you already committed to all that?

130. Ms McDowell: The programme is open at the moment.

131. Mr McCausland: When does it close?

132. Ms McDowell: Off the top of my head, it closes in about two weeks’ time. At that point, we will know what the initial demand on the funds will be.

133. Mr McCausland: Is there is only one tranche each year.

134. Ms McDowell: Yes.

135. Mr McCausland: Developmental issues and the issue of under-representation in certain sectors have been discussed by the Committee on various occasions, and they almost go into the “too difficult" box at times. I understand the point of sending out outreach or development workers to work with groups. However, sometimes one tries to deal with people, but there is no one to engage with, because the group is run entirely by volunteers who have difficulty maintaining their own programmes, never mind having to consider how to extend them — just keeping the show going is difficult enough. Often, the difficulty for them is the competitive process of funding, as they are in against the big boys. There is a need to not merely have outreach schemes, but to address the structural and systemic issues that led to underdevelopment.

136. Why is there underdevelopment and under-representation in certain areas? Why do people just keep doing their own thing without engaging with the arts establishment? That is an issue in many Protestant and unionist communities in particular. I remember a Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure meeting from some time ago; Ms McDonough was there, and underdevelopment and under-representation were on the agenda. I set up a working group, which met twice and then disintegrated, because nobody else seemed to have any interest in the issue. I remember turning up for the last meeting and there was no one else there. They forgot to tell me that it had been cancelled. [Laughter.] I got a complex after that.

137. It is not enough to acknowledge that funding needs to be increased, it is imperative that it is spread more widely so that the under- represented communities avail themselves of it. How do you build that into your programmes?

138. Before I came here this morning, I was talking to a group that is made up entirely of volunteers. They have managed to obtain funding for the past five or six years, but the funds were cut this year. Every individual on the group is a volunteer; they run an excellent programme, and it requires huge commitment, but the ground has been cut from under them. Somebody suggested that they apply for Lottery funding, but they do not accept Lottery money. How do you deal with those issues?

139. Ms McDonough: There are difficult issues, but I do not think that they are “too difficult". It does not fall into that category. The only thing to do is painstakingly chip away at it. As you know, Nelson, we have been trying to support local individual organisations as well as trying to work with some of the developmental and support agencies. The Arts Council cannot do it all by itself. The arts may well be but one potential expression of a wider problem. We have a part to play, and we are doing that. When one looks at our spatial pattern of funding across Northern Ireland and at some of the programmes that we operate, one will see that they are taken up by the type of communities that you have described.

140. There is always more to be done, because there will always be somebody and some section of community that is vulnerable, marginalised or disadvantaged for a range of reasons. We need to continue to engage with them, and that is why we have introduced our premium payment. We are the only arts council that does that. Anyone who is disadvantaged by having to care for somebody, by rural access or by a disability, for instance, will receive a premium payment on top of the grant. That payment will facilitate their engagement. We are proud of that premium, and we have been paying it for the past five or six years. We have been commended for it by the Equality Commission; we take such issues seriously. They are difficult, but we will, painstakingly, keep going.

141. Mr McCausland: Have systemic or structural ethos issues led to that lower level of development and engagement in some communities?

142. Ms McDonough: I do not know whether I am equipped to answer that, but one does see greater degrees of disaffection or disengagement in some areas; that is a general problem. There are specific contours of it in Northern Ireland, but one will find people anywhere on these islands and beyond who feel remote from the institutions of the state and from the Government. That is how citizens are drifting away from engagement. Trust is important, as is the building of direct contact and engagement. We suffer from that in Northern Ireland as well.

143. Mr McCausland: I am not thinking of communities that feel disengaged from Government or society, but from the arts world.

144. Ms McDonough: I have endeavoured to provide responses to that. We will keep going, because that is the right thing to do.

145. Mr McCausland: That is the right thing to do, but is there not a more fundamental issue? Should we look at whether there are systemic and structural ethos issues that work to deter — or which have the effect of deterring — those communities from engaging?

146. I will give you an example. Gary Mitchell is due to appear before the Committee some time in the near future. He has expressed very clear views about how certain cultural perspectives do not receive the same representation as others in drama, theatre and broadcasting. That is what I am talking about — the lack of role models. If someone from a Protestant/unionist background looks around their community, they cannot see playwrights and so on who come from their background and who openly say “that is my community" — in the way that Gary Mitchell does.

147. I clearly remember being at a conference held by Forum for Local Government and the Arts (FLGA) in Enniskillen. Some people’s jaws nearly hit the floor when they heard some of the things that Gary said that day. The matter raises a question that must be considered. Yes, the Arts Council is right to do the steady, plodding work, but that may not be sufficient to compensate for those other issues, which are much more structured and systemic. Do you see those as issues that need to be addressed?

148. Ms McDonough: You mentioned Gary Mitchell, who is one of our well-known playwrights, and we are very pleased to have supported his work. As the Arts Council has supported him, from our perspective, the work is of value. He is an important playwright, and we have rightly supported him.

149. Mr McCausland: Absolutely, but if I consider the world of playwrights, he is the only person that somebody from my community can look at and say, “Yeah, I can understand where that guy is coming from; he is from my community."

150. Ms McDonough: There are others; we are working with Jonathan Burgess.

151. Mr McCausland: I am familiar with Jonathan’s work, and I meet him from time to time, but I think that he has experienced difficulties as well.

152. Ms McDonough: The creation, development and support for talent is a complex process. We ring-fenced 20% of our individual artist awards so that they would be awarded to new and up-and-coming artists across all the art forms, including drama. As an arts council, it is important that we develop, nurture and grow new talent and that we have specific financial instruments that will help people to buy the time and space that they need to create their work. It is not always simply a case of those who are well known receiving repeat awards.

153. Mr Brolly: I am tempted to ask whether you have a separate rate for Catholics and Protestants?

154. Ms McDonough: No, we do not.

155. Mr McNarry: I do not believe you. [Laughter.]

156. Ms McDonough: The answer is a categorical no.

157. Mr Brolly: You will not be surprised if I mention the Ulster Orchestra. It has half of the funding per head compared with that in the Twenty- six Counties, and we also have one-third of the heads, yet we are trying to maintain an orchestra that is probably quite expensive, and will probably be even more expensive in the next few years. Previously, I mentioned the possibility of having one orchestra, without diminishing what the orchestra offers, apart from concerts and servicing places such as Castleward and providing tutoring and coaching and so on. Given that most of the members of the orchestra are not from here at all — very few of them are locals — I would like to know what percentage of the Ulster Orchestra comes from anywhere near here.

158. Mr McNarry: Where is “here", just as a matter of interest?

159. Ms McDonough: There are quite a few who live and work here.

160. Mr McNarry: Which “here" are you talking about?

161. Mr Brolly: Here, here. [Laughter.]

162. Mr McNarry: Conor Murphy’s “here"?

163. Mr Brolly: To finish asking my questions, fundamentally, are we getting value for money? Are there enough people participating or is the audience of a sufficient size to allow us to rationalise the funding? The table in your submission that details the amount of funding received from the Arts Council shows that the Ulster Orchestra gets the most. How much do we fund the Ulster Orchestra in comparison with the rest of the organisations in that column of the table?

164. The Chairperson: Ken has a supplementary to that question.

165. Mr K Robinson: Your presentation refers to impact studies and mentions that every £1 revenue subsidy that the Ulster Orchestra gets equates to a £1·90 attraction of funding. How does that equate to other regional orchestras — for example, in Scotland and Wales?

166. Ms McDonough: I do not have those particular figures. As you know, there are four full-time professional orchestras in the Republic: the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra; the RTÉ Concert Orchestra; the Irish Chamber Orchestra; and one part-time “gigging" orchestra, Camerata Ireland, which operates on an all-island basis. There is also our own Ulster Orchestra.

167. The funding that is given through RTÉ is different. It is true that our own orchestra gets money from the BBC, but we are their principal funder. There are many issues surrounding that. The first is that each of the orchestras that I described has its own particular target group that it relates to. They all have different functions, so to compare them would not be comparing like with like, as each is distinct in what it does. The Ulster Orchestra employs 80 people and has a turnover of approximately £4 million.

168. I know that when people think of the orchestra, they tend to think of middle class and middle-aged or elderly people going along to a concert on a weekend, either in the Ulster Hall or the Waterfront Hall.

169. Mr McNarry: That is not true — I go to them. [Laughter.]

170. Ms McDonough: The orchestra is very conscious of that image. However, the Ulster Orchestra was able to provide me with an amazing list of work that it does outside of the concert confines. Concerts are but one aspect of its work. The work that the orchestra does is very impressive, but the fundamental question is whether Northern Ireland wants to have an orchestra. The fact is that it is not possible to tinker with an orchestra too much — if its membership goes below a certain number it is no longer viable. Therefore, the issue is not that the orchestra is bloated or over-funded by us. In fact, the orchestra really struggles. Our guidance to all arts organisations — although it seems a far-fetched fantasy — is that they should try to have six months reserves in their coffers, in order to withstand stormy weather. However, that is simply impossible.

171. Mr McNarry: If they would form into a football team they could get their own stadium and get their own concerts, according to what we heard in our previous session.

172. Ms McDonough: The other thing that I wanted to say is that players in the Ulster Orchestra are the lowest paid in the UK.

173. Mr Livingston: If one considers the organisations that have generated income through a diverse range of other activities, such as sponsorship and trusts, it is clear that the Ulster Orchestra is the most enterprising in that category.

174. Mr P Ramsey: My question does not need to be answered today. You talked about your budget being stretched, and we all know of the pressures on local authorities and DSD, as well as the pressures that have been created by the removal of labour-renewal moneys, peace moneys being more focused and the withdrawal of Lottery funding. Can you quantify the pressure that that is putting on the existing budget? Perhaps you can come back to the Committee on that at a later stage.

175. The Chairperson: You can note that question for now.

176. Ms McDonough: We will note that and come back to it. Thank you.

177. The Chairperson: I thank Roisín, Nóirín, Lorraine and Nick for a very engaging session — they have started off our formal inquiry into the arts and they will be back, thank God, to hear more.

5 March 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Mr Philip McDonagh		PricewaterhouseCoopers
Ms Anne Tohill Ms Michelle Scott Dr Michael Willis		Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure

178. The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McNarry): I invite Research and Library Services to brief members on the research papers.

179. The Committee Researcher: This presentation provides information on the potential economic benefits that arise from sport, arts, museums and libraries in the United Kingdom. Reference is made to the ability to financially quantify the benefits of expenditure on such activities. I will focus on the abandonment of phase 2 of the PricewaterhouseCoopers study of the social and economic value of culture, arts and leisure in Northern Ireland (ValCAL). I will make reference to producing potential quantifiable benefits of Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) activities.

180. The ‘Valuing Museums’ report estimated that the full economic impact of the museums and galleries sector was between £1·83 billion and £2·07 billion. The report also estimated that approximately £320 million a year was spent in the UK by overseas visitors on museums and gallery visits. According to research carried out by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, seven out of 10 top visitor attractions in the UK are national museums. There are over 42 million visits each year to major museums and galleries in Britain, with 43% of the population having attended a museum or gallery at least once in the past year.

181. The self-generated income of museums and galleries in Britain can be as high as £200 million a year, including over £100 million in donations and sponsorship, over £100 million in trading income, and some £20 million in ticket sales. For every £1 of public funding that is received by the British Library, £4·40 is generated for the UK economy: if the British Library did not operate, the UK economy would lose some £280 million a year.

182. Sport-related economic activity increased between 1985 and 2000, representing a financial increase from £3·35 million to £10·373 million. The amount of sport-related economic activity increased again in 2005, to £15·471 million. Employment in sport increased by 19% between 2000 and 2005. Sport-related employment in England was estimated at 434,000 in 2005, accounting for 1·8% of all employment. Customer expenditure in sports in England was £16·58 million in 2005, an increase from £3·538 million in 1985, representing a per capita spend of 0·03p.

183. Impacts such as community cohesion, education, reduction in crime and social inclusion are complicated to quantify. The difficulty with these impacts is their nebulous nature. With many of these impacts, the benefits cannot be measured initially or in financial terms. Any benefits derived are more likely to be seen at a local and community level, rather than providing an overarching regional benefit. It is more appropriate to provide benefit ratios for types of projects and initiatives, but it is not appropriate to estimate the benefit ratio of funding at the individual community and regional levels. The data is either not available or does not lend itself to analysis at those levels.

184. Phase 2 of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) study of the social and economic value of culture, arts and leisure in Northern Ireland was to produce an economic model from available data on DCAL activities, expressed in monetary terms. However, the project steering group rejected the proposal to progress this phase of the project, mainly because of concerns about data availability and the complex nature of intervention in the arts and sports business areas.

185. The nebulous nature of social benefits makes the construction of any economic model rely heavily on assumptions, resulting in the robustness of the model itself being undermined. The purpose of phase 2 was to design an economic model to quantify the net direct and indirect social and economic impacts for each DCAL business area. The economic model was also to consider whether synergies between DCAL business areas were present, and how that could impact on the model.

186. The requirement of the economic model was that it be robust and capable of being expressed in monetary terms. The project steering group decided to abandon phase 2, concluding that it would not represent value for money, given that work to develop the economic models alone would have cost DCAL at least a further £61,905, with no guarantee of a robust output. The model would have been open to criticism and challenge.

187. Economic impact analysis is concerned with identifying and measuring the changes that occur, or would be likely to occur, in an economy as a direct or indirect result of a new public and private initiative. Indirect costs and benefits can prove more difficult to evaluate, particularly if they have no market price. A cost-benefit analysis attempts to determine the value of an activity to society as a whole. That economic methodology sees the social value of an activity as based on individual valuations of that activity, with a focus on economic efficiency.

188. The criticisms of cost-benefit analysis are concerned with identifying appropriate measures of the costs and benefits associated with an activity in situations where market prices do not provide a reliable guide. The following issues must be considered: market prices not reflecting social costs and benefits; public activities themselves affecting market prices; outputs from an activity not being sold in markets, so that prices are unavailable; substantial public goods or externalities being associated with the activity. When valuing non-market impacts, the green book indicates that an alternative approach to valuation is required in order to quantify potential social, health or environmental impacts.

189. Key considerations that may impact on a decision to commission a piece of research would include: whether the research is likely to produce a robust valuation; the range of application of results of a study to future appraisals; how much the accuracy of the valuation impacts on any decision- making process; and the scale of the impact of that decision. A decision, therefore, must be taken in relation to the allocation of resources to ensure that valuations of non-market benefits and costs are accurate.

190. The Deputy Chairperson: Thank you very much. That was a comprehensive and competent presentation, as usual.

191. Mr McCarthy: At the start of your presentation, you mentioned sponsorship of museums and galleries. Can you go over that again? I recall a previous meeting when we talked about the lack of sponsorship.

192. The Committee Researcher: That point relates to self-generated income. The report that I mentioned is based solely on the experience in Britain.

193. Mr McCarthy: By Britain, do you mean across the water — England, Scotland and Wales?

194. The Committee Researcher: Yes. They have worked out how much self-generated income that sector provides. That self-generated income of £200 million a year includes £100 million in donations and sponsorship that the sector attracts for itself. In other words, the sector is producing that for itself, for its own financial gain.

195. Mr Shannon: I am sorry that I was not here earlier, but I have read the notes, so I have a wee bit of background.

196. The Deputy Chairperson: You are bluffing, then?

197. Mr Shannon: That is your terminology, but it is certainly not mine. I always do my homework before meetings.

198. Is it wise to place so much emphasis on private sponsorship? Formula one racing is a supreme example of where you might think some finance would be available. Is it wise to place so much emphasis on that in the report, especially at a time when people in big companies are watching their pennies, or rather their millions. The reality is that some people who might want to be private sponsors may be thinking that this is not a good time for them to do so. In other words, if someone has budgeted for it and they are trying to achieve something, but it may not be guaranteed or it may not happen, I just wonder whether we are wise to do it.

199. The Committee Researcher: The figures that I produced were sourced from a report that was produced around 2005, before the economic slump. Therefore, those are figures and ways forward that were thought of at that time. In light of what has happened in the economic sector, an overemphasis on private sponsorship might not be one of the best ways forward, but it is still an element that must be included in trying to stimulate some kind of outcome.

200. Mr Shannon: I accept that some people will continue to sponsor events. Many people have asked whether they have got the maximum out of private sponsorship. I do not think that that will be possible at the moment, so it is important not to place too much emphasis on it.

201. Mr P Ramsey: You are very welcome, and the report is very good. Presumably, the ValCAL study commenced with the best of intentions, but, looking at it now, there are four distinct areas. How was someone going to collate the information on those areas to build a model on the way forward? Was the data pulled together solely within the confines of Northern Ireland? Public expenditure on the arts in Dublin, for example, is twice that of Northern Ireland. Where is the qualitative evidence that was used to convince the Irish Government to invest in the arts? Was it the social impact? Was it regeneration? Was it the economic impact?

202. I do not see that being done with any purpose in the ValCAL study. I sense that they were all over the place, because they supported libraries and the arts. If the focus was purely on the arts, can we ascertain what qualitative evidence would be necessary to convince our Executive that there is a good rationale behind it — that is, it is in the interests of people’s health and the economy? That is the bottom line of what we are trying to achieve. We are meeting the representatives who were progressing ValCAL, but did you get any statistical evidence from other areas regarding the rationale behind increasing funding?

203. The Committee Researcher: ValCAL is a Northern Ireland study. It looks at DCAL’s investments for Northern Ireland — how much money is going in, and what benefits are associated with that. The reasons for investing go back to trying to model the social impact. The regional spend on the arts here is lower than in other UK regions. It is difficult to model in an overarching regional way — you have to see the benefit at community level, right down to individual level. Therefore, the value that is attached to that will put it up the agenda in terms of spend. You see the benefit of spend at an individual level and, therefore, there nearly has to be an individual rationale for the spend.

204. With regard to ValCAL, the problem arises when one tries to put all the different sectors that DCAL manages into an economic model. If they are all put together, there is no point in having a model that would be very expensive to generate if it is not robust at the end of the process. Such a model could not be used to justify an increase in spend. Therefore, the process that you had gone through would be a waste of time and money at that point.

205. The focus seems to be on all the sectors. From my reading, I think that libraries are slightly different from the arts, museums and galleries, because the data for libraries is more robust for economic modelling. There are different factors — you can rate the participation of people who come in and use that service. However, consider trying to evaluate the health benefits of sport. How would you rate a person’s participation in a sport and whether his or her participation is active or passive? Those are the difficulties in trying to evaluate the economic benefits. That is how tangled up the process can become.

206. Mr P Ramsey: That is my point. There is no commonality between the areas. You cannot look at the true value of the exercise, because the fours areas are distinctly different.

207. Mr K Robinson: Thank you for your excellent paper. Pat has touched on some of the ideas that I also wanted to raise. We are looking at the sectors in a disparate way, and yet there is a lot of linkage between them. You mentioned libraries. The way in which a library is used here is very different from the way in which a library is used in a city such as Dublin or London. In London, a person might go to the library and then build that into a series of events — they might go the theatre, a football match, or an art exhibition in the Tate. Is there any way in which we can draw those strands together by coming at it from a slightly different angle?

208. We are trying to generate jobs and money for the economy here. Take the hypothetical visitor to Northern Ireland. You said that 2% of employment in Canada and England is supported by this. We are trying to employ 2% of our population similarly. What do visitors arriving on our shores, either by air or sea, come to see? What cultural activities are they likely to involve themselves in? They may go to a soccer game, a rugby game, or a Gaelic match. They will want to go to the theatre. They may or may not want to go to a library. The Public Record Office is relocating to the centre of Belfast. Can we build these types of factors into the model too? We are looking at the issue of employment and involvement in the arts, but we are not looking at it in a silo.

209. If my wife and I go to London, I want to see a show. On a Saturdy, I go to a football match, and she, unfortunately, goes shopping. Perhaps we would also go to another area of London to look at the architecture, or to visit a museum or a library. How can we pull those packages out of the silos and put them together? Northern Ireland needs something that visitors can use that will generate money for our economy by their being selective in their use of it. Is there some way in which we can pull those points together?

210. The Committee Researcher: Putting it all together, that seems to be the reason why — [Interruption.]

211. As you said, there are close linkages and synergies between tourism and different aspects of DCAL. For example, top visitor attractions such as museums and galleries have a spin-off effect and attract people into the other areas that you identified.

212. Constructing an economic model on something that does not have a market value makes it difficult to get the rationale for spend. Linking those areas with tourism might be a better way in which to get an economic angle. It could help to show how the money can be spread out and how one DCAL investment could have a ripple effect on other areas.

213. Mr K Robinson: If a person comes here, they need to be fed and watered, they need accommodation, and they need transport to get to different locations. All of those processes generate incomes, although we could not tie them in and say that they are artistic exploits. However, they are necessary parts of the infrastructure that allow visitors to engage with various sectors such as sport and the arts.

214. The Committee Researcher: Those sectors — the arts and museums — are the headline attractions.

215. Mr K Robinson: They are the magnets.

216. The Committee Researcher: They are the magnets. The rationale for investing in those areas is that they will generate better rail links or infrastructure. Perhaps that is the rationale for having those: to try and draw more people in, especially now, at this time of economic difficulty.

217. Mr K Robinson: I was listening to the radio on my way here this morning, and I heard that this morning’s flight from Munich was delayed. Why do people go to Munich? The beer festival is the obvious attraction, but there are other artistic experiences. Anyone who is attracted to that location will experience a wide range of Germanic activities.

218. Turning that around, there may have been people on that plane this morning who were coming to visit Northern Ireland. Other than arriving here and having a pint of Guinness, what are we going to provide, what do we currently provide, or what should we provide for them? Can we provide other experiences for them? What can be done to generate the economy and, in turn, plough money back into artistic and sporting areas?

219. The Deputy Chairperson: That is a valid point that you are making.

220. Mr K Robinson: That is the gospel according to Ken. There are other views, but we are missing an opportunity if we consider the arts totally in isolation.

221. The Deputy Chairperson: Perhaps if you went shopping with your wife more often, Ken, you might not spend so much time alone.

222. Mr K Robinson: There is something called plastic, but I do not have the hang of that yet.

223. Mr McCartney: You mentioned sport-related economic activity. What does that cover? Is that from professional sportspeople right down to TV people?

224. The Committee Researcher: Sport-related economic activity covers every aspect of sport, right down to retail. It includes the selling of items, the purchase of tickets, going to matches and the spend that occurs there. It also includes the professional sector.

225. Mr McCartney: That area accounts for 1·8% of all employment in England, but what are the figures for Scotland, Wales, here in the North, and down South? Is that data available?

226. The Committee Researcher: I can go and —

227. Mr McCartney: The actual sum of money seems to be very high in relation to the number of people who are employed. I am just wondering what the impact is of professional sport —

228. The Deputy Chairperson: Do you like those figures, Raymond?

229. Mr McCartney: Yes. In England, professional sportspeople are paid more than anywhere else, so it would be interesting to see the comparison.

230. The Committee Researcher: The figure is slightly at odds with the percentage employment because it includes domestic spend, which is people who buy football kits and so on. Sport-related economic activity is any kind of money that is being generated through sport as a whole. I will get those figures.

231. Mr McCausland: I have a quick observation about visitors, which is the same theme to which Ken referred. Yesterday, I saw the visitor figures for places in Northern Ireland that should be substantial tourist attractions and should draw tens of thousands of visitors every year. Those places should have a substantial appeal — not just for local people, but particularly for visitors from America — but the visitor figures are a few hundred, perhaps 1,000. The visitor figures for the ancestral homes of American Presidents are appallingly low. Income for arts organisations and cultural sites could be increased by substantially improving marketing.

232. There is one other issue that I will touch on. Pat spoke about it when he compared the situation here to that in Dublin. In Northern Ireland, do nationalist-controlled or unionist-controlled councils spend more on the arts? Generally, the answer is that nationalist councils spend more. Why is that?

233. Last week, I raised the point about unionist perceptions and experiences of the arts. That is a concern for me as a unionist, but it should also be a concern for the Arts Council, because the result is that the Arts Council does not receive the investment that it could from some unionist councils. The number of people going to many of the events might increase if it addressed some of those issues.

234. The Deputy Chairperson: You have made that point twice. In the development of the Committee’s work, I am sure that Committee members will be comfortable for us to address that issue.

235. There will now be a joint presentation from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure on the ValCAL study, on which they have been working together.

236. Ms Anne Tohill (Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure): I will make the introductions.

237. The Deputy Chairperson: Our rules are strict: please take no more than 10 minutes for your presentation. After that, Committee members will ask questions. Please stick to the time limit — I will remind you if you are getting close to it.

238. Ms Tohill: I am responsible for the arts and creativity branch of DCAL; Philip McDonagh is the chief economist at PricewaterhouseCoopers and has led research at the company; Dr Michael Willis was the head of research and statistics in DCAL until a week ago, and he is here to represent the central management unit; and Michelle Scott is the head of the economic services unit in DCAL. Thank you for the opportunity to brief the Committee on the reasons for the ValCAL study.

239. The Deputy Chairperson: You are very welcome.

240. Mr Philip McDonagh (PricewaterhouseCoopers): Thank you for the opportunity to give a presentation.

241. As Ms Tohill said, I am an economist, but I have always had a particular interest in the economics of the arts. I have worked with a number of arts organisations over the years — indeed, I am a member of one — and worked on arts projects, particularly on business cases and economic appraisals. One of my first jobs in PricewaterhouseCoopers was a business case for what was known at the time as the East Wall cultural complex; it became the Millennium Forum in Derry. I have also worked on the Omagh leisure complex, the Burnavon Arts and Cultural Centre in Cookstown and, most recently, the new Metropolitan Arts Centre in Belfast. I have looked at the economic impact of all of those facilities — [Interruption.]

242. The Deputy Chairperson: Can we have a little bit of attention for our speaker?

243. Mr McDonagh: As an economist, I have always been interested in the economic impact of the arts — both direct and indirect — as well as the other benefits that arts generally bring to our lives; the economic impact should not be the main issue. I have discovered that studying the economic impact of the arts is a bit like the Holy Grail or ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ — people always seem to be on an eternal quest for the answer. Sometimes, the journey in getting to the answer is as interesting as the answer itself. The title of the study, ValCAL, always reminds me of Valhalla, the hall of the slain — studies of the economic impact of the arts have left a few bodies along the way.

244. I realise that members have seen the full study, and the Committee researcher has provided you with a good summary. I will not go over that in any detail. However, I will pick out some key points and, briefly, explain what the study was, what it concluded, why we did not proceed to phase 2, and what we can learn from the experience of doing the study.

245. It is important to recognise that we did the original study at the time of the 2007 comprehensive spending review. The brief that we got from DCAL at that time was concerned with trying to understand, from the Department’s point of view, the most effective way to spend the resources at its disposal. Should it be putting more money into arts and less into sports, more money into libraries and less into museums? What would give the Department the best bang for its buck?

246. At the time, there was a real awareness that DCAL competes with other Departments for resources. Those other Departments perhaps find it easier to demonstrate economic impacts — for example, the Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Investment or Employment and Learning can easily pull together direct estimates of the economic impact of their activitiese. In the area that DCAL works in, it is much harder to do that. Some of the proposals stemmed from a desire to compete on a level playing field.

247. As the Committee researcher said, the study covered the four main areas of spending within the Department: sports, arts, museums and libraries. I will focus on the arts element, as that is the subject of your inquiry. The study was trying to see if there is a model that can demonstrate impact. For example, if the Department puts £X million into a particular project or programme, what jobs, employment and income — what economic measurables — will that produce?

248. Some people in the arts sector are horrified by that. Naturally, they do not like to see the arts reduced to some sort of economic measurement. Increasingly, however, there are others in the sector who realise that resources are scarce and that the sector is very dependent on public finance. The sector has to demonstrate what it is doing. In the United States, it is recognised that the arts are an economic activity, not just by the public sector and councils, but by the private sector, where a lot of sponsorship goes into the arts.

249. Most of the work on the ValCAL study was done in 2006 and 2007, so it is now two or three years old. We tried to categorise the impacts according to their different natures. The arts have an economic development impact through direct employment and income. Earlier, members talked about the spend that is associated with people going out for a night to an arts event, or a community arts festival that brings people together, as a result of which people spend more money in the shops.

250. There is a tourism impact. The arts have the potential to attract visitors to the area, and there is strong evidence that tourists come to Northern Ireland to visit its arts venues and festivals. There is an education impact. The arts contribute to the education sector and therefore, in relation to public spending, save the public purse by adding to the quality of the education system.

251. There is a health impact as well. Some of the capital projects in Northern Ireland that DCAL and the Arts Council have funded — the Millennium Forum, the Burnavon Arts Centre, the Island Arts Centre in Lisburn, and, hopefully, the Lyric and the new Metropolitan Arts Centre in Belfast — have the potential to contribute to physical regeneration.

252. The final area of impact is social inclusion and community cohesion, including, potentially, a reduction in crime.

253. The Deputy Chairperson: Perhaps you could bring your remarks to a close.

254. Mr McDonagh: I will not dwell on every detail of the submission. The Committee has heard already why the study did not proceed to phase 2. A concrete example of measuring the economic benefits of a project can be seen through the work carried out for the new Metropolitan Arts Centre in the Cathedral Quarter in Belfast. We worked on a business case for that, and the main economic benefits that we identified were threefold: the first was the potential employment that the facility created; secondly, the tourism spend generated by having another good arts facility in Belfast, which would encourage more visitors to spend more time and use the facilities and the area around the Cathedral Quarter; and, thirdly, there was the physical regeneration and what it does in levering private-sector investment into the area. Those were the three factors that were put to the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP) to fund the project.

255. It is all very well putting those into business cases and economic appraisals. However, it is more important to monitor the situation to see whether that arts centre is delivering the benefits that were promised as regards spend, physical regeneration, and so on. That is what is known in the Department as “post-project evaluation". That is a much more immediate, positive and constructive task, as opposed to trying to develop a model that will encompass all that in one simple formula.

256. The Deputy Chairperson: Do you, or any of your colleagues, wish to add anything before members ask questions?

257. Dr Michael Willis (Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure): For clarification, the Department will not be making a separate presentation. Mr McDonagh’s presentation is the sole presentation.

258. The Deputy Chairperson: We understand that. I was giving you the opportunity to chip in.

259. Mr P Ramsey: During the period when there was a huge campaign from the arts sector for capital spend, particularly at the beginning of the comprehensive spending review, the Committee championed that cause and it thought it was appropriate to conduct an inquiry into the underfunding of the arts. I raised with the researcher the fact that the Department was looking at four distinctly different areas and that that looked to be unwieldy, as there was no commonality between those areas. The language was based on the economic drivers involved. I take the Chairperson’s point; we are all talking about the economy and its importance. However, we are also talking about cultural poverty, targeting social need, social regeneration and the impacts that that will have on communities. The Committee does not want to waste any time over the next few months —

260. The Deputy Chairperson: So, you are going to come to a question very quickly.

261. Mr P Ramsey: I am trying to.

262. The Committee does not want to waste any time obtaining the qualitative evidence that is necessary to go forward with the rationale as to why there should be more investment in the arts. What lessons have you learned — not just an economist, but as someone who is a champion of the arts — and what steer could you give us to proceed? If another study was to commence, would it be better to base it solely on the arts, rather than including libraries and sport in it?

263. Mr McDonagh: That is a good question. We discovered that there is not a lot of information available about some of the economic impacts that would allow us to build a model. We need to collect some of the information from existing projects. Therefore, when the Arts Council or DCAL fund a programme or project, its organisers should be required to collect certain information. Such information might include the number of people who attended the events; how much they spent; whether they were visitors from outside Northern Ireland; what else they did when they attended the event; whether they went for a drink or a meal before or after the event; and whether they came especially to the venue or whether it was part of an existing visit. That information could be collected from existing events, organisations and programmes, and, with encouragement, they ought to be able to do so.

264. Ms Tohill: A series of evaluations have been undertaken. For example, through the creative industries innovation fund, we have recognised the necessity to collect data in order to ensure that it is possible to conduct a meaningful evaluation at the end. We are establishing an evaluation panel and have identified some indicators that we hope to collect later, such as turnover and employment. It is not always easy to obtain that information, because we rely on small organisations to supply it. Some of those organisations might not experience an employment impact, but the Department and the Arts Council carry out regular evaluations of their programmes to ensure that they are quantitative and qualitative in nature.

265. Mr P Ramsey: There are a number of areas in which it is difficult to obtain qualitative evidence. For example, it is easier to obtain qualitative facts on sport than on health-related matters. One could argue that there is qualitative evidence in the arts, and hospitals that display art, for example, could detail the effect that such displays have on stimulating patients. Are there models outside Northern Ireland of countries that know how to effectively invest in the arts and secure beneficial outcomes?

266. Mr McDonagh: There is much evidence and other good models — the Republic of Ireland was mentioned earlier. That country did not wait to measure the impact. A number of years ago, it had a gut feeling that it was a good idea to invest in that sector and to provide the tax breaks for the artists. That was done almost without any available evidence, but there is evidence in other places. For example, there have been studies in various places on the financial benefits to the Health Service of investing in arts and health. Good data on that matter could be applied here.

267. Ms Michelle Scott (Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure): When the Department takes an investment decision on, for example, an economic appraisal, it is not necessary to quantify or monetise a benefit in order to acknowledge it. It can be sufficient to highlight a non-monetary benefit and evidence that an initiative will impact on health and crime outcomes. It is dangerous to discard benefits simply because they cannot be quantified or monetised.

268. The Deputy Chairperson: Philip, you said that some people — you did not name them, which is a relief — in the arts circle were horrified to be financially scrutinised. Is that evidence of a culture in the arts circle where some people think that they know better and, instead of asking the public what it wants, they tell the public what it should have?

269. Mr McDonagh: That is a good question. Artists, perhaps, feel that the integrity of their work should not be challenged. It is not so much that they —

270. The Deputy Chairperson: Does that culture exist among those who are privileged enough to distribute the funding provided by the Department?

271. Mr McDonagh: No; I meant that some artists do not like the thought of being judged on the number of seats that they sell in a theatre, the amount of money that they spend and the number of staff that they employ. They do not like their work to be reduced to economic factors. There are fewer people with that opinion than there has been for a long time.

272. Mr Shannon: Thank you for your presentation. In the past, the arts has perhaps, been a minority interest, and artists have — as they should be — been encouraged to express themselves. However, someone has to pay for that. Philip has given us a reality check this morning about the economy and how we spend money on the arts. You made the point that if events that we promote can produce a return, those returns can be used to promote the arts more widely.

273. I want to ask a question about tourism. Our background papers state that the Smithsonian Festival would lead to a 10% increase in US visitors. How did the study arrive at that conclusion? If the Smithsonian Festival can achieve that size of an increase, should we not be putting on more Smithsonian Festivals? How many can we put on, where is the target audience, and can we make that happen?

274. My second question is about social inclusion. The ValCAL study concluded that as a result of spending on the arts, 47% of the adult population participated in an arts event, which is excellent. The study also concluded that there were high levels of participation by persons with a disability. It is on record that, per capita, Northern Ireland has the highest number of people with a disability in the United Kingdom. Is it possible to increase the involvement in the arts of people with a disability in Northern Ireland? When we have events, we must ensure that everyone has access to them.

275. Mr McDonagh: The ValCAL study was carried out before the Smithsonian Festival took place; we looked at some estimates that had been made of the impact that it should have had in increasing bed nights. It will be interesting to look back and see whether it did, indeed, have an impact. It is all very well to speculate that it might have created a number of extra visitors to Northern Ireland, but did it, or did it deliver more? That would provide valuable evidence for doing more of that type of activity in the international arena.

276. Mr Shannon: Should the Smithsonian Festival be replicated in other parts of the United States or in Europe? The festival had a specific focus on the United States; in its own way, it was aimed at that market. Should we have more of those types of arts events? Are we going to try to make money and increase the interest that results from arts spending in those areas? Even without knowing the impact that the Smithsonian Festival had, you must have had some reason for anticipating that there would be a 10% increase in US visitors.

277. Mr McDonagh: Yes. It was an illustration of what such a festival can do. The Smithsonian Festival was a one-off in one way, but there are other similar festivals. The Venice Biennale is a good example of an international platform for the arts in Northern Ireland that can generate direct economic benefits.

278. Ms Scott: Selling Northern Ireland through those festivals is an excellent way of raising our profile, but, as has been said, we must concentrate on our tourism infrastructure in order to pull people into Northern Ireland. That is why we have been talking about investing in the arts infrastructure. In taking those investment decisions, we will look at the numbers of tourists that would be generated. Targets would be set for those numbers in the business cases for the investments and would then be evaluated. Activity is required at home as well.

279. Dr Willis: In answer to Mr Shannon’s second question, members will be aware of the Programme for Government’s public service agreement (PSA) targets that the Department has signed up to, which deal with increasing participation in, and attendance at, arts events. In a previous role, my colleagues and I worked with the Arts Council in order to come up with robust ways of measuring how that could be taken forward. I am certain that some of the Arts Council’s corporate documents will show that it has set itself targets for increasing participation and attendance among minority groups. Therefore, over time, both the Department and the Arts Council will want to see increases in the number of people who participate and attend.

280. Mr Shannon: Do you suggest that the Department sets bigger targets for attendance by disabled people? Should that happen or is it wrong to set such a target?

281. Dr Willis: I suggest, from a statistical perspective, that a baseline of where we are at present should be established. On that basis, projections can be made that can be used to come up with a series of targets. I do not want to bore you, members; however, the issue is always to ensure that the survey instruments — the tools — that are used to provide measures are robust. We are working with the Arts Council to get to that stage. We are pretty well there. When the baseline is established, you are in a position to ask what targets you want to set on the basis of that measure. Therefore, it is technically possible.

282. The Deputy Chairperson: Raymond is the last questioner from whom I have received an indication. Dominic has now indicated as well. Before I call Ken to ask a question on the subject, I remind members that a briefing document has also been supplied for us; members might want to consider looking at that in case there are any more questions.

283. Mr K Robinson: My question is on the tail of that which Jim has just asked. The cruise ships that come to Belfast now form an increasing sector of Northern Ireland’s tourist market. Is there an arts input into that programme before ships arrive in Belfast? Has that side of the market been looked at? Can the individual spend of passengers on those cruise ships be quantified? Can their use of local accommodation be ticked off? How are they accounted for? What figures are compiled of the money that they generate and their use of accommodation? If they stay on board, are they included in overall tourist-accommodation figures? Is an arts-related; historically related; culturally related; sports-related programme provided for them before they arrive in Belfast?

284. Ms Tohill: I will respond with regard to the Arts Council. For the Arts Council to provide funding towards an activity, it must have an artistic element. It depends on what extent or element of the programme is artistic in nature. I am not aware of any funding that has been provided by the Arts Council, although I will check that out and get back to you.

285. As regards impact, I imagine that the Tourist Board has been heavily involved and would have had complied figures and indicators of what the impact might be. It is, therefore, for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to provide them.

286. Mr K Robinson: Therefore, there is a cross-departmental element.

287. The Deputy Chairperson: I shall issue a direction to have that matter followed up.

288. Mr McCartney: My question relates to Michelle’s point about non-monetary benefit with regard to the economic appraisal. Is that weighted or is a subjective view taken? How is a project weighed up and a judgement made about its non-monetary benefit when, after an economic appraisal, it does not stack up with regard to funding? Is a subjective or objective view taken?

289. Ms Scott: The assessment of non-monetary benefit is part of the value-for-money consideration. Therefore, it is part of the economic assessment. It would identify a range of non-monetary benefits that you anticipate that a programme will deliver, which will be weighted according to their importance. Those weights will be constructed through liaison and consultation with, for example, project promoters and the target audience, whether it is for a service or a capital programme. Certainly, that non-monetary assessment will be taken into account in any decision.

290. For example, a Department such as DCAL, where many of the benefits that it generates are non-monetary, the majority of our projects — I will try not to be too technical — will deliver what is known as “negative net present value". We will then look at the negative net present value and weigh it up against those benefits on which we have not been able, or it is not possible, to place a value, and take an overall decision. Certainly, however, it is not the case that a project fails because the monetised benefits are not sufficient to compensate for the cost. As a Department, many of our projects are in the category that relies on non-monetary benefits.

291. Mr D Bradley: I see from one of the written submissions to the Committee that DCAL did a study in 2002-03, which involved research into community arts. However, apparently the results of that research were never published. Can you give us any further information on that?

292. Ms Tohill: I am not aware of that.

293. Dr Willis: That research pre-dates my time in the Department. I am not aware of it, but if the Committee wants, I can go back and establish the origins of that work and provide the Committee with that research.

294. Mr D Bradley: That would be helpful, thank you.

295. The Deputy Chairperson: Yes; I request that on behalf of the Committee.

296. Mr McCausland: The study mentions that the piece of work was stopped by the project board at a certain point — who was on the project board?

297. Dr Willis: The project board was chaired by the deputy secretary of the Department, Edgar Jardine. All the heads of division in DCAL sat on the board and I, as head of research and statistics, and Michelle, as head of the economic service unit, sat on it in an advisory capacity. The heads of the appropriate branches in the Department were also involved through their heads of division.

298. Mr McCausland: I apologise that I left the meeting for a short while, so you may have answered this question already, but will you tell me what the precise reasons were that led the project group to not to proceed with phase 2?

299. Dr Willis: The reasons have been covered previously; however, I will give you a brief overview. Essentially, there were a number of reasons. First, it was felt from the evidence that was presented in the phase 1 report that there was not sufficiently robust data to allow us to go forward and produce an economic model that we could stand over. There were also issues about the number of assumptions that were built into the model — it was arguable whether we could have spent the money to develop and populate the model and still have been in a situation in which people would have disputed its findings.

300. Related to that was a value-for-money argument, which was that to get to the stage of having further developed the model, the Department would have had to spend somewhere in the region of £61,000 or £62,000. A combination of all those factors led to the decision not to proceed with phase 2.

301. Mr McCausland: Is it possible to get a list of all the pieces of research and major studies that have been done over the last six, seven, or eight years? People could then request a particular study if they wanted it, such as research on Unlocking Creativity and other such strategies. A lot of work obviously went into producing such research.

302. The Deputy Chairperson: Perhaps that could be put another way. If it is possible to facilitate what Mr McCausland has asked for — and one would hope that it would be — would you be happy, Nelson, that those studies were initially made available to you and then, based on that information, you could advise the Committee until we see what is available?

303. Dr Willis: I do not think that there would be a problem with that. The report has quite an extensive bibliography — we will look at that again and make sure that we can supply the different pieces of research to you.

304. Mr McCausland: Am I correct in thinking that there was then a process of implementation, involving working groups being set up?

305. Dr Willis: What you might be referring to is the expert panels that were set up at the start of the project to assign the various types of benefits and so on that could be derived.

306. Mr McDonagh: Yes; about four expert panels were set up.

307. Mr McCausland: Is that in relation to the ValCAL project? I meant implementation groups that were set up in relation to the Unlocking Creativity strategy.

308. Dr Willis: I was not personally involved in that project; however, if you wish, I can get further information on that.

309. Mr McCausland: Yes; that would be useful.

310. Ms Tohill: An interdepartmental creativity group was established in relation to Unlocking Creativity. That group still meets a few times a year. As well as that, a working group on the creative industries was set up to take forward development of the strategic action plan for the creative industries, and that group normally meets quarterly.

311. At the next meeting, for example, we will consider the EU year of creativity and innovation, identify a number of events and look at how the creative industries fund is being rolled out. The groups still exist, but Unlocking Creativity is no longer the relevant strategy; the interim strategic action plan is the review document for the creative industries.

312. Mr McCausland: Did the ValCAL study give any consideration to potential markets for the arts that have not been properly developed or of communities that have not had much experience or participation in the arts?

313. Mr McDonagh: One of the areas of impact that we identified was given the general heading of social inclusion. We examined whether there was evidence to indicate that arts activity contributed to improving social inclusion. We also introduced new people to the arts experience through community arts festivals and other community arts support.

314. Mr McCausland: Was any work done to identify the communities that have a low level of engagement with the Arts Council and the arts generally?

315. Mr McDonagh: No; that was not part of the brief.

316. The Deputy Chairperson: A written submission that was provided for the Committee inquiry states that DCAL carried out research on community arts in 2002-03, but that the results were never published. Can you provide some information on that?

317. Mr D Bradley: That is the question that I just asked.

318. Dr Willis: Dominic referred to that report, and none of us were involved at that time. However, I will go back to the Department, find out about that report and supply it to the Committee.

319. Mr D Bradley: I suggest that the information that Nelson has requested should be given to the Committee staff and/or the Research Services. It is hardly fair to ask one member to sift through all that information.

320. The Deputy Chairperson: You are absolutely right, and that is how I envisage the process operating. It is for Nelson to look at the information, and then any other member who wishes can read it.

321. Mr D Bradley: It would be useful if the information was channelled through the Committee staff.

322. The Deputy Chairperson: Yes; I think that that is how the information will be handled.

323. Mr D Bradley: I just wanted to clarify that.

324. The Deputy Chairperson: That is all right.

325. The Committee Clerk: I wish to clarify what is being requested. Is the request for the Department to provide all the policy documents on the arts that it has produced in the past six to eight years?

326. Mr McCausland: Yes; and even stuff that has emerged from the Arts Council on major policy documents would be useful.

327. Mr P Ramsey: That would be appropriate to our inquiry.

328. The Deputy Chairperson: I thank Anne, Michelle, Philip and Michael for the presentation and for the factual and helpful way in which you have answered our questions. We might see you again.

12 March 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Raymond McCartney (Acting Chairperson)
Mr Francie Brolly
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

329. The Acting Chairperson (Mr McCartney): I refer members to the Research and Library Service’s paper ‘Per Capita Spend on the Arts in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’. The paper provides information in respect of point 1 of the terms of reference of the Committee’s inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland which is: “To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other Europe countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts."

330. I invite Meadhbh McCann from the Research and Library Service to brief members, and I will then invite members to ask questions.

331. Ms Meadhbh McCann (Research and Library Services): The presentation provides information in relation to the per capita spend on the arts in the regions of the United Kingdom, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. The paper on the per capita spend on the arts in the UK and the Republic of Ireland is part of a larger piece of research covering arts funding in Europe, which is forthcoming.

332. With respect to the United Kingdom’s financing of culture, the public expenditure statistical analyses (PESA) 2007 — produced by the UK HM Treasury — completed the regional distribution figures in January and February 2007. The statistics included by the PESA included current and capital spending by the Department and its non-departmental public bodies’ and public corporations’ capital expenditure. The statistics do not include capital finance to public corporations, payments to local authorities or local authorities’ own expenditure. The data are based on identified expenditure on services that are also capable of being analysed for the benefit of individual countries and regions.

333. The PESA found that, in 2006-07, the per capita spend on the arts by Government via Arts Councils was as follows: the Arts Council of England spent £8·19; the Scottish Arts Council spent £11·93; the Arts Council of Wales spent £8·80; and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland spent £6·13.

334. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland states that the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland is the lowest across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The following are the statistics for arts per capita spend in the UK and the Republic of Ireland for 2008-09: £14·04 in Scotland; £10·10 in Wales; £8·47 in England; €17·92 in the Republic of Ireland; and £7·58 in Northern Ireland.

335. The Arts Council of England published a report entitled ‘International Data on Government Spending on the Arts’. The report analysed the direct public arts spending in the following 10 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries: Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. That report states that comparing public arts spending across countries is a complicated task, partly because various countries have a variety of methods of defining and accounting for arts expenditure. The report highlights that a high economic output does not necessarily correlate with high public spend on the arts.

336. The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure does not have a commonly accepted indicator of the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland. It is not aware of any benchmark data available for public expenditure in the arts that is sufficiently robust to be comparable with other jurisdictions. The Department states that further analytical work is required and should be based on statistics that are either collected or quality- assured by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

337. The Acting Chairperson: I notice that some fruit has been brought to Mr Shannon and Mr Ramsey; I am not sure whether that is an experiment in healthy eating or in making sure that people do not speak for long. We will work that out at the end.

338. Mr Shannon: Just to clarify, Pat and I are both diabetic, and that is the reason why we look for our pears and apples in the morning. I mentioned that to a member of the Committee staff, who very kindly bent the ear of someone out there; it is not that we are getting special treatment.

339. Mr Brolly: I was thinking that the intelligence is very good here. [Laughter.]

340. The Acting Chairperson: I thank Meadhbh for her presentation. Do members have any questions?

341. Mr Shannon: Ken, do you want some fruit? [Laughter.]

342. Mr Brolly: I am interested to know how the overall spend on the arts is divided between professional and amateur bodies. I do not to like to use the word “voluntary" because, unfortunately, if anyone volunteers, they are accepting that they are not going to get any help from the Arts Council, which will simply tell them to go ahead, as it can spend the money on other people.

343. Ms M McCann: The per capita spend figure has been worked out for the sector as a whole, so it is a breakdown of what is being spent by the Department. I think that that figure will cover both professional and amateur bodies but I am not certain — I can find out whether that is the case.

344. Mr Brolly: I appreciate that you would not have that information with you.

345. Ms M McCann: My initial reaction is that it covers both sectors, but I will check that and come back to you.

346. Mr Brolly: I am interested to know the proportion of money that is spent on the different types of bodies.

347. Mr P Ramsey: Francie’s latter point about voluntary contributions is significant. How can the level of voluntary contributions in communities — in relation to small arts groups and musical societies, for example — be benchmarked and compared with that in other regions? In relation to per capita spend, is the figure of approximately £7·50 per capita in Northern Ireland, for example, inclusive of spend by local government, the Department for Social Development and the Department of Education?

348. The Arts Council distributes whatever it distributes of that £6·13 per capita, so does that other £1·50 per capita come from a range of other sources?

349. Ms M McCann: The £6·13 per capita is the UK Treasury figure for the previous year, 2006-07. The figure for Northern Ireland that the Arts Council has supplied for the current year, 2008-09, is £7·58 per capita, and that includes amounts that have been ring-fenced for the creative industries initiative fund, Arts and Business Northern Ireland, the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s and the Royal Society of Ulster Architects. It encompasses all of those funding streams, and the money is ring-fenced for 2008-09.

350. Mr P Ramsey: I am still not sure of the numbers that are coming directly from DCAL, but we are aware of funding streams from the Department of Education and local government, and from DSD for urban regeneration. I am not clear whether that is a definitive figure. Is the per capita spend in England inclusive? In England, local government has greater devolved powers, so separate allocations are made to the arts. Can figures be provided on that?

351. Ms M McCann: I can try to get a greater breakdown of the figure, but issues that have been raised about the per capita spend go back to issues of clarity and whether the indicator itself is robust enough in trying to find commonality with the different jurisdictions and how that is broken down. Each jurisdiction picks the economic rationale methodology to get its per capita spend out at the end, and that might be different for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. That is where the difficulty lies in using that comparative indicator as a comparable function.

352. Perhaps using a figure such as gross domestic product (GDP) would have more statistical robustness because it would allow consideration of the wealth of a country divided by the amount that is spent on arts, rather than using a per capita figure. I shall find out whether such a breakdown of figures exists.

353. Mr K Robinson: The figure that is spent on the arts in the Republic of Ireland appears to be extremely generous. Is that because tax regimes there are geared to bring film industries forward and to encourage writers? The figure appears to be extremely generous, and, historically, the Republic of Ireland has had a greater input into the arts than we have had. Are there other factors at play that distort that figure?

354. Ms M McCann: The Republic of Ireland has put much effort and emphasis into attracting sponsorship and donations from the business sector, so that work may be reflected in that figure. In its economic breakdown, the Republic of Ireland may be including donations and not ring-fencing those. That could make the figure higher than perhaps it is in reality. A couple of countries include donations from outside, and that is included in their breakdown. That boosts their figure, but the Government spend is not that, so it should be lower when compared with other countries, and, because it has been factored in, it does not give a true reading.

355. Mr K Robinson: That adds to Pat’s point that local government puts a significant sum into the arts here. Has that been factored into our figure, or is that being looked at separately? For example, Newtownabbey Borough Council, of which I am a member, has a multi-million pound theatre development going on. Is such spending factored into the figures?

356. Ms M McCann: Spending by local authorities is not included in the UK PESA figure.

357. Mr Shannon: I wish to back up Pat’s point that the contributions that local councils make are significant, not only through the money that they spend each year but through the money that they have in their buildings. Do the figures on local council spending take account of those running costs?

358. I always felt, in all honesty, and not being disrespectful to the Arts Council, that our figures were quite low. I am not sure whether they are accurate either. I believe that our contribution to the arts is significant. It is nowhere near the level of the contribution that is made in the Republic of Ireland, nor does it match that of Scotland; nonetheless, when it is quantified, it will be more significant than it is perceived to be.

359. My other concern is that it is difficult, while we are conducting an inquiry into arts funding, to consider extra funding above and beyond what is already being provided. In all honesty, people are more concerned about jobs, health and education at the moment. We can all say what our priorities should be, but, in the current situation, it may not be the best time to recommend extra spending on the arts. I do not wish to take away from the importance of the arts; there is always a need to prioritise.

360. You have given us all the figures, but I believe that the contribution of local councils is significant. I know that the arts committee of Ards Borough Council, on which Kieran and I sit, is very active, and pursues a wide range of projects. Cultural pursuits come under the banner of community relations; it is not just about the arts. The good relations officers, as they are now known, play their part through their work for local councils, and that must be taken into consideration. Spending on the arts might rise dramatically. I suspect that our spending would be ahead of England’s, and might be equal to the contribution that is made in Wales.

361. Ms M McCann: That ties in with what the Department said about the per capita spending indicator. It might not be the best mechanism for determining spending, because it does not highlight that input. If more statistical research were carried out, a more appropriate way of calculating spending could be discovered that has that robustness and could show all the different elements that feed into a figure. That would be better than excluding many other elements, because they cannot be included if a per capita spend indicator is insisted on in order to show arts funding. From what I have read, that is what the Department is saying. These figures are not the best available, because they do not show the true picture.

362. Mr Shannon: Is the issue of language — Irish or Ulster Scots — under consideration? That is part of our culture, and should be included under the arts heading. Is that being taken on board?

363. Ms M McCann: The figures are based on the amount of Government funding that is issued. Language will be part of the package that emerges.

364. Mr Shannon: Has that been considered under the per capita indicator up until now?

365. Ms M McCann: I will have to check on that, but I do not believe that it is excluded. The money comes directly from Government, so it should be included in the figure. I will check whether that money has been ring-fenced and come back to you about it.

366. Mr Shannon: It would be helpful if we had an indication of what has been ring-fenced. That would give us a better feel for how the figure was arrived at.

367. Mr Brolly: I want to follow Ken’s point. These figures are not much use to us because the Arts Council of England report did not include quite significant sums of money, particularly tax foregone across the border. It would be interesting if it was possible to get a round figure on what contribution that makes to arts funding. I am sure that it is huge; it has to be. We have no tax-varying powers, but if we could create something similar here, it could augment what are, in reality, poor figures.

368. Mr K Robinson: Building on what Francie said, the current trade mission to America is actively pursuing the issue of arts funding by talking to the film industry. Therefore, perhaps that is something that we should look at more seriously.

369. Mr Brolly: The boom in the film industry across the border was down to tax relief.

370. Mr P Ramsey: I respect and understand in general Jim’s point that now is not a good time to have an inquiry into arts funding. However, the whole principle of having an inquiry is based on the fact that we do not know how the arts can contribute to, and pay dividends for, people’s health and well-being. We also do not know how the arts contribute to social and urban regeneration, to targeting social need, to the economy — particularly when one considers the number of jobs that the creative industries create — and to all the other ailments of society. Therefore, an unknown quantity exists.

371. I think that now is a good time for an inquiry. With respect, Jim, I go against what you said. I think that now is a good time to get the evidence that is required and evaluate that. The same argument can be used for sport, which is what we will look at next. A lot of evidence suggests that the long-term advantage of investing in sports is that less money will need to be is spent on health services. We need to evaluate that as part of the inquiry.

372. Mr Shannon: For clarification, I did not say that we should not have an inquiry. I simply pointed out that a lot of people do not equate the money that it is invested in the arts with the benefits that they can bring. We are all elected representatives — what is the biggest issue that constituents raise? People are concerned about their jobs, among other issues. That is my point; that is all that I am saying. I am not saying that we should not have an inquiry. We will have an inquiry, and we will see how we can promote the arts more positively and significantly.

373. Mr Brolly: Interestingly, I had conversation with Malcolm Murchison, manager of Flowerfield Arts Centre, before this Committee meeting started, and he made that very point. He said that the arts contribute to people’s health as much — if not more, in some cases — as hospitals.

374. The Acting Chairperson: Before we finish, Meadhbh, when you undertook your research into arts funding, was there any sort of regional examination of per capita spend? For example, was more spent on arts funding per capita in London than in other parts of England? Was there a heavy concentration of spend in and around certain areas in the South?

375. Ms M McCann: Figures in the public expenditure statistical analysis, which was carried out in 2007, included a bare breakdown of per capita spend for the UK. That showed a higher concentration of per capita spend in more urban areas. I have not found such a breakdown for the Republic of Ireland. I can provide you with a copy of the figures for England.

376. Mr Shannon: There was some concern a while ago about the fact that £1·5 million had been spent on art for the Royal Victoria Hospital. One woman who had an operation at the hospital told me that when she was in the operating theatre, she did not care whether there was an abstract painting or a landscape painting on the wall; she simply wanted her operation to be over. She said that it did not make any difference to her. That is my point.

377. Sometimes, we need to be sure that what is happening is for the benefit of the people. That woman was more interested in getting her operation over with and getting out of hospital. She did care whether there was a lovely landscape painting or an abstract picture on the wall. She was not interested; she simply wanted to get out of there.

378. The Acting Chairperson: It is good that she knew the difference between an abstract picture and a landscape picture. [Laughter.]

379. Mr Shannon: It is easy to tell the difference.

380. The Acting Chairperson: Meadhbh, thank you very much.

19 March 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Mr Francie Brolly
The Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Mr David Byers Mr Colm Crummey Mr Colin Stark

Ulster Orchestra

381. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): I welcome representatives of the Ulster Orchestra to this morning’s Committee session. This part of the meeting will last approximately 45 minutes. Mr David Byers will make a 10-minute presentation, in which he will introduce his colleagues, and that will be followed by members’ questions.

382. Mr David Byers (Ulster Orchestra): We are delighted to be given the chance to come here to make a short presentation to you. With me, I have Colin Stark, an oboe player of long standing with the Ulster Orchestra, and Colm Crummey, the orchestra’s finance and administration manager, who keeps me in order.

383. I must preface my remarks with a correction. Paragraph 2.9 of our submission states that Belfast City Council contributes £134,000 of grant aid to the Ulster Orchestra, but it gives us £143,000. I apologise for that error.

384. I hope that the submission is comprehensive enough for you, but I will flesh it out with one or two complementary facts. The Ulster Orchestra has one of the largest allocations of arts funding in Northern Ireland, but we believe that it offers a huge return on the investment on many fronts. It is a finely balanced economic equation: money in very much equals money out. If we put one foot wrong, we go over the precipice.

385. We are a small to medium-sized business in Northern Ireland terms. We have 80 full-time employees, 63 of whom are musicians.

386. I will provide a brief summary of our work. During the season, we play around 33 concerts — including family concerts — in Belfast. This year, we will also play a joint concert with the Ulster Youth Orchestra. We play 12 free BBC invitation concerts — sometimes those are held in Belfast, and sometimes they are held in Derry or Armagh. They have moved out and about in recent times, but they may once again be forced back to Belfast because of economics. Those concerts are free, so they can be accessed by a wide range of the community.

387. We also play 15 of our concerts in the regions, in places such as Derry, Coleraine, Armagh and Enniskillen, and as part of the Opera Fringe festival in Downpatrick, to name but a few. Last year, we undertook a Christmas tour, which included Christmas concerts in the Andersonstown Leisure Centre and the Shankill Leisure Centre. In addition to those concerts, we gave 30 studio-recorded concerts for BBC Radio 3. Those concerts very much bring Northern Ireland’s orchestra to listeners right across the UK, and, thanks to Internet streaming, far beyond. We appear at the BBC Proms every so many years. We have established a Dublin season of concerts each year. We appeared at the Wexford and Kilkenny festivals, and we performed a border- area tour last year that was supported by the Arts Council of Ireland. We played in Letterkenny, Dundalk and Castleblayney.

388. So much of our work is under the radar. There is an enormous breadth and depth of engagement in all that we do. Last Saturday, we held a concert in the Waterfront Hall as part of the Pied Piper project, and that concert was a culmination of weeks of workshops in four primary schools in mainly deprived areas of Belfast. That performance involved some 240 children singing on stage with the orchestra and 60 young dancers from knee-high upwards. They all performed a piece that was written by our young composer in residence, Brian Irvine. It was the most inspiring event to attend, and it was performed to an audience of about 1,600, many of whom were the parents of those involved. The whole project — which I hope will not be a one-off — was awarded the Inspire Mark of the Cultural Olympiad because of the range that it covered, its work with people and its inspirational qualities.

389. The week or so before that, we played a concert in the Waterfront Hall to some 1,500 to 1,600 young people, which was presented and planned in part by my colleague Colin Stark. That is an example of what we want to do in the longer term now that we hope to move into the Ulster Hall. Two nights ago, we performed a St Patrick’s Day concert in the Waterfront Hall. That was a cross-community concert that appealed to all sections.

390. There is a breadth to the work that encompasses many of our players going to special-needs schools. They have devised special systems whereby the children relate to objects on a screen, which encourages them to participate by playing particular notes or identifying particular themes. To hear and see that in action is a most humbling experience.

391. The instrumental players are in the community providing advanced tuition in schools, colleges and the universities. For example, Colin is involved with the orchestra at Queen’s University. Many of our players provide the backbone of teaching and youth-orchestra coaching in organisations such as the City of Belfast School of Music, the Ulster Youth Orchestra, St Malachy’s College, Methodist College Belfast, and all over the place in primary schools and nursery schools.

392. The players are also involved with education and library boards. Each year, we do something with the Southern Education and Library Board, which is very supportive of our work. In one week, we perform three or four concerts in places like Dungannon, Newry and Craigavon. Those are fabulous concerts. They are not just free-standing concerts; they are always backed up by workshops in the schools. In that way, kids can draw on all sorts of particular musical experiences and training that help them to appreciate the concerts all the more. Furthermore, many of our players are involved with bands and choirs in the community. One of our viola players conducts a flute band that has been world champion for the past three or four years — its name escapes me at the moment. Those players bring a measure of talent to bear upon the whole community.

393. Our core business is very much about providing concerts, primarily of orchestral music. That encompasses all kinds of music, including film nights, popular classics, music from Broadway and the West End musicals and concerts with James Galway and Bryn Terfel. If you name it, we will do it.

394. In the past year or two, we have performed with Flash Harry at the Odyssey Arena, Duke Special and Sinéad O’Connor, and we have also played with The Chieftains at the Waterfront Hall. Above all, we play symphonic classics. We introduce new music by young composers from here, and we provide a platform for young musicians at the start of their careers. We do that partly in co-operation with the Arts Council and the BBC.

395. The Ulster Orchestra is very much open to everyone — all ages and all creeds. It was heart-warming to discover that a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey from some years ago revealed that 33% of our season-ticket holders were, to use a horrible classification, C2DEs. Access is what we are about; we offer student standby tickets for all our concerts at a price of £3. We have special promotions and offers for people who live in residential homes. We have a sponsored bus scheme for elderly people from Ballymena and Armagh, which has really taken off this year and become a great success.

396. The events that we put on are non-confrontational; there is no sense of them being for one side of the community and not for the other. We believe with a passion that a modern, forward-looking society needs an orchestra. Not everyone wants to darken its doors, perhaps, but again, we were sufficiently heart-warmed by research that showed that a huge majority feels that Northern Ireland should have an orchestra that is seen to provide a real service to the community. That says something about that community to the outside world.

397. We are an important part of the creative industries, which, I have been told, employ more people in Northern Ireland than agriculture — that may say more about the state of agriculture at the moment than anything else. We want to, and do, fire up people’s creativity and imagination. We are about participation; I have mentioned several aspects of the orchestra’s work, but next month, for example, we have our annual ‘Come and Play’ concert, which brings in 90 to 100 people aged from seven years to 77-plus. They rehearse with the orchestra in the afternoon and take part in the concert later on. If anyone wants to come along, the event is free and takes place in the Ulster Hall. Again, it is heart-warming and inspirational — it is a wonderful event. Equally, participation is as much about people who simply want to come along, sit, watch, listen and just be part of things. It is about enjoyment, challenge, thought and wonder.

398. Some years ago, we won the first-ever Royal Philharmonic Society award for education work. Last year, we won the Arts & Business arts award for professionalism in managing our business relationships. We play a major ambassadorial role for Northern Ireland. Companies that are looking to invest here want to know what additional benefits exist for them, and we believe that the Ulster Orchestra is an important part of Northern Ireland’s offering. Tourists check the web for what is on here — nightlife, theatres, clubs and concerts such as ours.

399. The investment in arts funding sustains everything that I have mentioned. It sustains 80 jobs in the arts. Some years ago, that investment was shown to have been multiplied by a factor of 2·5 as regards economic return. I do not have a recent figure, because the research has not yet been done, but I believe that the way in which we have developed in recent years has increased that figure substantially.

400. The context of all our work in this part of the country is very important. We live in an environment in which our venues are the most expensive to hire in the UK and Ireland. We have the lowest orchestral salaries in the UK. Conductors, soloists and extra players cost more to bring in and out. We have a smaller population base than comparable orchestras, with the possible exception of Finland. We punch above our weight, and I believe that we provide excellent value for money. We have enjoyed huge success in increasing our box-office revenue, our sponsorship and philanthropic giving from individuals.

401. Sadly, the reality check is very much upon us now, in that we are not immune to the credit crunch. That fine balance — that precipice that I was talking about — is looking slightly crumbly at the moment.

402. Sponsorship has taken a nosedive this year. We have lost £150,000 because we are so reliant on the banks and financial institutions. Our bank interest, which we relied on to top us up, was earning us about £30,000 a year, but that has gone, as you can imagine. I am afraid that, next season, we will have to cut back on what we offer and, at the very least, implement a pay freeze from the beginning of the financial year until we work out where the economy is going. We need to do that to preserve our business for the future.

403. That is all I want to say at this stage — I apologise if I have talked for too long.

404. Mr McCarthy: Thank you very much for your presentation. Paragraph 1.5 of your submission refers to the uplift in arts funding provided by the Government in the South — it has increased from €33·14 million in 1998 to €79·81 in 2006, some €46 million of an increase in eight years. What would be the best way of persuading our Northern Ireland Executive to provide a similar uplift?

405. Mr Byers: A similar uplift would be wonderful. We need to hold up as an example what we do and what we achieve. At times, it is very hard to get people to come to events. Saturday’s event was mind-blowing and fabulous, but the task is to get people, including MLAs and councillors, to come out and experience such events and to realise their importance.

406. Mr McCarthy: The €46 million increase in funding by the Southern Government over eight years was huge, and we are nowhere near that.

407. Mr Byers: They took the basic step of saying that the arts would be important for the wider economy and for the wider sense of Ireland in the world, and that has paid off. Obviously, they are now pulling back a bit on aspects of the funding, but what they have achieved is fantastic. However, the Government funding and Arts Council funding in the South does not support an orchestra other than the Irish Chamber Orchestra, which is a small, chamber-sized ensemble. They are saved millions of euros because RTÉ supports its own orchestra.

408. Mr Brolly: At times, I have been critical of the money spent on the Ulster Orchestra, but that is nothing to do with the quality of the work that it does. I am sure that, like myself, you are disappointed that classical music has not really invaded the homes of the ordinary. That is also a criticism that I have of the Arts Council generally — it is not totally proactive.

409. A lot of the money that is spent on the orchestra, and that the orchestra spends, goes to the small elite. I am talking about all things classical: for example, if I go to Castleward for an opera, I will not see any of my neighbours. Although not strictly a criticism of the Ulster Orchestra, I am always disappointed that classical music and opera are still seen as the preserve of the few. If that perception is correct and is added to the fact that more money goes to the Ulster Orchestra than to any other organisation, it seems that the funding is a bit misaligned — the least people are getting the most money.

410. Mr Byers: I do not agree with that. We reach out to different audiences from across society. I worry about the word “elite", because it is being used in a pejorative way in this context. As I tried to convey in the submission, we aspire to being elite, because we want to achieve the best quality in the same way as a rugby team or another sports team does. Our young musicians want to be the best and to be trained in the best possible way. There is nothing wrong with that. However, the argument that the orchestra appeals to only a few rich people does not stand up to analysis.

411. Mr Brolly: Not necessarily rich people; I was trying to say that I am somewhat critical of what the Arts Council does. My accusation is that it hands out funding but has no hands-on involvement. I appreciate all the orchestra’s work in education, and so forth, but the ripples of that work do not yet spread far enough.

412. Mr Byers: That is an argument for having a bigger cake rather than simply divvying up the existing cake into smaller and smaller slices with the result that we cannot achieve all that we ought in society. I am not speaking as a representative of the Arts Council, but I assure you that it is not an easy shout to obtain funding. The Arts Council studies our programme, argues about some aspects of it and has quibbles with others, but it is supportive.

413. The money is not simply handed to us on a plate. We always need and want more funding, but so does everyone else. In general, the arts, historically, have always received support. Some years ago, the support came through patronage, which has been superseded by Government funding. Members should consider other countries in which Governments have invested in the arts. For example, in the South, the investment in the arts has produced substantial returns that extend to all areas, including traditional music.

414. Mr Brolly: Are you telling me that all that is required is more money? Should you not examine your strategy?

415. Mr Colm Crummey (Ulster Orchestra): You are right, Mr Brolly, to say that barriers must be broken down. Before I became the orchestra’s accountant, my background was in traditional music. However, the more that I am exposed to classical music, the more I love it. It is a matter of how to increase its exposure to more people.

416. Mr Brolly: That was basically my question.

417. Mr Byers: It would seem crude to say yes in answer to your previous question about whether we simply require more money. Strategically, we want to develop, and we hope to move our office to the Ulster Hall in June 2009. Had life here been normal, without the credit crunch, now would have been the time to grab opportunities. It is the perfect time to bus schoolchildren to the Ulster Hall to hear concerts by the orchestra in that environment. Our focus should be to introduce people to classical music at that young age.

418. People who live in the suburbs, or elderly people who no longer want to come into the cities at night but can travel free on buses, can come into the city for lunchtime concerts; now is the time to develop that. Although the orchestra is funded and we receive salaries, most concerts incur an additional cost. The only concerts from which we make money are the ‘Messiah’ and the Viennese concerts.

419. The sponsors are the people who make the difference. With sponsorship, we can achieve so much more, but all of a sudden that has gone. Will I be able to put on lunchtime concerts? The orchestra has one sponsor who is committed to lunchtime concerts for the next year, so they will go ahead.

420. However, we ought to be putting on schools concerts, as I would love to do, but I would have to pay for a conductor to allow the orchestra to play the sort of music that is attractive and appealing to that audience. The orchestra has 63 players, and that is the minimum number required to perform. However, to perform the music from ‘Star Wars’, for example, we would need additional trumpets and percussion because each piece of music incurs an extra cost.

421. There is no point in putting on a bit of Mozart or Haydn. Nowadays, orchestras have to shake people up with something more contemporary, but that costs more. Where can we get the money? Sponsorship is the direct answer, but there is none available. I would love the city and DCAL to invest in the orchestra, so that we could get on with performing. I am sorry to say that it comes down to the crude issue of money.

422. Mr Shannon: As you rightly said, Northern Ireland is blessed with, and enriched by, a variety of musical talent, such as the Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band, and the flute bands from Ballygowan and Ballywalter. I am sure that other members are also proud of the bands in their areas. The Ulster Orchestra does a magnificent job of promoting the Province, and it promotes Northern Ireland wherever it plays. Therefore, I understand the importance of the orchestra, and I do not need to be convinced of it.

423. I have a couple of questions. First, you mentioned the South Eastern Education and Library Board in your submission.

424. Mr Byers: I meant to say the Southern Education and Library Board.

425. Mr Shannon: You mentioned the importance of developing musical talent and of people going on to join the Ulster Orchestra. What relationship do you have with the boards as regards that issue?

426. Secondly, the per capita spend has been a key issue in the inquiry. At the moment, it seems that our per capita spend is lower than the per capita spend in other parts of the United Kingdom — although we are waiting for confirmation of that. In your submission, you suggested that the per capita measurement should not be the sole criterion for arts funding. Northern Ireland has a small population compared to Scotland, Wales and the Republic, so is it fair that a small country should have to pay more? I am keen to get your opinion on that. How could that be addressed differently and, at the same time, not be cost prohibitive?

427. Mr Byers: We have closer relationships with some boards than with others, and that is down to the particular boards and whether they have any flexibility with regard to money. I am returning to the issue of money again. We have a very good relationship with the Southern Board, and it works alongside councils in Newry, Dungannon, Craigavon and other places that we have recently visited. Those councils provide £1,000 per concert and the education and library board provides the same amount of money. Therefore, by working in partnership, we can stage those concerts. We put on two concerts a day, with around 1,000 kids at each concert. Therefore, it is a partnership.

428. We have good, close working relationships with the staff in the South Eastern Education and Library Board with regard to workshops and other things that we do. However, it is only the Southern Education and Library Board that is involved in the larger-scale school concerts. We have close contact with the staff in the Western Education and Library Board, the South Eastern Education and Library Board and the North Eastern Education and Library Board, and our workshops are held in schools right across Northern Ireland. They are not simply parachuted in. The work is delivered in consultation with those area boards, and we get advice from them.

429. Mr Shannon: Is there a natural progression for young pupils who show an interest in music to receive tuition from the education boards and then go on to join the Ulster Orchestra? Is there a methodology to enable that to happen?

430. Mr Byers: There is progression, but Northern Ireland does not have a third-level college of music, and, indeed, we are too small to sustain such a college. Therefore, a lot of our young pianists, for example, go to study with John O’Conor at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Other people go to study at the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London or the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Quite often, those people get freelance jobs, so they do not necessarily all come back here. However, there is some progression to enable those people to climb the ladder. They are given tuition and join the youth orchestras in those area boards, and, if they are really keen, they may go to the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland. If they are really good at college, they can become freelance teachers, for example.

431. Mr Colin Stark (The Ulster Orchestra): We have players in the orchestra who have come through the system. I am one of those people, so it can happen. Indeed, during the worst of the Troubles, many of our most talented players went away to study and chose not to come back. However, it is very refreshing that several of our recently advertised posts have been filled by young people from here who have chosen to come back and play in the Ulster Orchestra.

432. Mr Shannon: What about the per capita spend?

433. Mr Byers: We have to find a way to supply adequate funding for the arts — indeed, more than adequate, if possible. The per capita issue gets so confused at times; are we really comparing like with like? I was trying to consider the matter on a European basis, and it is well nigh impossible. The BBC is one of our major supporters, and it is not in a particularly healthy state at the moment. We are engaged in an ongoing discussion with the BBC about our appearances at the Proms. Scotland gets two appearances, as does Wales, and we feel that appearances are, in a sense, part of the per capita commitment. We should have two appearances. A per capita argument is being used now to say, “Hang on, there are so many licence payers in Northern Ireland". So, now, there is only one every five or six years, which galls me slightly.

434. It is how the statistics are used that is somewhat bothersome. I am afraid that I have no answer to your question. When we look at per capita spending at face value, it is clear that we are so behind the Republic and Scotland. Scotland is surging ahead at the moment — just look at the expenditure figures for the five key cultural institutions. The progress there is phenomenal. If we had half of what that orchestra is getting at the moment, we could do so much more, but then I think that Scotland’s per capita spending is about £12 a head.

435. Mr P Ramsey: We have talked about levels of deprivation and poverty and also the culturally poor and cultural poverty. Can you explain how you would enrich the quality of life of someone who comes from a marginalised community or a TSN area? How would you get them involved and help them to gain access to your organisation? What are your strengths in that regard?

436. Jim was right; the Committee is trying to gather qualitative evidence to convince the Executive and our Ministers that there are good reasons to invest in the arts. Various channels were explored, and the ValCAL study was abandoned. That evidence is not available. Earlier, Francie mentioned that the great investment in the arts in Ireland had resulted in a huge return to the economy. Can you explain what the return is? Where is the evidence that there has been a return?

437. Mr Stark: I will give you an example of work in TSN areas. At the moment, I am working with kids in a primary school in Poleglass and one in Rathcoole — they have sort of adopted me. Those kids are not musicians, they are just part of a class group. I talk to them about the orchestra, play my instrument and we listen to music and play some games.

438. The kids then come to an informal concert, and I meet them there. Afterwards, we talk about the concert, and I show them around. I then go back to the school and prepare them for coming to a full-on, serious evening classical concert. They come to that concert and meet my colleagues, and I pop round to see them at the break. Once again, I go back to the school, and we talk about their experience. I ask the kids whether they found the concert boring or whether they enjoyed it. We ask them what they would like by way of follow up. I do little instrumental performance classes with the musicians, and some of the parents and other teachers get involved.

439. In a sense, it is a microcosm of a complete musical experience. We keep in touch with that school and go back to visit it. We will follow the children’s progress, perhaps into post-primary education. Those children are then familiar with the Ulster Orchestra; they see that the orchestra is not on a different planet and that it is an ordinary group. The children come to see the orchestra and have a bit of craic.

440. That is how we follow through on progress. At best, that experience develops our young artists; at the very least, it develops an audience for classical music in the Province. Such work is taking place on a very large scale with several of my colleagues all the time. I take Mr Brolly’s point that there is still not enough access. However, it is not for want of trying; it is a matter of resource. As Mr Byers said, a lot of what we do is under the radar because we cannot shout about everything all the time.

441. Mr P Ramsey: I take that point, and the work is fantastic. However, how do you measure it? You have worked with young people who may not have had access to music or played an instrument, but how will the outcome of that work be measured in the future? How will you know that, as a direct result of your actions, people are going back to their own communities and joining bands and participating in music, and so on?

442. Where is the evidence to show that that is happening? How do you ensure that the work that you do in a school one week is not forgotten the next week?

443. Mr Stark: I can only offer anecdotal evidence. We do not have the resource to follow that up in a scientific way. It would be wonderful to take a large sample of pupils and follow them from Key Stage 1, through to the end of their education and into their working lives in order to see how many people stay with us. The only evidence that I can offer you is the change in the kids’ attitudes from when I first go in — when I may as well be from Mars — to when they go to concerts —

444. Mr P Ramsey: You are the Pied Piper.

445. Mr Stark: We work through a project, and that results in the children having a completely different attitude. I have been doing that for a long time, and teenagers and young adults come up to me and remind me that I visited their school. They tell me that they are going to Ulster Orchestra concerts or that they have encouraged someone else to do so. It is not only for the ABC1s.

446. Mr Byers: The research is good in the sense in that it shows that a large percentage of our current audience has reached the orchestra through having met it as schoolchildren. It is a matter of getting people when they are young and bringing them into it. The evidence is there, but resources are needed to follow it through.

447. Mr P Ramsey: You talked about money and why that is so important. What added value would you bring to the table if you were to get extra public money?

448. Mr Byers: We would expand our reach to people of all ages.

449. Mr Crummey: More money would result in more exposure. As with anything, the more exposure something gets, the more people will begin to like it.

450. Mr McNarry: You are welcome, gentlemen. Your submission states that £143,000 was made available by Belfast City Council and that, unfortunately, that was returned in hall-hire charges. Is that pure coincidence?

451. Mr Byers: Yes, in fairness, it is.

452. Mr McNarry: So, you receive a grant, but it is not to cover hall charges?

453. Mr Byers: No. It is a grant towards the orchestra.

454. Mr McNarry: The money that is available from the grant is equalised by the amount needed for hall charges?

455. Mr Byers: Yes.

456. Mr McNarry: That was just a bit misleading. Were you trying to make a point by saying that?

457. Mr Byers: I am concerned that it seems strange that the Ulster Orchestra has to pay the greatest hall-hire charges of any orchestra in these islands.

458. Mr McNarry: I am very sympathetic to that point, and I am glad that you made it, not me. We now know how much Belfast City Council offers in grant aid and how it takes that money back.

459. Mr Byers: I should add that Belfast City Council has invested money in the Ulster Hall and that we are looking forward to developing a healthy relationship with it. I would like to think that that relationship will blossom.

460. Mr McNarry: That is progress. I was trying to get to the bottom of why that comment was included in your submission. We know where you stand with Belfast City Council, but how much funding does the Arts Council of Northern Ireland provide?

461. Mr Byers: This year, funding is at a standstill of £2,050,000.

462. Mr McNarry: Can you justify that?

463. Mr Byers: Absolutely; we can more than justify that.

464. Mr McNarry: You do not produce any balance sheets. I hear what you say, but how do you justify that figure?

465. Mr Byers: We produce them every year. We can give general figures —

466. Mr Crummey: That money goes towards our activity for the year. We are a charity, and we are non-profit-making, so all of the money that comes in is spent on our activities. We try to have a surplus each year in order to build up a reserve level, because we are a small-to-medium-sized business, and the Charity Commission recommends that charities have six months’ expenditure in their reserves. In our case, that would be approaching £2 million, but our reserves are £336,000, so the precipice that David Byers mentioned earlier is always in the back of my mind when he is trying to plan events.

467. Mr McNarry: I am not saying that you do not need it; I am just saying that you need to justify it.

468. Mr Byers: To give a round figure, it costs nearly £4 million a year to do what we do. That is funded by roughly £2 million from the Arts Council, £750,000 from the BBC and £143,000 from Belfast City Council. We have additional regional council support, which amounts to a few thousand pounds. Our box-office income is around £400,000, which is 10% of our outlay.

469. Mr McNarry: I think that we get the picture. In your submission, you say that the Arts Council and Belfast City Council review your needs annually. Why do they do that? Is it because they give you grant aid annually? One organisation gives you £143,000; the other gives you over £2 million. What is the role and influence of those organisations in that review of needs? Do they lay down stipulations, or do they tell you what to do?

470. Mr Byers: We apply for a grant; we put on paper our proposed programme and what it will cost, and we ask for a certain amount of money. We discuss with the officers the rationale for what we are doing and the nature of what we are doing. Eventually, we get a letter saying that we have been granted a certain amount of money.

471. For many years, we have been arguing for three-year funding grants so that we can plan ahead. Belfast City Council has been most effective in that respect. It stuck to its bargain of a three-year deal, which was uplifted by 3% each year. The Arts Council, because of its situation, has not provided, what would have been, an inflationary uplift. At the moment, inflation may disappear anyway. However, we are waiting to see what that will mean for our ability to forward plan. I have heard only in the past few weeks what my funding will be for next year, although the programme is well in place. The funding bodies keep a strict eye on it, and the funding is all argued for.

472. Mr McNarry: Finally, you say that the orchestra is a charity and that it plans to do this, that and the other. However, your submission specifically states that the Ulster Orchestra is similar to a medium-sized business enterprise. It employs 80 people and has a turnover of £4 million.

473. Mr Byers: If I may rudely interrupt, I would add that we are not on safe ground. The hope is to have reserves to support the business. The board made a decision to make a reserve of £500,000 by 2012, which is much less than the amount that PricewaterhouseCoopers recommended to us. Years ago, we were not allowed to make any profit as such. We have managed to salt away some money, and we are trying to add £40,000 each year to our reserves in order to build them up. That is not money that we can dip into; it is to support redundancies and cash flow and that sort of thing. At the moment, as a business, we are not on the best foundations.

474. Mr McNarry: I am sad to hear that; however, that is, in a sense, the fate of business.

475. Mr Byers: Yes.

476. Mr McNarry: I am concerned that because you are operating, on the one hand, with handouts, and, on the other hand, you are adopting — quite rightly in my opinion — a business sense, you risk losing your own identity in order to meet performances off the balance sheet? It is a fine line, and that is where funding and help are crucial.

477. Mr Byers: That is the big issue that we will face next year. I had to spend the weekend — and I do not make a case that we are exceptional — pruning the programme for next year to such an extent that I worry that it will damage the box-office income, which we rely on. It also stops artistic progress and affects the identity of what we are doing and the nature of the music that we are playing. We are now carving the programme back to the very minimum just to survive. Of course, I want the business to survive so that in a couple of years’ time, when the economy turns upwards, we will be there and ready to go. I do not want to jeopardise the institution.

478. Mr McNarry: What do you think that the Committee could encourage the Arts Council to do for you, in recognition of the current circumstances? It seems that the Ulster Orchestra’s structure is vulnerable due to its reliance on outside funding, and yet it contributes to society locally, and it gives us a good name internationally. How can we help so that the orchestra is not put in jeopardy through overindulgence in a belief that the orchestra must survive monetarily at the sacrifice of what it actually does?

479. Mr Byers: In addition, we have the lowest orchestra salaries in the UK. To return to my earlier point, in order to attract back people who went to study in places such as London or Wales, our salaries should be, at least, on a par with those of other organisations. Musicians will be far more attracted to stay in London or Manchester, where they can pick up freelance work or get a regular job that is better paid, than to come back here. At one time, we could have argued that the cost of housing here was lower; however, that has all changed now.

480. Mr McNarry: One could say that if the venues were cheaper, salaries could be increased.

481. Mr Byers: All of that has an impact.

482. Mr McNarry: If your turnover was better, your salaries could be increased.

483. Mr Byers: It is a vicious circle, no matter what you do. It comes back to the crude business of having enough financial resources to build the structure.

484. Mr Crummey: Also, we do not have any assets as such. Given that we do not own a building or premises, it is difficult to secure a bank loan in a situation where cash is tight.

485. Mr McNarry: I understand all that. However, everyone who comes in here and sits where you are sitting has a bowl in their hands; everyone wants us to do something for them. You have established that you run a professional organisation, but you also run a business. Either you survive or you sink on that basis. I think that part of the issue is whether you can increase your performances. However, I do not know whether that is the case, because there is not enough information in the submission. Can you get more revenue? Rather than simply asking for money, can you not generate some money yourself? You should be telling us what you are going to do, and we will see whether we can back you. What do you need to do?

486. Mr Byers: The sad thing is that, without sponsorship and a significant level of individual giving, our funding comes down to the public purse, because each concert costs money. Therefore, it is cheaper to leave the orchestra at home doing nothing in order to survive than it is to put on a concert.

487. Mr McNarry: Seriously?

488. Mr Byers: That is the embarrassment of it. However, I would not do that, because that would be immoral. It would be immoral for public funding to go into an organisation that did not do anything. Therefore, we put on concerts, but there is a cost involved in doing so. Next year, in order to break even, or to have reserves of £30,000 or £40,000, I will be looking at a balance of minus £300,000. However, I have cut £150,000 from programme costs. I will also have to look at a pay freeze and, depending on expenses, a potential pay cut of up to 4% — despite having the lowest orchestral salaries. All of that is to ensure that, if not balanced, our accounts will be minus only £40,000.

489. Mr McNarry: I appreciate that.

490. Mr Byers: It is tough, and I am fully aware that is tough for everybody. I am not making a special case.

491. The Chairperson: At least four more members have questions that they want to ask, and we are already over time, so I want to move on. Colin, did you want to say something?

492. Mr Stark: I wish to make two brief points. First, I take Mr McNarry’s point absolutely. However, given that he was surprised by the fact that it would be cheaper to sit at home than it would be to put on a concert, I will provide some perspective. A disproportionate amount of the cost of putting on a concert goes to paying the conductor and the soloist. Their fees are very expensive, even though they stay here for only a couple of days. Therefore, if we were to put on a dozen more concerts a year, those fees would add significantly to our costs.

493. Secondly, the fine line between being a business and being an excellent business ties in absolutely with Mr Brolly’s point. Our prime purpose is to be an excellent classical symphony orchestra and to have excellent access and outreach — one informs the other. We cannot have a true community arch without a centre of excellence. One cannot lower the common denominator to the point where the orchestra is no longer excellent. We must juggle between being an excellent orchestra and making ourselves more accessible, but that is extremely difficult. Indeed, at the moment, that is an impossible balancing act, because our resources are on the edge.

494. The Chairperson: I am sorry about this, but I must ask Dominic and Raymond group their questions and Wallace and Nelson group their questions. After that, Ken can ask a question.

495. Mr D Bradley: Colin said that he came through the music-education process in Northern Ireland, from the education and library board to the orchestra. How many of the players in the orchestra are from Northern Ireland?

496. Mr Byers: Around 12 members are from Northern Ireland.

497. Mr D Bradley: That seems to be quite an imbalance.

498. Mr Byers: I probably should not even answer that question, because I feel that it is unfair. There are musicians who have been in the orchestra for 20 or 40 years; they have moved here, and are part of our community. We are part of the EC.

499. We have a vacancy for a principal clarinet player, as ours is retiring after 40 years. We have had 100 applications from around the world, and that appointment will be determined, ultimately, on the best that we can get. We have a timpani player who is from Australia —

500. Mr D Bradley: I was just wondering where all the young players who are educated through the education and library boards’ services are going.

501. Mr Stark: They are going all over the world, because classical professional music-making is truly international. I do not take your point that it is disproportionate. There is disproportion, but it is the reverse of that which you imply. There is quite a high proportion of local people in the local orchestra. In the Birmingham or London Symphony Orchestras, there are probably fewer people, proportionately, from those centres —

502. Mr D Bradley: So, are you saying that the employment field is global?

503. Mr Stark: It is absolutely global, and an orchestra is 100% a meritocracy: every seat is filled by someone who deserves to be there.

504. Mr Byers: My son was the Northern Ireland Young Musician of the Year; he moved to London and stayed there, and he travels all over the world to work. I am not sure that I could entice him back.

505. Mr D Bradley: I asked that purely out of interest; the question that I was going to ask was —

506. Mr Brolly: I must remember that one. [Laughter.]

507. Mr D Bradley: I was going to ask whether you have any way of estimating the economic return from the orchestra, over and above ticket sales, CD sales, and so on. What are the spin-off effects for local businesses in cultural and social capital?

508. Mr McCartney: I have a couple of out-of-interest questions to ask first. [Laughter.]

509. The figures for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra show that it has 83 players and 24 administration staff. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra has 70 players, and 36 administration staff. You have 82 staff, 63 of whom are musicians and 19 are administrative staff —

510. Mr Byers: We have 63 musicians and 18 full-time and one part-time administrative staff.

511. Mr McCartney: Is that the bare minimum of administration staff that you can have?

512. Mr Byers: Yes, that is the absolute bare minimum.

513. Mr McCartney: Are musicians, such as Colin, contracted to do the outreach work? Does that work involve only a set number of musicians, or are all musicians in the orchestra under that sort of contract?

514. Mr Stark: Only the musicians who are committed to, and interested in, doing the outreach work do all the individual projects. As regards giving concerts with the full orchestra, that is part of everyone’s contractual commitment.

515. Mr McCartney: It is not part of your contractual commitment to do the outreach; that is something that you just do?

516. Mr Crummey: It is channelled through the orchestra.

517. Mr Byers: Mr Bradley asked about the economic return, PricewaterhouseCoopers measured that return in 2004 or 2005. At that point, for every £1 spent, there was a return of £1·93, plus an additional 41p from other sources, such as restaurant meals and that sort of thing —

518. Mr Crummey: Taxis and hotels.

519. Mr Byers: It was roughly £2·50. I believe that that figure has increased since then, because the whole organisation has blossomed in recent years — or it had up until now.

520. Lord Browne: I apologise for arriving late and missing the presentation. I have read the submission, which was extremely informative, and I had the pleasure of attending the opening night at the refurbished Ulster Hall. There was a terrific atmosphere, and a terrific performance.

521. Now that you are moving into the Ulster Hall, there will be a reduced capacity of somewhere in the region of 1,000. Will that affect your box- office takings? What percentage of seats is filled at your concerts? I am unclear about your contract with the BBC; how does that operate?

522. The Chairperson: You may have to note those questions in a ministerial fashion, Mr Byers, because Nelson will ask his questions now, too.

523. Mr McCausland: I have two questions. First, the review of public administration will change the composition of councils. However, at the moment, what financial input is there from councils outside Belfast? Secondly, how will you broaden your markets and attract new clients? I assume that the Royal Scottish National Orchestra marked the two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. Is there potential to include Burns Night in an annual programme here? You could reach into that market. I am unsure how an orchestra would do that, but I will take your guidance on the matter.

524. Mr Byers: I will answer Lord Browne’s question. In 2008, the hall capacity was filled to 86% across the season. That figure is unbelievably good. It was a very good year, but given the economic nosedive, I do not know what will happen.

525. The Ulster Hall has reduced its capacity. I am worried that the economic return will decrease while the costs on stage remain the same. However, if we use the Waterfront Hall, the costs will be magnified. Moreover, if a typical Ulster Hall-size audience were to attend a concert there, it would be either half full or half empty, depending on one’s perspective. That causes a problem with morale.

526. Lord Browne: Do you intend to raise charges for the public? I know that you offer many concessionary charges, but will there come a time when you will have to charge more realistically?

527. Mr Byers: In a sense, the obvious answer is that we ought to raise charges in order to achieve the best possible return. However, such an approach will limit access and deprive people who cannot afford to attend. The loyalty of audiences is remarkable. Many people visit five or six times a year, and people pay into 20 concerts. That is a large outlay. If we raise costs, will we retain that audience? Furthermore, if the audience is reduced, it will still have a significant impact on us. Therefore, we try to gauge the effect. However, I do not envisage, for obvious reasons, that we will be able to raise prices in the short term.

528. The Chairperson: Lord Browne asked about your relationship with the BBC.

529. Mr Byers: Our relationship with the BBC has been very good for many years. We are about to enter the second year of a three-year contract, which has not been signed yet. I tried to hold out for the inclusion of an agreement to have one Prom a year, but I have singularly failed to achieve that goal. It is not worth continuing that fight, because we need to ensure that the contract is signed. There is no suggestion of a diminution in the BBC’s support, but we must be wary that it is making general staff cutbacks. I want to play the regional card in order to ensure that we receive our fair share of BBC resources. We could not survive without the BBC.

530. Mr Crummey: We organise 12 free concerts a year and do much studio work for BBC Radio 3 and Radio Ulster.

531. Mr Byers: We are based in the Belfast City Council area, and our main halls are located there. Derry City Council has been reasonably supportive, and we tried to organise a major series in Derry some years ago. That did not work out. The Millennium Forum is one of the few places that can accommodate the whole orchestra. It does not, unfortunately, have the nicest acoustic for the orchestra. The council pays us approximately £20,000 a year for specific concerts.

532. There is a good partnership in Coleraine between the university, Coleraine Borough Council and Flowerfield Arts Centre, which you visited last week. It also pays approximately £20,000, and we are talking to them at the moment. They want to reduce that figure because of the economic situation, and, therefore, we will lose some money. We hold two concerts a year in Enniskillen at a cost of approximately £16,000. We arrange concerts in other places on a one-off basis.

533. As a result of the Arts Council’s withdrawal of support for some venues around the country, which was probably a move to get the councils to fund the arts more, those venues are saying that they can no longer afford us. The minimum above-the-line cost for a concert in the regions is £6,500 to £7,000, and, for that amount of money, venues could put on, perhaps, 17 nights of a one-man show. I have great sympathy with them, although I wish that it was not that way.

534. With respect to the question about Burns Night, every year I consider putting something on for Burns Night, such as Mendelssohn’s “Scottish" symphony, but it has never quite worked out. Some years ago, although it was during the festival, we did a concert with Eddi Reader. On St Patrick’s Day, we adopt a cross-community approach to our programme, which includes a mixture of Ulster-Scots and Irish traditional music. However, I have yet to construct a programme for Burns Night that would achieve that mix. If someone wishes to talk to me, I would be happy to discuss it — all the better if he or she were to bring some sponsorship funding to the table.

535. Mr McCausland: Given that Belfast City Council sponsors St Patrick’s Day events, I am sure that we could talk to it about sponsoring Burns Night events as well.

536. The Chairperson: If there are 63 musicians in the orchestra, how many of them are involved in the valuable outreach work in Rathcoole and Poleglass that Colin Stark mentioned?

537. Mr Stark: Although it is hard to give a number, probably 20 people are constantly involved in that work. Sometimes we pull in other people for bespoke projects. However, close to a third of the orchestra is heavily committed to that work on an ongoing basis.

538. The Chairperson: Is there an argument for including engagement in such work in musicians’ contractual arrangements?

539. Mr Stark: Yes, up to a point. Everyone is involved when we stage full orchestra concerts as part of our outreach work for the education boards. However, on an individual level, people must want to work with young people and be comfortable doing so. It is not what they were trained to do.

540. Mr Byers: Some years ago, we went down the route of attempting to get everyone to do education work by making it part of the contract. However, a person is employed by the orchestra, in the first instance, because he or she is a wonderful clarinet player or trumpet player. That person might be death in a classroom and not suited to such work. Therefore, we play to our strengths, and reward people accordingly.

541. Mr K Robinson: Your point about schools is valid; the worst thing that one could do would be to put an excellent musician into a school if he or she has no rapport with either the staff or pupils. That would be an absolute disaster, although I know that Colin Stark is not like that, because he was well grounded in Cavehill Primary School.

542. There are two aims for the orchestra: the short-term aim is to get over the economic hump and the long-term aim is to grow audiences. You have started to engage with schools, but I perceive a gap emerging in people’s middle years, when they move on from school and are lost until they have young families of their own. Only then do they come back with their youngsters. Perhaps that is an area that you might wish to address. What are your thoughts about that matter?

543. Mr Byers: That is right.

544. Mr K Robinson: I wish to issue a disclaimer, Mr Chairperson. Mr McCausland — the banker for Belfast City Council — and I have been examining your ‘Move to the Music’ programme. First, neither of us are over 70 years of age, and we do not live in Ballymena or Armagh, so we lost out on both of those counts. Moreover, we wonder whether we would have wanted to go to ‘Flights of Fancy’, ‘Repentant Thief’, ‘Beethoven Inspired’ or ‘In the ‘Classical Charts’. We thought that the one that we would probably have understood most was ‘In the Classical Charts’, but the others left us cold. For the rest of the 2008-09 season, we have gone for ‘Fate and Destiny’, which is heavy stuff, and ‘Symphonic Dances’.

545. Mr McNarry: They are philistines. [Laughter.]

546. Mr Byers: Those brochures are sent with details of what is in the programmes.

547. Mr K Robinson: You are giving people a menu, but is it the right musical menu? Rather than giving people what you think they should hear, are they ready for that programme, and is it likely to grow audiences? I think that there is long-term slippage in the development of audiences as they come through from schools and short-term slippage with respect to your current markets.

548. Mr Byers: The concert programme must attempt to be all things to all people. Those little leaflets are accompanied by programme details that help people choose what is most attractive to them.

549. We select programmes that will, we hope, be appreciated more than others, and also programmes that we can perform in a larger hall that can cope with busloads of people. There would tend to be more concerts in the Waterfront Hall, rather than the Ulster Hall, for example.

550. As regards the age profile, there is a noticeable gap in the middle — that applies across the world.

551. Mr Crummey: That applies not only in relation to music. I coach under-age hurling teams, and many of the players leave at the age of 16. It is difficult to get those players back later.

552. Mr Byers: There is a cost involved in going to concerts. There is a much larger cost in going to a pop concert, but one would go to, maybe, one or two of those a year. We are looking for more regular attendance if possible. A night out, even with our relatively cheap prices, would involve paying £30 for a couple of £15 tickets, as well as paying for car parking, babysitters, and all that sort of thing. The costs mount up, and that is what we are up against.

553. Mr Stark: It is my experience that the audiences come back; if we capture them young, they then enter the dark tunnel of adolescence, but they will come back again. We are also experimenting, when we can afford to do so, with family concerts, which are held late on Saturday afternoons or early on Saturday evenings, and the take-up for those has been terrific. Those are attended by three-year-olds, which makes for a very noisy concert, but young families are coming when concerts are accessible to them.

554. Mr Byers: The research in the United States led to grave worries 10 years ago that audiences for classical music concerts were dying out. One can look at all the grey heads and think that it is terrible. However, that has not happened. The audiences are constantly being replenished as people come on board.

555. The Chairperson: Perhaps Ken, Nelson and Wallace would like to declare interests?

556. Mr McCausland: I am a member of Belfast City Council.

557. Mr K Robinson: I am a member of Newtownabbey Borough Council, and we have not had a concert for a very long time. I think the last one that I attended in official capacity was in 1991 or 1992 when I was Mayor.

558. The Chairperson: That should change as a result of your intervention.

559. Mr Byers: We are talking to that council at the moment; it wants us to perform at the opening of the new civic arts centre.

560. The Chairperson: You have an interest to declare in that you are talking to your former pupils, Ken.

561. Lord Browne: I am a member of Belfast City Council.

562. The Chairperson: Thank you very much, David, Colin and Colm for a very good engagement.

26 March 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Francie Brolly
The Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Mr Will Chamberlain		Belfast Community Circus School
Ms Ali FitzGibbon Mr Joe Kelly		Young at Art

563. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): We will hear from Belfast Community Circus School, so members should declare membership of district councils, or any body that funds arts organisations, such as an education and library board.`

564. Mr McCausland: I am a member of Belfast City Council and a member of the Belfast Education and Library Board.

565. Mr Shannon: I am a member of Ards Borough Council.

566. Lord Browne: I am a member of Belfast City Council.

567. Mr McCarthy: I am a member of Ards Borough Council.

568. Mr K Robinson: I am a member of Newtownabbey Borough Council.

569. Mr P Ramsey: I am a member of Derry City Council, and a director of the Millennium Forum Theatre.

570. Mr McCartney: I saw the Festival of Fools, but I have no interests to declare. [Laughter.]

571. The Chairperson: I am a member of Omagh District Council.

572. A copy of the written submission from Belfast Community Circus School is in the members’ information packs. I invite Mr Will Chamberlain, director of the Belfast Community Circus School, to join us. He will speak for 10 minutes, after which there will be an opportunity for questions. We will then hear from Young at Art.

573. Good morning, Will. You are very welcome. If you could make a 10-minute presentation.

574. Mr Will Chamberlain (Belfast Community Circus School): This is, perhaps, not the most conventional presentation. I am going to ask the Committee to play a little game of ‘Let’s Pretend’. I am sure that you gentlemen do that all the time in various forms, but we will do a quick warm-up. I am aware that this might fall flat on its face. However, as a professional clown for 12 years, I am quite used to that, so I can cope.

575. The first scenario is 1985, and I am a street performer. Now, that is not ‘Let’s Pretend’, because I actually was a street performer in 1985. The Committee can choose its role: it can be a Government Department somewhere in the world, or a retro ‘Dragons’ Den’. I am coming to you as a street performer. I have had quite a good show on the road with a few friends. We then decided to do a tented tour and we lost about £50,000.

576. However, I am coming to you because I have an idea about how to make the show much bigger and better. All I need from you — in 1985 — is £500,000, and I will spend it wisely. It is now over to the Committee, as the Government Department or ‘Dragons’ Den’. Thumbs up or thumbs down, please?

577. The Chairperson: Or a scrutiny Committee, even. We like to regard ourselves as a scrutiny Committee.

578. Mr Chamberlain: I am asking you to ‘Let’s Pretend’ that you are a different Department. You are a direct funding body.

579. The Chairperson: I have no difficulty with that, but I am going to pretend that I am part of a scrutiny Committee. [Laughter.]

580. Mr P Ramsey: Could I suggest that you put your proposal in writing, and we will then go through it? [Laughter.]

581. Mr Chamberlain: Those are good answers. You have, effectively, just squashed the birth of Cirque du Soleil, which now has a multi-billion- dollar-a-year turnover. The initial investment came from the Quebec Government to a street performer who had no significant track record. It is now a global operation.

582. The Chairperson: How much do you want, Will? We will have to give it to you. [Laughter.]

583. Mr Chamberlain: I should have said that you would have received 1% in return for your investment. That 1% is what Cirque du Soleil dispenses in charitable giving every year.

584. The second ‘Let’s Pretend’ is a little bit more complex. For this one, I am the CEO of a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) that specialises in ICT, and I have come to Invest NI. The Committee can choose to be the ‘Dragons’ Den’ if it prefers, because it is something that —

585. The Chairperson: You are a CEO of an SME, and you are interested in ICT —

586. Mr Chamberlain: No, I am not interested in ICT — it is our specialist area — [Laughter.] — and I am coming to you for an investment in an employment training programme that will deliver —

587. The Chairperson: In ITP?

588. Mr Chamberlain: I had not got that far. The programme will deliver employment to all the graduates, and within three years, at a conservative estimate, the investment in the training will be repaid in the tax take from the employees. Therefore, that is quite a safe bet. As Invest NI, you have invested numerous times in IT projects, but this is one with a difference, because it is about not so much the employment and the tax take, but the nature of product. We specialise in software development — educational software, gaming software and marketing software.

589. After the training programme is completed, all the graduates are employed and they will contribute to the economy of Northern Ireland in a number of ways. They will support tourism, because they will create mobile, interactive platforms in each local authority area, which will enhance visitor experience and contribute to the perception of Northern Ireland as tourist friendly.

590. Gaming is a big area these days, so the games created by our graduates will be played every year by 200,000 people in Northern Ireland. Within a few years, we will be exporting our graduates’ gaming expertise to Australia, America, Europe and, occasionally, to the Middle East. Quite an interesting proposition, I think, so far.

591. However, the graduates will also create the software that supports social networking, but with a difference, because this social networking program also promotes the physical engagement between young people in a totally safe environment. That engagement will also support community development, help young people to develop confidence, and promote tolerance and diversity. So, that is all quite good.

592. The final thing that our graduates will provide for Northern Ireland is innovative educational software that will provide youth work of the highest quality and deliver benefits through personal development with regard to life skills and creativity — and deliver on TSN (targeting social need). That, basically, is my pitch. I am asking for £125,000, and you can have a 100% stake. So, what do you think?

593. Mr K Robinson: You did not refer to drunkenness in the Holylands as a benefit of this, I notice.

594. Mr Chamberlain: We claim to deliver only what we deliver. We can deliver a programme that works with the young people in Botanic primary school at the top of Agincourt Avenue, where we did a project last week, but we cannot deliver to the students further down the road at the moment. With research, development and investment we can work on that.

595. So, why am I playing a game of ‘Let’s Pretend’? Obviously, I do not run a software company, but my organisation delivers all the benefits that I just outlined. We do not have mobile interactive programs for tourists — what we have are performers. I forgot to say that we enhance retail. We have performers who are brought in for their services from across Northern Ireland and beyond to enhance the experience of people who live in an area, to enhance other events in an area, to enhance visitor experience and, increasingly, to attract shoppers. The Committee will, no doubt, be delighted about, and aware of, the Belfast shopping festival — so, shopping is, officially, an activity that we can festivalise — to which we are being to contribute.

596. We contribute all the benefits that I outlined, but not through IT — through circus. I used this approach to demonstrate that the arts are not taken seriously, and, within the arts, the circus is still not taken seriously.

597. Yesterday, I was at a symposium organised by Belfast City Council — I know that the Committee Clerk was there — and it was a fantastic event. For me, it was very inspirational. Something that I learned there was that, with regard to skills, employers are looking for employees who are flexible and able to adapt. Those are the very life skills that the arts give people. For some reason, however, we are not shouting that from the rooftops.

598. The arts is the biggest-growing sector in the UK economy. Apparently, until late last year, financial services were No 1, but, for obvious reasons, that is not mentioned any more. The creative sector, therefore, is the biggest growth area, and yet, for the past four years, I have been trying to get funding for a training programme because demand has exceeded our ability to supply it.

599. The Chairperson: To who have you made the funding application?

600. Mr Chamberlain: I have not even made an application, Barry, because there is nowhere that I can apply. I have talked to the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL). I have talked to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) and the Minister, Angela Smith, who was very helpful, but directed me towards DEL. I have approached the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and Invest NI. I have put a proposal to the Finance Minister, who happens to be our local MP. There is no avenue for us, as far as I can determine. However, the last time that we secured funding through a one-off National Lottery programme, the result was a 1,000% increase in turnover in 10 years. Any business that can present such figures suggests that there is a strength to it, but we do not fit the right categories.

601. The Chairperson: Well, allow us to ask you some questions.

602. Mr Shannon: Thank you for your presentation and for the novel way in which you put it over. It does stimulate us all to start to think about what you have said. Obviously, one thing that you have tried to do is to target areas of social need, and you have tried to interact with community groups. I am disappointed, I have to say, that you have not been able to source funding, and perhaps that is really the issue. So, we are back, probably, to the Arts Council, and that is why this inquiry is taking place. Mine is probably an obvious question, but I am going to ask it anyway: do you think that the Arts Council should be helping to reach the community groups to target those areas of social need; and, for that reason, do you feel that the Arts Council is the body that should be helping you more?

603. Mr Chamberlain: In answer to your first question, of course the Arts Council should be targeting social need as a priority. I feel that progress has been made over the past number of years — and I believe that I made that point in my written submission. When I first became involved with the Arts Council, it was more in an antagonistic way, demanding that community arts receive funding, and I think that that was even before the targeting of social need. The argument has now been made and community arts are now part of the family of what gets funded. I do not think, yet, that that runs sufficiently throughout every funded organisation. I think that, perhaps, the Arts Council could address that a little more. Some figures have been presented to the Committee on how much gets spent in super output areas by the Arts Council. I am unconvinced by those figures, which claim that 58% is in Belfast and 56% in Northern Ireland as a whole. I think that those figures need closer scrutiny.

604. Mr Shannon: You have tried all the bodies — DCAL, DEL and so on — and you have, unfortunately, come up against obstacles and been unable to source funding. In my opinion, it seems to fall back on the Arts Council. Do you think that it should be trying to identify more sources of funding for you?

605. Mr Chamberlain: Absolutely. It is rather sad that the Arts Council does not play a proactive role in identifying any funding outside its own remit. Sadly, we have probably missed a lot of boats in respect of European funding. Certainly, if one looks across at Gateshead and Newcastle, their cultural renaissance was brought about through a combination of the National Lottery and Government agencies linking in with European moneys; whereas, over here, we have, apparently, an expert on European funding in the Arts Council, but that has never seen results.

606. As regards the training programme that I would be proposing, it is other Government Departments as well that really need to stop looking at things with tunnel vision. There needs to be connectivity. What we are going to be contributing to Northern Ireland’s economy and society will meet the Department of Education’s objectives for youth work; the Department for Social Development’s objectives for community and capacity building; and tourism objectives. Therefore, responsibility should not fall to simply the Arts Council.

607. Unfortunately, as soon as the word “art" is mentioned, many other Departments simply say: “We can pass that particular buck: it goes there." There is no proper collaboration on funding mechanisms. I have heard it described that when officials from four Departments are around a table, it is a case of “do not blink first", because any suggestion of interest means that you are going to foot the whole bill. That mentality needs to change.

608. Mr Shannon: That is great. Thank you.

609. The Chairperson: If members do not mind, due to time restrictions I will ask Pat and Kieran to ask their questions together, followed by Nelson and Wallace, so that questions can be answered together.

610. Mr P Ramsey: Will, you are very welcome. It is good to see you again. You refer somewhat to, I suppose, a more progressive approach that is taken by other European countries and regional Governments in securing European-based funding. Are there examples of that? You talked about the need of having the capacity or expertise because of the difficulty that is created by those funding programmes. Can you explain that further?

611. In your presentation, you talked about the higher value that is placed in Scotland, for example, in promoting that region as a powerhouse of the arts and a much stronger positive image. Is that through direct arts funding, or is it more of a tourism-related area?

612. Street theatre is, in many ways, a unique area of the arts, and your community-based circus is a unique and creative example of that. You also made the point, which is fundamental to our inquiry, that, as regards funding in other European countries, you have identified in your paper that there is a stronger relevance given to those with regard to the participation of young people and the creation of employment. Are there areas in Europe that we could examine with regard to the higher level of investment given to street theatre? Where do we go to see models of best practice?

613. My final point refers to a matter that we discussed earlier: that of showcasing some of our talent in Parliament Buildings. At some stage, some of your people could have an opportunity to come here to showcase their talent in whatever form that takes. Perhaps that could be arranged through the Committee staff.

614. Mr McCarthy: In your submission, you referred to a perception that there is a ceiling on funding for community arts, which is far lower than for professional arts. Can you elaborate a little on that?

615. Mr Chamberlain: I will deal with the latter question first. Although there is an understanding that community arts can be delivered with professionals, if you try asking for resources to give you professional-level production values, you would soon exhaust the community-arts budget.

616. There is an acceptance that art costs — quality art costs and high art costs. I choose those phrases because others use them, and I assume that you are familiar with them. However, there is also a sense that community art probably takes place in a community hall, tends to be cheaper and does not require as many professionals to be involved. Although excellent community art can be delivered at a low cost, we are not always given the opportunity to deliver excellent community art at the higher end of the cost range. In the past 12 years, there were probably only two examples of our sector being given such an opportunity, and, unfortunately, they were not great successes, but that is the nature of the arts. The arts should be about risk-taking, learning lessons from that and continuing to take risks.

617. I will relate to the Committee my experience of European funding. The Belfast Community Circus School is increasingly linked to Europe and has just made its first joint application under the Leonardo programme. For members who are not familiar with Leonardo, it is an educational, vocational training programme. It took seven European partners five days sitting around a table to agree the project and write the application, partly because it was a learning process for many of us who were involved, although we were fortunate that two people knew the system.

618. My point is that, in essence, applying for European funding will be complicated and complex and, without any support and guidance, scary. Speaking as someone who has spent half his professional life filling out grant application forms, filling out one’s first EU grant application — whether it is for Culture 2000, Leonardo or even Youth Action — is absolutely petrifying because, I know that when I did it, I had no idea of what it would feed into.

619. We need more support from the Government and not only from the Arts Council. There is an organisation based in Bedford Street — I can never remember what it is called — that is supposed to provide information and support and so forth, but I have been there and I found that the staff provide no help at all. We need someone with expertise to sit down with groups and explain how the application process works.

620. Our first EU collaboration with Aarhus in Denmark was on Culture 2000. That led to the Festival of Fools, but all the work for the initial collaboration was done by a unit of Aarhus City Council. That unit had been given a semi-autonomous role and a remit to support collaborative approaches in Europe. Nelson, I am not suggesting that Belfast City Council should make that its role model. My point is that the people in Aarhus applied their practical expertise. The Arts Council has a number of researchers; perhaps they could help by researching which bodies we can approach for help and signposting us to them.

621. There is a debate about how to free up resources from the Arts Council. I may be questioned about this suggestion later, but I want to raise it anyway. There is an enormous monitoring requirement on the Arts Council that is, in turn, passed on to its clients. A huge amount of human resources in the Arts Council and throughout the sector is devoted to meeting that requirement. Across the sector, one person could spend the equivalent of two years working on annual monitoring. That is only one aspect of what is required of the Arts Council, and it is a tremendous waste of time.

622. The investment in Scotland has been for both tourism and the arts, and a £450,000 marketing initiative for festivals there was announced this week. That will attract visitors but, importantly, it will also be an investment for the arts, because the more people who buy tickets for those festivals, the more funding the arts will receive.

623. In relation to street-theatre and circus models, if the Committee is going to look anywhere in the world, I would love it if it were to look at France or Spain. You might choose Spain because it has a slightly nicer climate, but the investment — both at municipal and Government level — is massive in both countries. A company called Royal de Luxe brought the Sultan’s Elephant to London in 2006 — that is a massive structure and I advise Committee members to look it up on Google as it is phenomenal. The cost of that company’s productions alone runs to millions of pounds, which equates to the entire budget for circus and street theatre in the UK for several years.

624. Mr McCausland: I have two questions, the first of which deals with an area that other members may touch on in their questions. In relation to funding, you have stated that there should be a clean-sheet approach each year; how do you reconcile that with the aspiration for more three-year funding?

625. My second question — and I am aware that in the past you were the chairman of the Community Arts Forum and I asked you the same question some years ago — is that, if you view street and circus theatre as community arts, what is your definition of community arts?

626. Lord Browne: I am a member of Belfast City Council, and I appreciate the work that you carry out as it brings a great sense of well-being to the city centre. In relation to funding, you have stated that your organisation receives £147,500 a year, yet on page three of your report you state that it receives £190,000 a year — will you clarify that? Secondly, will you give the Committee a breakdown of the contributions that your organisation receives from the public and private sectors? I understand that the Festival of Fools received money from Victoria Square.

627. Thirdly, I remember giving a rather boring and mundane speech on a stage in front of the City Hall, and what I would describe as an Oxo cube with a head poking out of it came by and made a lot of gestures at me. That improved both the speech and the atmosphere. [Laughter.] I have never seen it again — is that act still in your circus? I would like to see it again.

628. Mr McNarry: What did you do with the costume, Barry?

629. Mr McCartney: Perhaps you could bring it up here the odd morning. [Laughter.]

630. Mr Chamberlain: I will answer the last question first. I think you may be referring to Maynard Flip Flap, Man in a Box. You will be delighted to hear that although he is based in England, he will be returning for this year’s Festival of Fools, which is sponsored, as you correctly said, by Victoria Square. Therefore, I can answer at least one question positively.

631. Going back to Nelson’s questions, he is quite right that there is an apparent contradiction in the suggested clean-sheet approach and the request for three- or five-year funding. Perhaps I should have thought through and expressed that point more clearly. Essentially, it is about the point at which funding decisions are taken. So, if you decide to take a three-year approach, then you will review the last three years. It is something that you can get very badly wrong. You have to acknowledge that certain organisations will go through periods of change involving, for instance, staff changes or restructuring. I am not for one moment suggesting that such organisations should be penalised for that, provided that they have a strong business plan and programme and it is clear that they are going to be delivering on that. However, I feel that, if not rewarded, inertia has certainly been allowed, and that has not necessarily been very healthy for the system.

632. I would not necessarily classify street theatre and circus as community arts. For me, community arts is about a process; that is, participation, the creativity of the individuals involved and their ownership of that process. An example of the community arts element of our work is when we work with young people.

633. Currently, we are working on a programme with the Lower Ormeau Residents’ Action Group (LORAG) and the Bridge Partnership, which are two different community groups that are coming together and taking ownership of that project. They took part in the St Patrick’s day parade a couple of weeks ago and are looking at creating a new name for themselves that is not specific to either community. They are shaping the direction of that project.

634. We are fortunate enough to have two years’ worth of funding from Children in Need that we can devote to that programme. The young people involved in it can input into the content of sessions as well as the devising of any shows or presentations. By and large, street theatre involves professionals delivering what is the ultimately accessible art form, but that process is more of a professional development than is the case with community arts.

635. Mr McCausland: Do you regard a band as being a community arts project? A band is under the ownership of its members, who determine the process and virtually everything to do with it — it is totally democratic.

636. Mr Chamberlain: The one area where a band does not necessarily tick the box is with regard to authorship. Generally, bands play other people’s music but, for me, the community arts movement is about having authentic, original expression from its participants. I am not knocking bands, because their function is to play music that is put in front of them. However, I would say that bands come under the category of music rather than community arts.

637. Mr McCausland: Are you saying that something is not community arts unless there is creativity or something new?

638. Mr Chamberlain: Yes; that is my working definition of it.

639. The Chairperson: There should be an element of personal interpretation.

640. Mr Chamberlain: The annual support for organisations that we get amounts to £147,500; that is our core funding from the Arts Council. The figure of £190,000 refers to the previous year and was the totality of the Annual Support for Organisations Programme (ASOP) funding — which in that year was £87,900 — as well as funding from a variety of lottery funds.

641. One of the reasons that our money went up quite dramatically last year was because long-term lottery funding disappeared and jeopardised our youth circus. As regards long-term funding, I am in a ridiculous situation with the Festival of Fools. We have £13,700 funding for next year for some staffing costs, but everything else is short term. If I apply for lottery funding this month, I will find out in September whether we have money for next year’s festival, and that is the longest-term funding that I can get. That would provide 50% of the necessary funding; the other 50% will come any time up to five weeks before the festival.

642. Apparently, we are in receipt of an allocation from the DCAL events growth fund, but I do not yet know what that is supposed to be spent on. I fear that we will not be able to spend that grant, because some of it will be for out-of-state marketing that we cannot book and produce in time for the festival. There are so many examples of when funding bodies have failed to understand that, if an organisation’s event or activity takes place at the beginning of the financial year, that organisation will not have time to use the money that it has been allocated.

643. Mr K Robinson: Will, I notice that you were a member of the Arts Council — perhaps there is an element of poacher-turned-gamekeeper to your submission. You stated that the Arts Council operates a system that rarely admits new organisations, even if their merit outweighs that of organisations that are already being funded. Can you provide a specific example of that?

644. Mr Chamberlain: In the past, there was an organisation that was not admitted even though it had scored higher than a number of the organisations that were already being funded. That happened because admitting that new organisation would have meant pushing another organisation out the exit door. There was not a case to say that any of the other organisations had failed to deliver and, therefore, a tough choice had to be made. Tough choices are not being made very often; it is easier to continue with the status quo.

645. Mr K Robinson: Is it a case of people not wanting to disrupt the cosy club system?

646. Mr Chamberlain: It happens as a result of the fact that, historically, the arts has been under funded. The Arts Council indicated that applications worth £13 million were made for the £10 million of funding that is available. I suspect that the demand figure is probably closer to £17 million. Every year, clients are told that there is no more money in the pot and that they should not bother applying for more. Those people then decide to forget ambitious expansion programmes and simply apply for the same amount that they received in the previous year.

647. The fundamental problem is that there is not enough money in the system. I was amazed when the Festival of Fools received core funding of £13,000 this year. I thought that no new organisations would be admitted, but I believe that one organisation is out the door this year. Over the years, there has not been a massive change in how much and for how long organisations have been funded.

648. Mr K Robinson: Are we not, therefore, cosseting people into the grant culture? Rather than organisations relying on getting an annual grant, should they not be taking a more sustainable, long-term approach?

649. Mr Chamberlain: The arts will never be sustainable without a public subsidy. We work tirelessly to create a mix of incomes. Apologies; I did not answer the earlier question regarding our organisation’s mix of public- and private-sector funding. Some 40% of our money comes from the private sector in the form of sales and sponsorship, and 60% of our funding comes from the public sector. We deliver excellent value for that 60%; indeed, we should get more money because we work on a shoestring budget, and I could do with having an evening to myself every now and then. The reality is that the public sector will always fund the arts. We have seen an increase in the demand for the arts from the general public.

650. Mr K Robinson: Other sections of the arts fraternity have told us that they will give a return of £1·50 or £4 for every £1 that is invested in their organisation. What return could you give on a £1 investment?

651. Mr Chamberlain: Such financial indicators and multiplier effects are crude, because they only measure the narrow economic impact. We have surveyed the audiences at the Festival of Fools since it began, and we believe that we deliver a return of about £13 on every £1 that is invested by the public sector.

652. The Chairperson: Will, thank you very much for your submission and for taking part in the question-and-answer session.

653. Mr Chamberlain: I will finish by saying: do not stop pretending.

654. Mr McCartney: We make a living out of it. [Laughter.]

655. The Chairperson: Before we move on to the next evidence session, I understand that both Pat Ramsey and Ken Robinson must leave — thank you both for attending this morning.

656. The next evidence session is with Young at Art. I welcome Joe Kelly and Ali FitzGibbon — chairman and director of Young at Art respectively — to the Committee. I apologise for keeping you both waiting — the previous witness, Will Chamberlain, had the Committee involved in a game of let’s pretend. [Laughter.] I would like this session to be based on reality, if possible. I will hand over immediately to Joe and Ali to make a ten-minute presentation, which will be followed by questions from members.

657. Mr Joe Kelly (Young at Art): Mr Chairman and members of the Committee, I thank you for your invitation to submit oral evidence to this inquiry. My colleague Ali and I will both make introductory remarks.

658. In building a successful future for the arts in Northern Ireland, Young at Art recognises the central role of this Committee and our devolved Administration in making the right decisions for building and sustaining a thriving arts and cultural industry. The future success of the sector is dependent on the leadership of the Arts Council, a strengthened role for local Government and the effective work of DCAL and other Departments in recognising and supporting the work of our artists and our arts and cultural organisations.

659. The 2007 Keep our Arts Alive campaign — which was supported by this Committee — highlighted the need for improved funding for the sector. The primary rationale for increasing the per capita spend on the arts must be to provide adequate and sustained support to achieve the long-term goals of quality, engagement, accessibility and benefit for our society and communities. It must also establish Northern Ireland as a leading international example of high-quality arts practice and cultural enterprise.

660. Northern Ireland has a creative workforce of 37,000 people. The arts is one of the fastest-growing sectors in our regional and national economies, accounting for 8% of GDP. The Assembly’s Programme for Government has set a target of 15% growth in the creative industries by 2014. The arts is the core of the creative and cultural industries sector, as well as being the engine that drives it. Growth and economic success in the creative industries are dependent on a sustainable and thriving arts sector where skills are learnt and developed, and where creativity and entrepreneurship are nurtured.

661. Another key growth area of our economy is tourism, and at the heart of that is cultural tourism, which is increasing internationally, at a rate of 15% per annum. Importantly, the arts is a core provider of our cultural tourism offer, by telling our unique story, expressing our cultural personalities and showcasing an exciting, contemporary Northern Ireland.

662. Arts organisations are just the same as any other businesses, and Young at Art is a small business. We take our legal and governance responsibilities seriously and are concerned about pay levels and staff working conditions. We must ensure organisational and business compliance across a range of legislation, and we must balance our books. The most significant difference between an arts organisation and a commercial business is that we do not take profits; we reinvest back into our society, our communities and our industry.

663. The historic reality of public funding for the arts largely prevents the sector from employing through pay scales, rewarding performance or contributing to pensions. That raises significant issues in retaining staff and skills in Northern Ireland, which in turn undermines sustainability and growth for individual organisations as well as the sector as a whole.

664. Our sector is dependent on subsidy, most essentially for our core overheads and activities. If a secure funding base for those costs could be provided, it would be possible to lever higher levels of additional funding and sponsorship.

665. Young at Art and the Belfast Children’s Festival illustrate how the arts reach across the Assembly’s Programme for Government and deliver on a range of priorities and targets. For example, in May 2008, a Young at Art programme at the Waterworks in north Belfast supported community regeneration, community cohesion in sharing public spaces and bringing communities together, volunteering, development of access and participation, reduction in antisocial behaviour and training and employment opportunities.

666. Most clearly marked are the educational benefits in schools and community groups, where children and young people demonstrate improved levels of confidence, improved thinking skills, enhanced motivation and the ability to learn independently. Those intrinsic benefits are dependent on being able to attract and retain high quality, professional artists and other personnel in Northern Ireland who can develop and maintain audiences and support community access and participation.

667. Northern Ireland is a small place, and leadership is important. Through the Assembly, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, which is the sector’s lead body, needs to be strengthened in its role to lead the development of the sector and to work with and support the industry in setting strategic priorities for public funding of the arts across Northern Ireland.

668. Ms Ali FitzGibbon (Young at Art): I will illustrate the key challenges for Young at Art as it works in the arts industry in the current environment. We have a challenge to deliver our activities to their true potential. Until 2006, Young at Art toured children’s events each year to venues across Northern Ireland, and we would like to keep doing that and keep working with our partners in local authorities. However, we cannot do that without additional resources.

669. In 2005, Young at Art brought international festival promoters to Belfast to see local artists perform. That visit resulted in local artists being invited to take their work to Denmark, England, Ireland, Serbia, China and Taiwan. We want the festival to be a marketplace that allows us to export our culture every year, but we cannot do that without adequate support.

670. Our programme in the Waterworks park in 2008 achieved so many things with children, artists and communities, but, without sufficient resources to build on that work, we have had to cancel that event this year. We face a real challenge to keep our core work going.

671. The Belfast Children’s Festival is the largest cultural festival for children in Northern Ireland. It runs over 10 days and involves more than 10,000 children and adults, over 170 events, 40 volunteers and 120 artists from at least seven different countries.

672. Our core funding from two funders will not cover the cost of three staff, as well as overheads, in the next financial year. The festival is dependent on project funding from the National Lottery. On top of that support, our fundraising bill for the 2009 festival is more than £120,000, which we have found from 21 different public and private sources, most of which have contributed less than £5,000.

673. Managing the demands of 24 different businesses, agencies and Departments with three staff, while delivering an exceptional international festival, is our biggest challenge. On top of that, many of the funding streams to which we must apply are based on allocating and reporting within one financial year, or have time-bound funding rounds. Several questions arise as a result of that. What do we do if we have to book something a year in advance? How do we engage in consultation and outreach if we do not know whether our project or event will happen? How do we overcome the challenge of such short-term planning and support?

674. We struggle with the true cost of finding other sources of income. We charge low prices — between £3 and £7 per ticket — we run free events and we offer support schemes for families and communities in need, because we believe that every child should have access to a high quality arts experience. However, charging low prices for tickets or offering free admission costs money, and the necessary resources are not there. Our challenge is to maintain accessibility while balancing our books. If we manage to secure sponsorship to help to support our costs, which in itself is a challenge, how do we control the commercial force that sponsors can exert on children and parents who take part in our activities?

675. Furthermore, we are challenged by a talent drain, and we need to invest in our workforce. The arts industry is made up not of large organisations with permanent staff, but of small companies, which have fewer than five staff and are dependent on freelance personnel.

676. As the amount of work for the freelance workforce reduces, more people will leave the industry or leave Northern Ireland, reducing the skills base further.

677. Mr J Kelly: To conclude, Young at Art believes that, with the support of the Committee and the engagement of all stakeholders, there is a positive future for the arts in Northern Ireland. Young at Art could maximise its contribution to building that vision and delivering the benefits to the cultural, social and economic life of Northern Ireland if a baseline level of funding for core activities and programmes were committed to on a sustained, long-term basis — rising with inflation and the cost of living — and if consideration were given to how funding mechanisms can better support the various ways in which the sector works.

678. The Chairperson: Thank you.

679. Mr McCarthy: Thank you for your presentation. In your submission, you say that the arts sector:

“is suffering from an under-investment by other departments … for work that delivers a cross-government agenda … eg health, youth work, education."

680. How do you reckon that we can persuade other Departments in Northern Ireland to invest more in the arts? Have you any suggestions about how we could get other Departments to contribute?

681. Mr McNarry: I congratulate you on, and thank you for, your oral and written submissions. Do you think that there should be a review of the funding criteria? Should such a review concentrate on the size of an arts provider, or should it be opened up to allow smaller organisations to engage in the arts?

682. On the back of that, you said that you were a small business. Who do you compete with? Do you think that there is too much competition in the various sectors that are, perhaps, chasing the same pot of money and the same sources of sponsorship?

683. Mr J Kelly: To answer the first question, the arts sector, intrinsically and historically, has worked with other Departments, such as the Department of Education and, to some degree, with the Department for Employment and Learning. We are beginning to look at cultural tourism with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. There is overlap, but the biggest issue that we face is advocacy — having the resources to be a strong advocate for what we do and how it contributes to the agenda. We understand it, but there are resource implications as regards how we speak to officers in other agencies or relate to other Departments. We have to put time and resources into building that kind of information and promoting ourselves. It is about identification and being able to put resources into making those arguments.

684. Ms FitzGibbon: Very often, I believe that the most convincing cases can be made by bringing other Departments together to see the work that is happening, so that they can see for themselves what the benefits are. Certainly, with the Department of Education, seeing is believing. Perhaps there are ways that the resourcing of the core product that we are selling would help us to make a better case and to win people over.

685. Mr J Kelly: To answer Mr McNarry’s question, Young at Art is fairly happy with the current funding criteria. It is a framework within which we work, and although it is not always possible to access the funds that we want, we are fairly comfortable with the remit that supports what we do. There are other smaller organisations in the sector. I know from the organisations that I have contact with, but primarily through Young at Art, that they can access small grants awards. I know that a lot of community organisations access small grants. I am not sure to what degree those grants meet their needs, but I am aware that the mechanism can work for us and for others. We are a small business; I will ask Ali to talk about competition.

686. Ms FitzGibbon: Whether the criteria should be realigned in order to look at different kinds of organisations, funding one type of organisation over another or funding artists over organisations, the difficulty is that the industry cannot be picked apart; one cannot take apart an infrastructure and tear it to pieces. You do not go to the zoo to see one kind of animal. It is the same with the arts industry — it does not work like that. As an organisation, we work in different art forms and with big organisations and individual artists. We could not function if we did not have that mix, most of which has evolved from the grass roots up, which is also the nature of the industry.

687. Mr McNarry: You also stated that it would be beneficial if the funding decisions were made on a three- to five-year basis. Do you know why the Arts Council does not seem to do that? Have you taken that up with it?

688. Mr J Kelly: Two or three years ago, the Arts Council asked for applications for the core funding that it was providing. Exchequer funding was to be allocated to regularly funded organisations on a three-year basis. So, in principle, it has started to fund in that way.

689. Mr McNarry: Sorry, did you say “regularly funded organisations"?

690. Mr J Kelly: Yes.

691. Mr McNarry: Are those pet organisations?

692. Mr J Kelly: No; they are probably organisations that have been funded for some time or that have a particular place within the arts sector. The practicalities need to be worked out. Although three-year funding is available in principle — and is presumably dependent on the amount of funding that the Arts Council gets every year — the arrangement has not worked as smoothly as we would perhaps have liked it to. We look forward to it working a bit better. The principle is good, and we would welcome funding over three years — or, if possible, over five years — but there are clearly restrictions on that.

693. Ms FitzGibbon: Many voluntary-sector organisations — and we are part of the voluntary sector as well as the creative industries — are funded in three-year cycles. Once an organisation has a proven level of benefit and impact, delivers a high level of service and high-quality work and has good management skills, we want to see the Government invest in it. That kind of multi-annual cycle is required to support such organisations. At the moment, I feel that we are constantly running to catch up every 12 months. We cannot see the commitment from Government far enough ahead to feel comfortable.

694. Mr Shannon: Thank you, Joe; it has been all of 24 hours since we met at the event that the Chairperson was at yesterday.

695. The Chairperson: The Creative Youth Partnership event.

696. Mr Shannon: Your detailed submission, which is very helpful, mentions innovative sources of funding. You also refer to the fact that the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) developed partnerships with other Departments in the past, and to the interdepartmental strategy on creativity. What action do you think that DCAL should be taking in that regard? What can DCAL do to help?

697. Lord Browne: Thank you for your very informative submission, in which you express concerns about how the community festivals fund is delivered. DCAL handed over administration of the fund to the local councils in April 2008. How do you think the new arrangement is working? It is it a better arrangement, and do you see any ways in which it could be improved? Are there difficulties in that some councils are perhaps not being funded as they were previously?

698. Mr J Kelly: I will deal first with the question on DCAL and partnerships. It is a matter of understanding the breadth of our sector and the ways in which it can deliver. The arguments need to be made and pursued. In the past, the Department of Education, for example, has contributed to funding within the arts sector.

699. One of the biggest challenges that we face is fully understanding how the arts serve the agendas of other Government Departments, policies and strategies: it is about resourcing and ensuring that the understanding is very clear. Once that is understood, a Department such as DCAL can look to see how it can take action. Regular meetings of an interdepartmental group would clearly allow some of those issues to be brought to the table.

700. Mr Shannon: You mentioned 21 groups from which you receive money. Most of those amounts are under £5,000, so you must be overcome with paperwork. Ali, I suspect that you have a better idea than most about innovative sources of funding.

701. Ms FitzGibbon: I have been fundraising for a very long time. About 60% of my working life is occupied by trying to work out a way of paying for the things that we imagine doing and that we believe have benefit.

702. The Chairperson: Did you say 60%?

703. Ms Fitzgibbon: Yes.

704. Mr J Kelly: There are 67 applications.

705. Ms FitzGibbon: Yes. Earlier, we had a discussion about sponsorship — because Joe is the chairman, I report to him on our activities. Our search for sponsorship for this year’s festival in May 2009 led us to have discussions with, and submit applications to, 67 different businesses in Northern Ireland to seek support from them. We secured seven sponsors, which is a fairly low return.

706. As well as experiencing economic difficulties, downturns and increased costs — that we, as a business, are also experiencing — there is a difficulty with how businesses in Northern Ireland approach sponsorship. They do not have significant marketing budgets, and they do not have an awareness of what sponsorship does or how they can use it to be cleverer about promoting themselves.

707. Businesses have commercial interests. To a certain extent, our interests are philanthropic — we want to deliver high-quality, innovative art forms to children and young people. We feel that the interests of businesses are sometimes not entirely at ease with the things from which we feel that our children should be protected. One of the biggest issues is the promotion of fast food to children and young people and whether there should be restrictions on that. There are restrictions on the kinds of businesses that we can approach to seek sponsorship: we obviously cannot approach Diageo, which has one of the largest marketing budgets, because we cannot take money from an alcohol firm. It would not make sense for the festival to be the Diageo children’s festival — it would also be illegal.

708. We have also looked into social enterprise, donations and raffles, but that takes huge amounts of time. If the business of the organisation is to deliver something, but we are spending more time trying to find the money to deliver it, something has to give somewhere.

709. Mr J Kelly: The second question was about community festivals. So much of what we tried to illustrate in our responses to the questions in the inquiry came back to the fact that we could do this, that and the other if we had a secure resource base. In one sense, with the festivals and so on, we are really not that concerned about how money comes to us — it is about getting a secure funding base. In a sense, money is money. Ali has much more experience of the practicalities.

710. Ms FitzGibbon: We cannot apply to the community festivals fund because we are not a community festival. As an organisation, we have no opinion about how the community festivals fund has been devolved to local authorities. I can see that it makes a huge amount of sense that a local authority makes decisions about the local festivals that are run by the local communities. Our question would be about the level of resourcing.

711. Mr McCartney: Joe and Ali, thank you very much for your presentation. I am interested in the funding priorities. Paragraph 9.3 of your submission states that:

“The arts industry is primarily driven by ideas derived from individuals and its content shouldn’t be defined by government priority."

712. The last sentence of that paragraph states that the best art — the things that spread worldwide or affect people — comes from grass roots up, rather than top down.

713. Your submission also says that the Committee must:

“consider what the difference between community and professional arts sector is, if there is one?"

714. Do you have a definition of community arts? Nelson asked the previous witness that same question. Has a priority sometimes been placed on funding from the top down rather than from the bottom up? In other words, are the professional arts funded better than the community arts?

715. Mr McCausland: Your submission says that every region has its own artistic personality that steers public bodies towards investment in particular art forms over others. What is Northern Ireland’s artistic personality? Do funding decisions reflect that?

716. Mr J Kelly: Mr McCartney asked about our approach to community arts. The festival works in multi-art forms. We work with people in theatre, music, the circus and visual arts. The word “ecology" is important to us. We see little difference across it because of how we use it, how we interact with it and because of the audiences that we work with. Even though internationalism is an important flavour, it is crucial to our status as a festival that we can call on thriving sectors in Northern Ireland that we do not necessarily have to import. We need that local strength. We consider that an important ecology in itself.

717. Delivering quality is a priority. Therefore, we want to use the best people — namely professional artists, such as skilled and experienced dancers — to work with our audiences. Yesterday, we heard about a dancer who came from a London stage in order to work as a freelance dancer in Fermanagh. That dancer works in prisons, with young people in care and with a wide range of groups. The professionalism and experience that such individuals bring has been crucial to the quality of our audiences’ experience. Ali has some thoughts on that issue.

718. Ms FitzGibbon: We mentioned funding from the bottom up rather than from the top down because when deciding on arts funding, consideration should be given to the creation of art by those people who create it. The priorities and growth should be driven by that rather than by a governmental priority that aims to find something that, perhaps, does not exist.

719. Certain countries in certain parts of the world are particularly well known for certain art forms, because either music, visual arts or theatre has bubbled up from under the surface. These islands have a strong history of playwrights and text-based theatre, from Shakespeare to Brian Friel and Frank McGuinness. That is an area for which this part of the world is known globally. We have become famous for many other achievements, all of which have, perhaps, been driven by the artists, who are part of a community and who work with and meet other people who go to school or college, and so on.

720. If the intention is to find something that is absent and to invest in it, it will not necessarily create good art. It might deliver on a priority, but it will not necessarily deliver the dynamism that the arts industry requires or deliver the necessary growth and development.

721. Mr J Kelly: Nelson asked about Northern Ireland’s artistic personality and whether the funding decisions reflect it. We use the arts sector to help programme our festival. We use theatre, music, dance and visual arts — however it is expressed. Many groups do that, and we want to use them. We want to use groups that are indigenous to here as much as we can. We want that quality to be there. We are very proud of the fact that we are an international festival, so we have an international contribution.

722. Ms FitzGibbon may be better able to answer the question on funding decisions. However, we are able to call on local artists to be part of our festival, and, from year to year, we are more or less successful with that. By and large, we are able to access local people who produce art that we can use across a broad cultural realm. However, it is not always easy. I do not know whether the funding is supporting that, but we want to receive more funding so that we can benefit more from what they are doing and pull that into the festival.

723. Mr McCausland: I am not clear why the artistic personality would steer public bodies towards investment in particular art forms.

724. Ms FitzGibbon: The artistic personality of Northern Ireland is made up of the people who are creating those different arts in all their diversity and richness. The people who are creating it should be the people who are driving forward funding to where it is needed, rather than the reverse.

725. Mr McCausland: Earlier, you mentioned creating or looking for something that is not there. You talked about the personality being determined by artists who exist at this point in time, and that that would have some impact on where funding was developed or directed. Is it not a basic human right for people to participate in the cultural life of the country? Therefore, if people are marginalised from, or have never engaged with, the arts, is there an onus on the arts world — and Government funding in particular — to target those people so that they are brought into that world and so that that right is acknowledged? There may be nothing there at the moment, but you must ask yourself why it is not there and how we address the situation.

726. Mr J Kelly: Absolutely; interestingly, we have worked with some communities in north Belfast and around the Waterworks. We had a brilliant event last year — it was fantastic. We were helped by the weather, but it was a great place to hold it. That kind of outreach is important to us. It is about enabling communities. Through our own funding and activities, we try to create access to what we do. We do not just ask people to come to the festival: we go out to them to help create it, and, as far as possible, place it in their area.

727. Ms FitzGibbon: We are currently working in the Shankill area with the early-years playgroups. There are 11 early-years settings in that area, and the playgroup workers did not feel that they had sufficient creative skills to support the children in the playgroups. We worked with them, and we brought in professional artists in to work with them. However, the whole endeavour has been about pump-priming their own skills and abilities, with the result that they now want to come back and work with us again. For us, it is about allowing them to grow and develop as they see fit and as they choose, but to continue to work in partnership to create a partnership of equals: we are learning about their community and their needs and that feeds into the kind of activities and events that we put on in the main festival.

728. The Chairperson: I thank Joe Kelly and Ali FitzGibbon for their engagement this morning. As David said earlier, your written submission and presentation were very helpful.

2 April 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Mr Francie Brolly
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Ms Noelle McAlinden Mr Malcolm Murchison Mr Mac Pollock

Forum for Local Government and the Arts

729. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): Good afternoon. You were originally scheduled to be here in the morning, but we have overrun slightly. Please can you introduce your team, and then give your 10-minute presentation. We will have to insist on it being 10 minutes, because we want to devote 20 minutes to questions.

730. Ms Noelle McAlinden (Forum for Local Government and the Arts): Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to make a presentation to the Committee. Mac Pollock, the vice-chairperson of the Forum for Local Government and the Arts (FLGA), is with me, as is Malcolm Murchison, who is a member of our executive committee. We are here to represent all of the executive committee, and Mr Murchison is also the chairperson of the arts managers’ group for Northern Ireland. We feel very privileged to be in such company, including the members, so thank you.

731. Members will have received a paper which outlines who we are; what we want to do in the presentation is to say a little bit about who we are, what we do, how we do it, and what contribution we feel we are making in promoting arts, culture and creativity across the Province. We have a long history of working with arts practitioners, arts managers and local elected representatives. You can see from our pen pictures that all three of us, individually and collectively, have a very personal and passionate commitment to the arts, creativity and culture across the Province, in both our personal and professional capacities, and in where and how we work.

732. I currently work as the creative expression adviser for the Western Education and Library Board. I am chairperson of the FLGA, a practicing artist, and also an arts activist as a member of the arts advisory committee for Fermanagh District Council. I also am on the board of directors of the creative learning centre in Derry — the Nerve Centre — and I also have been involved as a member of the advisory panel for Children in Need for six years.

733. Through working with the FLGA, I feel that I am much better at my job, certainly in developing the partnerships and accessing resources and expertise. I have found that this is the best way of working.

734. I want to mention one particular case study as chairperson of Creative Youth Partnerships, which is an excellent example of how we work across the Province. We work with locally elected representatives, education and library boards, and, again, with arts activists to attract the resources and expertise that we need, and also develop and promote, not just the creative industries, but the arts and their contributions in terms of health and well-being to the economy as a whole, and to our future.

735. The FLGA is committed and passionate about what it does. We have a genuine contribution to make — particularly at this time — in identifying, harnessing and networking, and creating strategic partnerships to support the Committee, the Department and others in working together for the benefit of the region, and on behalf of us all. Our submission shows what we are committed to: advocacy, networking, building capacity within the sector and developing resources. The paper considers the future of the FLGA, particularly in the light of the review of public administration. We need to be creative and resourceful and to operate strategically in the management and delivery of all our services. Creative Youth Partnerships is an example of how we do that.

736. I have copies of the publication for all of you. It cites examples from across the Province of district councils working very closely with a number of agencies. My colleagues will reinforce that with case studies, from their particular contexts, of how they have benefited from and can see the potential of this type of work.

737. The Chairperson: Thank you very much. I want to ask about local government’s role in promoting the arts under the FLGA banner. Among some members, there is a sense that there is a disparity in approach between councils, and there may be a cultural reason for that. What are the issues that face local councils in deciding how much of their budgets should be devoted to the arts and what to spend it on? What considerations would a council take on board?

738. Mr Malcolm Murchison (Forum for Local Government and the Arts): That will be a difficult question to answer; there are 26 local authorities, each of which operates in a different way. Some councils have had a long history of supporting the arts, and they have built confidence over the years. Those members who came to the meeting at Flowerfield saw the first arts centre in Northern Ireland. It was opened in 1980, and I started there in 1982. Over the years, it has increased in strength. Some councils do not place as high a value on the arts. I cannot speak for them, but that is an area of concern for all of us and for the Committee.

739. There is a range of expenditure. Some £20 million of expenditure is directed to the arts across Northern Ireland. Belfast contributes the largest share. Per capita spend ranges from £30 down to 37p in certain areas. The range is colossal. The FLGA works to support partnership working and looking at the benefits of the arts in various areas. When we go round to meet in different areas and see the activities, that is one of the things that we attempt to do.

740. The Chairperson: What does the forum do to encourage those low-spending councils to do far more? Is that your role?

741. Ms McAlinden: It is a part of our role. We try to disseminate good practice, share expertise and look at new models of working. At our recent conference, Growing Creative Communities, we looked at models outside Northern Ireland and sharing expertise with them. It is very significant to share practice across the Province and highlight the rural focus as well as the urban. There are many activists working in a keen, proactive and professional way — Mac Pollock is one of them — to raise that profile. We need to disseminate a lot of existing practice and show strategic working at a local level and the impact on the regional level as well.

742. Mr Mac Pollock (Forum for Local Government and the Arts): I am the chairman of Ballymoney arts committee. This year we have operated on a budget of £15,000. I am told that the council has decided to reduce our budget next year by one third, and we must operate with £10,000. That will impinge on our programme of music, exhibitions and funding of individuals and local groups in the area. That is compounded by the fact that a number of those events would have received financial support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, which is not forthcoming. It is a double-edged sword: we receive a cut from our council and also from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

743. I am aware that many members sitting round the table are councillors. How do councils decide how to pare down their budgets? How do they share out the cake? If I could sit down with our councillors, I would tell them that 99% of the cake should go to the arts and that they can keep 1%. I am not sure how the local councillors divvy that up in their discussions.

744. The Chairperson: I am fairly sure that I know how they would respond to that suggestion.

745. Mr McCarthy: Do you think that your organisation is, or the councils are, actively working to ensure that the people who, traditionally, would have found it difficult to access funding are being properly targeted?

746. Mr D Bradley: Mostly, the councils share their arts spend between community arts groups and professional arts groups. In Northern Ireland, roughly what percentage is spent on community arts groups and what percentage is spent on professional arts groups? Do you think that the balance is correct?

747. Ms McAlinden: I do not have that information at the moment. I know that our arts managers, in co-operation with us, are working very hard to address and target social need. We look at the importance of supporting the amateur and the activist, as well as the more professional arts activities. Certainly, some of our best practice can be cited from rural and isolated areas. Those communities have had to be particularly creative and resourceful in accessing expertise and funding. There are some really good examples of the networks that we have built and the good practices that we have shared. Those case studies show how people, with very limited budgets, have become involved in training and networking activities and in the dissemination of good practice. They have shown how models of work can be transferred across the Province.

748. Historically, if you look, for example, at festivals and the art of regeneration, a lot of sound work has been done that has an economic payoff and highlights tourism within the region. In Fermanagh, I am part of the arts advisory panel and have been involved in two recent arts festivals there. Those festivals played a huge part in bringing the community arts tradition together with the more professional arts groups. Opportunities were identified for both sectors to work together, along with funders and those that have access to expertise, to raise everybody’s aspirations.

749. Mr Pollock: On Saturday, three local drama festivals will have their final nights. As you know, there is the Mid Ulster Drama Festival in Carrickmore; I was at one of its performances on Tuesday night.

750. The Chairperson: I was there too.

751. Mr Pollock: The 11 drama festivals in Northern Ireland are organised by amateurs. However, they are professional in their approach and their organisational skills. In the present climate, it is difficult to attract sponsorship from local businesses. Indeed, some local councils do not give any financial support.

752. You asked about the split between professionals and amateurs. Every year, from the drama festival finals, we provide scholarships for four or five people to attend places such as the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, Gormanston, etc. Liam Neeson started his career in the Slemish Players in Ballymena; James Nesbitt started as part of a youth group that was attached to the Riverside Theatre in Coleraine, along with his colleague, Mark Carruthers. Look at the opportunity that that gave them. Although there is a distinction between amateur and professional, you have to remember that a lot of amateur work leads to professional work. Those professionals then come back to perform in local theatres.

753. That leads me on to the issue of whether or not the regional theatres will survive given that all Arts Council and lottery funding has been withdrawn. Drama festivals are suffering; in the future, with higher charges for theatres, will amateurs be able to hire them?

754. Mr McCartney: My question follows on from the last question. Ms McAlinden, I see that you describe yourself as an arts activist. That is the first time that I had heard that term, and I heard it again in your presentation. The inquiry has taken evidence from representatives of the arts, and Mr Pollock talked about professional arts and amateur arts. Some people also talk about community-based arts. What is the definition of “community arts"?

755. Mr McCausland: You mentioned the huge variation in spend, from £30 to 37p. Is there a correlation between certain councils and low spend? There is a perception among some of us that there tends to be a lower spend in unionist-controlled councils and a higher spend in nationalist-controlled councils, but that is not a universal rule. Do your figures support that? If so, what can be done about it?

756. You said that you were concerned about the low spend in some areas. I appreciate that, but what practically can be done to make it clear to councillors that there is a benefit in supporting the arts? Why do they not support them?

757. Ms McAlinden: We recognise that arts and cultural activity are suffering a dire funding crisis at the moment, and we are committed and passionate about the fact that we need to address that. However, more importantly, we recognise that your role in influencing other Departments is crucial, because we have already seen, through a number of case studies, that the impact on health and well-being of the employability and the promotion of the creative industries is key to what we do, and that needs to be shared with other councils. We have made some inroads there, but we recognise that the funding pot is limited.

758. The take-up and nature of the creative activity needs to be reviewed. We are actively involved in promoting what we do, through our lobbying and advocacy roles, as well as in our arts activists’ roles, and we are conscious that we have to change the hearts and minds of people who do not necessarily see the value in that type of activity, or perhaps have never experienced that type of activity. Therefore, that is what we are trying to address, and we have tried to do it from a schools perspective, from a community perspective and from a voluntary perspective.

759. There is a lot to be done to influence the people who have the power and the control, and part of our lobbying and showcasing involves letting elected representatives see the nature, scale and scope of what we do, from the very rural setting of the little church hall, to the school assembly hall, to the highbrow fully designated arts centre. We pride ourselves in trying to address areas where we feel there is inactivity, and we realise that there is a lot of work to be done there.

760. With regard to the question in relation to activists, there are three crucial strands in the make-up of the FLGA. First, there is the arts managers’ group, which plays a crucial part in working and connecting community artists and the arts with elected representatives. Secondly, there are the elected councillors, and, thirdly, there are the arts activists. Mr Pollock and I are arts activists, in that we are actively engaged in a voluntary capacity, supporting what we do, but we are also committed in our professional lives. An arts activist can be someone who gives their time to support arts activity in their area.

761. Community arts also have a huge impact on health and well-being. We can provide you with other examples, but I am conscious of the time.

762. Mr Murchison: I do not recognise a political division between the big spenders and the low spenders. However, it is notable that the larger councils are often in a position to spend more, and, sometimes, the more rural and very small councils struggle to spend very much at all.

763. Mr McCausland: What are the figures per head?

764. Mr Murchison: The Arts Council collects figures every two years. I will happily pass a copy of those figures to the Committee, as they reveal the spending per council, per capita, etc.

765. Mr McCausland: What are the six lowest councils per capita?

766. Mr Murchison: In 2006-07, the six lowest councils, working from the lowest council up, were Magherafelt, Castlereagh, Larne, Carrickfergus, Limavady and Banbridge.

767. Mr McCarthy: Where is Ards Borough Council on that list?

768. Mr Murchison: Ards Borough Council is eighth on the list.

769. Mr Pollock: The other question that we are looking at is the difference in spend among local councils. I would like to highlight the fact that, in Northern Ireland, per capita spend on the arts for 2008-09 was £7·58, compared with Scotland’s £14·04. Perhaps we need to look at how per capita spend here can become more equal with that of other countries.

770. I have a feeling — particularly given what happened at Ballymoney Borough Council’s arts committee, on which I sit — that instead of becoming more equal, the differences in per capita spend will grow. Consider the European Union and our nearest neighbour, the Republic of Ireland, where per capita spend on the arts is €17·92. There is quite a job of work to be done, not only at council level but throughout the Province.

771. Mr Brolly: A witness who contributed previously to the Committee’s inquiry pointed out that the economic value of the arts is not a visible thing and that that is something that should be researched more. The reason that it might be important for you to do something about this is that, fundamentally, local councils look at the greater economy and the functional things. Obviously, they have the difficult job of striking an annual rate. It is quite likely that they will not appreciate the value of artistic things; they are likely to leave the arts to the tail end of their spending.

772. Mr Pollock: There is an opportunity and a possibility for the arts and tourism to work well together. I again refer to my involvement in amateur dramatics. In July, the British Final Festival of One Act Plays will come to Enniskillen. Representative groups from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be there for the weekend. It is a great opportunity to sell that particular part of Northern Ireland and to encourage people to see the scenery. It is an opportunity for the arts and tourism to work together.

773. I hope that Fermanagh District Council will recognise that and give us a bit of financial support. On the business side, one of the sponsors which usually supports us when the festival comes here once every four years has said that it cannot give us the £1,000 sponsorship that it normally would. Therefore, that is an opportunity for local councils to get something out of the arts.

774. Mr Brolly: I appreciate what you are saying. However, the problem is that councils only respond to a specific event that might make a few pounds. For example, Limavady Borough Council gave money to an event that was held recently in Ballykelly and to another event for Eoghan Quigg. You should persuade councils to constantly and consistently spend money on the arts, so that there is a pool of money, even for the smaller things.

775. Ms McAlinden: As regards the creative industries, I know that Mr Murchison made some references to the growth and impact —

776. Mr Brolly: I am aware of Flowerfield arts centre, and I am sure that Mr Murchison would like to be able to charge much less for the services that are provided there and to have much more subsidy from Coleraine Borough Council. Do you agree with that?

777. Mr Murchison: We in the FLGA are all passionate about the arts. We are all pushing for increased spend on the arts. The worry is that there appears to be a downward trend. The figures that the Arts Council collected from the Department of the Environment show that between 2005-06 and 2006- 07 there was a 14% decrease in spending by local authorities.

778. Due to financial pressures, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland has given local authorities a low priority. Essentially, grants that we have got in previous years are gone. Typically, we used to get approximately £18,000 per annum, but that money is not available any more. Some £10,000 for a festival was cut from Flowerfield’s budget.

779. Our funding has been cut by approximately £30,000. Typically, we engage artists at a cost of £150 a day, so that is equivalent to 200 fewer days per annum when those artists can go out and engage with communities, young people and children. A few days ago, we had workshops in Flowerfield with a couple of primary schools, and we were told that the curriculum in those schools does not involve any art in the classroom. The schoolchildren had a wonderful experience with us, and they met artists who were able to show them practices that could not possibly be delivered in a school situation.

780. We are very concerned about the current financial situation. There are wonderful opportunities out there, and we need every assistance in pushing to have the spend on arts increased across the sector.

781. Lord Browne: I am sure that you recognise that, given the current economic environment, we are facing very difficult times. What is the forum’s view on how the Arts Council distributes its funding?

782. My second question may be more difficult to answer and a bit unfair to ask. Is there any way in which you could quantify the monetary value of the arts in the Northern Ireland economy? I am particularly interested in how you regard the actual distribution of the funding from the Arts Council.

783. Mr Murchison: There is always good and bad. Northern Ireland has benefited enormously from Arts Council support and funding, with the new arts facilities that have opened in recent years. Obviously, when an organisation is successful in an application, it is pleased; when it is not successful in an application, it may not be so pleased. That is the way of it.

784. I notice that the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts has said that the creative industries are predicted to be a major high-growth contributor to the UK economy in the next five years. That information was published on 9 March, so its facts are up to date. That organisation says that, on average, creative industries are set to grow by 4%, which is more than double the rate of the rest of the economy. By 2013, the number of creative businesses is likely to have risen from 157,000 to 180,000, with employment of 1·3 million people, thus outstripping the financial sector. We strongly believe in the importance of the creative sector; it is an area that needs investment.

785. Ms McAlinden: We are working across different education sectors, with bodies such as universities, and we are also working with the district councils. With the help of the Department, the Arts Council, the education and library boards and the district councils, in the last four years we have collectively ensured that over 70,000 young people have been involved in creative and culturally rich arts and educationally stimulating activity.

786. We have given employment to over 180 artists who are on our database and who are living and working in Northern Ireland. Without a strategic vision, collective commitment, consensus and acknowledgement of the sort of work that we do and the economic and health benefits of that, we will end up losing our most creative and resourceful people. That will have an impact on our education system, including universities and teacher training, as well as other opportunities. We simply will not have the environment to grow and attract the people who we need, particularly at this time when we need colour and vibrancy, and not in a superficial way. I am referring to scientists and entrepreneurs; that is, creative, highly intellectual property that we need to harness, develop and grow.

787. The Chairperson: Does the forum have a formal view on how the Arts Council disburses its funding? Does the forum have any critical views of it, or is it content?

788. Ms McAlinden: We have worked very closely in partnership with the Arts Council and have been informed by its policy-making. The FLGA originally came out of a regional committee that was set up by the Arts Council so that it could liaise with the district councils. However, we are very much aware that Arts Council funding has a huge impact on our local councils, almost to a crippling extent.

789. For example, we know that jobs will be lost; there is absolutely no doubt about that. The work of the Arts Council has an impact on the contribution of the arts to education and on the growth of our creative industries, yet the people in those sectors are the key people that we should be focusing on. We need new ideas and innovation, particularly as this is the year of creativity and innovation.

790. In the past, the Department has played a strategic role in looking at ways that we can work together. There is great opportunity now to revisit the Unlocking Creativity strategy that four Government Departments — Enterprise, Trade and Investment; Employment and Learning; Culture, Arts and Leisure; and Education — signed up to, so that we can look at other ways of working. Really sound, substantial and robust partnerships have developed and evolved from that strategy, and I know that, individually and collectively, the groups and organisations that we work with are all the stronger for that commitment and collaboration. It is the only way forward.

791. The Chairperson: I thank the representatives from the Forum for Local Government and the Arts for their submissions — written and oral — and for allowing members to ask their questions.

2 April 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Mr Francie Brolly
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Ms Joanne South Ms Mary Trainor Ms Lesley Wake

Arts and Business Northern Ireland

792. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): I welcome Mary Trainor, Lesley Wake and Joanne South from Arts and Business, who will make a presentation to the Committee.

793. Ms Mary Trainor (Arts and Business Northern Ireland): Arts and Business welcomes the opportunity to give the Committee an oral submission; thank you very much for calling us. My colleagues from our head office in London are Lesley Wake, who is our director of operations, and Joanne South, our research manager. I have been the director at Arts and Business for 10 months. Prior to that, I worked for over 13 years in Northern Ireland, marketing and fund-raising for many of Northern Ireland’s arts and cultural organisations, including the Ulster Orchestra, the Lyric Theatre, the Grand Opera House and the Belfast Civic Arts Theatre.

794. Arts and Business is a UK-wide creative network that advocates and facilitates creative partnerships between the private and cultural sectors. It was established 30 years ago and has 11 offices across the UK. Our Northern Ireland office opened in 1987. Prior to April 2008, we were part-funded by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, and now we are part-funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. It is worth noting that our remit covers the performing arts, literature, visual arts and crafts, museums, libraries, heritage and film. In Northern Ireland, we have 80 arts members and 83 business members.

795. Arts and Business defines private investment as business sponsorship, individual giving, and trusts and foundations. We advocate on behalf of the arts sector to the business community, and we work to increase skills and confidence within the sector by our various training and support programmes, which include support on sponsorship training, individual giving, and strengthening good governance and fund-raising principles on the boards of cultural organisations. With regard to your inquiry, our written submission focused on our area of expertise, which is primarily your second term of reference, which looks at innovative approaches to sourcing additional funding.

796. Funding for the arts comes from a mixture of private and public sources. Each year the Arts and Business private investment in culture survey measures private investment in the arts and culture sector in the UK; it covers museums and heritage as well as arts. According to respondents from our 2007-08 survey, which covers the period March 2007 to April 2008, private-sector investment accounted for an average of 13% of arts organisations’ total income — in Northern Ireland, that figure was 10·9%.

797. Across the UK, private investment in culture is at its highest, climbing by 12% on the 2006-07 figure to £686 million. In Northern Ireland, it increased by 3% to £8·53 million, which is 1·2% of the UK figure. An increase in Northern Ireland’s private investment support is positive as, in many regions, support declined. In Scotland, it declined by 9·4%. However, it is worth noting that the increase in Northern Ireland can be attributed to a few organisations receiving substantial donations against capital campaigns, and that private investment figures fluctuate, depending on cycles linked to project timelines.

798. Results show that private business investment, within the overall figure, has declined across the UK. It has declined by 7% since 2006-07; in Northern Ireland it has declined by 8·9%. In Northern Ireland, business investment equates to a higher percentage of the total private investment. For example, in Northern Ireland, support is 47% of total private investment from businesses, but in the UK it is 24%. That highlights the fact that in Northern Ireland, support from individual giving and trusts and foundations is lower than in other regions. Across the UK, individual giving accounts for 56% of total private investment, but in Northern Ireland it is 26%.

799. It is worth praising the creativity and success shown in the culture sector in Northern Ireland in sourcing business sponsorship. It is also worth highlighting that that comes despite the limited number of full-time fund-raisers. Less than 5% of our arts members have dedicated full-time fund-raising staff. Typically, in Northern Ireland, most fund-raisers in arts organisations are also responsible for marketing.

800. The partnerships funded last year through the Arts and Business reach investment programme are excellent examples of how the arts sector is engaging, retaining and developing current and new sponsors in a creative way. Arts and Business funded 50 projects last year through its investment programme, making a total investment of £209,000, against a business sponsorship figure of £960,000. That is leveraging £5 for every £1 that we have supported through that programme.

801. That said, the economic climate is obviously presenting the culture sector with immense challenges. Certainly, the sector cannot remain immune to a global recession. Our research has indicated that business investment will continue to decrease in 2009, and will decrease further in 2010. However, as GDP increases, the confidence in investment will return. With a reduction in private giving imminent, Arts and Business will be working with the sector to improve its skills in seeking sponsorship, to encourage it to maintain long-term relationships with its donors, sponsors and audiences, and to cultivate potential future investors. Really, the sector must work to be in a position of strength for when the turmoil subsides.

802. Our message to the sector is to hold its nerve during the economic downturn, and to tap into resources beyond the cheque. For example, in Northern Ireland, around 10% of support from the business community is in kind. The arts sector must provide the business sector with a tangible return on investment, and must promote the message that the arts can offer creative ways to address business objectives. Now, more than ever, is the time to be creative and innovative.

803. It is not all doom and gloom with regard to business investment in Northern Ireland. Many businesses are signing up to new sponsorships and seeing the real business benefits in supporting the arts. Regardless of the cultural climate, we have to equip the arts sector with the confidence and skills to build long-term relationships. It takes two years for those types of partnerships to fully prosper. We need to redefine the expertise in the sector and ensure that there is the knowledge and market analysis to maximise opportunities.

804. There is, undoubtedly, room for increasing the level of philanthropic support for the arts in Northern Ireland. As I mentioned, across the UK, investment from individuals accounts for 56% of total investment. In Northern Ireland, it is 26%. In every other region, investment from individuals is increasing; however, we are not quite at that level. High-net-worth individuals are willing to fund the arts; however, they are not doing so to the same level as other sectors. A Venture Philanthropy report, looking at philanthropy and the arts, concluded that individual giving is a very personal and private issue in Northern Ireland. It is very much about personal relationships: people give to things and people that they know.

805. Last September, our arts sector consultation identified a skills gap in the sector and a lack of confidence as to how to ask for investment, and ask in the right way without alienating audiences. The Venture Philanthropy report noted that potential donors look to the strength of governance and business planning within arts organisations. The profile of the need for arts philanthropy must be raised. Last year, Arts and Business initiated the Prince of Wales medals for arts philanthropy. We were delighted that Dr Martin Naughton, an arts philanthropist from Ireland, made a £1 million donation to the Lyric Theatre and has supported the Naughton Gallery. It was great to acknowledge him in that way. Those initiatives are crucial in encouraging philanthropy to the arts, and the Government and the media have a role to play in helping to promote them.

806. It is important to note that philanthropy is not just about large donations from wealthy individuals. There is a lot to be gained from engaging support from audiences at a mid to low level. Audiences have an emotional attachment to the arts and the sector is very well placed to capitalise on that. Art and Business will be working with the sector in Northern Ireland to increase that engagement and to assist it in building the necessary skills and confidence. The current economic climate is likely to have an affect on philanthropic giving. However, now is an ideal time to work on increasing the skills of arts organisations and for them to work on cultivating and building long-term relationships.

807. In Northern Ireland, there is potential for extra income from gift aid; many opportunities for gift aid go unclaimed. We will be working to help promote that in the sector. As I said, there is definitely an opportunity around trusts and foundations. The key factor in that regard is the lack of staff in Northern Ireland and the lack of time. It takes time to research trust and foundation applications; however, the rewards can be very high. Again, we will be running information sessions for the sector on that.

808. Another core element of our work, and an important factor in increasing income from private investment, is the role of cultural boards and strong governance. Arts organisations are businesses, and therefore need sound business principles and strategies. Arts and Business will be working in strategic partnership with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to strengthen governance and business planning on the boards of arts organisations.

809. A successful fund-raising strategy requires buy-in and commitment, from the top of an organisation down. Potential investors like to see public investment in an organisation. One of the programmes that we run to help with governance is a board development day, in which we bring in a business facilitator to help with business planning. We also help to place businesspeople on cultural arts boards.

810. Given its limited resources, development staff and skills, the Northern Ireland arts sector is working hard to engage the business community. There are many success stories and examples. There is potential for growth — particularly in the areas of individual giving and trusts. The sector needs more resources, development staff, training and time. There are no quick wins in professional fund-raising. Organisations need to buy in from the top down, and there needs to be a hybrid of public and private investment; business donors look for that.

811. Of course, the difficult economic climate presents challenges. However, the arts can offer huge business benefits at this time. In tough times, survival comes from innovation and creativity. Business wants innovation and creativity, which the arts can unlock and deliver. Now is the time to advocate, train and create skills in the sector and to cultivate and build relationships with current and future sponsors and donors. Through our advocacy, training and support programmes, our market analysis and best-practice models, Arts and Business will continue to be the engine that drives progress.

812. Mr McCarthy: You said that you have 11 offices throughout the UK and, therefore, a lot of experience in attracting support from the business community. Compared with other regions of the UK, what specific challenges do Northern Irish arts organisations face?

813. Lord Browne: I am a great believer that the arts sector should pursue more funding from private sources, and I am pleased that your organisation does that. I know that 60% of arts funding comes from the public purse and approximately 10% from private sources. However, your submission outlines that individual giving in Northern Ireland accounts for only 26% of the total funding, whereas it accounts for about 56% — more than double — in the rest of the United Kingdom. Why is individual giving so much lower in Northern Ireland? Are you doing anything to address that situation?

814. Ms Trainor: As Lord Browne said, the challenge for Northern Ireland centres around the giving of individuals, trusts and foundations. There is much more potential. However, given that there are no full-time development staff, it is a resource issue. It takes time to cultivate and service sponsor relationships with the business community. I have worked at the coalface doing those jobs, and in marketing, and I know that time is the major factor. Many arts organisations recognise the huge potential but are frustrated that they cannot capitalise on it because of time and resource restrictions. That is a key issue.

815. Mr McCarthy: More hard work is needed.

816. Ms Trainor: Absolutely, but additional staff are required, too. In England, many arts organisations have dedicated development functions. However, less than 5% of our arts organisations have dedicated fund-raisers. That is a massive problem.

817. Lord Browne asked what Arts and Business is doing to increase individual giving. The consultation that we conducted with the whole arts sector in September 2008 highlighted a lack of confidence, training and skills. Many organisations are nervous about alienating their audiences by asking for money. Our first step must be to establish training programmes. We ran a programme a couple of weeks ago in Northern Ireland; we brought in somebody from a trust and foundation to talk to the arts community. We hope to organise more dedicated individual-giving training programmes.

818. In the next couple of months, the UK website will be relaunched; it will include a full fund-raiser’s toolkit and a facility to blog, sharing information and ideas with other fund-raisers. Those facilities will help fund-raisers and give them confidence.

819. Lord Browne: Do you think that because the arts receive 60% of their funding from the public purse, they are a little bit complacent about seeking money from other sources?

820. Ms Trainor: I absolutely do not. Having worked for many Northern Ireland arts organisations, I can assure you that they proactively seek such funding, and that is why I emphasised business relationships. We will leave a list of all the projects that we have funded through our investment programmes. Some of those projects demonstrate real creativity, including fabulous examples of how people are thinking out of the box in order to engage businesses.

821. Ms Lesley Wake (Arts and Business Northern Ireland): Private investment income for the arts in Northern Ireland stands at £4·83 per capita. In similar regions in England, for example, in the east, the per-capita figure is £2·36; in the south-west, it is £2·56; and in Yorkshire, it is £2·92. Therefore, the picture in some parts of England is not as rosy as it might seem — more than 80%, the lion’s share, of the UK total for individual giving comes from London-based national institutions. Therefore, when comparing regions with Northern Ireland, we find a strong correlation.

822. Mr P Ramsey: The presentation was very good; it will help considerably with our inquiry. For the record, the Millennium Forum, in which I have already declared an interest, could not survive without commercial sponsorship, particularly the deal with Firmus Energy, which has been tremendously successful in encouraging young people who would not normally have the opportunity to access and participate in the arts.

823. What types of arts organisations in Northern Ireland have been most successful in obtaining private-sector funding, and to what can you attribute that success? How can other community-based arts organisations best access those opportunities?

824. Mr Shannon: Although Northern Ireland people might be behind in individual giving to the arts, they are very much ahead when it comes to charitable giving. People in Northern Ireland give a lot more per capita than many other parts of the United Kingdom. Perhaps, when it comes to personal giving, people’s focus is on charity. However, you are considering how big business can contribute, and I must say that I am impressed by the level of contact that there is and by the amount of money given.

825. In your submission, you mentioned that you are seeking more evidence-based research into the social and economic impact of the arts. The real reason why businesses give to the arts is not to target social need or to meet an economic strategy, but to satisfy an individual or corporate interest. Is that not so?

826. Ms Trainor: It is a fair point that people in Northern Ireland give more to the charitable sector, which indicates that the potential for individual giving exists here and that we in the arts might not be making the case for the need for and benefits of arts philanthropy as well as we could.

827. With respect to why the business community gives money, it certainly looks for a return on its investment. In addition, the public-relations impact and press coverage of arts sponsorship is important to demonstrate a business’s corporate social responsibility. Arts and Business is working to help arts organisations and businesses to evaluate their sponsorship arrangements and to make that case.

828. However, if there is more evidence to back up the fact that the arts have those social and economic impacts, it may inspire philanthropy from the public. From a business point of view, the main issue is very much business benefit, and many businesses are seeing that. It is quite encouraging that, in the last month, several businesses have signed up to some very high-profile new sponsorships. For example, BT has just agreed to a £35,000 sponsorship with Queen’s Film Theatre, and it is also providing £35,000 of in-kind support for a marketing audit and a whole new marketing strategy. That is a new sponsorship.

829. I had a meeting last week with representatives from Barclays Bank, who said that their company was a confident brand and would be keeping its head above the parapet to remain high profile. Such companies are seeing the business benefits of engaging with the arts. Representatives from one bank told me that they needed to know how to make their company look human again. They know that the arts can help to do that, and staff morale was extremely low. We are working on some ideas on that.

830. Those are examples of businesses that are seeing the business benefit of involvement with the arts. Having evidence of the impact of involvement with the arts would help arts organisations to gain a mixture of funding.

831. Mr Shannon: You are saying that the two issues should be married. The interest of individual businesses is what drives sponsorship of the arts, and it is important to try to tie that in with targeting social need.

832. Ms Trainor: If you can do that, you are on to a winner.

833. Mr Ramsey asked what types of arts organisations in Northern Ireland are being funded. Fifty per cent of business support in Northern Ireland is linked to theatre and 12% is linked to music, which is indicative of a number of things. The theatre sector and particularly the music sector, such as the Ulster Orchestra and some of the bigger theatres like the Grand Opera House, are working hard, are making the case, perhaps have more staff than other sectors — although not that many more — and have a very focused approach to fund-raising.

834. Another key factor is that businesses like to sponsor populist art forms. One of the challenges that I faced in fund-raising in the theatre sector was that businesses wanted to sponsor pantomimes and popular musicals. That is largely because of corporate entertaining; companies want to bring customers to an event and make sure that they know the product and do not feel alienated. So, much sponsorship goes to very popular art forms, which presents a challenge when you are trying to get sponsorship for drama and unknown art forms.

835. At the minute, there is a slight problem for a lot of the arts organisations, because a lot of businesses do not want to be seen to be corporate entertaining, particularly if they are making staff redundant. Businesses are pulling back on corporate entertaining at rugby matches and other sporting events and are increasingly turning to the corporate social responsibility agenda. Therefore, it is up to the arts to be creative about how they pitch their proposals with that in mind.

836. The marketplace is also important. The heritage and museum sector is top of the list for sponsorship in the UK, but that includes a lot of the big sponsorships for the London museums and galleries, which skew the figures. Therefore, we really have to look at our marketplace to find the opportunities for the business sector at the minute.

837. Does that mean doom and gloom for community groups? Absolutely not. A lot of our sponsorship mix comes from across Northern Ireland. The Alley arts and conference centre in Strabane won our arts award this year, because it is doing amazingly creative things with some of its business partners. For example, REMAX estate agents brought in a photographer to help sell its houses in a more creative way. The company also brought in a scriptwriter to help with sales pitches, so it was using the arts really creatively. We also worked with Craft Recruitment, which trains joiners. Staff from Craft Recruitment helped to build the set for the Alley centre’s pantomime.

838. There is a lot of potential — particularly in community areas — to engage with communities and businesses in those regions. With the right skills, training and resources, arts organisations and community organisations can still get a return.

839. The Chairperson: I ask members to be brief. There are five more questions, and about five more minutes have been allocated. We will obviously have to go over that.

840. Mr McCartney: I have a couple of brief questions about the reach investment programme. Is the money an agreement between the sponsor and the arts facility, or is it allocated centrally?

841. Ms Trainor: Our budget is provided by the Arts Council. We get £455,000, of which £230,000 goes back out through that programme. We promote and explain the open-application process to our arts members because the rationale behind that funding is to strengthen partnerships and to deepen and embed relationships. The arts organisations and the businesses jointly complete the applications. Sometimes we hold meetings to inspire ideas and to help forge relationships. Those applications then come to an Arts and Business panel and we make judgements on them. We use a set of criteria to ensure that the applications address what we need them to.

842. We try to have a regional spread in relation to the way that we allocate the money. Part of our internal target is to try and encourage applications from outside Belfast and to encourage projects that are about diversity and other issues.

843. Mr McCartney: Is there difficulty in the regional spread —

844. The Chairperson: Raymond, I ask you to put your question in such a way that Nelson can group his with yours. You have a unique, innovative style.

845. Mr McCartney: I noticed that there were four applications from Derry. Is there a particular reason for that?

846. Mr McCausland: What do arts organisations pay for membership?

847. Ms Trainor: They pay £70.

848. Mr McCausland: No matter what size of an organisation they are?

849. Ms Trainor: If they want about five members of their staff to benefit from our programmes, the fee is £90. I think that about 80% of our members pay £70.

850. Mr McCausland: A lot of businesses here are local branches of national businesses, which may keep their budget for sponsorship more centralised. Sometimes they argue that they have no money locally because their budget is decided in an office in London. Is that an issue that only affects Northern Ireland, or does it affect other regions? How much substance is there to that?

851. Ms Trainor: I certainly think that the spread of budgets is a factor. Perhaps my colleagues can speak on behalf of the UK. I do not think that it completely inhibits sponsorship — there is still a lot of potential with the right resources, but it is certainly an issue. More recently, we have noticed that budgets for Northern Ireland have moved to Dublin. Many of the banks, such as Ulster Bank, are trying to mirror what they do in the North with what they do in the South. Some of the drinks companies did exactly the same. There is an element of both, and it is probably the same in every region.

852. Ms Wake: It is an issue. It is something that we seek to manage. While the decisions may be taken in London, the negotiations often happen here in Northern Ireland. PricewaterhouseCoopers is a national member of Arts and Business, but Ms Trainor and her team in Belfast negotiate the PricewaterhouseCoopers Northern Ireland budget. It is paid from London, but the decision-making is done here. We encourage our national members to work across all parts of the UK. It is the same in Scotland. Invariably, it is different when the headquarters of a business is in another part of the UK, but we encourage the adoption of the same method.

853. Ms Trainor: We made a point of going up to Derry as part of our arts consultation. There was a really high turnout there, and about 10 arts organisations came to meet us. We were working proactively to help the sector in the Derry area, and our arts manager has dedicated a lot of time to that region. It is a matter of our being proactive, going out and focusing on particular regions.

854. Mr McNarry: I congratulate you on the work that you do; I can see that it makes a good contribution. Do you expect any withdrawals from sponsorship programmes due to financial problems? Have you received any feedback or assessed the effect that the recession may have on your sponsors? Only one major supermarket is on your list of business partners, and, indeed, its involvement is minimal. Why are the other major supermarkets not engaged in Northern Ireland?

855. Mr Brolly: I want to know more about the mechanics of your operation. Where does the process start? Do arts organisations, such as the Alley Theatre in Strabane, come and ask you to secure funding from the private sector? How exactly does it work? It is your organisation that pays the piper; what influence do you have on the operation of the Arts Council?

856. Ms Trainor: The primary example of withdrawal of sponsorship concerns the Ulster Orchestra. The orchestra has been badly hit because a lot of its sponsorship was linked to financial services and banking. Indeed, Ulster Bank has pulled almost £55,000 worth of sponsorship from the orchestra. I appreciate the impact that that will have, because I was the head of marketing with the Ulster Orchestra. Ulster Bank has retained its substantial sponsorship of the Belfast Festival at Queen’s, but it has had to refocus its budget. Unfortunately, a lot of the orchestra’s sponsorship involved corporate entertainment at concerts, and Ulster Bank has also had to pull back from much of its rugby sponsorship.

857. Mr McNarry also asked about the effect of the recession. There are still a lot of good news stories, and we are really encouraged that several businesses have signed up. BT and Barclays Bank are continuing with their sponsorship, Carson McDowell has just renewed high-level sponsorship of the Art College’s end-of-year show, and Allianz has also renewed high-level sponsorship recently. The business sector is making its budgets work harder, being a lot more focused and moving away from corporate entertaining. Some people, therefore, are going to take a hit. However, there are still opportunities, and we are advocating the message that people have to be more innovative in order to stand out from their competitors; the arts can help that.

858. Ms Joanne South (Arts and Business Northern Ireland): We have had conversations with businesses across the UK about their confidence in, and attitudes to, investing in the arts. They have clearly said that, over the next two years or so, it will be tough to find the budgets required for cash sponsorship. Obviously, that will have an impact on many organisations. However, on the flip side, a number of organisations are telling us how important marketing and branding are at the current time and that they will continue to invest in that.

859. The cash sums involved may not be as huge as they were previously. However, there is still money out there, and people are as keen to achieve their objectives as they were before. In-kind sponsorship is also going to be very important as purse strings tighten. Indeed, in-kind sponsorship has slightly increased this year across the UK. That is a potential growth area, particularly over the next 24 months. It is a resource that people have and are prepared to give.

860. Ms Trainor: Mr McNarry made a good point about supermarkets; the only supermarket that I know to be engaged with the arts in Northern Ireland is Tesco.

861. Mr McNarry: I am not allowed to advertise here. [Laughter.]

862. Ms Trainor: Rather than having an arts strategy, Tesco focuses on music and education. It sponsors the orchestra’s — [Interruption.]

863. Mr McNarry: Jim is phoning Sainsbury’s.

864. Ms Trainor: Tesco sponsors the orchestra’s education programme and Camerata Ireland’s young musicians’ programme. We will have to do our bit to rally support from supermarkets.

865. Ms Wake: Supermarkets across these islands present a challenge; their profit margins are screwed so far down because of their competition. The unnamed supermarket that Ms Trainor mentioned a moment ago does not sponsor anything at all in England, so Northern Ireland is lucky. Well done.

866. Mr McNarry: If they do not have the cash, could they perhaps be encouraged to do something in kind?

867. Ms Trainor: Absolutely; Ms South talked about in-kind support and cited BT as an example. The Ulster Bank also gives massive in-kind marketing support to the Belfast Festival at Queen’s. We will follow up on that form of sponsorship.

868. Mr Brolly asked about where we start and the mechanics of how we operate. Our work is divided into three core areas, the first of which is capacity-building, which involves training. The second area is advocacy, which involves going out to the business community. We do a lot of work with the Institute of Directors and the chambers of commerce. We try to spread the word about advocacy, and we encourage the sharing of best practice in business publications. The final part of our work is trying to find ways to bring arts and business together. Our investment programme is a good example of how we, as the organisation in the middle, try to connect the two. We also run many events for businesses, and I am keen to hold more events this year at which arts people get to meet and connect with businesspeople, which is a bit like speed dating.

869. In trying to help the arts, our starting point is training. We have an arts development forum that enables all our arts members to get together several times a year at information sessions and seminars. Our arts manager also goes out to meet members on a one-to-one basis. By joining the forum, they get access to us whenever necessary. We go out and sit down with them, look at their sponsorship challenges and opportunities, and help them to pull together proposals. It is a matter of engaging with all our members.

870. I mentioned the importance of strong governance and business planning, and we have an extremely positive relationship with the strategic planning and business development teams of the Arts Council. We work on a menu of support through the board development days that I mentioned. We bring in a businessperson to sit down with a full arts board and help them with strategic planning and writing a fundraising strategy. We also try to persuade businesspeople to sit on arts boards. We work particularly closely with the Arts Council on that, and it also supports us on the individual giving programme. The massive skills gap means that we need more investment to provide more training.

871. Mr Brolly: Fundamentally, do you fail or succeed depending on how much money you can wheedle from business?

872. Ms Wake: That is a tricky question because we are market-makers rather than fund-raisers. We measure our impact —

873. Mr Brolly: You have meetings with corporate business, and the idea is to soften them up.

874. Ms Trainor: That is absolutely right.

875. Ms Wake: Unlike a small independent arts organisation, we can get to the chairmen and chief executives of the major businesses.

876. Mr Brolly: Do you ask for funding, or do you direct an area of the arts towards potential funders?

877. Ms Trainor: A bit of both, actually. I will give you a really good example; yesterday we had a meeting with Translink, which is facing a lot of challenging business issues at the moment in relation to bullying on trains and school buses, and is producing a whole new business strategy. The company requested a meeting with our organisation to get our advice on how the arts can fit into its strategy and how the arts can help it. Because we are in tune with the menu of availability from the arts sector, we can help to connect the company. That is what we will be doing.

878. Mr D Bradley: I apologise for being late. What action have you taken to make your organisation known outside Belfast, particularly among amateur groups? It seems that you mainly engage with professional or semi-professional groups, with some exceptions. Will you also outline some examples of in-kind sponsorship?

879. Ms Trainor: I mentioned earlier that we made a point of taking the arts consultation outside Belfast. We spoke to arts organisations in Derry and invited them all to come along to that session. Our relationship with the Arts Council may help with that, because it has connections with the full spectrum of arts organisations. We are being careful to include heritage and museums in that consultation as well, through working with some of the umbrella groups like the Museums Council. I have been to a few meetings there, and sit on its marketing advisory committee at the moment. We want to spread those tentacles in whatever way we can. Those are the main ways that we are doing so at the moment.

880. The Chairperson: There is life outside Belfast and Derry as well.

881. Ms Trainor: Absolutely.

882. Mr D Bradley: Do you intend to visit Omagh?

883. Mr McNarry: That is the first mistake you have made all morning. [Laughter.]

884. The Chairperson: You urban person.

885. Mr D Bradley: Seriously, has your organisation planned to make itself known in places like Omagh, Armagh, Newry, and so on?

886. Mr McNarry: Newtownards, Ballywalter —

887. Ms Trainor: Our organisation’s arts membership list of 80 is well spread across all regions in Northern Ireland. I can forward a breakdown of how the membership is split to the Committee. A lot of those areas are very well covered. The challenge for us is to get the arts organisations that are currently members to help spread the word in those communities. We can use our arts membership as ambassadors for the organisation. We need to make that work harder for us.

888. The Chairperson: Will you provide some examples of in-kind sponsorship for Dominic?

889. Ms Trainor: We spoke about the in-kind sponsorship from Ulster Bank, and BT has provided full marketing support and rebranding.

890. Mr D Bradley: Does that mean that BT staff will be working on behalf of the arts organisation?

891. Ms Trainor: Yes. A lot of arts organisations currently receive in-kind sponsorship for events from drink sponsors. A big area of sponsorship is print and design, because there are high costs in printing. A lot of arts organisations receive print sponsorship, which can be very valuable to them if they have limited marketing budgets.

892. Ms Wake: A lot of business expertise is brought into arts organisations by introducing businesspeople to the boards as mentors and advisers of those organisations. If they were paying consultancy fees, that would cost thousands of pounds, but we negotiate that free of charge.

893. Mr McNarry: When did you say you were opening an office in Newtownards?

894. The Chairperson: I commend you on the success of your Allianz Arts and Business awards evening in the Reform Club in Belfast. I was pleased to be able to attend and witness what you do. There is no sign of Wendy today.

895. Ms Trainor: She is tied up with her media commitments.

896. The Chairperson: Thank you for coming along this morning.

897. Ms Trainor: Thank you for inviting us, and thank you for attending the awards ceremony, Chairman.

23 April 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

898. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): I invite the Committee Researcher to make a presentation on European funding of arts and culture.

899. The Committee Researcher: I am here to brief the Committee on the levels of funding provided for arts and culture in various European countries. I will highlight individual countries’ approaches to funding and the mechanisms that they use to contribute to the arts and culture sector. A previous presentation outlined the funding levels in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Today, I will focus on other European countries.

900. A report entitled ‘Financing the Arts and Culture in the European Union’ contends that, in most countries, state spending on culture refers only to figures provided by their culture ministries and ignores the contributions that are made by other ministries. The report states that information is mostly presented out of context. Data collection on public expenditure for culture from secondary sources suffers from limitations, such as a lack of coherent definitions of culture on a national and a local level and differences in research methodologies that often result in inconsistencies and gaps. Eurostat’s definition of culture includes creative arts, museums and archives, the performing arts, libraries, film and video, without broadcasting and art education. Eurostat suggested that the average national spending on culture of the 27 EU countries as a percentage of GDP for the period 2000 to 2005 varied from 0.3% to 1.2%.

901. In 2006, however, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) considered a broader concept of culture, which suggested that the variation in average national spending on culture of European countries was between 0·4% and 2%. The OECD places Luxembourg and Denmark at the top end of the GDP percentage spending scale and Greece at the bottom. The report showed an increase in public spending on culture in Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg and Portugal and a decrease in public spending on culture in Germany and Sweden.

902. There are differences in preferences among the EU countries in the allocation of public spending on culture. For example, spending on cultural heritage and museums is highly prioritised in Greece, Italy, Malta, Cyprus, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Performing arts, including music, theatre and dance, are primarily subsidised in Austria, Germany, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.

903. Arts and culture are supported by private foundations in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy and Spain. The European Foundation Centre (EFC) defines a foundation or trust as:

“an independent, separately constituted, no-profit body with its own governing board and with its own source of income, whether or not exclusively from an endowment".

904. Cultural activities are widely supported by private foundations in Germany, especially those that operate at local levels. Portugal also has a tradition of private-foundation support. In Belgium, support from foundations amounted to €15 million to €16 million in 2000, representing 13% of the total budget of private foundations. Indeed, in the Netherlands, support to culture by private associations and foundations can represent as much as 2% of total cultural expenditure.

905. Lottery funding provides additional sources of financial support to culture and the arts across Europe. However, the lack of impact or evaluation studies on lottery funding for culture allows for only general observations to be made. The stability of lottery funding is not ensured by any measure. The Finnish model could provide a solution; the Finnish Government compensates for lottery shortcomings.

906. In the United Kingdom, 33·4% of total lottery revenues are devoted to the arts and heritage. In Poland, lottery money was given to cultural enterprises and cultural investments, representing 46% and 19% of total lottery funding respectively. In the Flanders community in Belgium, 72% of lottery funds to arts and culture support the performing arts; 12·5% of lottery funds are spent on social cultural work, and 9% of lottery funds are spent on museums.

907. I will list European countries and the value added to national GDP through culture. In Denmark, the value added to national GDP was 5·3% in 2000-01; in the United Kingdom, the value added was 6·8% in 2001, which represented €85 billion; in Finland, the value added was 3·8% in 2002, which represented €4·3 billion. In Latvia, the value added was 4% in 2004, which represented €0·3 billion; in Sweden, the value added was 9% in 2000-01, which represented €17·1 billion; in Lithuania, the value added was 0·2% in 2002, which represented €0·04 billion; and, in Poland, the value added was 5·2% in 2002, which represented €17·3 billion.

908. The Chairperson: Thanks very much. Do members have any questions on the comprehensive information that has been provided by Research and Library Services on the various regional approaches to funding?

909. Mr K Robinson: There was specific mention of Flanders and the Flemish community in Belgium. Do the Walloons, the French-speaking folk, have a separate cultural input?

910. The Committee Researcher: The EU report from which the information is taken has divided those communities into two separate entities. However, the Flanders community seems to be more proactive in recording and monitoring statistics and is, therefore, listed in the report. The Walloons have a separate cultural identity, but, in the report, their statistics are subsumed. The statistics for the Flanders community are slightly better and more robust.

911. The Chairperson: Your evidence will feed into our inquiry. Thanks very much; we are very grateful.

23 April 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Mr Stephen Brown Miss Brenda Kent		Voluntary Arts Ireland
Mr Robin Simpson		Voluntary Arts Network

912. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): We now move on to an evidence session with Voluntary Arts Ireland. I refer members to the comprehensive written submission from Voluntary Arts Ireland and a list of suggested themes that you may wish to raise today. I invite the representatives to join us at the table. Good morning; how are you all doing?

913. Mr Stephen Brown (Voluntary Arts Ireland): Thank you very much for inviting us to talk to you. I am the chairperson of Voluntary Arts Ireland, and with me are Brenda Kent, who is the chief officer of Voluntary Arts Ireland, and Robin Simpson, who is the chief executive of Voluntary Arts Network, the UK and Ireland parent body.

914. We tried to make the point in our written submission that, as regards the arts in general, there is no clear distinction between the voluntary, community and professional arts. There is a lot of overlap, with the big beasts of the jungle and the insects all totally reliant on each other. We feel that the voluntary arts play a vital role in the entire arts sector, even in the professional arts. We are delighted that the Committee has not left the voluntary arts out and has taken account of where they stand. It can be easy to leave them out because, although they represent themselves very well, they are generally not well represented, funded or resourced.

915. Voluntary Arts Ireland, which is a small group itself, tries to champion the voluntary arts in general. We work with lots of organisations, including community youth groups in Omagh, writers’ groups in Limavady and Derry, the Sticky Fingers children’s project in Warrenpoint, Deaf Arts in Belfast and our own project with youth groups in County Antrim.

916. It is important that the sector is not ignored for several reasons. We feel that it is where engagement first starts; it is where volunteers and people find themselves participating in the arts. The voluntary arts are the most accessible part of the arts; they are to be found in the community, local pubs, barns and wherever there happens to be a venue to hold a play, a film, a choir practice or a rehearsal of some sort. The voluntary arts contribute to arts careers. A lot of the current professionals started off in the voluntary arts. A well-known flautist used to play in the 39th Old Boys Flute Band. Actors and others have started their careers in amateur drama groups. The sector contributes directly to the economy and the infrastructure of communities. Many of the festivals and venues were born and have developed as a result of voluntary pressure and voluntary work — before the professionals ever got around to it.

917. We are working on the assumption that there are about 2,000-plus voluntary groups in the North of Ireland. It is hard to be certain, because a lot of them are under the radar and we do not know very much about them. However, although there are probably more groups, we have always worked on the basis of that figure. Because Northern Ireland has the lowest level of arts funding in the UK — indeed, in Ireland as well — we worry that whatever resources are made available will be a bit more centralised and that those folk will fall off the perch. We are keen that that should not happen as it would impact on the whole voluntary system.

918. We recommend that the arts budget in the North of Ireland should be increased so that the entire arts sector might benefit from expenditure equivalent to that enjoyed in the east and the south of this part of the world.

919. Mr Robin Simpson (Voluntary Arts Network): I am the chief executive of the Voluntary Arts Network, so I am responsible for Voluntary Arts Ireland and its sister operations in England, Wales and Scotland. We are one of the six founder members of Amateo, a new European network for the amateur arts, which brings us into contact with similar organisations across Europe.

920. Another key point in our submission was the need for an overarching strategy and interdepartmental approach. The voluntary arts are important in two ways. As Stephen said, they are an integral part of the wider arts sector. The professional arts could not survive without amateurs. Many professionals start as amateurs and many amateur groups employ professionals. That is an important part of the arts ecology. That overview of the linkages between the voluntary arts and the whole sector is important — and it is important for the Department and the Arts Council.

921. The voluntary arts also make a key contribution to volunteering, the economy, lifelong learning, mental and physical health, regeneration, community cohesion, etc. Nobody joins an amateur arts group to make a contribution to regeneration or social cohesion. People join because they want to sing, act or dance. However, those community groups create a by-product that affects a lot of those other agendas, many of which pertain to other Departments. There is a lack of joining up of the potential of that quite large sector that reaches into communities throughout Northern Ireland. It is right and proper for the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) to take the lead and to work interdepartmentally to see what potential the voluntary arts have to affect health, regeneration, social development, and so on.

922. Voluntary Arts Ireland’s research shows that almost none of the small groups accesses funding from any Department or programme, and we believe that an interdepartmental approach would begin to lever more funding into the sector. The voluntary arts groups are a potential generator of more money for the arts sector from non-arts sources.

923. For years, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in England has had public service agreement targets to raise levels of arts participation, and for years it has singularly failed to meet those targets, largely because it works primarily through Arts Council England, which then charges its regularly funded organisations — about 800 arts institutions — with increasing participation. That is not where participation happens: it happens in small community groups that are not funded through any Government or Arts Council programme.

924. Recently, we have been pleased to note a growing realisation on the part of DCMS in London that there is a need to work with the voluntary arts sector if we are to really tackle issues around arts participation. Last year, DCMS commissioned a major piece of research in England called ‘Our Creative Talent: The Voluntary and Amateur Arts in England,’ which demonstrated the scale and scope of the voluntary arts sector for the first time. That paper had quite an impact on our work with the Arts Council in London, and around England in general, and on the council’s attitude to the sector and its potential. That has been a real turning point for us in England over the past year.

925. We have also been working in Westminster with the Office of the Third Sector at the Cabinet Office to look at the arts within volunteering, particularly the volunteering agenda around 2012 and the Olympic volunteering legacy. The arts provide a huge number of volunteers, many of whom go unrecognised in the wider volunteering world.

926. We have carried out a great deal of work with the Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills at Westminster. That work has concentrated on John Denham’s informal learning agenda, which was the subject of a White Paper that came out a few weeks ago. We again looked at the role that the voluntary arts sector plays in allowing people to learn to develop skills and to engage in informal learning for its own sake. DCMS has played a key role in all that interdepartmental work, and its representatives have sat with us in meetings with some of the other Government Departments, which has been very useful.

927. We have also carried out similar work in Wales and Scotland. In Wales, we recently met the Welsh Assembly’s Deputy Minister for Regeneration to examine the role of arts and regeneration, and we have planned a project that will link to that Department. In Scotland, we work very closely with the Department that is equivalent to the Department for Social Development (DSD) here. In addition, we are working on a project with Voluntary Arts Wales to examine the effects of arts participation in rural and peripheral communities, which forms part of the Carnegie Commission for Rural Community Development.

928. Therefore, there is potential for the voluntary arts sector to become involved in many areas and from many angles, but we feel that those opportunities are not always being fully exploited. Therefore, our recommendation is that the Department should take the lead in commissioning research akin to that carried out in England to inform a strategy for action to maximise the potential of the sector. Furthermore, we recommend that the Department should take the lead in establishing an interdepartmental forum to examine the potential of other agendas and other Departments.

929. Miss Brenda Kent (Voluntary Arts Ireland): I have met the Committee before. I run Voluntary Arts Ireland here, and it falls to me to talk about the money behind all of this.

930. At the outset, I want to state quite clearly that the issue is not so much about money as it is about sustainability. Money helps, but we know from research that we have carried out that volunteer-led groups have survived for four or more decades on average, despite funding difficulties. When we carried out our research six years ago, we found that one in three of those groups had received no grant aid and one fifth run on less than £100 per month. Those groups are sustainable because they have are built on community interest and have levered in vast quantities of volunteer time, and because they have raised most of what they have needed so far from sales and fees.

931. The Committee’s inquiry deals specifically with models of funding, and we suggest that voluntary arts groups are a sustainable model, provided that they have the backing of a support structure. Once those groups are supported, they thrive. They generate more activities, they lever in funding and human resources into the arts and become a catalyst for growth, rather than an ever-increasing drain on public arts funding.

932. However, those groups still need investment, and they need it now for three reasons. The first is that they face a combination of rising costs and a shrinking economy — even a £300 increase in insurance or the cost of hiring a hall can totally unbalance a budget and see arts activities vanish. The second reason is that there is a need for investment in skills as demands are rising and volunteers — not just in the voluntary arts sector, but across the arts as a whole — now need to know about issues such as constitutions, child protection and health and safety.

933. The third reason for increased investment in the arts is that we are not getting the very best out of the sector. There is no funding for groups to grow or, importantly, try new things or reach new audiences or participants. Those groups would love to grow, but they just cannot take the risks that bigger organisations can take without knowing that they have a little bit of money behind them.

934. Voluntary Arts Ireland works directly with perhaps 200 or more people a year, and that is as much as we can do with our present resources. I can provide the Committee with two recent examples of our work. The first concerns a woman from Downpatrick — where we are based — who wanted to expand the craft group that she had been running for over a year. She had engaged 50 people, aged between 20 and 80, and she had self-funded the group. However, she reached the stage whereby she could not afford to buy the willow required for basket making. She tried to obtain a local authority grant, but found that she was unable to receive one without a constitution. At that point, she came to us, and we are now helping her to develop a constitution and marketing plan to enable her to access approximately £2,000 to continue and expand her work.

935. In Belfast, the Arts Council put us in touch with a group of young people who use sign language. They were considering the best way for them to establish a group to engage in deaf arts and use sign language in the arts. They were able to contact us, and we have an expert in developing constitutions and guiding groups through that phase. The group is now on its way to establishing arts provision that will reach out to others.

936. In both cases, small amounts of money were sought. However, the other stumbling block was the ability to access support so that provision could be made or sustained. For such arts volunteers, having someone to turn to when starting out or facing challenges is a vital part of the investment structure. Hence, the recommendation in our submission is that additional funding be set aside to enable groups to develop participation and their ability to generate their own income. We also recommend that the Department grasp the opportunity presented by the review of public administration (RPA) to encourage local authority investment in local arts groups to enable volunteers to continue their current magnificent provision.

937. Mr R Simpson: In summary, I have three brief conclusions.

938. First, the funding of the voluntary sector of the arts could be improved by recognising the sector. If the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure were to take the lead by mapping the sector and developing a strategy for its growth, involving the sector and other Departments in the process, that would be an important symbolic gesture. The voluntary arts sector craves recognition rather than funding; we want to be taken seriously as a part of the arts world.

939. Secondly, the sector is largely self-funding. Therefore, what is needed is not so much core funding as the specific provision of funding to develop the sector’s ability to increase participation and audiences, thereby generating its own income and becoming more sustainable.

940. Finally, additional funding must be directed to support services that can provide arts volunteers with the necessary skills to generate sales and sustain their provision. Our creative talent study in England last year, and the research that we carried out in Northern Ireland in 2003, identified issues affecting the sector: the complexity of grant application processes; the need to raise the sector’s profile and attract new members, and the need for advice and guidance on compliance with legislation. The voluntary arts sector is proud of its artistic activity, but would benefit from more support in fulfilling the administrative and logistical requirements of running a voluntary arts group, particularly at a time when compliance costs are rising.

941. Thank you very much for your attention. I am sure that you have plenty of questions, and we will be happy to answer them based on our experiences locally, and across the UK, Ireland and Europe.

942. Mr McCarthy: Thank you very much for your presentation. The inquiry seeks to compare the per capita spend in Northern Ireland with that in other regions. Your submission draws attention to the fact that local authorities here contribute £4·11 per capita, which is almost double the amount of £2·22 spent in England and Wales. Is that in addition to the 2007 figure of £6·11 per capita that the Arts Council produced for Northern Ireland?

943. Miss Kent: Those figures are not directly comparable: one is based on studies in England, and the other is drawn from here. As some local authorities here include the cost of venues in that figure, but others do not, the figures are not comparable. We would like more work to be done in that area. Most of the local authorities are active in making small grants, some of £100 or even £50. When we try to calculate a total, we find that the grants get muddled up with everything else, such as the cost of staff who run the theatres, and it becomes nearly impossible to disentangle the figures. The local authorities here are very active, but at a lower level of grant-making than those in England.

944. Mr P Ramsey: You are welcome here today, and I note that you use some useful language.

945. Robin, you talked about a cross-departmental approach in other regions, and you called on the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure to create interaction by establishing an interdepartmental forum. Is there evidence that such an approach produces a financial dividend? You suggested, for example, that other Departments do not sufficiently buy into greater social development or education. Is there a greater level of buy-in because there is a cross-departmental approach in Wales, Scotland or England?

946. Mr R Simpson: Yes. I can give two examples. For a long time in England, we have been pushing, through DCMS, for a better way of signposting people to opportunities to participate. Some sort of online database or portal would allow people to find an opportunity to become involved in lacemaking, dancing or acting in their local community. That is something for which DCMS has struggled to find funding in its small budget — likewise with the budget of Arts Council England. However, over the past six months, we have discussed with the Office of the Third Sector at the Cabinet Office how the work that it is doing to signpost people to volunteering opportunities might link in with our work and to the development of a single, online portal. The Cabinet Office Minister has recently committed £1 million to the project, and, as a result, we are about to launch a portal. That outcome came about by bringing the two Departments together, and it is one of the things for which we have been pushing DCMS for years.

947. The other example is the work that we have carried out at Westminster with the Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills. It recognises that involvement in voluntary arts groups, such as singing in a choir or playing in a brass band, is informal learning, as much as sitting in a classroom with a teacher is. That has opened up to voluntary arts groups the new informal learning challenge fund, which John Denham has just launched. Voluntary arts group can now apply for funding from a £20 million pot from the Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills — a pot that was not available before. We have other irons in the fire in London, Edinburgh and Cardiff.

948. It is not a magic answer, but, in most cases, the other Departments to which we talk have budgets that are enormous compared to the culture budget. To lever out a small part of such a budget is of benefit to the arts as a whole and to the work of the Culture Department.

949. Mr P Ramsey: You called on the Department to carry out a mapping exercise of the sector across Northern Ireland. Presumably, that would be undertaken by the Department or by the Arts Council. Perhaps we can find that out at a later stage. Can you explain the benefit of such an exercise? What would the end product be? What would it achieve?

950. Miss Kent: There was a mapping exercise; one of the first things that we did with funding from the lottery through the Arts Council was to research the sector here, and a copy of that research, ‘Facts, Figures and Futures’, is lodged in the Library. That study is now a little long in the tooth. It established that 12% of the population is engaged in such groups: thus, a participation level was established. Once one has such figures, one can get the ear of people. That figure shows that almost 200,000 people take part in the arts. Updating that mapping thoroughly would enable us to base any overarching strategy — which, currently, does not exist — on facts. That is important if we are to make policy decisions. It would also mean that we could discover what new groups have sprung up, and which have gone to the wall because of the pressures that they have been under.

951. Mr R Simpson: When DCMS commissioned research in England last year, that had a very significant effect. It provided symbolic value. Many of the statistics that it produced were in line with what we expected and had known for years, but the symbolism of a Government Department commissioning a piece of research has caused a huge change in the attitude of Arts Council England and its approach to working with the amateur arts sector. There was much more co-operation and strategic planning as a result of the fact that the Department commissioned the research.

952. Mr K Robinson: Thank you for three very concise and succinct presentations, which are very helpful to the Committee’s work. You expressed support for the devolution of the community festivals fund to local councils, which happened in April 2008. Those councils now provide matched funding. In your view, should DCAL consider devolving other arts streams to local councils to encourage them to spend more on the arts? That is the question. The conundrum is: if there is a greater involvement of local councils, do we strangle at birth ideas, expertise and enthusiasm with the dead hand of local council involvement? [Laughter.]

953. Mr S Brown: That is a difficult one, of that there is no doubt. If we take Belfast City Council, the one council that will not change, we can see that it has experienced more and more difficulty in coping and dealing with the voluntary sector because of the level of administration that is required. Small councils are closer to the ground than big councils, but it is difficult to say what the best solution would be.

954. Miss Kent: We are going out around the countryside. There is a commitment to move some funding responsibilities to the local authorities under RPA. DCAL asked me what I thought should move, and I told it to give me some time so that I could ask the sector. We have started that conversation, which is interesting because there is an awareness that if a scheme is started, local authorities will take a slightly bigger risk — in that they only spend a few hundred pounds because it is a smaller process and they may know the groups with whom they work — than if they approached a more remote Arts Council that is used to dealing with bigger grants. Even the smaller grants are fairly sizeable in this context. For start-ups, local authorities are very effective.

955. We also pick up the feeling that there are great difficulties with only having local-authority funding, in that touring cannot happen or becomes very difficult. Local authorities do not have the expertise in the art forms that the Arts Council has developed. They may not take such risks with art as opposed to local community activities. The answer is to look for something that has a balance and allows accessibility because of the location — which Stephen mentioned — but which does not drive down artistic excellence or the risk-taking that the Arts Council has developed expertise in supporting.

956. There are also other models. At one point, the Western Isles gave funding to umbrella bodies to distribute to their members because they knew them and were aware of the quality in that art form. It made the reporting a lot easier for the member groups, and yet the local authority still had accountability. Our submission refers to other models like that.

957. Mr K Robinson: The reason why I put that sting in the tail was because I spoke to a young fellow over the weekend who has been involved in marching bands for many years. I happened to say that I had not seen him for a while. He said that he does not go because the band does not march — it performs sit-down concerts. It does that because the local authority gives it an amount of money every time it performs a concert in the local park. It does not get involved in the community in the way that it did in the past. He is a good drummer — he reads music rather than being someone who just bangs — but, having been involved with the band for many years, he has now stepped away from the art. By being helpful to one agency through the local council, we have driven participants away. There must be more people like that right across the range of arts.

958. Miss Kent: There may be an opportunity for the Department, when looking at moving funding across to local authorities, to encourage them to match that and encourage some sort of continuity or consistency across the different local authorities, because it will vary. It can be quite random what is done in one area compared to another. Of course, there will be fewer local authorities, which may make it slightly easier. However, that is our point exactly: if a group’s funding — small though it may be — starts getting tied in with conditions, and we are talking about the equivalent of bums on seats, it cannot take risks. I am sure that that band would love to go and march, but it cannot do that if it will cost them an extra £200. Where will that money come from if the band has already taken all that it can from fees from its members and does not want to exclude people who cannot afford increased fees?

959. Mr R Simpson: That relates to a key theme that runs throughout our submission: the difference between core funding and developmental support. It is dangerous for any voluntary arts group to get into too much of a stable core-funding relationship with anybody for those reasons. It could become so reliant on that funding that it plays that game and goes with those strings. It would be better for some of the funding to be predicated on developing the group and allowing it to do something new and ambitious, and to create its own sustainability so that if that money disappears in five years, the group is not finished — it has more ability to create its own funding elsewhere.

960. Mr Shannon: In your presentation, you referred to public service agreement (PSA) 9. In particular, you referred to arts participation and the hope that that will increase by 2%. You also stated that there are 160,000 adult participants in the volunteer-led arts sector. Do you feel that the funding balance is skewed in favour of the arts organisations that go for involvement with large audiences rather than with participants? I think that the 160,000 people to whom you referred are quite significant.

961. My second question follows on from the point that you made about the allocations across art forms. You mentioned Arts Council funding for band instruments over the past 10 years. I am aware of some of the figures that you quoted. The funding that bands can apply for amounts to £5,000, but it used to be closer to £20,000. There is no comparison with bands across the water. It is easier to start a flute band, because flutes are cheaper instruments. However, a brass band is much more expensive. What can be done to help bands? Funding is not just for instruments; it can be for officers to promote interest. People start off in bands and progress. One of the greatest musicians that we have in the Province is James Galway; he is an example of what can happen.

962. Miss Kent: Underlying all of that is the fact that a cake can only be divided into so many pieces. Arts funding here, as we know, is lower than it is over the water. Therefore, we are always rearranging things; if that issue were to be addressed, there would be more money for bands and for all art forms. What underpins it all is the level of per capita spend.

963. You asked about the numbers of participants —

964. Mr Shannon: I was interested in your comments about PSA 9, which is to do with participation. You used the figure of 160,000 participants two or three times in your presentation. I wonder whether the funding balance is skewed in favour of funding for arts organisations that attract large audiences rather than actual participants.

965. Mr S Brown: One would not want to get into a beauty contest about that. We recognise clearly that large organisations such as the Ulster Orchestra need to be funded and to be supported. We are trying to show today that the whole thing is interlinked. If a choir wants to put on a performance, it has to employ orchestra players and soloists who earn their living doing that.

966. It seems to me that the funding of big organisations is rather different from that of small ones. As Mr Simpson pointed out, there is a question of whether an organisation receives core funding or development funding. A big organisation needs core funding, and we recognise that. In the voluntary sector, we look for funding for development, education and informal learning — funding that, if it is lost next year or the year after, will not mean that the venture will collapse, but will allow its organisers to develop so that they are better able to look after themselves.

967. Our ambition is to get to a point at which the voluntary sector will not need any funding — not directly. However, we will never get to the point where it will not need any support funding and support from organisations such as ours, which provides support without necessarily providing direct funding. We try to look after each other, whether it is the Ulster Orchestra or a small choir in a rural community.

968. Mr Shannon: Miss Kent said that it is not always easy to compare arts spending in Northern Ireland with the UK mainland, which is well ahead of us. The allocation of moneys to bands in Northern Ireland is disproportionate by far to the funding that is available across the water. Even if funding there was twice the amount, the figures do not add up. Fifty thousand pounds against £5,000 is ten times more.

969. Miss Kent: There are certain art forms that need large chunks of money — the purchase of musical instruments being one example. Orchestras, or groups that want to put on a fully-staged play, suddenly begin to need money for sets and costumes. That is what we were talking about: making money available for groups to take those financial risks. They may think that it will put more bottoms on seats, but it might take them a couple of years to establish themselves in a new form, or to get the money back. That type of funding, however, is not available.

970. Small grant schemes, such as Awards for All, have been very useful for that purpose. Its funding has largely been used as one-off grants to help groups make a step up. It does not answer the need for survival money when, for example, insurance premiums go up. It is difficult to know when funding is skew-whiff, because one orchestra’s needs have to be measured against a lot of £200 grants. It would be interesting to make a study of the number of grants being made rather than the amounts of money being allocated.

971. Ultimately, it is about accessibility: can those groups get hold of £500? Our research indicates that, at the moment, they cannot, unless it comes from their local authority. Few grant schemes do not go that low, and very few sponsors operate at that level.

972. Mr D Bradley: We all agree that it is very important that public money awarded to voluntary and community organisations should be properly accounted for and audited. However, many voluntary and community organisations believe that the auditing process itself eats up a disproportionate amount of the actual award in relation to staff involvement, time and the actual finance. Do you agree that too much of the meagre resources available are used up in that way? Would a less cumbersome and expensive form of auditing benefit such organisations in the arts and elsewhere, thus directing more valuable resources to front-line activities?

973. Mr R Simpson: Yes. [Laughter.]

974. The whole question of small grants is a perennial conundrum, and we did a great deal of work on it in our ‘Small Grants: Big Change’ report two years ago. There are two routes that offer solutions to the problem of the cost of administering a grant becoming more than the grant is worth in the first place, balanced with the absolute need for accountability of public money and ensuring that it is being used properly. The first of those is what we were discussing earlier about the devolving of grant-giving. That would mean giving the funding to a local authority or umbrella arts organisation that already had some knowledge and trust of the groups involved. The groups would then not need to start from scratch and prove that they exist and have a constitution and a bank account, because that would already be known.

975. I am particularly interested in the second route, which we have been looking at over the past few years. It involves looking at more innovative forms of monitoring and evaluation. There is a lot of academic work going on in this area through several international organisations. A Finnish study two years ago was set up with the aim of building on the micro-credit model in Bangladesh. It involves small amounts of money being given out on trust initially, with how people use that money and how they come back for more affecting their ability to receive a second tranche of money. There is some interesting academic work around that on how we could develop a trust-based system that has its own checks and balances but does not require one to fund an officer to go out and look at every project, instead involving forms of self-evaluation and peer evaluation to reduce costs.

976. Those are two ways to tackle it. It is a problem the world over, and we are aware of it.

977. Mr D Bradley: Do you agree that within the context of this inquiry — especially in an atmosphere of worsening economic conditions — this is an area which the Committee could usefully give more attention to, and which would provide more funds to front-line activities?

978. Miss Kent: It is worthy of examination, so long as it does not become a red herring that diverts attention away from the issue of how much money there is in the first place.

979. There have been improvements. For example, we receive funding from the Arts Council, and there have been notable simplifications in some of the reporting there. However, what has really made a difference with the larger groups has been a move to three-year funding, as you know where you are and can set up systems. Lottery funding has unfortunately reverted to a one-year funding model at the moment, but the three-year model has been applied in Scotland and in Sligo, with even the small groups receiving an indication of three-year funding. It is so much easier if you know what is coming and can then set up the systems to administer those funds.

980. Another option to consider is skilling the groups up to enable them to fill out a certain number of forms more effectively and efficiently. The Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action is currently researching whether groups could share administration and accountants. That would be something else to look at, rather than spending a disproportionate amount of time on administration. There are ways of gently improving the situation, and that is starting to happen. When groups have filled out the required forms, they can feed back more clearly on any difficulties with them.

981. Mr McCausland: The voluntary arts sector is an important part of the arts. Sometimes, the line drawn between the voluntary arts and community arts is somewhat artificial. Arbitrary decisions are made on what constitutes community arts as opposed to arts in the community. I find that rather bizarre.

982. Your report states that there are 1,400 voluntary groups in Northern Ireland and 160,000 participants. How did you calculate that figure of 160,000, and what are the larger groups?

983. Miss Kent: The figure has increased; that report is six years old, and a new one is required. Given the increase in population, if 12% of people remain involved, that figure will have increased to over 200,000 now. At the time of our research, the predominant sector was the performing arts.

984. Mr McCausland: Are those people who are involved in the voluntary arts?

985. Miss Kent: Millward Brown Ulster carried out the research for us and asked two questions: what people were doing and where. The first question was whether people took part, or had taken part, in any group led by volunteers — not by the local authority, professionals, local institutions or colleges — and the response of 12% of the adult population was that they participated.

986. Mr McCausland: Does that mean that 12% were participants, as opposed to members of the audience?

987. Miss Kent: Yes, they were participants. We had a stab at measuring the audiences. With the available time and resources, which came through a one-off lottery grant that was generous but not at a level to allow proper research, our estimate was of over eight million attendances at events staged by groups led by volunteers.

988. Mr McCausland: How did you arrive at the figure of 1,400 groups?

989. Miss Kent: That figure has also increased, and we are currently reviewing it. The figure of 1,400 came from asking local authorities about groups they knew, placing newspaper advertisements and our database.

990. Mr McCausland: How many of those groups are members of Voluntary Arts Ireland?

991. Miss Kent: That is a hard question. We are not a membership organisation; we allow everyone and anyone to approach us. Rather than someone who may be thinking about starting up a new youth dance group having to become an organisation in order to join us, Voluntary Arts Ireland is a free service at the point of use. As a measure of the number of people who are regularly in contact with us, approximately 2,500 individuals subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter, but we have no formal signing on the line as members.

992. Mr McCausland: How is the organisation constituted?

993. Mr R Simpson: It is a long story. We were set up as a network, and our primary purpose was to work with the existing representative organisations from particular arts forms: for example, the North of Ireland Bands Association, the Association of Irish Choirs, and so forth. Our primary constituency is the umbrella bodies of those art forms, in Northern Ireland and throughout the UK and Ireland.

994. We increasingly work with local groups individually, but the basis of our funding from the four UK arts councils has always been the free provision of services to any group that falls within the sector, rather than having a signed-up membership. Technically, we are a company limited by guarantee and, therefore, legally we have members. Those are a small number of national umbrella bodies of particular art forms who are our constitutional members, but that does not place any restriction on who we work with.

995. Mr S Brown: We have a list of those who have directly and positively supported our work.

996. Miss Kent: That is a couple of hundred people who have signed up to say that they support the work. However, we have no paid membership.

997. Mr McCausland: That renders irrelevant a number of questions that I was about to ask. I was assuming that an umbrella organisation would have members who would hold it accountable.

998. Mr R Simpson: That is a long story; I will not go into it. We were set up by umbrella organisations, and they did not want to create another umbrella, but they did want a single focal point to represent art forms.

999. Mr McCausland: Which umbrella organisations in Northern Ireland were involved in setting it up?

1000. Miss Kent: That goes back to before I was involved. I will not be able to rhyme off all the umbrella organisations. It is like thanking people: you always leave out someone. Here are some of them: the North of Ireland Bands Association; the Pastel Society of Ireland, which is run by volunteers; other organisations representing particular sectors, such as the Arts and Disability Forum. The Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCE) works with us, or at least its Northern element. Name another art form.

1001. Mr McCausland: Was Making Music involved?

1002. Miss Kent: It was.

1003. Mr McCausland: Are those organisations represented on the committee?

1004. Miss Kent: Not all of them. The committee here is elected, and organisations can be nominated to it. The North of Ireland Bands Association and Making Music are on it, but that will change. Not every organisation is on it at once.

1005. Mr McCausland: Is CCE a member?

1006. Miss Kent: It has not nominated to the committee.

1007. Mr McCausland: I will leave it at that.

1008. Lord Browne: In your submission, you state that 31% of voluntary arts groups receive no grant aid whatsoever, and another 31% receive grant aid from one particular body. You refer to a misconception that the Arts Council does not fund the voluntary arts. How do you think it could reach out to groups that are not aware that money is available? Could DCAL make it easier for arts organisations to access funding from other Government bodies?

1009. Miss Kent: The Arts Council has a small grants scheme, and that will have an impact in connecting the Arts Council to smaller groups — the grants are still not minuscule, but they are small. In a previous round, the Arts Council had people engaged to talk with the groups, and it found that very beneficial in working out how to work with small groups. That is developing. Part of the difficulty is that perception that needs to be overcome. There should be a specific initiative to have smaller groups skilled up in answering the necessary questions to apply for a grant correctly and in understanding the language. The people running these groups work in banks and greengrocers; they do not have the arts jargon. Some upskilling of people to access the funding that is already there is necessary.

1010. With respect to Departments, I have just come from a conference at Billy Hastings’s hotel, where Margaret Ritchie has announced an additional £130,000 in small grants to voluntary organisations. The total for next year is now £330,000. I guarantee that, unless we do something to enable small arts groups to access that money, it will not be accessed as well as it might be. Department talking unto Department would make a huge difference in making funding accessible.

1011. Mr R Simpson: That is a common problem across the UK. The criteria for funding from the Department for Social Development, the Department of Health or — to take a Westminster example — the Department of Communities and Local Government appear to fit arts groups absolutely. They seem to fulfil the criteria by contributing to community cohesion or whatever. In practice, when they try to apply for those funds, they are often turned back at the first point of entry and told that, as an arts organisation, they must speak to the Arts Council. However, the Arts Council has a limited amount of money in each case and, with the costs involved in administering small grants, struggles to devolve it. Those schemes, which are set up precisely for community groups, do not always benefit arts groups as much as they could.

1012. As a result of the research it commissioned last year, our work in London with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has created a series of meetings with other Government Departments to ensure that arts groups get access to those pots of money. That is a very specific action within that plan. The Department could give a lead here to help open up schemes that, on the surface, appear to be accessible to arts groups. In practice, people just see the word “arts" and send the groups back to the Arts Council.

1013. The Chairperson: The amateur drama sector was mentioned earlier. It was said that voluntary arts crave recognition more than funding. Is anything happening to assist that sector to get more recognition and funding?

1014. I never cease to be amazed at the success of local drama festivals. Recently, I attended two nights of the Mid Ulster Drama Festival, and, on the closing night, there was an amazing buzz when the Omagh Players did ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’. Such festivals provide very good value for money, and, whatever limited funding they get, they seem to reach the communities.

1015. Mr S Brown: I am not sure how much funding they get, but you are quite right to say that they are very busy and very active. There are schemes linking them with professional groups, in which the professional groups will sometimes apply for the money and bring in an amateur group as part of the production.

1016. Miss Kent: There are umbrella bodies, such as the Ulster Association of Drama Festivals. The Drama League of Ireland, although based in the South, also supplies training and skills for everyone. The Amateur Drama Council of Ireland also provides support. The Ulster Association of Youth Drama is another such body. Through the Association of Irish Musical Societies, that area of the arts has a fairly strong infrastructure of support bodies, compared with many other art forms that do not enjoy that.

1017. Mr R Simpson: Amateur theatre is fiercely networked the world over. The International Amateur Theatre Association is one of the most organised bodies that we deal with. Amateur theatre is really interesting; over 30 years on, it still suffers in the eyes of most members of the public from the view of Penelope Keith in ‘The Good Life’ practising for ‘The Sound of Music’. There is a perennial view of amateur drama as somehow being “amateur" in the worst sense of the word. That is really unfortunate, because you are right to say that there is some very high-quality work making some quite complex and interesting plays accessible in local communities around the country.

1018. Two breakthroughs have been made recently. First, amateur theatre has always suffered in comparison with music in that there is a complete divide between amateur theatre and the profession. In music, it has always been the norm that a choir will employ a professional conductor or professional soloists. In amateur theatre, because of the stance of Equity, for many years the amateurs and the professionals were not allowed to mix and there was no go-between.

1019. That barrier is breaking down now, and there are new Equity rules about community casts and the involvement of amateurs in professional productions, which, as Mr Brown said, are beginning to make distinct breakthroughs. Over the past few years, I have seen some great things at my local theatre in Northampton that have involved amateurs within a professional production.

1020. The second breakthrough, on which we have been working and which is in its relatively early stages, is the 2012 World Shakespeare Festival, which is part of the Cultural Olympiad and is being organised by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Michael Boyd, the director of the RSC, made a public announcement last year that he was keen to involve the amateur drama sector in the festival. We phoned him immediately to ask him how that would be done, and we have now had a series of meetings with the RSC to look at amateur involvement in that festival and, importantly, how the festival can be spread across the UK so that is not limited to the two Stratfords.

1021. In October, we are having a consultative weekend at which we will bring together around 25 amateur umbrella bodies with staff and actors from the RSC to look at how we will collaborate on that festival. There are signs of the beginnings of a breakdown in the barrier between professional and amateur theatre, and that is really exciting.

1022. Mr McCausland: You mentioned the additional £130,000 of small grants from the Department for Social Development (DSD). Is that going to arts groups, as well as to other groups?

1023. Miss Kent: An announcement was made on that about an hour ago. My researcher phoned the voluntary community unit at DSD, which had not heard of it. Perhaps we did not get the right person. Margaret Ritchie has just made the announcement and had to run back up here, so you may ask her when you see her.

1024. Mr McCausland: I am unclear about the nature of your body. There are other band associations as well as the North of Ireland Bands Association. Are any of them members?

1025. Miss Kent: They have not nominated people to the committee, but the North of Ireland Bands Association is an umbrella above the Brass Band League. When we started, the Ulster Bands Association was on the steering group briefly when Iain was there. As you know, he has moved on and they have not engaged again. We still communicate with those groups, although we cannot force them to nominate to our committee.

1026. The Chairperson: Nelson, questions have to concern the inquiry’s terms of reference.

1027. I thank Stephen, Robin and Brenda for coming along to represent Voluntary Arts Ireland this morning.

1028. Mr S Brown: Thank you very much for listening and for giving us your time.

1029. Mr D Bradley: My point about the amount of grants that are spent on auditing could inform part of the inquiry’s recommendations. Do members think that it would be appropriate for us to have a short research paper on the percentage of grants and awards that are spent on auditing and monitoring? The paper could also look at potential means of reducing that percentage figure — while remaining accountable to the granting agency — and estimate savings that the arts bodies could make through the process.

1030. The Chairperson: Do members agree that we should request such a paper to be drawn up?

Members indicated assent.

23 April 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Mr Richard Croxford Mr Dan Gordon Mr Ciaran McAuley

Lyric Theatre

1031. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): We now move to an evidence session with representatives of the Lyric Theatre. Their written submission and a list of themes that members may want to raise are contained in members’ packs. I invite the Lyric Theatre representatives, Ciarán McAuley, Richard Croxford and Dan Gordon, to join us at the table. I do not know what guise Dan will come here under today.

1032. Mr K Robinson: That is what I was thinking. [Laughter.]

1033. The Chairperson: JJ Murphy is in the Public Gallery, but he is not allowed to speak.

1034. Mr P Ramsey: Do not encourage him.

1035. The Chairperson: He is banned from speaking. [Laughter.]

1036. Good morning. It is still morning; we have not reached the afternoon yet, but we are not far away. I formally welcome the three representatives of the Lyric Theatre: Ciarán McAuley, executive director, Richard Croxford, artistic director, and Dan Gordon, board member, among other things.

1037. Mr Ciarán McAuley (Lyric Theatre): I thank the Chairperson and Committee members for inviting us here to provide evidence to your inquiry. Our presentation will be in three parts, and we will stick within our time limit.

1038. I have a background as a chartered accountant, so I will provide some data that supports the case for arts funding to be increased. I will then hand over to my colleague Richard who will talk about what we believe we could do with greater funding and about the opportunities for developing as a society in Northern Ireland through increased arts funding. Finally, Dan will tell some stories about what is happening on the ground and how that changes people’s lives. We will focus on theatre, because it is our background and also because it is the mother art form that involves other creative areas. Theatre essentially incorporates everyone in the arts industry: musicians, set designers, writers, people who work in lighting or multimedia, and so on.

1039. I apologise in advance for repeating information that you have already received. You are probably tired of being given statistical data on arts funding and being told that the arts in Northern Ireland is heavily underfunded. You will not be surprised to hear me make that argument or point out that Northern Ireland lags behind the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland in that regard, with only £7·58 per capita spent on arts here.

1040. There is a very strong case for increasing arts funding. KPMG and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland carried out economic studies on both the Lyric Theatre and the Grand Opera House. There is evidence to suggest that every £1 of funding that the Arts Council invests in the Lyric Theatre generates £3·25 in the local economy. That is a significant economic driver. The Grand Opera House is an economic generator, because it contributes more than £5 to the local economy for every pound that it receives in public subsidies.

1041. The 2004 Shellard Report conservatively estimated that professional theatre alone contributes £2·6 billion to the UK economy. That makes a strong case that arts is a key economic contributor to society.

1042. Of Northern Ireland’s population, 4·6% — about 33,000 people — are currently employed in the creative industries, which puts them on a par with agriculture. That compares with the average of 6·8% for the rest of the UK. In an Assembly debate on 9 October 2007, the then Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Edwin Poots, reported that emulation of what was occurring in the rest of the UK could potentially generate the substantial figure of a further 11,000 new jobs in the creative industries in Northern Ireland. It may be difficult to do so in the current economic climate, but that is a figure on which to home in.

1043. Northern Ireland is undoubtedly becoming a key tourist attraction. Cultural tourism is growing faster than any other tourist sector, and engages 39% of the visitors to Northern Ireland every year, which equates to about 224,000 people. Any Committee members who have been to other cities will realise that the cultural infrastructure of a city is attractive to tourists — from players of Mozart in a Prague church to the Louvre in Paris. Visitors want to go to a city’s cultural venues and experience the cultural products. Our objective is to create a vibrant tourist destination in Belfast with a cultural product that is both bought in and can compete with the west end in other cities and with an indigenous product that people will not get anywhere else.

1044. Business leaders cite the presence of a rich cultural environment as one of the major incentives for locating their businesses in a city. We welcome the significant investment in Northern Ireland’s capital infrastructure over the past few years. However, we believe that without a significant increase in revenue funding to support activities in our theatres and arts spaces, there is a real risk of being unable to realise the full potential of our arts and education products. That is particularly true in a market in which competition for the leisure pound is becoming stronger and more varied.

1045. Northern Ireland is already a significant national and international exporter of artistic talent. It has already produced people whose names we all know, such as Liam Neeson, Jimmy Nesbitt, Stephen Rea, Adrian Dunbar, Marie Jones, Stewart Parker, Ken Branagh, Graham Reid, Geraldine Hughes, Zara Turner, Bronagh Gallagher, Christina Reid, Martin Lynch, Jennifer Johnston and Ciarán Hinds — who acted in the HBO series ‘Rome’. Those people all work at a national and international level. If we can do that with the funding that we have had to date, just imagine what could be achieved with more funding. I will hand over to my colleague Richard who will talk more about that.

1046. Mr Richard Croxford (Lyric Theatre): With greater levels of funding, our vision is to build upon the Lyric’s established role as a centre of regional excellence and position it as an international-class theatre based in Northern Ireland. The Lyric has the potential to draw people not just locally, but from around the world. For the creative energy that it produces, and artistry of life that it induces, the Lyric will have the greatest reputation for producing the finest in theatre through a year-round programme of activities.

1047. The new building will consist of a 394-seat main auditorium, a 150-seat studio, a rehearsal room and an education room. It will be a source of great pride for local people and a must-visit tourist attraction. Audiences will be able to see a much broader range of shows — classical, modern, comedy, tragedy and musical genres. They will see the boundaries of theatre stretched and their lives reflected, explored and celebrated through theatrical ingenuity. Local artists will be supported and developed into the stars of tomorrow, like those about whom Ciarán talked, and that will help the image of Northern Ireland, not just here but beyond these shores.

1048. The dedicated education spaces in the new theatre will enable the Lyric Theatre to provide significantly enhanced opportunities for children from all areas and social backgrounds to have access to the arts, to develop socialisation and communication skills and to interact outside their traditional community boundaries, all within a safe, supportive and professionally regulated environment.

1049. The Lyric Theatre’s vastly improved facilities will also help us to reach out to communities that we have not previously been able to. As well as enhancing those communities’ artistic skills, work on dynamic arts projects will explore issues that are relevant to those communities. The Lyric Theatre will give them a voice and the opportunity to share with other communities.

1050. Therefore, 2011 will see a major watershed in the development of professional drama in Northern Ireland through the Lyric Theatre. After decades of poor infrastructure and sectoral underdevelopment, Belfast will experience the impact of having the quality and scale of facilities that have long been enjoyed by similar-sized cities — or will it? The impact that I have described will not be possible without substantial investment of public and private funding in the development of infrastructure and the annual programme of cultural projects and events.

1051. The Government’s investment in arts infrastructure has already provided new arts spaces in Northern Ireland. However, what good are spaces if we have nothing to put into them? Do Northern Irish theatre audiences not deserve better than a few small-scale productions? Greater resources enable more productions of a higher standard and on a larger scale. Writers and companies are frequently reduced to writing for small cast plays. Consequently, the spectacle element of theatre — which is one way to attract new audiences — is lost. Moreover, local artists will obtain less work, and the creative drain of talent from Northern Ireland will continue.

1052. Given that many work and leisure pursuits now occur with individuals sitting at computers, we need the arts now more than ever. Shared cultural experiences build communities, and that is exactly what theatre provides. The Assembly has the power to be proactive and recognise the benefits of the arts. Investment in the arts is an investment in all our futures, because the arts have the potential to help to create more rounded human beings who are not only capable of being a positive attribute in society, but are keen to do so.

1053. Mr Dan Gordon (Lyric Theatre): I have not prepared a major speech. As a practitioner in the industry, I will approach the issue from an anecdotal angle. When people ask me what I do for a living, I usually tell them that I am a painter and decorator. If I tell them that I am an actor, they say: “Well, I have never seen you in anything". I feel a wee bit bad about that. People who recognise me are usually complimentary. The profession has been undervalued for many years, and the concept of actors being rogues and vagabonds has existed since theatre’s inception.

1054. We achieve a lot, but our achievements are difficult to put down on paper. Nowadays, people require facts and figures. They want to know how many people watched a play, but one cannot make value judgements about how effective a play is or how it affected those who viewed it. I have been associated with the Lyric Theatre for about 30 years, and the first show that I saw was a play called the ‘The Colleen Bawn’ starring Liam Neeson. I still remember the cast, and what I took from the play. It was a very moving and exciting experience. However, it is impossible to describe exactly what effect it had on me.

1055. The gentlemen who are with me, and previous visitors to the Committee, will have outlined the well-rehearsed argument about how theatre can generate finance and profile. It has always been a hand-to-mouth existence. In the late 1980s, I made a decision to stay in this country and work on plays about here for people here, because that excited me. I say that with due respect to other actors who can go and play Banquo, Macbeth, and so on in Musselburgh, Plymouth or Exeter. I had my time doing that. Not everybody can do what we do. For example, not everybody can use a particular pronunciation of the letter h and make 1,000 people laugh. Those people understand the intricacies of our cultural existence, and I enjoy that strength and the ability to do that in a theatre.

1056. We are in the business of making plays. I make no excuse for that. All my life in this country has been about searching for identity and trying to determine who I am, where I am, where I am going to and where I am coming from. Many people here struggle with those questions. Over the years, the use of drama and the arts to find an expression has been magnificent. However, it has been a hand-to-mouth existence; we are always worrying about the next play and about how many actors we can afford.

1057. The gentlemen who are with me mentioned a centre of excellence. I like that description very much, and we are, to a degree, the only game in town. The Lyric Theatre is the only remaining producing theatre that has a company of people who can be used to produce plays regularly. We have lost people such as Michelle Fairley, who has lived in London for a long time and who will play George Best’s mother in a drama on BBC2 on Sunday night. Actresses such as Zara Turner from ‘Sliding Doors’ and the bigger names such as Neeson, Nesbitt and Dunbar have had to seek work elsewhere.

1058. We have many very good actors, technicians and writers who want to be creative here. If we do not invest in that, those numbers will drop. We need to be able to walk before we can run, too. We must produce work here for our own audiences and our own people. Of course, I want to make productions for the rest of Ireland, the UK, the States and Europe. I would love to do that. However, I want to do that for people here first of all, because that is where I am from. That is what interests and excites me about the Lyric Theatre.

1059. I will quickly describe a group of people that I worked with in a youth theatre called the Lyric drama studio, which we have relaunched. It has re-emerged a number of times over the years. I was involved with the studio in 1980-81, and included in that group of people who spawned from the Lyric Theatre were Bill Neely, the ITN correspondent, Emer Gillespie, who is now a children’s novelist, and Wallace McDowell, who is a theatre practitioner and lecturer at the University of Warwick. There were also Dermot Boyd, who has directed ‘Ballykissangel’ and worked with Gielgud and Richardson when they were alive, and Stephen Spence, who is the assistant general secretary of Equity. That was just one group of people who were involved with the Lyric Theatre at that time. I could go on for hours listing other groups and talking about what can be achieved exponentially, but I will not.

1060. All of the people in the theatre community throughout the Province, and well beyond, have come through or been involved with the Lyric Theatre at some stage. They have either appeared on the stage or have seen a production there that has moved them and given them the drive to get involved in the business.

1061. An outreach and education programme has also spawned from the theatre’s work. There has been a resurgence. We are working with the Ulster- Scots Agency on a number of schools projects. Prior to that, we visited 30 primary schools at the beginning of the year in an attempt to reach out and build our audiences. We want to get children into the theatre, not just to see pantomimes and Christmas shows — although that is very often their first experience — but to see real plays, something that is very exciting and more immediate than just watching a film or playing a Playstation game.

1062. That is all I want to say for now, because I think we need to start the question-and-answer session. Thank you very much for listening.

1063. Mr D Bradley: Thank you very much. I think the last play that I saw you in was ‘The Hypochondriac-t’.

1064. Mr Gordon: No, I directed it.

1065. The Chairperson: Was Stephen Nolan not in that show? [Laughter.]

1066. Mr D Bradley: He certainly should have been. Congratulations, it was very enjoyable. I am very appreciative of the work done by the Lyric Theatre through the years. I have seen many good shows, the latest of which was ‘Pumpgirl’, which was on tour. It was an excellent production, and I congratulate the playwright, Abbie Spallen. I see that she recently received one of the Stewart Parker awards. Perhaps, Chairman, we could consider writing to congratulate her on that.

1067. One of the most surprising things that I heard in your presentation was your assertion that the creative industries were on a par with the agriculture industry. I was taken aback by that, because we all know that the agriculture industry is one of the mainstays of the economy here. Few of us would have imagined that the creative arts industries were on a par with that industry, and I do not think that the general population in Northern Ireland is aware of that. If the general public and the political classes realised that, perhaps they would place more value on the work that you do, and you would be in a stronger position to attract more funding and support.

1068. How do you think that you can promote that particular statistic and ensure that your industry is to the forefront of the minds of the public and the politicians here when it comes to consideration of the economy?

1069. Mr McAuley: There is a lack of understanding among the general population as to what the arts are and what they can be. That is no reflection on the general population; we are all guilty of that. There is a perception that the arts are highbrow, and that they exist in a theatre and in buildings in which some people do not consider themselves as either belonging or feeling comfortable. We need to break down that perceptual barrier and show that the arts are not that; they are something much greater than that. Everybody who watches a soap opera on TV is watching something that has been generated by the arts. Every one of those actors, technicians, producers and directors has come from an artistic background, whether they have been working in a theatre or in other arts projects.

1070. We have to get the message across to the general population that the creative industries are much wider than just a theatre, stage or play, and we must make people realise that the arts have much closer links with people on the ground than they might perceive. What we have to do, as a theatre and as an arts community, is not only get that message out, but continue to break down the perceptual barriers to enable people to feel comfortable crossing the threshold of a theatre.

1071. I have found that some people feel uncomfortable coming to a show for the first time, because they do not know what to do during the interval, whether they need to wear a black tie and suit, whether they have to clap at a certain time or whether they can get up and go to the toilet. For us, the experience is probably second nature, but for many people who have never been to a theatre before, it is quite terrifying. Therefore, we need to find ways of bringing people into the theatre, other than to see a theatrical production. We need to introduce them to the building, the people and the concepts, so that they feel comfortable the next time that they come. That can be done through education projects or through a musical recital, or by introducing kids to workshops at a young age. We have to find a way of doing that. The mission for us is to find those routes. We are already working very hard on that, but, again, with greater funding, the opportunities would be much wider.

1072. Mr Croxford: The media also has a large part to play. The media in Northern Ireland has not been particularly supportive of the theatre in general. Dan now writes a column for the ‘Sunday Life’, but we need more coverage of the arts. Such coverage seems to be getting cut back further and further, and that is not helping at all. Messages from the Government, the Arts Council and public bodies are hugely helpful. When we are looking for extra financial support, we find that if people know that we have the backing of DCAL and the Arts Council, it makes a considerable difference, and it helps to get the message across to people about the benefits of the arts.

1073. Mr D Bradley: I take your point about the need to widen the appeal of the arts and to break down the perceptions that it is the fur-coat brigade who attend theatres. The point that I was getting at was that the economic significance of the arts is much greater than people realise, and it is a message that we need to bring home to the general public and to the Government. That, in itself, makes a very strong case for greater support and greater promotion from the point of view of finances and resources.

1074. Mr Gordon: It is better when other people say those things for us, because, if we say such things, it just sounds like we are banging our own drum. These types of sessions are helpful.

1075. Mr D Bradley: Farmers are not afraid to bang their own drums, Dan.

1076. Mr Gordon: We do bang our own drum, but, if people in authority point out the facts and say that they accept them as such, we have a much better chance of promoting our message.

1077. Lord Browne: I want to develop the issue a bit further. We are obviously living in very difficult financial times, and the creative industries are just as important as the financial industry. That is something that we should look at. These are very exciting times with the opening of the new Lyric Theatre. Are you providing any opportunities for creative apprenticeships for young people who are coming out of secondary or tertiary education? Do you have any programme for bringing them into the creative industries, which, as I said, are as important as the financial industry?

1078. What is the private sector’s involvement in your new projects, and are you happy with the contribution that it makes to the arts? Do you believe that the Department could help you to access private funding? Do you think that the Department has played the role that it should have in promoting the arts?

1079. Mr Croxford: With regard to the opportunities for young people, just before Easter we had performances at the Lyric drama studio, which has just been restarted. It is purely for young people from the ages of 18 to 22. Every week they meet to get tuition from local facilitators, as well as facilitators of international renown. Since January, they have been working on text, and they did a performance just before Easter.

1080. We are keen to carry on with work. The participants come from different backgrounds and all walks of life. They come from Belfast, County Down, Warrenpoint, Donaghmore, Donegal, London and the USA. There was even a girl from the Czech Republic; she is now based in Belarus but is living in Belfast at the moment. So, there is a broad range of people. We also have the Lyric summer schemes, in which we work with children and young people. We hope to expand those schemes, and they are aimed at developing artistic skills as well.

1081. Lord Browne: I saw a very fine performance by Cregagh Primary School about the shipyard, and it compared very favourably with most professional productions. It is encouraging to see young people of that age being encouraged take part in local drama.

1082. Mr Croxford: We have a number of education projects, and that one was aimed at primary schools. We go into schools as a professional organisation. We show them how a professional organisation produces a piece of theatre and how to develop it so that they will get the best from it. As you said, the results spoke volumes.

1083. We have also been doing education projects with secondary schools. We did a production of ‘The Home Place’ recently, and we took that into secondary schools. Again, the children were from all over the place, although mainly from Belfast — Ashfield Girls’ High School, St Joseph’s College, Lagan College, St Louise’s Comprehensive College, Hunterhouse College, St Malachy’s College, Victoria College, Belfast Metropolitan College and a school in Edinburgh. That project took elements of ‘The Home Place’ and explored the theatrical dimensions. There were also social issues as a result of the production; it was not just about the theatrical elements.

1084. Mr K Robinson: Thank you very much for your presentation. Could I major on Dan this morning? Dan, I congratulate you on establishing my identity for me. I have listened to you talking on the radio about the Markethill band parade — something that I have never attended but hope to, having heard your very objective commentary on what was happening and your interview with the people there. You gave an insight into the east Belfast community around the demolition of the houses around the Oval at Dee Street, and so forth. Again, you let the people say who they were.

1085. You work with primary schools, which have a lot of potential. As a former primary school principal, I was horrified to find four clergymen’s daughters cavorting in tights in their school production of ‘Cabaret’. I also watched your programme on young offenders, which I thought was tremendous. Your patience was also tremendous — saintly, in fact. However, you got the end product and you brought those young people with you.

1086. You have made a breakthrough and the Lyric Theatre is now on the cusp of a new era. In the past, the Lyric Theatre did not represent me or my community. You described my experience completely: the last time I went there I felt totally uncomfortable and out of place. That was several years ago. You must break that mould. I will mention the elephant in the room. One community is very involved in the arts; it is its bread and butter; its meat and drink. However, my community is somewhat stilted in its approach to the arts. We are not quite sure whether it is us, and when we do go to see productions, they sometimes do not really reflect us as we feel we are.

1087. That is why I wanted to turn to you first. You have made that breakthrough, and the Lyric Theatre now has the potential to break through into the Protestant/unionist community in a way that was never possible before. I congratulate you on what you are trying to do, and I bring those matters to your attention.

1088. I will now ask you the question that I was told to ask you. What actions do you think the Department or the Arts Council could take to promote and develop investment in theatre here to the levels that we see across the water and down South?

1089. Mr McAuley: To go back to what Richard said earlier, there is the idea that there is a very vocal presence. Also, to go back to the agriculture argument; agriculture is always at the forefront of press statements in the news, the media and the in stories that go out into the public forum. The arts are not like that. They are always the poor cousin, and they hit the news or press statements only if something significant happens. Change must be driven by Government, by the media and by us on the ground. We need to create a larger presence to put the arts up there and represent them as a significant player in people’s social lives and the economy. If we can raise the platform of the arts and the importance that they play in society, relationships, education and the economy, we will then be able to use that to leverage greater funding out of organisations, trusts and foundations.

1090. The Arts Council, the Government and the media need to find a combined approach, through joined-up thinking, and develop a strategy to increase the profile of the arts throughout society. They need to help people to realise how it affects them on every level.

1091. Mr K Robinson: Dan, you made a comment about our uniqueness, and that is great for local audiences. However, we, the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure, are interested in attracting visitors to Northern Ireland. What can the new theatre — with its new facilities, plays and actors — offer a visitor to Belfast? How can the theatre provide for them? How can you attract visitors to the theatre? How will you make the theatre relevant to, I hope, a growing tourism industry?

1092. Mr Gordon: It is about representing our identity on stage. Visitors come here to see us. We could bring them here and show them ‘Blood Brothers’ or ‘Hello, Dolly!’, but people can see that anywhere.

1093. With respect, and digressing slightly, you mentioned that our community has not been represented to the extent that it might have been. Many playwrights — from Stewart Parker to Graham Reid and Christina Reid — have represented our cultural identity on stage, but that has not been recognised as such because of some people’s attitude of fear about going to the theatre, which I also grew up with. We are trying to open the theatre up to those people.

1094. Much of the work that I have done through the Lyric has happened behind the scenes. We are not terribly good at advertising events, because we are busy preparing for them. We have not got the people to encourage investment and lobby for planning down the line. We are firefighting as we go along.

1095. We are very conscious that we are Belfast-centric. Do not get me wrong, I love Belfast, but we really want to get out of it. The advent of the new arts centres all around the Province is fantastic. However, if we do not continue to invest in people and theatres such as the Lyric — which allows us to take our product out and about — unfortunately, art centres, through no fault of their own, will be hosting wrestling events, which has already happened in several arts centres. There is a place for that, but I hope that we can give more than that. It is about allowing investment. Unfortunately, it comes down to investment, because money allows us to take plays on tour, which we are willing to do.

1096. If we could show plays that are written by local playwrights we would, but playwrights cannot just sit down and write a play such as ‘Pumpgirl’. It takes a long time to develop a script. Really, we rush scripts out, because often we have got only six months to do it when really we would like a year or a year and a half. Some scripts need to be done immediately because they are relevant and “now". However, in order to make a really good script, development is needed, and that takes money and time.

1097. For example, in the past five years the Abbey Theatre has commissioned 27 playwrights, or was that in the past year?

1098. Mr Croxford: That is just this year.

1099. Mr Gordon: How many playwrights have we commissioned?

1100. Mr Croxford: Er, one?

1101. Mr K Robinson: I rest my case.

1102. Mr McCarthy: You referred to the positive impact of the establishment of a national theatre in Scotland. In November 2008, the Lyric Theatre attended a round-table meeting that the Committee organised to discuss the possibility of a similar theatre being built in Northern Ireland. Can you tell us what progress the various stakeholders have made since that meeting? Have any formal proposals been put to the Department?

1103. Mr Croxford: No formal proposals have been put to the Department. I know that the Northern Ireland Theatre Association held a meeting on Monday, but, unfortunately, I was not able to attend, because I was at another meeting in Dublin. I have yet to see the minutes of that meeting. However, I know that Drew McFarland from Equity was going to put the idea forward.

1104. Mr Gordon: We support the proposal of building a national theatre like Scotland’s. However, that would be a separate organisation from the Lyric; it would be over and above what we do. We see ourselves as a centre of excellence. The concept of a national theatre may open a can of worms that we do not want to open. We just want to do plays. We do not want to create the identity of a new organisation. Other people want to do that and are equipped to so. We raised £4 million from private sources to rebuild the theatre; our energies have been confined to that. The Northern Ireland theatre initiative is slightly higher up from us.

1105. Mr Croxford: Having spoken to people who are involved in a number of other theatre companies, I am aware that views were expressed that were similar to those that came up in the round-table discussion. We need to put money into the existing infrastructure. We are not ready. In Scotland, it was the perfect time for developing a national theatre. We are not that far along yet; we do not have the infrastructure in place to even consider it. We must get the infrastructure right for the theatre companies that are here already, and then we can look at developing a national theatre.

1106. Mr McCarthy: You want to concentrate on what we have at the moment.

1107. Mr K Robinson: My question follows on from what Dominic Bradley said about the media. You want to write plays and be a centre for excellence. You need a shop window, which you have in the theatre and the studio facility. What help, encouragement or practical shop-window experience do you get from the local media — the BBC or UTV?

1108. Mr Croxford: We did a lot of work to get media coverage for ‘The Home Place’, and we were quite successful. However, we were fortunate that we had a very good cast, and that Brian Friel’s eightieth birthday celebrations were happening around the same time. The Lyric had not been at the Grand Opera House for a long time, and we had Conleth Hill. There were lots of exciting things for the media to latch on to, but it did take a lot of man- hours and resources that we do not have a lot of.

1109. Mr K Robinson: Do you have to approach media outlets, rather than them seeking you out?

1110. Mr Croxford: Yes. Occasionally they come to us, but most of the time it is us doing the pushing.

1111. Mr K Robinson: That is what I suspected.

1112. Mr P Ramsey: In your submission you made reference to the dependency of arts organisations on public money, and you recommended that there should be a three-year funding stream rather than a one-year arrangement. What is your understanding of the Arts Council’s perspective? Why does it not go with a three-year funding stream? I imagine that three-year funding would reduce or curtail new thinking and creativity to an extent. Is that the rationale? What is the justification from your perspective for three-year rolling funding?

1113. Mr McAuley: As Mr Gordon said, an arts project takes a significant length of time to produce from idea to fruition. It does not happen within a year; three-year funding allows an element of risk to be introduced to the production of the work. If there is no risk, creativity is limited. In a one-year funding window, risk has to be reduced; scripts and production have to be rushed in order to get the work completed within the year, because the funding is assured in that year. A three-year funding assurance means that risks can be taken and creativity can be encouraged.

1114. We are part of a three-year funding programme with the Arts Council, but it is three-year funding in name only, because the Arts Council is wholly reliant on funding from the Department that is provided on a yearly basis. Although the Arts Council commits to providing some three-year funding, it cannot tell us from year to year what level of funding that will be until it hears from the Department. That element of risk is still there, and it curtails the artistic product that we have.

1115. Mr Croxford: The new Lyric Theatre is supposed to open in 2011. At the moment, I am in discussions with people in order to pull together a programme of work for 2011-12 that will be amazing and worthy of Northern Ireland’s finest. I want to bring in high-calibre people such as Liam Neeson, and I need to be talking to them now. However, I do not have a clue what the budget will be. The original strategy for drama led us to believe that the Lyric should have a core budget of £1·5 million, but at the moment we are on £650,000. There is obviously a huge difference there, but I need to know what the budget will be so that I can plan that far ahead. It is very straightforward.

1116. Mr McCausland: I have three questions. First, you mentioned a programme that you were doing with the secondary schools. How was that funded? I am aware of the primary-school programme, but I wonder about the secondary schools.

1117. Mr Croxford: The secondary-school project was funded from money we received from the Arts Council to further our education work.

1118. Mr McCausland: This is an observation more than a question, and it relates to what Ken said earlier. A community and a culture feel valued and validated when they are represented in the schools and in the media. If that community and culture is on television, in the newspapers or in the classroom, it is valid and valued. Therefore, things like the Markethill parade have a particular importance. When a community sees itself reflected in the theatre, in drama or on television programmes, and it is not constantly portrayed in a negative way, it is good for that community and for society in general.

1119. In trying to create a shared future, the key issue is for people to feel comfortable in their community. Therefore, there is a huge opportunity when the new theatre opens for you all to reach out to the community, and I encourage you all to do that, because as Ken said earlier there is not the same affinity with the arts in that community as there might be in other communities.

1120. In relation to funding decisions made by the Arts Council, you have stated in your submission that:

“Special monitoring mechanisms are required to ensure that autonomy does not result in irresponsibility."

Does that indicate that you have concerns about how funding is currently being allocated by the Arts Council? Do you think that the necessary monitoring mechanisms are currently in place?

1121. Mr Croxford: Sorry Nelson, which section of our submission is that in?

1122. Mr McCausland: I have got the quote here, but I do not know what section it is taken from. In relation to funding decisions made by the Arts Council, you say that:

“Special monitoring mechanisms are required to ensure that autonomy does not result in irresponsibility."

While we are talking about this, the Clerk will obviously have no difficulty in finding exactly the relevant line, which is more than I can do. [Laughter.]

1123. Mr Gordon: I think that we are very well monitored. When we have to fill in any forms, or deal directly with the Arts Council, a liaison person is present. Indeed, we run ideas past the council before submitting particular projects, and if they feel that those projects will not fly then we do not put them in. Therefore, there is a fairly high degree of monitoring. I would say — because I do not do it — that there is too much monitoring.

1124. Mr McCausland: At which point the Chairperson has now got the line in your submission that I was referring to.

1125. The Chairperson: Yes. It is at paragraph 6.3 on page 9 of the submission.

1126. Mr McAuley: That point is set against the argument that perhaps funding should be taken away from the Arts Council and transferred to local councils. We would be concerned about that, because we feel that the arm’s-length position of the Arts Council, and other funding organisations, is beneficial as there is peer-to-peer assessment of funding and the organisations that are being funded.

1127. That is our preference. However, one must also realise the possible negativity of granting the power to one organisation to make those decisions; you still need someone on the other side to ensure that the decisions are proper and correct. It is about not giving too much power to one organisation to make decisions free of any interventions or monitoring.

1128. Mr McCausland: How do you monitor?

1129. Mr McAuley: We are the recipient —

1130. Mr McCausland: You said that you could give too much power to one organisation.

1131. Mr McAuley: Yes.

1132. Mr McCausland: What mechanism would you use to ensure that that power was not misused or used carelessly?

1133. Mr McAuley: It is an interesting question that I do not necessarily have the answer to.

1134. Mr McCausland: It is the question that you have raised. I am looking for an answer.

1135. Mr Gordon: It might be a rhetorical question.

1136. Mr McCausland: Never raise a question unless you know the answer to it. [Laughter.]

1137. Mr McAuley: The point is that it needs to be monitored. However, we do not necessarily have the answer as to who should monitor it and what the best mechanism for that monitoring would be. I hope that that sort of answers your question.

1138. Mr McCausland: Are there issues arising at the moment that indicate a need for that?

1139. Mr McAuley: No. We do not have any concerns at the moment. It is an overall principle that we would like to see followed.

1140. Mr Croxford: There is a concern — not just with reporting to the Arts Council, but with any funding organisation, including Belfast City Council — is that a great deal of the determination is based on the numbers of audiences, and none of it is about the actual quality of the experience. Some of it is, but quality and benefits are such difficult things to measure, like how a child in one of the primary schools that we have been working in has improved their artistic and social skills.

1141. For instance, we did the ‘Wizard of Oz’ a couple of years back to close the Lyric. There was a little boy in that production who was one of the munchkins. He had not spoken for two years, and he came to audition. He was very nervous and hardly spoke. Through that experience, however, he developed, and he was given the announcement to do at the start of the show with a microphone, and he was amazed at hearing his own voice going round the whole theatre.

1142. That is a real benefit, and how does one measure it? It is very hard to retrieve such information, as opposed to saying that there were 439 people in the audience. That needs to be taken into consideration.

1143. The Chairperson: How does the Lyric Theatre work with, or share its skills with, the amateur and community arts sector, including beyond Belfast?

1144. Mr K Robinson: That would not be west of the Bann, would it?

1145. The Chairperson: No, but it would include that.

1146. Mr McCausland: As far away as that?

1147. Mr Gordon: I liken education and outreach to golfing. There are amateur golfers and professional golfers, and there is not a lot of interaction there in many ways other than going to see them and how they perform. However, in education and outreach, we have had ?

1148. The Chairperson: The Lyric would say that the professional arts make an enormous contribution to the sustainable development of community.

1149. Mr Gordon: Oh, yes.

1150. The Chairperson: That is the point that you are making.

1151. Mr Gordon: Yes, that would be the point. We did not mention, for example, ‘Be My Baby’, a play set in the 1960s about teenage pregnancies that toured schools recently and had a vast influence on the older children who saw it.

1152. We have a relationship with a lot of the major amateur companies in Belfast. They can come to us — and we have had others — and borrow the plant from ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ or borrow a lot of props and costumes. We have a very good interaction with them and, for a small outlay for administration and cleaning the stuff, they borrow gear from us. We have loaned them lights and such things. For ‘The Boat Factory’, for example, we loaned lights and things to schools because we were not using them.

1153. However, there are difficulties when it comes to physical things because of insurance, transportation, and — particularly with electrical equipment — with regard to who will be handling it. In that sense, it is difficult. For a period, we had the Ulster amateur drama finals in the Lyric, but we do not have a building now, so that has dropped away. However, just a couple of weeks ago we were discussing re-instigating that. They did it in the Opera House for a while, but that was too big, and they found a very comfortable home for that week or two in the Lyric. That is one way that we are working towards the amateur companies. A lot of the amateurs come along and sit and watch me, and say that they could do a lot better.

1154. Mr Croxford: I see supporting amateur companies as providing the professional expertise that guides them through the processes.

1155. Mr McAuley: We have an opportunity with this inquiry, and we are at a point on the road where we can make a decision that the arts make a significant contribution to society in Northern Ireland, economically and socially. The best analogy that I can use for the arts at the moment is that it is a sick patient. We are existing hand to mouth. We are restricted in what we can do. We are a creative industry with so many ideas to get out there and change people’s lives, even breaking down barriers.

1156. I heard Dan Gordon’s piece on the bands on the radio. I thought that that was incredible and a part of culture to which I had never been exposed. I found that an incredible piece. Going to ‘The Boat Factory’ in Cregagh Primary School and hearing bits of Ulster Scots in the story about the boatyards, I found it interesting as someone who does not know about elements of that community.

1157. We have an opportunity now to look at investing in the arts and really making it a body that can significantly change, and contribute to, our society ? and significantly contribute to bringing people into our society and putting us on an international stage and showing them that Northern Ireland really is a place to be reckoned with.

1158. The Chairperson: OK. Thanks very much to the Lyric Theatre for coming along for the engagement.

1159. Mr Gordon: I have some literature that I will leave for the Committee, if that is OK. If I may also draw your attention to the Lyric website, where we have been filming and editing a lot of stuff by children with whom we have been working in the outreach programme. Some of it is up now, and some, which I only edited last night, will be up by Monday. If you get a chance to have a wee look at our website, you might get more information there.

1160. The Chairperson: Thank you.

30 April 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Ms Danielle Fields Mr John Paul McBride Ms Katrina Newell

New Lodge Arts

1161. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): Good morning. We have with us this morning representatives of New Lodge Arts; Katrina Newell, Danielle Fields and John Paul McBride. The representatives can explain the capacities in which they are here.

1162. Ms Katrina Newell (New Lodge Arts): I am the manager of New Lodge Arts, and I am joined by Danielle Fields and John Paul McBride, two participants in our programmes. New Lodge Arts welcomes the opportunity to give the Committee an oral presentation. Thank you very much for calling us.

1163. New Lodge Arts began in 2003 as a one-year pilot project delivered by Ashton Community Trust and funded through the Arts Council lottery project funding. Since then, building on its success, New Lodge Arts has grown to become a successful community-based arts organisation in its own right. We aim to provide quality arts programmes that are accessible and available at ground level and driven by the needs and demands of local young people and the wider community.

1164. Young people are at the heart of the programmes that we deliver. They feed into programme development through the youth advisory group and arts-based action learning events that are held each year prior to submitting funding applications. That ensures that they keep coming back, and our numbers reflect that. Between January and March, 190 children, young people, and their parents as volunteers were involved in arts-based projects and programmes.

1165. Young people are also involved in promoting the work of New Lodge Arts and lobbying for additional resources, and, in several instances, have actively fund-raised for the organisation. Through the Space project, young people recruited artists, oversaw the budget spend and raised additional resources to realise their vision — the creation and installation of three sofa benches for a local children’s play park. The young people raised £5,341 of a total budget of £10,800.

1166. New Lodge Arts illustrates how the arts reach across the Assembly’s Programme for Government and deliver on a range of priorities and targets. Our programmes support community regeneration; community cohesion, in sharing public spaces and bringing communities together; capacity building, through volunteering; development of access and participation; and reduction in antisocial behaviour.

1167. Through arts programmes, young people gain confidence, learn practical skills, build friendships, learn about themselves, become more active citizens and make a positive contribution to their community — the list is endless.

1168. Educationally, young people develop through the arts. That is reflected in two of the arts academy’s dance and drama participants, who were the only two children from one of the local girls’ primary schools to achieve grades in their 11-plus that will see them go to grammar school.

1169. Mr John Paul McBride (New Lodge Arts): I have been involved in New Lodge Arts since 2003, when I took part in dance and Trash Fashion projects at the Cornerhouse. Since then, I have taken part in Xmas Factor, Bigga Fish and hip-hop workshops, a youth musical theatre project at the Rainbow Factory and various dance projects. I have performed in the Beat summer carnival, Celebrate New Lodge and the St Patrick’s Day parade. I went to London to see Dance Challenge at Wembley Arena.

1170. I now volunteer for New Lodge Arts, and I am part of the youth advisory group. Being part of New Lodge Arts has helped me to develop the confidence to come up with project ideas for young people and to apply to the local youth bank to raise funding to make the projects happen.

1171. New Lodge Arts is important for young people in New Lodge, because it provides them with positive activities, encourages them to get involved and opens their minds to what is possible. Through New Lodge Arts, I have been able to work with great artists, and I have been to see fantastic performances and events. Generally, New Lodge Arts gives young people such as me opportunities that we never have had before, such as going to London to see performances, doing a project in the Tate Modern or having a film screened in the Odyssey.

1172. Ms Danielle Fields (New Lodge Arts): I became involved in New Lodge Arts in 2005 when a choreographer from Bigga Fish in London came to one of the local centres to facilitate a week-long dance project as part of Celebrate New Lodge. Since then, I have been involved in several dance projects in New Lodge Arts. I performed at Celebrate New Lodge, local festivals and events and choreographed a dance piece that was performed at the launch of the New Lodge Arts Academy last year. I volunteer as a peer mentor for the dance groups in the arts academy.

1173. I am also on the youth advisory group, and I recently received funding as a young entrepreneur to develop dance further in the arts academy. In March, I travelled to London on a study visit with other people my age and visited a centre in Bromley to see how arts and creativity are used in community development work.

1174. I have benefited immensely from my involvement in New Lodge Arts. I want to follow a career in dance, and I plan to apply for a dance and cultural studies course at the University of Ulster at Magee next year. At the minute, I am studying for A levels in art, history of art and media studies.

1175. Ms Newell: New Lodge Arts is a small organisation with a large vision. In 2005, New Lodge Arts nominated the Waterworks Park for the Channel 4 Big Art project. The park was one of seven successful sites across the UK, and the only one in Northern Ireland to be selected out of 1,400 nominations. It has been a difficult and slow process, but it is still ongoing, primarily because we are such a small organisation and already stretched to capacity. The programme, to be aired in May, will promote Northern Ireland and, in particular, north Belfast to a national audience as a positive, forward-thinking, outward-looking community.

1176. Our work is growing to include work across north Belfast with unionist communities, such as Mount Vernon and Westland. Recently, we completed a cross-community project called Tell Me Your Story. It involved young people from Westland and the Limestone Road, and it focused on the Waterworks Park. Our future plans include growing our annual youth arts festival, Celebrate New Lodge, into Celebrate North Belfast, to include Mount Vernon and Westland this year and roll out further next year.

1177. The idea for Celebrate New Lodge did not come from New Lodge Arts, but from residents from Mount Vernon who, after attending one of our arts events, asked if they could be included in future programmes. They see the impact that our work has on the young people we work with and on the wider community. Again, the difficulty arises when attempting to match the potential of expanding the work of New Lodge Arts with the capacity of the organisation and the limited short-term funding streams. For instance, Belfast City Council’s community festivals fund, which is supported by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), is vastly oversubscribed. In the last tranche of applications, six out of 22 organisations were successful, and the council estimates that seven or eight of 34 festivals will be funded in the next tranche. Such funding streams, which are small pots of money, are extremely important to small organisations, but they are difficult to access because of the great strain on resources.

1178. Over the past six years, New Lodge Arts has received funding from a wide variety of sources. The Arts Council has been the most consistent, providing three-year funding through its lottery project funding from 2004 to 2007 and since then on a year-by-year basis. In 2008, we received core funding for the first time, when Belfast City Council gave us £3,000, and it has awarded us the same amount for 2009-2010. In the past financial year, in addition to funding from the Arts Council and Belfast City Council, we have received money from seven further funders and partnerships. Applications are pending with five funders, and we will submit several more over the next few weeks and months.

1179. That reflects the level of fund-raising that is required to sustain our programmes of work, the cost of which totals approximately £120,000. It also reflects the amount of time spent on fund-raising in an organisation with one full-time and two part-time members of staff. A major challenge for New Lodge Arts is to sustain the level of work that it delivers while actively sourcing funding. Young people need the consistency that long-term, quality programmes provide. However, current funding does not allow for such consistency, and that leaves organisations such as New Lodge Arts struggling to make ends meet, with staff working well above and beyond their set hours.

1180. A recent attempt by New Lodge Arts to secure Arts Council Annual Support for Organisations (ASOP) funding was unsuccessful, despite scoring highly in the application process. We were told that the application was unsuccessful because of standstill funding within the Arts Council and that funding had to be targeted at organisations that were seen to be more strategically important in the sector. In the last financial year, community funding through ASOP accounted for less than 9% of our funding. As I mentioned, our aim is to support young people in becoming more confident and well adjusted, like Danielle and John Paul. They are optimistic about and ambitious for their future. I would like to read to the Committee a letter received from a parent:

“I am the mother of two children aged 10 and six. My husband and I separated three years ago, and myself and my daughters moved into my mother’s house in the New Lodge. The trauma of the separation had a huge impact on my children’s confidence and sense of stability, which in turn affected their behaviour and attitudes, especially my eldest daughter. She didn’t go out to play, had no friends, she was distant, was slipping at school and quite impolite, and she just wanted to be on her own all the time.

I found out through the Ashton Centre about dance classes provided by New Lodge Arts. My daughter was very apprehensive about going as she had never danced before. Three years later, and she is still attending and budding with every workshop. She has done numerous public performances and is extremely talented, something I don’t feel would have been recognised if it were not for New Lodge Arts.

Since then she has joined other programmes run by New Lodge Arts, including drama and the choir and has sang at the launch of the New Lodge Festival and in Xmas Factor. Her schoolwork has dramatically improved, and her teacher has said her attention to detail is amazing and her confidence and public speaking and meeting and greeting visitors is somewhat astounding. This I owe to New Lodge Arts.

My daughter has gone from being an introverted child hiding behind me to a child that wants to be on stage and the centre of attention. She is now a confident, unwavering child that I am very, very proud of. I could not describe the gratitude and admiration for the work of New Lodge Arts. They have given me back a relationship with my daughter and have given back my daughter her life."

1181. The Chairperson: Thank you for your presentation.

1182. Mr McCarthy: I congratulate you on the work that you have done. I also congratulate the young people; keep it up.

1183. Ms Newell: Thank you very much.

1184. Mr McCarthy:Not at all. In your submission, you state that it has always been more difficult for community arts groups to access sponsorship and financial support from the private sector. Could the Department or the Arts Council do anything to encourage and increase the level of sponsorship from the private sector, thereby giving you access to more funding and enabling you to continue your good work?

1185. Ms Newell: An increase in the lobbying of potential funders might help. Perhaps the Department could meet prospective funders and provide opportunities for them to meet representatives of the sector to find out more about the potential benefits to them. It has been extremely difficult for us as a small organisation. Our time is consumed by trying to make things happen and attempting to secure funding. When we are seeking sponsorship, we tend to write letters.

1186. For instance, we wrote to Tesco at Yorkgate, asking for funding for our Xmas Factor, and we were given two £5 vouchers as sponsorship towards the event, which is not to be sneezed at. It is difficult, but there is a lot of work that could be done around lobbying sponsors and making them aware that we are providing opportunities for young people who will join their workforce.

1187. The Chairperson:Are you aware of an organisation called Arts and Business NI?

1188. Ms Newell: Yes, I am; we have done some training with that organisation.

1189. Lord Browne: What percentage of your funding comes from the private sector?

1190. Ms Newell: Very little — about 0·5%.

1191. The Chairperson: It is negligible.

1192. Mr Shannon: You applied to Tesco, and you got more money from it than I did for a charity event. I never even got a letter back. You are £10 up. I wrote to Tesco to see whether it would give any help, or even provide drinks, for an event to raise money for the air ambulance. I was not even looking for money, only orangeade, and it would not even provide that. However, that is by the way.

1193. The Chairperson: Are you angry about it?

1194. Mr Shannon: No, I am not angry. The target, as you know, Mr Chairman, as the ambulance will be located in Omagh, was £200,000 for that charity.

1195. The Chairperson: Thank you. What is your question?

1196. Mr McNarry: Is this another presentation?

1197. Mr Shannon: I am always encouraged to see young people getting involved. Your confidence came through in your submission and in the examples that you gave. It is good for character-building. You said that some of the people who were involved in other activities — and I will leave it at that — have moved away from that, which shows the good work that you do.

1198. After that preamble, my question relates to your application for funding that was unsuccessful due to standstill funding in the ASOP scheme. Do you feel that the Arts Council is doing enough to identify alternative sources of funding for community arts organisations like yours, and to recognise the good work? Perhaps I know the answer, but I would like to hear what you say.

1199. The Chairperson: Before you answer that, Mr McNarry wants to accentuate the point.

1200. Mr McNarry: I would really like to hear the answer before —

1201. The Chairperson: I though that you wanted to come in on the back of Mr Shannon’s question.

1202. Mr McNarry: I do want to come in on the back of his question.

1203. Mr Shannon: I am always carrying him.

1204. The Chairperson: OK.

1205. Ms Newell: More could be done to find additional funding. The Committee has probably heard this before on countless occasions, but we should look across Departments to see where other funding can be made available, especially when we are meeting so many of the targets around educational attainment and bringing people together, rural development or whatever. More could be done, perhaps looking for European money or whatever is available.

1206. Mr Shannon: The Arts Council was unable to give you funding — has it indicated that it will try to fund you in other ways or by other methods?

1207. Ms Newell: We have an application in for project funding. We heard about ASOP before the application round opened for the project funding, so we are going in for that again. It makes things difficult as we are always chasing our tails. However, fingers crossed, the project funding will come through for us.

1208. Mr Shannon: It has been a recurring theme through this inquiry that people spend a lot of time filling out applications to try to get money. It is almost a full-time job. There should be some recognition of what they do, and some sort of funding would be a great encouragement.

1209. Mr McNarry: Your enthusiasm and energy is obvious, and long may it continue. What you have related to us personally about your daughter —

1210. Ms Newell: She is not my daughter.

1211. The Chairperson: A young girl.

1212. Mr McNarry: What you have related to us about the young girl stands out. Did you say how long your organisation has been in operation?

1213. Ms Newell: Six years. We have been an organisation since August 2007, but we started off as a project delivered by the Ashton Community Trust on 1 May 2003, which was when I joined the organisation.

1214. Mr McNarry: During that time, how much funding have you received?

1215. Ms Newell: I cannot give you an exact figure. I would need to check that out and get back to you.

1216. Mr McNarry: Will you have a stab at it?

1217. Ms Newell: We have received in the region of £400,000.

1218. Mr McNarry: It identifies the types of projects that your organisation runs and where it draws its funds from. Following on from Jim Shannon’s positive question, perhaps you will now be able to seek another channel for funding having been knocked back. Can you relate to us how the group felt after that? What was the impact? Just in case your language goes a bit haywire, I remind you that this session is being recorded by Hansard.

1219. Ms Newell: Have you got any tissues?

1220. Mr McNarry: It is important that we hear about your experience. You were looking forward to receiving that funding — depending on it — then, wham, it hits you. What impact did that have, and how did you recover from it?

1221. Ms Newell: I went on holiday. In this job, I take things personally. I put a lot of extra time into it, and I tend to write funding applications at home, at night, because I have so much to do during the day. I put a lot of time and effort into writing these applications. It almost becomes like a thesis; they are so thick, especially with all the supporting information. I know that I had written a good, strong application, so when I heard that the organisation did not get the funding, I was pretty demoralised.

1222. Mr McNarry: You were demoralised. Did you share that with the like of Paul and Danielle — and well done, it is not easy to sit in front of us monsters and other people in the organisation? Was that feeling widely shared?

1223. Ms Newell: The feeling was shared. At the same time, we are about encouraging young people, so we did not want them to see how down we were about the funding. I told them that we did not get it, because I had to be realistic about it and the fact that there is a big bad world out there. However, it is also about looking to the future. I was down in the mouth for two weeks, but I picked myself up again and looked for the next opportunities.

1224. I know that this happens to organisations across the sector. I wanted to emigrate after it happened, because it is so difficult to work in this sector. I give so much of myself and get very little back. I get a lot back from the young people with whom I work, but I get little back from the funding process, because it is really difficult. That is one of the issues facing the sector. It will lose people who are committed and passionate about making a change through the arts, because they are either burnt out or getting nowhere fast.

1225. Mr McNarry: Finally, how much money was involved in that setback?

1226. Ms Newell: The application was for just over £50,000. It was for core funding — my salary, my administrator’s salary and overheads. That would have enabled us to go for project funding for the programme. However, now we have got to go for project funding for salaries, as well as for the programme, for which I then have to find additional match-funding. You know how it goes.

1227. Mr McCausland: Can you clarify a few things about that 9% funding that the Arts Council gives to community arts? Did you, the Arts Council or someone else produce that figure?

1228. Ms Newell: I got that figure from the community arts forum.

1229. Mr McCausland: Perhaps it is unfair to ask this: do you know what amount that 9% is?

1230. Ms Newell: I do, actually. That is explained in my submission.

1231. Mr McCasuland: Is that based just on the ASOP programme? Does community arts receive lottery funding and so on?

1232. Ms Newell: Community arts receives funding through lottery projects.

1233. Mr McCausland: Have you any sense of what the overall figure for that might be?

1234. Ms Newell: No.

1235. Mr McCausland: It would be useful for us to get some information directly from the Arts Council on percentages and so on. What is your definition of “community arts"?

1236. Ms Newell: Community arts is about providing opportunities for a community — whether that is a community of interest or a geographical community — to participate in the arts, regardless of what kind of art that might be.

1237. Mr McCausland: That is a perfectly acceptable definition, with which I agree. It is a good, broad and inclusive definition.

1238. Ms Newell: We try to be as inclusive as possible.

1239. Mr McCausland: Sometimes, others try to be exclusive.

1240. Mr McNarry: Can we have Nelson’s comments recorded three times? [Laughter.]

1241. Mr P Ramsey: Is there any chance of getting your Xmas Factor party piece before you go? [Laughter.]

1242. Mr McCartney: David McNarry does a mean Simon Cowell impersonation. [Laughter.]

1243. Mr P Ramsey: This Committee scrutinises DCAL’s allocation of money, and we believe that not enough money is going into projects such as yours. For example, your project carries out a lot of social-education work, peer-education programmes, and alcohol- and drug-prevention work for young people. Therefore, although we scrutinise a particular Department, we also recognise that other Departments — such as Education, Social Development and Health — could be sharing and distributing money. In order that we can tell those Departments that this is money well spent and ask them for more, what can you tell us about how people, particularly young people, have benefited from the core work and confidence-building measures of those projects?

1244. Mr McBride: You would be able to tell them that we are doing education and health. A lot of our projects involve dancing, which is our main interest. Therefore, we are putting across a health message. You could tell those Departments that we should get more money because we do not get enough funding to promote the health side of things. We are only getting funding for arts; it would be nice to have health funding and to be able to promote it more, because we probably have a bigger interest in that area.

1245. Ms Fields: That is why we run alcohol- and drug-awareness things to tackle obesity. We try to get kids out more, instead of them always being in one place.

1246. Mr K Robinson: Your enthusiasm comes across well, so I congratulate you all. Moreover, I congratulate you on the lack of clichés. Over the years, this Committee has been submerged in clichés, but you have used plain language, which helps us to understand the difficulties that you face.

1247. I was told to ask how you think local government might be persuaded to invest more money in the arts, and whether the Arts Council has a role in that. However, I am much more interested in finding out how you relate across interfaces. I worked in north Belfast for a fair period and know the Westland community: how were you able to reach across the Waterworks to make the initial contact and what, if any, long-lasting benefits will there be as a result of that contact?

1248. Ms Newell: How much longer have we got?

1249. Mr K Robinson: Actually, I was suggesting earlier that you should get less time. [Laughter.]

1250. Ms Newell: We describe ourselves as “doers" — not dour. It is all about actions; delivering activities from which people benefit directly. In the Waterworks, we have just finished the Tell Me Your Story project, which involved young people from the Holy Family Youth Centre, on the Limestone Road, and the Westland Community Group creating a film. The project was funded by Belfast City Council’s good relations unit. Instead of just bringing young people together to sit down and talk about the interface and the divide, in order that they might begin to dispel some of the myths that they have about each other, we put a camera in their hands and sent them out to interview park users. Some of the stuff that came out of that exercise was fantastic. For example, the young people began to appreciate that if someone thought that people were coming to attack his or her house, in the same circumstances, they would probably throw something at them as well. A penny drops, and they realise that they are young people with similar interests.

1251. Those relationships have continued, and that is why Westland will be involved in Celebrate North Belfast. We are also involved with Creative Youth Partnerships and have delivered a cross-community project with Cavehill Primary School, Cliftonville Primary School, Star of the Sea Primary School and Edmund Rice Primary School in the New Lodge. That was fantastic and, as I said, it is all about doing.

1252. We are a small organisation, and we are frustrated because we want to do more. For example, people from Mount Vernon asked us whether we will do something with them during the summer and change the Celebrate New Lodge festival to Celebrate North Belfast. We would love to do that, but it is all about capacity. The long and short of it is in the doing and in making things happen. Politics falls by the wayside and people come together to, for example, make Christmas decorations around a table. That is when the proper conversations start.

1253. Ms Fields: We could write a funding application that funding bodies could read to help them understand what we are about, but those funders need to come and see what we actually do. That has not happened. They reject our funding applications because they have just read what is on paper rather than coming to see our work, and they do not appreciate how much time and effort people put into their work. That is demoralising, because people do not recognise our blood, sweat and tears.

1254. Ms Newell: In defence of the Arts Council, it has funded us for the past six years. We appreciate that funding and have a fantastic relationship with our arts officers, who support our work completely. However, their hands are tied on the issue of the limited funding.

1255. Mr P Ramsey: You could use a few extra pounds.

1256. Ms Newell: Yes, we could. However, everyone must put their heads together to find more money that can be distributed.

1257. Mr K Robinson: I thank Ms Newell for the commercial on behalf of Cavehill Primary School; it saves me doing that. I declare an interest as a former principal of that school. You work with groups from the other side of the community. Have you noticed a difference in the capacity of your community and that of those other groups? How can we address that problem?

1258. Ms Newell: There is a difference in capacity, and that comes from different groups having started at different times. Infrastructure for community groups already exists in the New Lodge, and several groups in that area have been consulted with. We need to work with and support groups in other communities. As part of our Xmasfest, we held a winter wonderland event at Christmas. A couple of busloads of people from Westland travelled right into the heart of the New Lodge and participated in the event. Indeed, when the venue had become a little grubby from all the paper and glitter that had got everywhere, those volunteers lifted a brush and shovel and helped to clean up. It is helpful that people come together to do such practical tasks.

1259. Mr K Robinson: Do other groups ask you how they can reach the status that your group has reached? Do they simply engage with you on a day-to- day basis, or do they see that there is a process that they can become engaged in and that you can help them to raise their expectations?

1260. Ms Newell: I think that they see that there is a process. In particular, groups from Mount Vernon recognise that. Billy Hutchison has requested that I visit Mount Vernon, because that group wants to establish a programme that specifically uses the arts to engage with young people in the wider community. Therefore, they recognise that there is a process.

1261. In some instances, it is about providing activities and bringing people together — in areas such as Westland, for example. We have to move from a situation in which people go in with all guns blazing to complete a large project and then say goodbye. New Lodge Arts was set up because so many arts organisations arrived, completed a six-week project and left. That left people high and dry. Long-term, sustained provision is needed on the ground so that people can feel comfortable and confident in their own communities and can then go and access things elsewhere.

1262. Mr McCausland: An application was made to the good relations fund, which is an example of your moving away from seeking only arts funding and becoming aware of other opportunities to fund the arts. Is that the first application that you have made to that fund?

1263. Ms Newell: Yes. Hopefully, the second one will go in tomorrow, if I can get it written tonight.

1264. Mr McCausland: How much was that for?

1265. Ms Newell: The cap was £10,000, so the application was for £9,920.

1266. Mr McCartney: I am surprised that your application was not for £9,999. [Laughter.]

1267. Lord Browne: It is very refreshing to have three young, dynamic and enthusiastic people here this morning. In your previous answers, you indicated that you are somewhat disappointed with the Arts Council funding that you receive. In your submission, you recommend that the arts sector, DCAL and the Arts Council should develop and implement a transparent policy and procedure for reviewing the decisions that are made by the Arts Council. If there were such a policy, what benefits would accrue to your organisation?

1268. Ms Newell: I am happy with the project funding that we receive from the Arts Council. I am disappointed that we did not receive ASOP funding, which would have been the first time that we received core funding from the Arts Council. I found it frustrating that, although we had scored highly, we did not get that funding. I do not know what other organisations have been awarded funding — that is not yet listed on the website.

1269. I write applications to meet the criteria. There are times when we could be beating the criteria, but it does not really matter because there is no additional funding. Perhaps there could be more transparency around which organisations are funded and whether they are funded according to how well they meet the criteria or whether they are deemed to be more strategically important in the sector.

1270. I think that we are very important in the sector. We are very important in north Belfast. I could go on, but I have probably said it all before.

1271. Mr McCartney: Thank you very much. Well done for your presentations. Nelson asked you for a definition of “community arts", and I agree that you gave an excellent definition. Do you think that your definition matches that of the funders, or do they have a different view? Are they content that, as long as art is done by a community, it meets their definition, whereas your definition is a bit more specific?

1272. Ms Newell: To a certain extent, they probably see it as the same. However, they talk more about targets and meeting the objectives of the targeting social need strategy. For us, community arts is more defined because we do work on the ground. If funders got out more to see the impact of community arts and some of the workshops and activities that are involved in it, they may get more of an insight.

1273. Mr McCartney: Do you think that community arts should be based in a community, or can it be based in a city centre location? Do you think that it should be on the ground, which is where your definition is assisted or not assisted?

1274. Ms Newell: I see where you are coming from. There can be community arts in a city centre. There are organisations that work across the city and beyond, such as the Beat Initiative, which is very good in relation to its ethos and how it works with communities. We have partnered it on several occasions, and it has a fantastic ethos around community arts. Community arts is core to what that organisation does.

1275. There are other organisations that get funding to undertake community arts programmes, but that funding may simply be plugging a hole. Such organisations may not necessarily have the same ethos. They tend to have predetermined and predefined programmes and projects, and young people in the community will have no say in how those projects are developed. Community arts can happen outside a community, but there needs to be a connection and a relationship with the community. It is not good enough for organisations to simply come into a community and, in a slightly patronising way, say “there’s a wee bit of arts for you".

1276. The Chairperson: I thank Katrina, Danielle and John Paul for attending the Committee.

1277. Mr McCartney: You will have to go straight back to school now.

1278. Ms Newell: Danielle has an art exam tomorrow.

1279. Mr McCartney: It is sixth birthday of New Lodge Arts tomorrow.

1280. Ms Newell: Yes, that’s right — we had our fifth birthday party last year. Thank you very much.

30 April 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Mr Joe Campbell Mr Oliver Green

Great Shantallow Community Arts

1281. The Chairperson: We will now hear evidence from Greater Shantallow Community Arts. I welcome Oliver Green, who is the director of that group, and Joe Campbell, who is their youth intervention co-ordinator in arts development. I invite Joe to make a brief opening statement, and members will then have an opportunity to ask questions.

1282. Mr Joe Campbell (Greater Shantallow Community Arts): I am an artist working with Greater Shantallow Community Arts, which is a community arts organisation based in the outer north area of Derry that has been operating for the past 10 years. Also present today is Oliver Green, who is the founder and director of the project.

1283. I will take this opportunity to respond to the Committee’s inquiry into the funding of the arts. Our response is focused on two issues that are outlined in your terms of reference; specifically, issues 4 and 6. Issue 4 relates to targeting social need (TSN), the encouragement of community engagement, and engaging with communities that have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and, therefore, access arts funding. Issue 6 relates to the question of whether there are any other art forms that require more funding in respect of their impact on regenerating communities.

1284. I will provide some background to our organisation and start with our mission statement, which is to enrich lives, promote the arts and artists in areas of high deprivation and to provide people with access to the arts, a platform for talents, and an opportunity to develop those talents, interact with their peers, and experience and participate in new things.

1285. As I said, we have been in existence for 10 years. The outer north area has a population of approximately 40,000 people, which is one third of the population of the entire city of Derry, so we have quite a wide remit in respect of the amount of people that we can reach. We also have a wide network that includes other arts organisations, community groups and statutory organisations.

1286. We use a wide range of art forms to fulfil our remit. Some art organisations concentrate on one art form such as music, drama or dance, but we cover the entire spectrum. That could range from a small music project, such as teaching a 14-year old to play the electric guitar, to bringing people of all ages out to a street festival where they can wear all sorts of costumes or take part in a civic parade. We have a few cameras and we encourage people to make films about their local area or local history, for example. We also carry out activities involving everything in between and right up to the fine arts, including sculpture, painting and drawing. Many of those activities are project-based and artist-led; that is the way in which we operate and those are the types of things that we do.

1287. Regarding our structure as an organisation, we currently have four staff members, two full-time — that is, Oliver and I — and two part-time. My post is currently funded by the Department for Social Development (DSD), but that funding will run out next year and as far as we know it will not be renewed. Oliver’s wages are currently provided through Arts Council funding.

1288. At times, we do not know where the resources come from to pay the wages for the two part-time posts; they are often made up from a proportion of our wages and other project moneys. We face an uncertain future in that respect. For four years, the organisation was funded by DSD, but that has now changed and that funding has been cut. Furthermore, this year we were unsuccessful when we applied to the Arts Council’s Annual Support for Organisations Programme (ASOP). Therefore, we currently exist on small-project moneys and operate on a knife-edge.

1289. Issue 4 of the Committee’s terms of reference for this inquiry relates to targeting social need. Targeting social need and the encouragement of community engagement define what we do. Our remit is to place art at the heart of communities where people live and ply their trades daily; that is what community arts is all about.

1290. In ‘Creative Connections’, the Arts Council’s five-year strategy, Rosemary Kelly states:

“Our mission is to place art at the heart of our social, economic and creative life. “

1291. We want to know how that can be done. What are the practical mechanisms for achieving that, and how do we engage significant numbers of people in areas such as the Fountain, Irish Street, Creggan, the Bogside, or where we live, in Galliagh and Shantallow? How we bring people who, historically, may not have been exposed to the arts directly to the arts is a daily problem for us. As an organisation, we have no doubt that the creation of a cultural environment for all our citizens is a very worthwhile and morally justifiable objective, but how do we achieve it?

1292. From our experience, the answer to that is one word: “centre". That is, “centre" in every sense of the word. I mean a centre in the physical sense of a small, modest community-based facility where we can bring people in, in a dignified way, and where we can provide them with some form of activity. However, that facility must also be centred in the community. Our current centre operates from a small, two-bedroom, ex-Housing Executive house in Galliagh, which we have at the behest of the Housing Executive. We also use a glorified tin hut, called the “Four Block," in which we run dance and drama classes, and the Arts Council currently funds two projects that are run from that tin hut.

1293. Therefore, we carry out projects sanctioned by organisations such as the Arts Council, and we know how to apply for the money for those projects because we have been doing it for 10 years. Moreover, we have a local knowledge and understanding of people. We personally know hundreds of people in our area, and thousands — if not tens of thousands — others have engaged with us in our local festivals, which are the events that our organisation grew from.

1294. However, we lack the adequate resources and facilities to carry out that work, and we have a significant number of people living in those areas whose first experience of the arts was obtained in a tin hut. We have no fit-for-purpose facilities, no core staff, and can only survive from one year to the next. Much of our time is taken up completing endless applications for short-term funding schemes, very few of which we are qualified to complete because we do not have the relevant background. However, we try as best as we can.

1295. Our organisation does not deal with third-level arts students — we deal with children, disadvantaged youths, senior citizens and all social groupings in between. Significantly, we are also major employers of newly-trained artists who have just left college, but no one seems to be aware of that. The only way that those artists can make any money is by participating in the community arts, and they queue up to see Oliver in the hope that they can get a little project and a little of the money that comes down, through us, from the Arts Council.

1296. Those are local artists of all ages, not artists of international repute. They are students who have come out of college for the first time and who have no hope of getting their first project, or people who have come out the other end of a working life and who are prepared to come into communities and volunteer their services and experience. We create an opportunity for musicians, poets, painters, sculptors, film-makers and a raft of technicians, sound engineers, camera operators, recording engineers, lighting experts, set builders, costume designers — the list is endless.

1297. We are a conduit for that and, in many instances, we are the first point of contact for those professionals, many of whom have degrees and experience of working in the private sector. We place art at the heart, by giving those people employment and by using our scant facilities. Therefore, returning to the Arts Council’s five-year plan, which I quoted from, we are strategically positioned to question how its mission will be achieved. We have outlined how we place art at the heart of life on a daily basis, but we have no money. We are bringing art down to where it matters.

1298. Community arts needs more credence, more resources and more money. There should, perhaps, be a number of modest centres, which could be a model for centres throughout Northern Ireland. Those could be small places where people can do small things and, on the strength of that, achieve big things. There should be a few core staff who can build relationships over a long period of time so that, over ten or twenty years, people can be brought through the first stage and into the second, and then given the wings to fly out and represent all of us here.

1299. We need to weave the arts into the fabric of society, right down into the very core, and they need to be permanently woven in as fixtures in the heart of disadvantaged areas. I do not mean inner-city areas where there are already quite a few projects up and running to service people. I mean to target people who will never see an opera or listen to an orchestra. If we had a van, we could drive them to such events. We could take them to the national galleries or bring them on little trips and then all have tea afterwards. That is another way that we can achieve that objective.

1300. For us, “centre" is the key word. We need facilities that are physically centred at the heart of communities and at the centre of people’s lives. Community arts is a great vehicle for the arts to flourish where they should but, in our opinion, the argument for them has not been made in the real world.

1301. Mr McCarthy: Thank you for your presentation. You are to be congratulated on your work. I know the answer to my question, but I will ask it anyway. Is Arts Council providing sufficient funding for community arts? Obviously, it is not, but what do you suggest it does?

1302. Mr Oliver Green (Greater Shantallow Community Arts): We are not here to knock the Arts Council — we love the Arts Council. It has funded us for a number of years. It has not provided us with enough funding, but I understand the arguments that they have made that, on a per capita basis, not enough money is coming in.

1303. Yesterday, I did some research on the funding of community arts. I can speak only for my local community, in Derry and the north-west. I wanted to know how much money the Arts Council has spent in the last few years so I obtained figures from the Arts Council’s website. Fourteen projects have been funded from 2002-08. That does not include this year’s ASOP programmes.

1304. In its five-year plan, the Arts Council states that its mission is to bring arts into the heart of the community. I am sure that members have access to these figures; however, I will list some of the different projects and the amounts that they have been funded. The Playhouse in the city centre received £2·6 million; the Nerve Centre, £2·3 million; An Gaeláras, £2 million; the Waterside Theatre, £3·4 million; the Verbal Arts Centre, £1 million; the Millennium Forum, £868,000; Foyle Gallery, £512,000; Context Gallery, £400,000; the Echo Echo Dance Theatre in the Waterside, £400,000; the Playhouse research centre, £400,000; Derry City Council £228,000. Those are the figures for 2003-08. The range extends down to Greater Shantallow Community Arts — we got £178,000. Those figures represent a swift and approximate calculation.

1305. Those figures alone show that, between 2003 and 2008, almost £13 million was spent by the Arts Council in Derry and the north-west. If my calculations are even slightly correct, we are the only organisation among those that I mentioned that is designated as a community arts organisation, and the only one that is based beyond a quarter of a mile from the city centre.

1306. Therefore, of that £13 million, 1·5% is spent on community arts provision. As of yesterday, the Arts Council’s website suggested that 97% of funding awarded in the Derry City Council area through the Arts Council’s programmes has gone directly to Londonderry’s most deprived areas. That leads me to ask — is our city centre deprived? It must be, because 97% of funding went to organisations based in the city centre.

1307. We must act on the policies of the Arts Council and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) and get out into the hearts of communities. Has that happened, or is the situation the same as it was between 2003 and 2008, with all the major resources going into city centre, main-venue-based funding? The value of community arts speaks for itself.

1308. Mr P Ramsey: You are very welcome. We can see your passion and commitment, which I would have known of even without you having come here today. There is no doubt about the contribution that your organisation makes to well-being, access and participation. I take on board what you said about the range of projects in Derry that have been granted funding. There is a debate around whether those projects are targeting social need and whether the people using those city centre organisations are from TSN areas. What other process for the allocation of money could be used, that would recognise the tremendous work that community art does in targeting social need and regenerating communities?

1309. Some time ago, a few members of the Committee were in Derry and visited your organisation and saw its outputs. It is a pity that all the Committee members could not go, but perhaps that will happen at another stage. Can you put into context the benefit that young people get from participating in your programmes? As a Committee, we are carrying out an inquiry into the funding of the arts. However, we are also trying to get qualitative evidence so that we can ask all the Departments — not only DCAL, but the Department of Health, the Department of Education and the Department for Social Development — why they are not putting more money into the arts. Can you give us a summary of the contribution that you are making to young people’s participation in the arts, many of whom have been marginalised or excluded?

1310. Mr J Campbell: Derry, in particular, has a rich tradition of music. I started off in a pick-up band, because there was money in it. Derry has much in common with Liverpool. Unemployment is so endemic that, with the amount of musicians in Derry, you could form an orchestra. When I bring a young guy in, hand him a guitar, and tell him that in a year’s time I want him to be gigging in a band and making money, suddenly he has a remit. It does not take a great amount of persuasion once you give a young person a skill. It takes a while, and not everybody dives at the guitar. Some of the girls who come in want to dance, because they see all their mates doing it. We bring those girls to competitions and take them out of Derry. It is a way out for young people.

1311. Our work has much in common with boxing clubs or sports clubs. It is important that we get the young people into our centre and find out what it is that they like. We have identified what sorts of things that age group likes and does not like. For instance, they do not like painting — it is just not their thing. However, they like to dance and play music. That has already been identified. A lot of work has been done on that, and we can use that model to bring in as many young people as possible. It is an effective way of doing that.

1312. Our centres only hold small numbers of people, which is frustrating for us. However, down the line, when somebody comes back to us, we can see that the experience that we gave them has had a noticeable effect on them. They may have stood on stage in front of one hundred people, or have been in a dance competition, but they come back to us full of the joys of spring because they have had that engagement somewhere else, which they otherwise would never have had. That is the value of it. The payback is when a young person says, “I want to do this" or “I want to do that".

1313. Mr Shannon: Thank you very much for coming to the Committee and for your enthusiasm and energy, which has been obvious in your comments.

1314. Mr Green, you mentioned community arts. Your figures show where there is need in the community, and where funding is going. Do you believe that the right balance is being achieved between community arts and professional arts? If not, how do you believe it could be improved?

1315. Mr Green: In fairness to the Arts Council, I suggest that it probably funds those with safe hands — facilities such as the Playhouse Theatre and the Millennium Forum. It is easy for the Arts Council to say that it knows what will happen in a particular centre because it has been built for that reason. In community settings, however, work is being done on the ground in different areas. Some of those projects are risky. They may not gain people’s maximum participation and, therefore, may not have high enough value on the Arts Council’s tick list. It might say, for example, that top creative artists are not involved.

1316. The fact is that community arts are the first step towards engagement with the arts for many people. It is where they are inspired to go on further. Therefore, vehicles need to be created by which we can look at how to achieve maximum participation from people within their own environments.

1317. Do I have a solution? I believe that community arts should be a designated art form. At present, it is not. It needs to be given proper prominence in the Arts Council’s thinking. If we want to reach as many people as possible, as fairly and equitably as possible, we must ensure that arts are available in highly populated areas, neighbourhood renewal areas and socially deprived areas. The way to do that is to create streams of funding that allow for core support for arts development in local communities.

1318. Mr McCartney: Jim touched on the balance between community arts and professional arts. The last group who we spoke to gave us an excellent definition of “community arts", and Mr Campbell mentioned “centre" and “centred". How would you define “community arts" to a funding body in order to convince it that it should be considered separately from other art forms?

1319. Mr K Robinson: Thanks for your presentation. Your enthusiasm and commitment came across.

1320. There are many big housing estates in my constituency of East Antrim. We are submerged, in the sense that Belfast city centre tends to attract all of the funding from the generous gentlemen on either side of me. How do we get community arts projects off the ground? Community arts are well developed in one community in Northern Ireland. You put your finger on it straight away, Mr Campbell. There is something in Londonderry that lifts that community. As to whether it spreads right across your city, I am not sure. Certainly, there may be latent talent in my community in East Antrim. How on earth do we bring that talent out using that process? To return to the object of this morning’s exercise, how do we fund it?

1321. Mr J Campbell: We have talked about private arts. I worked for a lifetime in stained-glass production, in small studios in Northern Ireland. The same model applies to most small businesses. We found that if we had a centre, it would be like a small business centre. It would provide a place of focus. That is how businesses grow. I worked in studios in Londonderry; in Maghera, which is a rural area; and in Belfast. Therefore, I have experience of the wide gamut of how commercial arts are managed. It is done in the same way as for any other business: it is driven by money, time and profit.

1322. I do not see why that model should not be brought into a community arts centre and into community arts itself. We can focus on the fact that community arts can provide people with jobs, in the music scene or whatever. I have not got all of the answers, but that could be an answer.

1323. Mr K Robinson: Is there a role for local Government in driving that forward?

1324. Mr J Campbell: Yes, because of the skills involved. The skills involved in all of those would be very beneficial for anyone to acquire and would enhance anyone’s CV. There is lots of training. Take Photoshop and the growing digital divide; there is a prime example. It is about training in the basic use of digital photographs and creative software.

1325. Mr Green: People say that they want to bring arts to the heart of communities, and then they ask how to do so. One way is to encourage communities out of their homes to visit theatres and galleries. However, there is also first-step access — creating participation in the arts, which should not be just an audience sport. People should feel part of the arts. Every child and every person, no matter where they live, should be encouraged, and be able, to access arts in their own communities. That is what community arts provides that venue-based centres cannot. Within a local environment, community arts provides an opportunity for engagement. Sometimes that engagement is about local courses, projects, festivals or street theatre. It is really about being able to maximise the number of people who take that first step of engagement.

1326. As we have seen, that first-step engagement with hundreds if not thousands of local people leads to involvement in other projects; it leads to a vision and aspiration do better in any particular art form; and for some it leads to a potentially huge career. I have seen examples of young people who were dragged in from school programmes becoming actively involved and forging a career in the creative industries.

1327. There is a real need for us as a wider community to see the potential of creative industries and to realise that there must be a ground-up approach from the heart of communities from where innovation can come, not a centre-based approach. Time and again, we have seen from our own community that innovation can come from local people every bit as much as from lovely centres or art galleries.

1328. Lord Browne: Greater Shantallow Community Arts obviously plays an important role in assisting persons, particularly young people, involved in the creative industries in the development of their job skills and in getting employment. That is done with a small number of staff — two full-time and two part-time. I know that your group regards long-term, core-funded staff as essential in order to carry out its role.

1329. Must the Arts Council and the Department rethink their priorities in distributing funding? How much does your group receive from the Arts Council? Is any money received from the private sector in sponsorship? If so, I am sure that it is very little. Do you try to achieve some form of sponsorship?

1330. Mr McNarry: The clear and factual evidence to the Committee is that the Arts Council has a monopoly on doling out most of the funding. Should that be revisited as part of the new mandate for community arts? Does community arts suffer from real or perceived elitism?

1331. Mr J Campbell: The answer to both questions is that Creative Connections is the Arts Council’s stated five-year policy. It is there in black and white, and it is a very socially-minded document. Therefore, yes, I think that the council should do that, but I do not know whether it does. I do not speak for the council and I am not going to denigrate it. I hope that that answers the question. I believe that there should be a greater emphasis on community arts, purely because it addresses the Arts Council’s remit.

1332. Mr Green: Last year we got £37,000 from the Arts Council, for which we are very grateful. It was not as much as we asked for or would have liked. The reality is that the money went towards running programmes and paying part of a salary. Is it enough? I do not believe so.

1333. We were funded by the Department for Social Development. The letter that I got when it cut funding to us for the other four posts that we were running stated that it should be part of DCAL’s remit. DCAL told the Arts Council that it was in its remit under its funding programmes; therefore, we applied for core funding under ASOP.

1334. Our feedback from the Arts Council was that our project was very good and the council was happy to work with us and had supported us for a number of years, but that it had a finite budget and had an established client list and had too little money in the pot. The Arts Council acknowledged that per capita the North of Ireland was less well funded than other areas.

1335. There needs to be a stream, either through the Arts Council or directly through DCAL, to fund community arts and to identify its values. Community arts helps community regeneration and brings economic benefits through the potential for creative industries.

1336. Mr McNarry: You seem to be saying that £14 million is at your doorstep. I do not know whether the projects that are being funded there are elite, and I do not want to put you on the spot unless you can answer the question. However, is elitism making community arts second class?

1337. Mr Green: The simple answer is yes. We understand and recognise the value of the Ulster Orchestra and the many great centres that receive funding. It is aspirational for every young person that comes through our door. I would love to see some wee fellow from Galliagh playing in the Ulster Orchestra, but how is he going to get there?

1338. The Chairperson: Thank you for helping our understanding and contributing to the inquiry. Thanks very much.

1339. Mr J Campbell: Thanks very much for the opportunity.

7 May 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Mr Francie Brolly
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey

Witnesses:

Ms Jenny Gillespie Ms Elsie McLaughlin Mr Sean Paul O’Hare

Féile an Phobail

1340. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): I ask members to declare or restate any potential interests. I am a member of Omagh District Council.

1341. Lord Browne: I am a member of Belfast City Council.

1342. Mr McCarthy: I am a member of Ards Borough Council.

1343. Mr McCartney: I must declare my genius.

1344. Mr P Ramsey: I am a member of Derry City Council and a director of the Millennium Forum in Derry.

1345. The Chairperson: I welcome the representatives from Féile an Phobail — Sean Paul O’Hare, Jenny Gillespie and Elsie McLaughlin — to the Committee. I invite the director, Sean Paul O’Hare, to introduce his team and make an opening statement lasting 10 minutes, which will be followed by about 20 minutes of questions from members.

1346. Mr Sean Paul O’Hare (Féile an Phobail): My name is Sean Paul O’Hare, and I am the director of Féile an Phobail. I am joined by Elsie McLaughlin, marketing officer for Féile an Phobail, and Jenny Gillespie, events co-ordinator for Féile an Phobail.

1347. This is a new experience and a fine occasion for us; we have never been to such a salubrious place, so it is great to be here. Jenny, Elsie and I will give a brief presentation so that we can get into the real discussions as quickly as possible.

1348. Féile an Phobail is now 21 years old. The first festival was held in west Belfast in 1988, which was a very difficult time for all the community. One of the issues was that commemorations that were held in August each year to mark the introduction of internment inevitably led to street violence, bonfires and conflict, and they portrayed a very negative image of west Belfast. As a result of that, a community leader and some local politicians got together and looked at how they could change things.

1349. Instead of commemorating, the festival was born out of wanting to celebrate who we were, just as we continue to celebrate who we are today. As with other communities, West Belfast has a very vibrant skilled and creative arts and cultural sector, and we felt that Féile an Phobail could provide a platform to showcase the talents of people in local communities, particularly young people. That was one of the core reasons for establishing the festival.

1350. In the first year of the festival, we had a cart, a donkey and a circus tent; it was all very ad hoc. Local businesses supported the festival; however, funding on the scale of that which was given to big creative and quality arts events was not forthcoming. The festival has always been community-driven because in the early days, before funding arrived, before the festival became structured, before we looked at policy and before we got ourselves organised, it had to be.

1351. Féile an Phobail is the biggest community festival in Ireland and is currently one of the biggest in Europe. Every year, we run a 10-day festival in August, a traditional festival in February, a comedy festival in May — which kicks off in two weeks’ time — and a children’s festival in October. We also have a full-time radio station. In relation to how public funding is spent, we feel that we put on a substantive package throughout the year for the people of west Belfast and, particularly over the past five years, for people from the rest of Belfast also. We have made numerous inroads into developing an outreach policy for attracting communities from across the city and beyond, as well as tourists. That is where we are.

1352. A key challenge that faces us is the issue of funding. The relationships that Féile an Phobail, as a major player in the city, has with the arts sector, the Arts Council, the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), and Belfast City Council is another issue, as is the matter of how those relationships are forged. Belfast is a changing city, and we are forming new relationships with arts groups, community groups and the statutory sector. Therefore, the issue is not only funding, it is about those relationships and how we can share resources practically. Another key element is that the festival is now 21 years old and, yet, it does not have a permanent home or venue in west Belfast, which affects us each year.

1353. Ms Elsie McLaughlin (Féile an Phobail): I will discuss the issue of how Belfast is changing and has changed over the past number of years. Belfast is now a destination city with street art, tourism and culture. Culture is at the forefront of life in Belfast, and that has had an impact on the quality of life of the individuals who live here. The changes that have occurred in Belfast have impacted on us all at a very real level, and have affected both our family and work environments. We all benefit from those changes, and we can all be a part of making change happen.

1354. Féile an Phobail has been a driving force behind making change happen for the past 21 years. We positively showcase good relations in action, which is, essentially, the bedrock of Belfast’s success. The féile in August 2000 was independently evaluated and found to contribute more than £3·3 million to the economy of Belfast. That was nine years ago, so you can imagine that that contribution has grown substantially since then.

1355. Féile an Phobail contributes immeasurably to social capital in Belfast. Social capital has been suggested as an explanation for why some cities work better than others, with resulting economic, social and health benefits. Féile an Phobail’s contribution to social capital is, and always has been, significant. Social capital includes those tangible things that count for most in the daily lives of regular people, such as good will, fellowship, sympathy and social intercourse. An isolated individual is helpless socially, but with the fellowship of his neighbours he is enhanced as an individual. However, most importantly, the community is enhanced also, and it benefits from the co-operation of all its parts. That gives rise to social trust, civic co-operation, democracy, and group identity and solidarity.

1356. Féile an Phobail has an impact on two levels; it impacts on the individual, and that has a knock-on effect on the community. The individual develops self-confidence and self-esteem, and their creativity and thinking skills are increased through their work in community arts. Féile an Phobail increases appreciation of the arts, especially among groups of people who would not otherwise have regular access to the arts. It enhances mental health, physical health and well-being, reduces antisocial behaviour and alleviates the impact of poverty in communities throughout Belfast. It also increases the employability of individuals, and it decreases social isolation.

1357. That all has a knock-on effect on the working of the community. It improves the community’s skills in planning and organising, develops a community identity, strengthens and empowers communities, and improves understanding of different cultures. It enhances social cohesion and activates social change, as well as contributing to urban regeneration.

1358. The individual and the community are two important factors, but the business community is another important factor, and we work to draw that community into the equation. We have recognised that successful companies are now alive and alert to their local and wider communities. Getting involved in communities and their issues provides an insight into the hearts and minds of businesses’ employees and customers. It allows them to make a positive impact on their communities and that positive impact is, in turn, fed back into their business.

1359. Féile an Phobail impacts on the business community at two levels. First, it is difficult for businesses to get involved — it is easy for a business to say that it wants to get involved with the community, but how it does that is another matter. Businesses need established forums to make links with communities. Féile an Phobail provides such a forum in a professional way, and it is a vital link between business and the community. The second most important thing that Féile an Phobail does for the business community is to directly serve businesses’ ends, through the advantages that social capital provides to the local workforce, local consumers and the local economy, in the form of increased confidence, improved health, greater empowerment and commitment.

1360. Féile an Phobail impacts all communities in Belfast, not solely the community of west Belfast. It sets the tone for inter-community involvement and opens the doors for other communities to become engaged. It showcases the fact that celebrating one’s identity is a non-threatening and positive action. It highlights the level of shared interests that exist, both socially — in regard to entertainment, etc — and civilly, across all communities in Belfast.

1361. Ms Jenny Gillespie (Féile an Phobail): As Sean Paul mentioned, the August Féile is the largest community festival in Ireland, and one of the largest in Europe. It is now into its twenty-first year, and we are very proud of that. During the August Féile — which lasts nine or ten days — there is a total footfall of around 150,000 people, which is quite a considerable number. We are also working with around 150 different community groups across the city.

1362. Féile an Phobail involves a number of projects. There is Féile an Earraigh, a celebration of Irish traditional music and culture, which takes place every February. There is also the Laugh at the Bank comedy festival, which will take place in two weeks’ time. That is the latest festival to be added to our list.

1363. The August féile is a nine-day festival that offers a whole host of arts and events. Draíocht is a children’s festival that presents youth arts at Halloween. Oscailt, which is our disability programme, is an annual event, as is the youth arts development programme. Féile FM received its full-time radio licence in 2007. During the nine-day festival in August, we arrange a whole host of events, such as comedy, concerts, walks, tours, discussions, drive-in movies, exhibitions, debates, talks and so on.

1364. Our sponsorship relationships have proved successful, and, along with InBev Ireland, we won the Arts and Business award for 2008 for sustainability in the arts sector. Moreover, we won an Arts and Business award, again with InBev Ireland, for investment in the arts in 2008-09. The social contribution aspect of our work is also award winning, and in 2007 we won the Junior Chamber International Belfast’s social contribution award. We achieve endless PR; in 2008, Féile an Phobail achieved £354,104 in print PR value, which involved 194 pieces of print media coverage. Furthermore, we have many successful campaigns on radio stations and TV and through online advertising.

1365. Féile an Phobail has a wider impact on the promotion of arts and culture through extensive promotion in the North and South of Ireland and overseas. We drive the Belfast tourist market through our events and partnerships with Tourism Ireland, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau. We produce approximately 150,000 brochures that are distributed across the city and further afield. We use extensive advertising channels and extensive PR and attain footfall figures of over 150,000. During the week of the August festival, our website receives over 100,000 visits.

1366. The Chairperson: Thank you for your presentation. Several members have indicated that they want to ask questions.

1367. Lord Browne: Thank you for your interesting and informative presentation. In the current economic climate, accessing funding is becoming much more difficult. I am interested in how your organisation is funded. For example, what percentage of funding comes from local government compared with central Government? How do you attract private investment? How many staff do you employ, and how many are volunteers? What percentage of your annual expenditure is spent on staff?

1368. Mr O’Hare: That was four questions. [Laughter.]

1369. The Chairperson: You are not the worst offender, Wallace.

1370. Mr O’Hare: Féile an Phobail has seven staff and over 150 volunteers, some of whom are on our committees. We divide our festivals into themes that range from exhibitions, drama, entertainment and children’s activities to discussion and debates, which is a key area. We have a finance and personnel committee and an overall management committee, the members of which are all volunteers. Those committees ensure Féile an Phobail’s accountability and they liaise with the staff to plan our programmes.

1371. Our youth arts programme is funded by the National Lottery, and we receive £152,000 from that programme over three years. The Arts Council is providing annual funding of £123,000 for one part-time and four full-time posts, on a three-year basis. Recently, we have successfully secured multi- annual funding of £30,000 from local government through Belfast City Council. We recoup between £200,000 and £250,000 from ticket sales, sponsorship and other income. Therefore, our total annual income is approximately £450,000 to £500,000, depending on how successful we are in obtaining funding.

1372. Our main events are sponsored by DCAL and also receive some Arts Council lottery moneys. DCAL’s major events fund is, rightly, particular about the ratio of generated income to public funding. We adhere to that ratio and to the levels set by DCAL, and we strive to cut our reliance on public funding.

1373. However, we have a policy that our maximum ticket price is £10. We serve an economic area of Belfast that has pockets of severe deprivation, hence, to support our policy of arts for all, we have a £10 limit on ticket prices and hold lots of free events for children. Our debates and discussions are also free, which is key to our programme. Féile an Phobail’s rationale in seeking public funding is to keep ticket prices down.

1374. Mr McNarry: Congratulations on turning twenty-one. Coming from my community, I confess that I have never heard of Féile an Phobail. Perhaps that is part of the problem. It is what makes being a member of this Committee very interesting.

1375. How do you think that Féile an Phobail fared under direct rule in respect of obtaining funding and recognition? Has devolution improved your position? It was mentioned that you had no home.

1376. Mr O’Hare: We have an office but no venue.

1377. Mr McNarry: How do you manage? Did you ever have a home?

1378. Mr O’Hare: Let me clarify that I, personally, have a home. [Laughter.] Because we have no venue, we use every available local space, such as leisure centres, schools, parks. We work very well with Belfast City Council’s parks and leisure department.

1379. Mr McNarry: Does Féile an Phobail pay for the use of those facilities?

1380. Mr O’Hare: Yes we do, despite our having lobbied for a change in that situation, which is one that we find difficult. Mr McNarry said that he had not heard of us. Féile an Phobail recognises that its brand must be promoted across the North, certainly from the perspective of increasing tourism and out-of-state marketing. It is interesting that this year, through its major events fund, DCAL is considering how to push for out-of-state marketing for Féile an Phobail.

1381. Mr McNarry: What does “out-of-state" mean?

1382. Mr O’Hare: It refers to Scotland, the South, England, Europe and America. We work very closely with the tourist authorities because we believe that Féile an Phobail is a good brand and a strong one for Belfast.

1383. In the past five years, we have moved to some venues outside west Belfast. We recognise that some perceptions of west Belfast exist that mean that people from certain quarters may not feel comfortable there. In an attempt to make progress on that, we now use city-centre venues. We are not moving out of west Belfast, but we certainly use the city centre as a taster to encourage people to come along, enjoy the féile experience and then attend other events in west Belfast. We are very keen on people having that experience.

1384. Sadly, Belfast is still segregated, particularly around issues of community relations. We want people to come into west Belfast and east Belfast. An issue that has caused us difficulty — which relates to the issue of our organisation not having an home — is that capital funding has, mainly, been driven towards the city centre. That has meant that parts of east, north, south and west Belfast do not have venues for brilliant arts projects, which is an issue that we have raised with the Arts Council and DCAL.

1385. In respect of your question regarding direct rule, I have been in my post for nearly five years, and we are now operating according to the fourth community festival policy to be issued in that time. It has been pretty traumatic to have four changes in funding policy. I must thank the Arts Council and DCAL for helping us to meet whatever parameters have been set. Equally, however, Féile an Phobail’s long-term objectives are not helped by the current funding arrangements, which mean that the longest that we can plan to fund certain posts for is three years.

1386. That does not help us to achieve a five- or 10-year plan, which féile and other festivals across the city and beyond hope to implement, so that we can help to stimulate tourism and community regeneration. Festivals are great because they are not only about culture and art, they also help to stimulate the social elements of life through debates and discussions. Everyone, including representatives of all the political parties, comes along and debates issues in an environment that is friendly and constructive. That is one of the areas in which our festival has been so successful. We merge the community element, the political element and entertainment together, into a 10-day programme. That has been our key achievement.

1387. Mr McNarry: You mentioned an exercise in which you may extend your work to other parts of our nation in the United Kingdom — do you have a programme for that? [Laughter.] What is funny about that?

1388. Mr McCartney: Sorry, David.

1389. Mr O’Hare: We are very keen to use venues right across the city. Currently, the biggest aspect of Féile an Phobail’s work is in building capacity. The community festivals fund has changed, so there are now lots of community festivals right across the Six Counties and Belfast. The difficulty that we have experienced because of the new arrangements is that it is fine to give money to groups, but they may not have the capacity to put together —

1390. Mr McNarry: Sorry to interrupt, but earlier the Committee had a discussion about creating links with Scotland, so I am interested to know whether, given that you mentioned doing work there, you have developed a programme for that.

1391. Mr O’Hare: We work very closely with Celtic Connections. We tie in with other festivals right across Britain and Ireland. We have a very strong programme in which we tie-in with Celtic Connections directly, particularly in relation to Scottish traditional music. That is why our festival is held in February and its festival is held in January. We have a good working relationship with the Celtic Connections festival.

1392. Mr McCarthy: Unlike David, I have heard of your organisation, but I was not aware of the immense amount of work that do until I heard your presentation this morning. Do you think that community festivals, as an art form, are adequately funded in Northern Ireland? Finally, for the benefit of others as well as me, what does Féile an Phobail mean?

1393. Mr O’Hare: I should have explained that — it means the festival of the people.

1394. Mr McCarthy: Excellent. Thank you very much. That is an easy one to remember.

1395. Mr O’Hare: Community festivals, and festivals in general, are not funded adequately. They have huge potential, particularly in rural areas and areas that have not used community festivals as a mechanism for regeneration. Unfortunately, the fact that funding policy has changed four times in the past five years has not made the issue any simpler. We have now resolved the situation somewhat; however, considering the amount of groups that there is, the money that is available is pretty mediocre.

1396. Four or five years ago, there was an interim arrangement between DCAL and the Department for Social Development (DSD), and we pulled in around £145,000 for our August festival. The stream for which we can apply is now down to about £70,000 or £80,000, although we in Féile an Phobail appreciate that that money has to be driven right across all communities. Groups now apply for small amounts of money, but they also need support in relation to capacity.

1397. I met Belfast City Council to discuss that issue because although groups are now pulling in money for community festivals, they are struggling with capacity issues, such as delivering a programme, managing health and safety and other aspects of events management. The difficulty with that is that groups come to us, as an established organisation, for guidance. We work with groups from the Village and from north and east Belfast, and we try to support them. We have a very successful template and we are only too willing to share that, right across the North. However, those groups need to be resourced properly — not only in relation to events, but in relation to capacity.

1398. Ms E McLaughlin: Community arts festivals, because of the nature of those events, find it very difficult to attract corporate sponsors. Professional arts festivals are much more in line with a corporate strategy. We are slightly on the back foot with regard to attracting sponsorship.

1399. Mr P Ramsey: You are very welcome this morning. It was a good presentation. You talked about social capital and its importance to the community. What level of involvement do young people have in your work, particularly those who may be displaced from society?

1400. Mr O’Hare: We have revamped our youth arts programme. Thanks to moneys from the National Lottery, we have a three-year youth arts programme. The sole aim of that programme was to help displaced and alienated young people in our communities. We feel that art can be used in a much more positive way to drive the youth elements in our communities.

1401. We use our festivals as a platform to showcase all the work that we have done with young people throughout the year. That work includes drama, exhibitions, radio and other art forms. We are now working with young people in various art forms and we showcase the art that comes from that. We have a youth arts subcommittee, which is made up of young people aged between 12 and 23, and they plan our youth events programme. Those young people are now being trained and skilled to run the events, and they are the people who will eventually take over from us.

1402. A key element of our radio station is that it is driven by young people. By the age of 16 or 17, those young people are trained in presentation skills and in radio production, and many will have moved into the mainstream media. Over the past 12 years, more than 120 young people have moved into further education through their radio work, or have moved into the mainstream media.

1403. We have a vibrant youth programme. We work very closely and do outreach work with youth organisations in Belfast, particularly if we have identified work that we can do with young people who may be part of the antisocial element in their area. Such an element is prominent in many areas, and west Belfast is no different in that respect. That is one of the key areas in which festivals are a great mechanism for unlocking huge potential, because we get those people onto 12-week programmes, they showcase their events in the festival, and they then get recognition from a lot of people during festival week.

1404. Mr P Ramsey: The Committee is looking at the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland, and funding in this region is not as good as it is in the Republic of Ireland, Wales, England or Scotland. We are trying to get qualitative evidence that can convince not only DCAL, but the Executive, that there is good reason to invest in the arts.

1405. Earlier, Elsie referred to the economic value of the festival, and she mentioned that in 2000, an independent study found that that amounted to almost £3·5 million. Do you have any suggestions or proposals for how DCAL or the Arts Council could attract more funding, either privately or otherwise? For every pound of public money that you receive for the arts, what amount does that bring to the local community — is it £3, or £5? Is there a need for you to carry out another independent evaluation?

1406. Mr O’Hare: It is a matter of funding — we would love to do another economic audit of our annual festival programme, but it comes down to whether we put funding towards a festival or towards an economic audit. It is a catch-22 situation. That is not only the case for us, the Community Arts Forum and other partnerships and umbrella organisations in the arts and cultural sector face the same problem.

1407. With regard to the regeneration of communities and the employment of the local workforce, tourists are coming into those areas because of festivals. There was no festival in Belfast city centre over the second bank holiday in May, but we are now putting together a comedy festival in conjunction with Belfast City Council. There is a need to invest in more substantive and quality events for people coming into the city. That is what we are looking at.

1408. I can provide figures as evidence of the economic impact of our festivals, but we have not done another audit. We want to carry out another audit, but that presents a funding issue for us.

1409. Mr P Ramsey: We need that qualitative evidence to convince the Executive that there is a good rationale for spending an extra £2 or £3 per capita. Without that evidence, it will be very difficult to make a case.

1410. Mr O’Hare: The Arts Council, DCAL and Belfast City Council, as statutory organisations, set out very strict criteria in respect of how an organisation such as Féile an Phobail has to prove itself in order to attain public moneys.

1411. The Chairperson: Who carried out the independent evaluation in 2000?

1412. Mr O’Hare: Quinn Consultants carried out the evaluation.

1413. Mr McCartney: Thank you very much for your presentation. Over the past few weeks, we have had presentations from different community arts groups. Last week, the representative from New Lodge Arts gave us a good definition of community arts. This morning you have given us an excellent definition of a community festival. Many community arts groups say that their events are increasingly taking place in the city centre. To say that they are forced to go there is, perhaps, the wrong word; however, you have said that there are two reasons for that “pull" towards the city centre — outreach, which is necessary, but also for better venues. How do you convince people that, to make community festivals better, there is a need for better venues in those communities?

1414. Mr O’Hare: We have spoken at length on that issue with the Arts Council, and it is aware that although our project — which is immense — receives public money, we are paying it back into public organisations through paying for venues. The money does not go into the events as such. That is a waste of the funding exercise. There is key need for arts in communities such as west Belfast and the Shankill. We are working with a group on the lower Castlereagh Road in east Belfast. Those are small, localised communities that are crying out for development. There are a lot of people for whom arts projects can make a big difference — particularly the young, vulnerable, or disabled — but they must be done at a community level.

1415. There is still a significant amount of people who cannot afford to pay £40 for a high-quality arts event in the Waterfront Hall or the Odyssey. That is not to take away from those venues; there is a huge need for them. Equally, there is still a need for free events, and those that we run at a maximum cost of £10 a ticket. We sell 70% to 80% of the tickets for those events, and we are running at 80% to 90% capacity for our free events. We have no problems with filling venues. We have to prove year-in, year-out that we are up to the mark, so the Arts Council, DCAL and other funding agencies have all seen those statistics.

1416. There is a need for the féile to be kept at a community level. Measuring the exact impact of community events is a grey area. I have not heard of anyone — from here to the States — who has been able to do that. It is hard to measure the social impact of the arts, particularly on individuals. I know that research has been done on the subject, but the sector needs to push that forward.

1417. Mr Brolly: Other members have mentioned the issues that I want to discuss, but I have a couple of questions. You will agree that the level of funding that is provided for the arts does not adequately take into account the contribution that you make to targeting social need and regeneration. Quite often in meetings of this Committee, it has been suggested that arts organisations should be looking to other Departments for funding — particularly the Department for Social Development and the Department of Education — rather than depending totally on DCAL. We know how low the funding is in comparison with other areas. Have you approached any other Department for funding?

1418. My second question is a more local one. How popular is the ‘West Belfast Talks Back’ event in the féile?

1419. Mr D Bradley: It depends on whether Nelson is taking part or not. [Laughter.]

1420. Mr O’Hare: ‘West Belfast Talks Back’ is probably our biggest discussion and debate event as far as media coverage is concerned. We were one of the first organisations to bring representatives of the DUP, Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Irish Government to a table in west Belfast. We did that more than seven or eight years ago, and it was a remarkable achievement for all concerned. We are confident that we lead the way when it comes to debates and discussions.

1421. I shall be blunt; we do not get any cross-departmental support. DCAL is the home of Féile an Phobail. The interim period, between 2001 and 2006, was a nightmare for practitioners delivering on-the-ground programmes. We had to press Labour Party Ministers for festival funding, which was split between DCAL and DSD. The festival was kicked from pillar to post until, eventually, DCAL took it on board. Since then, it has moved on again.

1422. There is little or no cross-departmental appreciation of what we are trying to do. There are massive tourism and social-development aspects of our programme, yet we receive little or no support from DSD. We have brought up the matter locally and at MLA level, but we have had no joy in getting what we should have received. Given that many of our programmes are aimed at elderly, young and vulnerable people, the DSD should bear some of the responsibility for funding us, but we have not had any joy so far.

1423. As well as key input from the Arts Council and DCAL, we would like to see a lot more cross-departmental and local government co-operation. For example, we have to deal with 20 to 30 evaluation mechanisms for the various funders, which is an administrative nightmare. There is no joined-up approach. I could talk until the cows come home about cases of such an approach not being taken.

1424. The previous Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Mr Poots, said that the arts sector had to step up to the mark and prove itself. We believe that we have proved ourselves. We know about the programmes that we are running, and DCAL and those who are responsible for administering funding know what they are doing, which is why they are supporting us and other good projects. I cannot fault the people in the Arts Council and DCAL, who have been supportive; however, four policy changes in five years have created a huge amount of turbulence, which any organisation or Department, never mind Féile an Phobail, would have found difficult to deal with.

1425. We are seeking longer-term funding that can be secured for more than three years. As well as a long-term, joined-up approach from the various Departments, we require support to improve the capacity of new groups to run events.

1426. Mr D Bradley: OK, a Chathaoirligh. Tá fáilte romhaibh, agus tréasluím libh an obair mhór atá déanta agaibh le bliain agus fiche anuas; bhí an cur i láthair a rinne sibh inniu an-spéisiúil fosta.

1427. Congratulations on your work over the past 21 years. You presentation was interesting, particularly the part about social capital, which is often ignored. You mentioned that you do not have a permanent venue. I appreciate that having a permanent venue would cut down on overheads, because you would not have to hire other venues. However, do you not agree that one of the interesting and stimulating aspects of festivals is that they are usually scattered over a wide area, which, rather than being a disadvantage, means that they are able to reach out to various subsections in the area in which they operate?

1428. The Chairperson: If you do not mind, Dominic, I will ask Nelson to group his questions along with yours.

1429. Mr D Bradley: That was just a subordinate clause. [Laughter.]

1430. Mr McCausland: I wish to make a request, followed by a question. Some years ago, you received PEACE funding to produce a little booklet on how to organise a community festival. Would it be possible for the Committee to have a few copies of that booklet, so that we can see the sort of work that you have been doing? Furthermore, will we be getting a copy of the report from 2000?

1431. The Chairperson: Do you mean the independent evaluation?

1432. Mr McCausland: Yes; that would be useful.

1433. The Chairperson: Please note that request for those two documents.

1434. Mr O’Hare: We have three programmes, which we will give you now — we did not want you to be reading them during our presentation. There will be no problem getting you copies of the other documents that you requested.

1435. Mr McCausland: You mentioned that other areas in the city do not have the capacity to manage a substantial programme of events. Those areas can manage a small one- or two-day event, but they find it difficult to hold anything larger. In your case, the key was that for a large part of your 21 years in existence, you had core staff who built up a body of experience and expertise. Do you accept that to reach your level, those other communities require the sort of funding that you were given?

1436. Those communities must have the opportunity to build up a body of experience and expertise so that there is some permanency in what they do. They can get advice from yourselves or others but, unless they have core workers, you are imparting that advice to volunteers. What can be done to ensure that other communities have the opportunity to develop in the same way and to the same level as yours?

1437. Mr O’Hare: It is simple — through funding. For us, there was also a capacity issue around training, and we availed ourselves of training and tied-in with other arts organisations and forums. We have never shied away from such involvement, which is one of the key elements —

1438. Mr McCausland: The problem arises if there are no staff to send to the training in the first place.

1439. Mr O’Hare: We had no staff for the first 12 years of the festival — it is only in the past nine years that we secured staff, which was the result of a community drive. We would not be where we are without those 12 years because, in that time before we got staff, we showed our commitment. We had proven ourselves as a project, but we did not have the staff to develop it further. Once we got the funding, we moved on to a different level. A key element, in which DSD and DCAL have to get involved, is the need in certain areas for core staff and for a three-year plan, as opposed to a six- month interim-funding arrangement of £5,000 for a small one-day or weekend festival. There is no doubt that core staff are needed, which is why we are successful.

1440. The Chairperson: I ask you to conclude your remarks and incorporate an answer to Dominic Bradley’s question.

1441. Mr O’Hare: We love having 27 or 28 different venues, because it means that we are involved right across the community. We change those venues into festival venues as well, which brings more attention to what we are trying to provide. We have two full-time, year-long programmes: the radio station and a number of key concerts that we could fill again and again. We could have a central venue, but that would not take away from the community elements that we will always utilise, particularly the public spaces.

1442. We want to bring the safety factor back into our local parks and our open spaces — we want to do the clean-ups and create a community vibe. If we were to lose that, we would lose our community status, and we will not go down that road. We can now merge the high-quality events at a very low price with our community elements — having that mixture is the reason that we are successful. However, having to undertake tasks such as transforming a leisure centre into a festival venue makes our job more difficult.

1443. Mr D Bradley: Are you are company limited by guarantee?

1444. Mr O’Hare: Yes, and we are also a charity.

1445. The Chairperson: I thank the representatives from Féile an Phobail for their presentation. Go raibh maith agaibh, an triúr agaibh. I wish you every success in the future.

7 May 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Mr Francie Brolly
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey

Witnesses:

Ms Heather Floyd Mr Mukesh Sharma Ms Nisha Tandon

ArtsEkta

1446. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): We are happy to be joined by Heather Floyd, Mukesh Sharma and Nisha Tandon, representatives of ArtsEkta. Nisha will lead the presentation.

1447. Ms Nisha Tandon (ArtsEkta): Thank you for inviting us to tell you about the background of ArtsEkta. I will explain why and how the organisation was founded and outline the difficulties that we face. Heather will talk about the programmes that we have delivered and the partnerships that we have developed. Mukesh will talk about the economic impact that our organisation has made.

1448. ArtsEkta is the first minority ethnic arts organisation in Northern Ireland. It started in August 2006, so it is very young. The word “Ekta" is Sanskrit and means “uniting" and “bonding". ArtsEkta supports minority ethnic artists throughout the island of Ireland. At the end of 2005 and in early 2006, we held extensive consultation with many organisations, groups and schools in the private and public sectors.

1449. There is a lot of international art that is being appreciated and used. We asked ourselves how we could set up something to help and support the minority ethnic people in Northern Ireland. As a result of the consultation, we realised that there was an urgent need for such an organisation. There has been a rapid change in the make-up of Northern Ireland society, which has included more minority ethnic people becoming involved in the economy here.

1450. ArtsEkta delivers multi-ethnic arts programmes in schools, community groups and youth centres and with public and private organisations. Currently, we have a core of 12 minority ethnic artists who deliver our day-to-day programme. Another 20 minority ethnic artists are involved in our festivals and special programmes through the media of dance and music. Our board has six members from various backgrounds: community arts, education, business, finance and health. We have a core of 30 to 35 volunteers who support delivery of our special programme of festivals.

1451. One of the key challenges that we face is the issue of funding. Our projects mainly relate to cultural diversity and section 75 issues. When we ask for funding, one Department shoves us on to another, saying that it does not fund the arts, so we have been directed to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure for support.

1452. However, even without core funding, we manage to deliver programmes that are in demand. We organise Northern Ireland’s biggest international festival, Belfast Mela, as well as the Festival of Colours and Divali extravaganzas all over the Province. However, it is a little difficult for only one project manager to sustain and programme all of those big projects.

1453. Our future strategies include helping and supporting minority ethnic artists; continuing our good work on cultural diversity, which combats racism through the medium of art; and introducing more international links and bringing more travel and tourism to Northern Ireland.

1454. I will now ask Heather to discuss the programmes that ArtsEkta delivers and the partnerships that it has developed.

1455. Ms Heather Floyd (ArtsEkta): I will discuss the cross-sectoral impacts of ArtsEkta’s work. As with the work done by many community-arts organisations, our work straddles and impacts on a range of sectors, including the community and voluntary sector. Over the past three years, we have worked with around 30 community groups throughout the North. We also impact on the education sector and, during the same three-year period, we have worked with around 200 schools. Obviously, we also impact on the arts sector and festivals. The current Lord Mayor of Belfast, Tom Hartley, always points out that there are 80 festivals each year in the city of Belfast. ArtsEkta delivers three of those festivals, and Nisha has just referred to those.

1456. During the past year, ArtsEkta has also programmed work for the Belfast Festival at Queen’s, the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, Féile an Phobail — whose representatives you have just heard from — and the Lord Mayor’s Carnival. We have used those festivals as a platform on which to raise the profile of minority ethnic artists as well as the issues that are faced by people from minority ethnic communities who live here, and that has been useful for us.

1457. As regards deepening and enhancing its impact, ArtsEkta is also a member of a few other key forums, which include the Minority Ethnic Arts Forum, which was formed around two years ago; the Ballymena Inter-Ethnic Forum; the Black and Minority Ethnic Network; and the Community Arts Forum. ArtsEkta uses all those forums to promote, develop, and share learning from its work.

1458. Locally, ArtsEkta is embedded in the community sector. I will give examples of the type of groups with whom we undertake long-term programmes. An Droichead on Belfast’s Ormeau Road has merged the Irish language and culture with those of Belfast’s newer communities. ArtsEkta ran a multicultural arts programme with various strands, including dance and music, at An Droichead for quite a long period.

1459. ArtsEkta delivered a full programme on two different topics — well-being and identity and health — at the Concorde Community Centre in Wheatfield, north Belfast. That was delivered through dance and music. It was enhanced by a multicultural arts programme that ran with the after-school group in the centre. We also delivered a lengthy drama programme with the National Deaf Children’s Society that was called ‘Passage to India’ and was complemented by a dance programme and an artistic and cultural awareness programme.

1460. That gives you some idea of where ArtsEkta sits in the broader picture and its impact on a range of different levels. I will now pass over to Mukesh, who will discuss ArtsEkta’s economic impact.

1461. Mr Mukesh Sharma (ArtsEkta): Our work in the arts sector has an effect on other aspects of life in Northern Ireland. I will run through those quickly. One such aspect is employment. Nisha mentioned that we work with over 20 different artists across Northern Ireland — at least half of those artists are unemployed or seek benefits from agencies because they do not have work. We give them work in the community with schools, colleges and projects with senior citizens and disabled people.

1462. Every year, we obtain sponsorship from companies across Northern Ireland. That has become difficult this year because of the global recession. However, we are making headway in that respect. That sponsorship allows companies to benefit from the exposure that they get from the festivals that we produce, and it gives them direct access to the community on a one-to-one basis.

1463. We have worked with health and social care trusts in Northern Ireland to deliver projects on different aspects of well-being, such as healthy eating and exercise. We have asked Diabetes UK and Chest, Heart and Stroke to be available at our events, thus showing our support for their objectives.

1464. Recently, we launched a DVD. We established that there is a lot of racism and sectarianism in hospitals among doctors, nurses and patients. Therefore, we have launched a DVD that uses drama and art to tackle those issues, and that will be used as a resource in the health and social care trusts. That is our most recent arts project.

1465. This year, Belfast Mela has an underlying theme of the environment and recycling. Belfast City Council will use that festival as a vehicle to engage with the community and let it know the importance of those things. The Port of Belfast has an ongoing theme of recycling, and that will also be in evidence at the festival.

1466. We work closely with Invest NI. A lot of Asian companies are either looking at becoming established in Northern Ireland or are already established here. When the companies’ representatives come to Northern Ireland on a reconnaissance mission — if that term is appropriate — we meet them, alongside Invest NI, and discuss the issues that people from India or other parts of Asia will have if they decide to settle here as a result of the companies’ investment. We also show what we have to offer those people culturally.

1467. In relation to tourism, we work with organisations in the Republic of Ireland. Those partnerships mean that when we hold events here, reciprocal visits are made and that brings in tourists. The Belfast Mela attracts hundreds of people from the Republic of Ireland every year. The artists that attend and perform at our events stay here, spending nights in hotels and spending money in restaurants.

1468. As Heather mentioned, we do a lot in the education sector. Some 75% of our time is spent in schools and colleges, working with children and breaking the ice of new cultures in Northern Ireland. We give children face-to-face opportunities to speak to people through the arts and to learn dance. We do not necessarily teach them dance, but we let them engage with other people to see the future of Northern Ireland. PSNI and HM Revenue and Customs are involved in all our festivals, which gives them a direct opportunity to engage with the public. Every year, through our festivals, we attract in excess of 20,000 people, all of whom have direct access to those services at those events. I am sorry for rushing through this; I know that time is limited.

1469. Mr McCarthy: Thank you for your submission and congratulations on the work that you have done. In your submission, you referred to the “social economy strand" as a way for arts organisations to generate additional income. Will you elaborate on what that entails? How can arts organisations in Northern Ireland be assisted, financially or otherwise, in developing a social economy strand?

1470. Mr Sharma: I can refer only to the experiences of our organisation. We are in the throes of putting together a website that will be launched within the next six weeks. That will sell arts products, artefacts, carvings and costumes from around the world to anyone who wishes to buy them. That is one aspect of the social economy strand of our work.

1471. We also charge for those services that we provide for which we have not been funded. We have been approached by companies that may be launching an annual report or celebrating an anniversary and that would like our artists to perform at the event. In order to generate income, we let people know that we have the facility to carry out workshops, for which we charge a fee. Those are two sides of the social economy that we are trying to boost.

1472. Mr D Bradley: Your submission states that, in many cases, your organisation falls between a number of stools when seeking funding, and that it is pushed from pillar to post, with no Department taking responsibility for its work. What effect is that having on your overall funding? Does your organisation include more recent newcomers rather than the longer-established ethnic minority groups?

1473. Ms Tandon: There are newcomers in our organisation as well as the artists with whom we have an established relationship. We work with the existing sector here, which has five years’ experience of working with the voluntary and community sector. With newcomers, we give them an induction and look at their track record to see how they work with the community sector and what their background is.

1474. As I said, we do all sorts of cultural diversity and section 75 work. It has been quite a challenge for our organisation to go to the racial equality unit here and request core funding. We do not meet its requirements, as it does not fund any arts projects. It pushes us towards the NI Arts Council, which has recently given us project funding. We are always working on projects, but there is no core funding available.

1475. Ms Floyd: It is difficult to plan ahead and to develop as an organisation because we are constantly trying to find funding on a project-by- project basis. We have had quite a lot of funding disappointments recently, which has meant that we have been unable to develop a few projects that were in the pipeline. That has been very frustrating.

1476. Mr D Bradley: So there is a need for core funding?

1477. Ms Floyd: Yes; there definitely is.

1478. Lord Browne: Thank you for your presentation. I have had the opportunity to attend the Mela festival on many occasions in Botanic Gardens. The work you carry out there is excellent, particularly in combating racism, which, unfortunately, is a growing problem, especially in Belfast. You indicated that your organisation receives a lot of funding from businesses. Are you finding it more difficult to attract funding from the private sector? Is there anything that the Arts Council or the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) could do to help community groups such as yours to access business support?

1479. Mr Sharma: Our organisation receives some sort of match funding from Arts and Business every time that we get business sponsorship. However, Arts and Business should allow organisations such as ours to make it aware of what we have to offer so that, based on its assessment of our products, it can offer businesses sponsorship opportunities. It is sometimes difficult for a small arts organisation to go to a business and offer a product for it to use or to advertise in. As we all know, businesses regularly receive such offers.

1480. If bodies such as Arts and Business, the Arts Council or DCAL openly acknowledge that some arts organisations are carrying out events that could be of benefit to businesses, that is an endorsement that could possibly lead to arts organisations receiving greater support from the business sector. Arts and Business tends to rely on us doing all the work and it then supports us, but another side to its work should be to present opportunities to businesses.

1481. Ms Floyd: To add to what Mukesh has said about what the Arts Council can do, there was an issue over per capita spend, which is probably why the Committee is holding the review of funding of the arts. As it has been doing, the Arts Council — along with the arts sector, the community arts sector, DCAL and this Committee — needs to lobby for an increase to the per capita spend, as happened in the last Programme for Government.

1482. Along with the arts sector, the Arts Council could be lobbying for an inter-departmental arts policy across all Departments. If every Department were to have a ring-fenced budget for the arts, that would help to increase the per capita spend on arts in the region.

1483. Mr McCartney: Thank you for your presentation. The explanation that you gave of ArtsEkta uniting and bonding was excellent. You mentioned employing 10 people — are they employed by ArtsEkta, or are they self-employed people who offer their services to you?

(The Deputy Chairperson [Mr McNarry] in the Chair.)

1484. Mr Sharma: They are self-employed. Around seven of them are from Zimbabwe, Mexico, other parts of Latin America or other areas in Africa. Prior to our engaging with them, they were doing bits and pieces of work. They are now regularly involved in work with us on a weekly basis. They are self-employed, but they could be earning between £400 and £1,200 a month. That is substantial, and it is enough in most cases because, as well as getting work from us, they get bits and pieces of work on their own. Their work with us allows them to advertise their talent and their products, and they get other work as a spin-off from that. Working with us gives them independence.

1485. Mr McCartney: One of the categories that you listed was health and well-being. Can you give us an indication of how the arts helps in that particular field? Furthermore, is there a language aspect to the education work that you do?

1486. Mr Sharma: The health and well-being aspect of our work started at last year’s Mela. Each year, the Mela has a different theme, and last year’s theme was health and well-being. We approached the health and social care trusts to see whether they would be interested in getting on board with the Mela, which they did. In the 12 months following the Mela, we carry its theme through in the work that we do with schools.

1487. Health and well-being can be promoted through the arts in activities such as dance and fitness. We set out a series of workshops based on different parts of the world, in which we demonstrated how yoga is popular in India, the different types of foods that are eaten in India or in Africa, or the value of fresh fruit in countries such as Africa. Those are the sorts of thing that we emphasise.

1488. This year’s theme is the environment. For the 12 months following this year’s Mela, our workshops will focus on the environment and projects that are going on in other parts of the world, such as the recycling art that is going on in Latin America or in Africa. The aim of that is to make people socially aware of those different aspects of the environment.

1489. Mr McCartney: Is there any language aspect to your work, or do you focus on dance and culture?

1490. Mr Sharma: We focus mainly on dancing and culture. However, we work with the local Irish-language schools to try to promote understanding.

1491. Ms Floyd: In relation to health and well-being, recent research that was carried out by the Community Development and Health Network indicates that 98% of participants had increased self-esteem after being involved in the arts. The arts has a wide-ranging impact on participant’s health.

1492. The Deputy Chairperson: I am in the Chair because the Chairperson has excused himself for a few minutes.

1493. I have heard of your good work. The reports are impressive and encouraging. How important is community integration to your work? What could the Arts Council do to further assist engagement in the arts by communities in Northern Ireland that do not have a long-standing tradition of accessing the arts, such as the communities that you represent?

1494. Ms Floyd: I will answer your second question on what the Arts Council could do to assist the arts in Northern Ireland. Community arts receives only around 9% of the core revenue funding that is provided by the Arts Council. That needs to be looked at quite urgently. Community arts needs to get a bigger slice of the pie. There are two separate issues. There is the big issue of raising the per capita spend, and there is the issue of the distribution of resources by the Arts Council, of which we would like to see more going to community arts. That is one thing that the Arts Council could do.

1495. Ms Tandon: On the topic of social inclusion and integration, our educational programmes are a medium for integrating Catholic, Protestant and new minority communities and giving them the benefits of learning from one another through the medium of arts. When we come out of a school having delivered a five-week or 10-week programme, we have completely changed the perceptions that the children or young people have and the stereotyping elements that they held in their minds. That has been very helpful to us, as an organisation, and to the people to whom we are delivering our services.

1496. The education budget does not include enough funding to bring in organisations such as ours. Therefore, we sometimes deliver our services free of charge, simply to get us into schools and give them an example of what we deliver. After a short while, we find that the social inclusion programme helps and supports our long-term strategies.

1497. The Deputy Chairperson: Do you have any evidence that the children are taking home to their parents a message about changing perceptions?

1498. Ms Tandon: Yes, they are. For example, a 10-week programme will conclude with the parents being invited to the school, or we will do one more day with the parents and children together, in which the parents will see what the children have learnt and take that message back home or they will get involved themselves.

1499. The Deputy Chairperson: Members, I am very conscious of time — we are running over by half an hour. Francie and Nelson, do you have anything that you wish to contribute?

1500. Mr Brolly: I have a quick question. Where is Philip House?

1501. Ms Tandon: It is on York Street, in north Belfast.

1502. Mr McCausland: I am interested in the reference you make in your submission to social economy strands: “such as selling of Art and craft products, charging for performances, workshops etc."

1503. I have two points on that. Do you feel that organisations and individuals in Northern Ireland get into the practice of just doing things and, because of that, customers and audiences get used to thinking that they are bound to get those things for free? There is not a context here of people realising that if someone is putting on a quality performance, the audience should expect to pay something for it. That would help to generate some income. I make that point in relation to the discussion about charging for performances and workshops and so on.

1504. My second point relates to what you said about the lack of awareness of, and training on, social economy programmes. Who should be delivering those training courses and what should they include? Furthermore, to whom should those courses be delivered in order to build up that awareness?

(The Chairperson [Mr McElduff] in the Chair)

1505. Mr Sharma: We are already involved in those sorts of programmes, and we have found that, if we are putting on a quality programme and we charge for it, people will pay for it and will come to the event. For example, last weekend we had a world-renowned flute player from India performing at St George’s Church in Belfast and it was packed out. There were 450 people there, which is the maximum capacity of the place. Lord Browne asked me a similar question about the social economy aspect earlier. One of the other things that the Arts Council — or Northern Ireland plc, should I say — should be doing for the arts is training people on how to run an arts organisation as a business, because funding is getting tighter.

1506. Many people are involved in the arts because they like arts. They like to dance, perform or paint, but they have very little knowledge or grasp of how to turn that into something that they can use to sustain themselves or their organisation. That is important when we look at the future of the arts in Northern Ireland.

1507. The Chairperson: That is the end of our presentation. Thank you very much.

7 May 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Mr Francie Brolly
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey

Witnesses:

Ms Mary Cloake Mr Martin Drury

Arts Council of Ireland

1508. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): I welcome Mary Cloake and Martin Drury, from the Arts Council of Ireland. Fáilte romhaibh. I ask you to please explain your respective roles and make your presentation.

1509. Ms Mary Cloake (Arts Council of Ireland): It is a great privilege for us to be here. This is my first time in Stormont, and it is a great honour to be asked to address the Committee. I am director of the Arts Council of Ireland, and my colleague Martin Drury is arts director with particular responsibility for the areas of the Arts Council’s work that relate to access and social connection. We will talk about those elements of our work, among others. I know that the Committee has time constraints, so I will summarise our written submission to save time and to allow for important questions, such as questions about the amount of funding that the arts gets from Government.

1510. The Arts Council of Ireland is an autonomous agency, in the sense that it is an arm’s-length body that was set up by the Government of Ireland. It was established in 1951, but new legislation was introduced in 2003 because the previous legislation was somewhat archaic. Our functions are to stimulate public interest in the arts; promote knowledge, appreciation and practice of the arts; assist in improving standards in the arts; and to advise the Minister and other public bodies on the arts. We revisit those functions on an annual basis to ensure that we are doing the work that we were given to do by Government. The functions are very clear when they are set out in writing, but when it comes to interpreting them and applying them in practice, they can present challenges in respect of their definition, and so on.

1511. In common with other arts councils in the anglophone world, we fund people and provide financial assistance, mainly to artists and arts organisations. We also help other organisations that support the arts but are not arts organisations, such as Age and Opportunity or Fáilte Ireland, which is relevant to cultural tourism.

1512. We offer advice and information on the arts to Government and others. For example, if an artist applies for a tax exemption and revenue commissioners are uncertain whether to award it, they will ask the Arts Council for advice. We publish research and information to advocate the case for the arts and for the conditions of artists. We also undertake a range of projects, some of which we do in association with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. The objective of those projects is to promote and develop the arts in different ways.

1513. Our strategic plan is called ‘Partnership for the Arts’, and that covers the years from 2006 to 2010. We had ambitions to complete a programme of work called ‘Partnership for the Arts in Practice 2006-2008’, but, unfortunately, we did not meet our financial goals for that, so the document is still current.

1514. Partnership is at the heart of the mission and business practice of the Arts Council of Ireland; it is the core of what we do. The best way for an agency such as the Arts Council of Ireland to be effective is to partner with people across all aspects of the public sector. Our main partner is the Government — especially the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism which is our parent Department. We also have a relationship, which we consider to be a partnership, with thousands of artists and hundreds of arts organisations, on behalf of whom we work and to whom we give financial and moral resources.

1515. We also have partnerships with a range of local and national agencies and bodies and, particularly, with local authorities, which we consider to be the grass roots or the bedrock of arts development in Ireland. We also have partnerships in education, health, tourism and broadcasting.

1516. In order to make sure that we fund effectively, we have five goals, which can be found in our strategy document. I will leave one copy of that document and, if members are interested, I will send more copies. Our first goal is to affirm and promote the value of the arts in society. Our other goals are: to assist artists to realise their artistic ambitions; to make it possible for people to extend and enhance their experiences of the arts; to strengthen arts organisations countrywide; and to ensure that we work effectively as an organisation.

1517. Mr Martin Drury (Arts Council of Ireland): I am delighted to be here. I was here as a 12- or 13-year-old schoolboy on a school trip. It was a big and impressive building then, and it still is.

1518. Mr McCarthy: More so now with the personnel who are around you. [Laughter.]

1519. The Chairperson: Was your visit here since devolution?

1520. Mr Drury: Thank you, Chairman. As we have discovered today, one is not talking for long about the arts until one is talking about money. The funding to the Arts Council of Ireland rests at about €73 million to €73·5 million. I will have to distinguish between funding to the Arts Council of Ireland and funding to the arts, because each jurisdiction or country differentiates between how it allocates the budget for the arts. For example, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the National Concert Hall and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra are not paid out of that budget.

1521. Our broadcasting authority, RTÉ, underwrites the costs of the orchestra, and the Government separately vote money to the national cultural institutions, such as the National Gallery of Ireland, the National Museum of Ireland and the National Concert Hall. To compare the way in which different jurisdictions fund the arts is like comparing apples and oranges.

1522. The budget of the Arts Council of Ireland, which is responsible for the living and contemporary arts, is pitched at €73·5 million. For obvious reasons, that is less than what it was a year ago. We spend that money across approximately 15 areas. As one would expect, those areas include different art forms such as film, literature, drama, dance and music. However, there are also a number of cross-cutting areas, for which I have responsibility. They are young people and children in education and arts participation, which includes arts and health, arts and disability, arts and older people, the amateur arts, and the local arts.

1523. Local arts is key to the partnership that Ms Cloake mentioned; that is, the partnership between the Arts Council of Ireland, as a national agency, and the 34 local authorities. There is an enormous amount of spending on a partnership basis between us as a national agency and the municipal and local government authorities throughout the country.

1524. As the submission states, a separate agency is responsible for funding the arts abroad. That is something that we used to do that. Culture Ireland promotes the arts in Venice, at film and theatre festivals and at arts festivals, such as those in Edinburgh, New York and Berlin. That is one measure of the maturity of the arts and the regard in which the arts is held politically; that it can address trade, enterprise and national prestige agendas.

1525. Finally, it is particularly important to state in this forum that we have long-standing and good working relationships with our colleagues in the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, not only in a cordial way, but at a real and practical level. In addition to holding meetings and exchanging information at Executive and council levels, we jointly fund 16 or 17 organisations on which we spend approximately €3·9 million. The Arts Council adds value to that.

1526. The organisations funded range from a company such as the Opera Theatre Company, to an artist retreat, such as the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig in Newbliss, County Monaghan, through to the Ireland Literature Exchange or the position of chair of poetry, which is currently held by Michael Longley. Such joint ventures and projects are best served on an all-Ireland basis. They represent some of the many key partnerships that we have with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

1527. Mr McNarry: You are both very welcome. I noticed that you were sitting patiently through the earlier evidence sessions — hopefully you will have learnt something from those sessions. It appears that the Committee has a lot to learn from you.

1528. What arguments were put forward in the Republic to persuade Government to spend much more on the arts there than has been managed here? Will you explain the strategic significance of the 16 or 17 arts organisations that receive funding from your organisation and from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland? You said that the Arts Council of Ireland spends almost €4 million on those organisations. What “added value" comes from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland? Is that monetary?

1529. Ms Cloake: It is important to note that the argument for an increase in arts funding has been made for the past 20 years. If one were to pinpoint a year, 1987 saw the publication of ‘Access and Opportunity: A White Paper on Cultural Policy’, in which the important case was made that there was no artificial distinction between having, and aspiring to have, an ambition to make the most excellent of arts available to people. On one hand, there was the very highest of world-class artistic endeavour; on the other was the democratic impulse to make the arts accessible and create opportunities for people to have creative experiences right across the board, regardless of county, social class or gender.

1530. We have been building on that important point since it was made in that White Paper in 1987. Therefore, the democratic imperative started in 1987, and an important policy that the Arts Council of Ireland undertook was to build up a grass roots arts sector and community. That is the key argument that has been built upon over the past 20 years.

1531. Back in the 1980s, rather than simply sending the arts on tour by having shows travelling around the country, we decided to also build up an indigenous arts community or arts practice in every town and village. That was done so that every county, town or village would have its own artist and its own very particular and distinctive type of artistic expression. That is where it started; I do not think that there have been any simple and immediate, or expedient and pragmatic arguments made. I really believe that the arts must be embedded into the society in which people spend their day -to-day lives.

1532. The arts has developed from a grass roots base that existed already, in the form of amateur drama, traditional arts, storytelling and choral music. For example, I am from Wexford and I know that there is a huge tradition of choral music among the working classes on the east coast of Ireland that has grown into an opera festival. People might have a superficial view that opera is an elitist art form. However, from years of personal experience of going to the opera and to the rehearsals that are offered cheaply to schoolchildren, I can tell you that that opera scene has been built up from an entirely indigenous tradition.

1533. A long-term look at how the arts is embedded in our society is the only argument that can pay off and secure investment. Investment comes from the taxpayer and is guarded and administered by politicians. Investment will not be made unless the body politic really believes that the arts is important to people’s day-to-day lives. Our argument is based on those beliefs and values.

1534. The grass roots movement has been given concrete expression by the Arts Council, and Michael D Higgins TD became our first Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht in 1993. That, and a little bit of prosperity, led to a huge capital programme that started in about 1993 — which was around the time that the North of Ireland began to receive lottery funding — and lasted until 2007 or 2008. There was a building project in every town, and even village wanted to have an arts centre. I do not know whether anyone here has ever been to Moate; it is a tiny place that one only ever passes through, but it has an arts centre and an arts committee. Capital infrastructure was developed right across the country.

1535. A network of volunteers with skills, expertise and organisational ability was formed. That human network was consolidated and made more formal by the establishment of a network and infrastructure of buildings. By 2008, which was the apogee or zenith of our funding, there were more than 60 venues around the country that had been developed over the last 20 years. Those venues have people working in them who have pulled funding in and who have attracted money from the private sector.

1536. From all that public-level support and local-level activity emerged an argument that, in addition to its intrinsic values, the arts helps with social cohesion, local enterprise and community development. The two groups that the Committee heard from in the earlier evidence sessions are absolute evidence that a dynamic 21-year programme of work at community level can generate jobs, activity and a positive self-image for people in communities of all kinds.

1537. More recently, arguments have been pinned on what makes economic sense; indeed, we talked about economic value earlier. High-tech digital industries, such as Microsoft and Google, and smaller computer-gaming industries will drive economic development in the future. Those industries are dependent on there being an artistic population, and artistic activity acts as a research and development sector for them. It makes economic sense to look back on the last 15 years, and we can now see that Google came to Dublin because it wanted to avail itself of the young, artistic and energetic imaginations there, and not only the tax regulations.

1538. The entire island of Ireland can punch above its weight internationally. The names Basil Blackshaw, Paul Muldoon, Michael Longley are known throughout the world. One effect of that is the big cultural tourism industry here, which is built on people coming to Ireland to sample the artistic life. I appreciate that the cultural tourism industry is not quite as developed in the North of Ireland as it is in the South, but the most recent Fáilte Ireland report indicates that that industry is worth €5·1 billion. An industry that is worth €5·1 billion is riding on public investment of about €80 million, which represents very good value for money. Furthermore, such an international reputation brings in foreign investment also.

1539. Mr McNarry: I am glad that I asked that question, Mary. That was a heck of an answer, and I look forward to reading it. [Laughter.]

1540. The Chairperson: You mentioned local arts centres. I visited Kilcullen in County Kildare, where the local theatre is distinguished by its use of 150 Volvo car seats.

1541. Mr McNarry: That is interesting.

1542. Mr Drury: I will respond to the second part of Mr McNarry’s question. There are several reasons why our working with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland provides added value but it is, largely, about economies of scale. Magazines such as Circa, an artist’s retreat such as Annaghmakerrig or an opera company such as the Opera Theatre Company, which tours on a medium scale, is better value for both arts councils and both jurisdictions if the country can afford to fund a small to medium-sized enterprise.

1543. Poetry Ireland, which is one of the 16 organisations, is a resource organisation that does not distinguish on the basis of birth address or geographical address. Artists such as Paul Muldoon, Frank McGuinness, Medbh McGuckian, Michael Longley, Seamus Heaney, and Derek Mahon are Irish poets on the island, and Poetry Ireland serves their needs and the public need in relation to them. Therefore, it makes sense that both arts councils co- operate and jointly fund such enterprises.

1544. Mr McNarry: Do both organisations jointly devise the strategy for the 16 or 17 organisations?

1545. Mr Drury: Yes; there is a sort of bush telegraph —

1546. Mr McNarry: Do you work it out, or do you decide it after presentations have been made to you?

1547. Mr Drury: Each council makes an autonomous decision. However, there is a degree of custom, practice and informal contact, after which formal meetings take place at staff level and in the arts councils. Issues are discussed at those meetings, which allows us to, in a sense, avoid a crisis or support a positive initiative.

1548. Mr McNarry: You give €4 million a year to those organisations — what does the Arts Council of Northern Ireland give to them?

1549. Mr Drury: For those organisations, it amounts to a couple of hundred thousand, although I am open to correction on that figure because I have not calculated it exactly. However, the graph is sometimes different. In a sense, that reflects the population base and the scale of uptake, because Poetry Ireland probably delivers more services in the Republic than in the North. There is an aspect of proportionality.

1550. Mr McCarthy: Thank you for your presentation. I am delighted to hear your responses so far. We invited you to the Committee to discover why the Arts Council of Ireland receives much more funding than our arts council. In fact, its funding is the highest on these islands. What are the outcomes and benefits of increased investment in the arts in the South? Have you successfully attracted private investment?

1551. Ms Cloake: I will answer the question in two parts. The amount of private investment could be higher. We have been somewhat successful, but the culture of investing privately in the arts is limited and needs to be developed more fully.

1552. The impact of increased investment has been felt mainly at the local level. Although the sum looks large on paper, it must be remembered that we fund 60 venues across the country. Although it has improved, local authorities’ contribution to the arts is not as high as in the North. We have focused on creating a countrywide infrastructure of buildings. There have been other benefits, but that is the most tangible.

1553. Mr Drury: Increased investment has led to the normalisation of the arts. Twenty years ago, the arts was considered remote and elite. However, it is now embedded in local authorities, schools and health centres.

1554. Mr McCarthy: You said that you have an arts centre in Moate — is that a village?

1555. Ms Cloake: Yes, it is.

1556. Mr McCarthy: Many villages in Northern Ireland would benefit from extra funding. How do you attract people to become involved in arts in the local community? You must be doing something to obtain such funding.

1557. Ms Cloake: People are doing it themselves. The question will arise as to whether we can afford so many arts centres.

1558. The Chairperson: This might be a political question; is it a misconception that Michael D Higgins, as the first Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, played a strong role in embedding that culture?

1559. Ms Cloake: He is a symbol of it. I think he did not produce the whole project by himself; he had a good team. However, he marked the particular point in history when statesmanlike and erudite individuals such as he could draw together a lot of public opinion in sport or the arts. My answer, therefore, is yes, he did play a strong role in embedding that culture.

1560. Mr D Bradley: Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. Tá fáilte romhaibh agus go raibh maith agaibh as teacht agus as bhur gcur i láthair a dhéanamh.

1561. You are welcome and thank you for your presentation. I want to ask about the traditional arts. David mentioned the discrepancy in arts funding between the North and the South, and that is reflected also in the funding of the traditional arts. For example, you have a full-time traditional arts officer and we have a part-time one. There is a huge imbalance in the funding. Why did the South decide to invest so heavily in the traditional arts and what benefits have come from that? Do you have any evidence of a spin-off from that into the area of cultural tourism, which you mentioned earlier?

1562. Ms Cloake: On behalf of the Arts Council of Ireland, I am proud of the level of investment in the traditional arts but I have to say that such generosity is recent. A special committee was set up in 2003 by the then Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, John O’Donoghue. At that time, there was a lot of concern in the traditional arts community that traditional arts had fallen behind in the funding stakes, so the committee was established, a new policy was created and a full-time person was employed from 2006 onwards. It was very much a political movement.

1563. The head of traditional arts was a new post. We were delighted to get Paul Flynn, who had formerly been the head of traditional arts in the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. That was very useful for us. The impact of that is that there is now confidence in the traditional arts community that artistic work in the traditional idiom is at least as honoured as, or has the status of, all the other art forms. That is the best way of describing the intangible aspect of the outcome.

1564. The tangible outcome is that investment has gone up from about €630,000 to €4 million, of which €2 million is in the traditional arts budget and €2 million is spread around other budget headings and is used to fund venues, for example. The professionalisation and consolidation of the main organisations in the traditional arts is marked. Those organisations are professional, they have full-time staff and they deliver services to a much higher level. Confidence and the stabilisation of organisations were the principal impacts of that increase in funding.

1565. Mr D Bradley: What is the impact on cultural tourism? Is there any way of assessing that?

1566. Mr Drury: It is difficult to measure, but there is no doubt that, according to visitor surveys, it appears that people do not come here for the weather. They come here because they have built up an expectation from the films and television programmes that they have seen. One of the key things about tourism is that it has to deliver on that expectation. Therefore, traditional music sessions — whether in the pub, the club or outdoors — are important. The fact that it is a living tradition is critical. It comes back to Mary’s point about research and development.

1567. Tradition, as Brian Friel says, is a living thing: it is not a fossil. One of the reasons that we invest so heavily is to keep that tradition alive. There is evidence to suggest that, when tourists come to experience the traditions, they may be disappointed with the food prices but they are not disappointed with the quality and prevalence of music. That delivers on our promise to Government that investing in the Arts Council equals good value in respect of cultural tourism.

1568. Lord Browne: Thank you for your very interesting presentation. Over what timescale do you allocate funding? Is it on an annual basis, or do you consider offering it for a longer period of, perhaps, three years?

1569. Mr Drury: We allocate funding on an annual basis. We would like to do it on a three-year basis, and have twice attempted to get a three-year structure in place, particularly for the main companies. We are funded through a vote of the Oireachtas, our Parliament, which comes annually. Only in the case of the national theatre, the Abbey Theatre, have we been able to make a forward commitment on a scale that allows the Abbey to plan. The ideal arrangement is to have three-year funding, which happens in certain jurisdictions. Many organisations do not, as they come to November or December, feel that their funding will be cut off. Many of them have 10-, 15-, 20- or 30-year relationships with the Arts Council. There is no reason to believe that they will not be funded the next year, but the level of that funding is in question.

1570. Lord Browne: How do you make decisions about the priority of funding to the different art forms, such as dance and theatre? How do you prioritise those?

1571. Ms Cloake: We could spend at least three times the amount of money that we have. We mainly use the ‘Partnership for the Arts’ document to assess how each of the art forms and areas of work meet the criteria and goals. In each art form — dance, drama and visual arts — there is a policy. There are also policies for venues, young people, children and arts participation. We have policies for each of our 12 teams. Each has to compete according to how they meet the goals and objectives that are set out in the document.

1572. Mr Brolly: Go raibh míle maith agaibh, agus fáilte romhaibh. I listened very carefully to what you said about your involvement from the grass roots upwards, rather than from the top down. I have been critical of our Arts Council — I accused it of providing funds but not being proactive. I was very interested in that, and I would be very interested to see a copy of your ‘Partnership for the Arts’ document and pass it on to the relevant authority.

1573. I was also interested to hear Martin say that you are not responsible for the symphony orchestra. How would you react if you were told that you were to take responsibility for funding the symphony orchestra without any change to your current level of funding? What effect would that have on your general funding of the arts?

1574. Mr Drury: We would react with dismay. It would throw what is a severely tested micro-economy into disarray because symphony orchestras do not come cheap. One of the reasons that we are able to calibrate our funding is because we realise that the Irish Film Board exists, so our role in film is quite precise because we know that the film industry is largely looked after by the Irish Film Board. Similarly, in the area of music — particularly classical music — we know that RTÉ has responsibility for the symphony orchestra. That relieves us of certain responsibilities and allows us to concentrate on the chamber orchestra.

1575. We simply could not fund the symphony orchestra on the present budget. If we were politically forced to do so, a huge chunk of other work that we think is of very high priority would simply have to make way. It would be non-deliverable.

1576. Mr Brolly: You said that the work that you fund is of a “very high priority". Is it considered to be of such a high priority that it, rather than the symphony orchestra, would be given funding, should you have to choose? I am asking you to fundamentally compare what the arts of the cosmhuintir against the people who benefit from the symphony orchestra.

1577. Ms Cloake: That is a dilemma for which we would have to change the terms of the question. If one considers funding an orchestra, one would have to change one’s expectations of how an orchestra behaves. Up to this year, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra has had a very good programme of going in residence to different counties across the country, such as County Laois and County Donegal. We would not put the orchestra in opposition to the things that we fund. Instead, we would determine the type of outcomes that we expect from an orchestra and assess whether we could change the basis on which the orchestra behaves.

1578. Mr Drury: The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra is attached to the broadcasting authority at the moment, so we do not see its value only when it plays in the National Concert Hall. It is a huge public resource; not simply by virtue of its residences, but by its coming down the airwaves into homes all over the country. Therefore, in relation to its delivery, it is a very democratic organisation.

1579. The Chairperson: What is the nature of the relationship between the Arts Council and the Abbey Theatre? Is it a direct relationship?

1580. Ms Cloake: Yes, and it is a very good one. It is the only organisation in the last five years with which we have had a three-year funding deal. The Abbey has a long history of close contact with Government. There is always a lot of media interest in funding to the Abbey and so on, but at the moment it is a very effective organisation. It supports a lot of new writing and has extended its audience base and the social reach of its audience. It is coming to the end of a three-year programme of stabilising its internal workings. We have a good, if robust, relationship with the Abbey.

1581. Mr D Bradley: Does the Abbey receive a lot of private funding?

1582. Ms Cloake: Not as much as we would like it to receive. That is one of the things that we will discuss when formulating the next three-year programme.

1583. The Chairperson: It has certainly enjoyed very positive publicity in the recent past.

1584. Mr McCartney: When organisations are funded jointly by both arts councils, is the strategic significance of those organisations decided by the two councils, or is it a result of the dynamic of the group? Did Poetry Ireland, for example, demand that it be jointly funded, or was that a strategic decision made by the arts councils?

1585. Ms Cloake: Our policies work in two ways across the board, not only in relation to the joint funding of organisations. We think that good ideas need encouragement, so part of our policy has always been to respond to organisations. We also direct our funding to different organisations. Therefore, it is a mix.

1586. For example, Poetry Ireland is an organisation that requested to work on a Thirty-Two County basis and brought proposals to us. On the other hand, Opera Theatre Company is an organisation that, from the beginning, was more or less established by the Arts Council, and our relationship with that is far more strategic. Both arts councils agree that Opera Theatre Company has a role in both jurisdictions, and we ask it to fulfil that role.

1587. Mr McCartney: This Committee has heard evidence and has seen research outlining the different levels of per capita funding in the North, the South, England, Scotland and Wales. You spoke about the role of Michael D Higgins. Do you think there is a need for us to provide more funding? The case has been made, but we do not seem to be able to break through the ceiling and provide more funding. If you were to give advice on how we break through that mentality or mindset, how do we do that? From listening to the evidence, it is clear that there is a demand for the arts, such as that which created the circumstances for someone such as Michael D Higgins to allow the arts flourish. How do we change the mindset of the funders? In many ways, it is we in Government who need to change our mindsets.

1588. Mr Drury: There are several things that could be done; I will suggest two. Northern Ireland has, and has always had, some of the greatest artists in the world. There are not many areas in which a population of this size punches above its weight, but there is a roll-call of artists here. When one thinks about Scandinavia one thinks about good design. When one thinks about Japan, one thinks about technology. When one thinks about Northern Ireland, one thinks about great writers and artists. That is a matter of pride and prestige.

1589. The second argument, which relates to that, is that when the studies are done about inward investment from some of those multinationals that Mary mentioned, there are three things that families tell the chief executives of those companies are important when they are considering relocating. They are interested in the physical environment and landscape of the area into which they might locate; the quality of first-, second- and third-level education; and the cultural facilities. As well as making sense for lots of intrinsic reasons, it makes economic sense that, if you want to attract and retain inward investment, culture is one of the pieces of the jigsaw.

1590. Mr McNarry: I had to nip out there for a short time, so you may have discussed this in my absence. On the issue of artist royalties, you skipped over a bit about tax benefits. Are artists drawn to leave Northern Ireland to go to the Republic and avail themselves of those benefits? Is that working against Northern Ireland?

1591. Ms Cloake: It is only a matter of speculation, but I do not think so. I do not think that any incentives — financial or otherwise — will make a material difference to where an artist decides to live. It may be a factor, but I do not think that it would be a deciding factor.

1592. There was a proposal to abolish the artists’ tax exemption. We made the point that Ireland — North and South — is identified with the arts. It is more about creating an encouraging environment for artists and letting them know that they are thought of as important and are wanted in our society. There are only a few people who move simply for tax reasons.

1593. Mr McNarry: We have had representations here about the difficulties that actors face in securing employment. It is a very open-ended question, but do actors from your area experience the same difficulties with securing full-time employment?

1594. Ms Cloake: It is very difficult. We did a study two years ago about the living and working conditions of theatre artists. We are very pleased that we are now working in partnership with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to address that very question, to see what the living and working conditions of artists are across the Thirty-Two Counties and how can we improve them, or make the life of an artist more viable.

1595. Whether an actor at the top of his or her profession can work full time for a year is a moot point, but I know that some of our best actors are living on an income of €7,000 a year, which is very difficult. Investment in the arts creates more activity as well as more opportunities and more employment for artists. That might not be in full-time, permanent jobs, but it will be in gainful employment.

1596. Mr McNarry: Is that a downer when attracting young people into the arts?

1597. Ms Cloake: No; it can be a plus. I do not think that someone would choose not be an actor because it is not a well-remunerated profession for anyone but those at the very top. If someone is put off being an actor by the money, they probably should not go into the business in the first place.

1598. Mr McNarry: I was put off being a footballer because of the money, but now I wish I had not been. [Laughter.]

1599. The Chairperson: That brings the evidence session to a close. Thank you both for your contributions.

14 May 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Francie Brolly
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Ms Heather Floyd Ms Caragh O’Donnell Mr Conor Shields

Community Arts Forum

1600. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): I welcome representatives from the Community Arts Forum. Good morning; it is great to have you here. Heather Floyd, Conor Shields and Caragh O’Donnell are here to represent the organisation. I will hand over to Heather to introduce the team and to describe their roles in the forum. I will ask you to please make a brief opening statement, after which members will ask questions.

1601. Ms Heather Floyd (Community Arts Forum): Thank you for inviting us to give evidence today. I am the director of the Community Arts Forum, and I will tell you a little about it and the community arts sector. Conor is our treasurer, and he will talk about community arts and what it does and the kind of outcomes that it produces. Caragh is our information officer, and she will talk about issues that face the community arts sector. I will finish by going through our recommendations to the Committee.

1602. The Community Arts Forum is an umbrella and networking organisation for community arts across the North of Ireland. It was formed in 1993, and it aims to develop the community arts sector through a programme of training, publications, and information.

1603. We have an extensive information service and a website that receives just under 2,000 hits a day. We have an ebulletin that goes out weekly, and Committee members are more than welcome to sign up for that. We also produce a bulletin, copies of which I will leave for members. In addition, we do a lot of lobbying, advocacy work and networking, encouraging community groups to have arts events in their programming. The forum also talks to Government, the Arts Council and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) about community arts and the impact that it has in a community context.

1604. We define the community arts sector as one that comprises provider organisations; that is, organisations that provide community arts activities. Examples of such organisations include the New Belfast Community Arts Initiative, Belfast Community Circus School, and Northern Visions media arts centre, which holds community workshops. There is also a range of community arts groups across the region that are involved in arts projects. In addition, many artists work on their own material in a community context, and they are saying increasingly that working in a community context is really helping to inform their work at a deep level. The Community Arts Forum is the umbrella and networking organisation.

1605. I will now hand over to Conor, who will talk about defining community arts.

1606. Mr Conor Shields (Community Arts Forum): Heather mentioned the New Belfast Community Arts Initiative, of which I am programme director. I have been a practitioner in community arts for more than 20 years. Community art is a process of harnessing the transformative power of original artistic expression and of producing a range of outcomes that are not just artistic — they could be social, cultural, educational or environmental.

1607. Socially, community art can develop confidence in individuals and communities. It can develop cohesion in those communities by working collectively and by making shared, creative statements. It can also develop relationships in communities, but also between communities and between different age groups and abilities and, indeed, different sexualities.

1608. Culturally, community art can give voice and can shape cultural expression by drawing on local identities. It can build the capacity in those areas to not only make art, but to enjoy art. The key element is about making and enjoying art in a collective experience. Community art can also be used instrumentally to deal with issues such as health and environmentalism. It can be the informal reintroduction for many to a learning environment. It can give people the opportunity to re-engage with training and to offer the first steps to accreditation, which can help with employability issues. It can also promote the arts among communities that traditionally do not have access to the arts or that are not great patrons of the arts.

1609. Therefore, whether looked at culturally, socially or economically, community art aims to establish and maximise inclusive and collective ways of working, providing opportunities for communities and participants to find ways to develop their own skills as artists and for artists to explore ways of transferring their skills into communities and to offer a range of potential outcomes. Community art is, therefore, an incredibly flexible tool in developing the arts socially, culturally, environmentally and with a whole range of potential outcomes. The key issue, through those processes, is that community art aims to maximise the access, participation in, authorship of and ownership of collective arts practice.

1610. That is a broad definition of how we see community art in Northern Ireland.

1611. Ms Caragh O’Donnell (Community Arts Forum): Part of my role in the Community Arts Forum is running the information service, a large part of which is to offer guidance to groups on funding opportunities for them so that they can run community arts projects.

1612. I will talk about some of the obstacles that groups face accessing funding. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) is the main source of funding for the arts in Northern Ireland. Competition for those funds is very high. It can often be difficult for new and community-based groups to compete for funding with well-established arts groups that have been working for many years.

1613. An example of that is project funding, where demand outstrips supply by a ratio of over 2:1. The major fund to which I refer people frequently is the small grants programme, which is a lottery programme that, since January this year, has been administered through the Arts Council. It offers small grants of £500 to £10,000, and the officers who work on it, although very dedicated, report that two thirds of applications are eligible for funding, but they can fund only one in four. The demand for it exists, and, judging by the number of enquiries that I get for funding for community arts projects, that is only the tip of the iceberg.

1614. Beyond that, numerous groups are unaware of funding opportunities or do not have the capacity to apply for funding because of the work that is involved in drawing up budgets, reporting to funders, and administration. In those cases, groups such as the Community Arts Forum and New Belfast Community Arts Initiative, which are well established, are able to provide arts programmes because they can do the administration, allowing the groups to get on with the projects. More funding is needed for both those types of funding programme.

1615. There are lots of other issues to do with funding and interdepartmental support. Groups may be referred to the Arts Council, even though their projects address numerous objectives of other Departments. Even though Departments frequently provide funding for arts projects, there is not necessarily a clear policy or system for accessing that funding. That is an issue.

1616. Ms Floyd: I will finish by talking about our recommendations. We recommend that the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure lobby the Assembly to increase significantly the per capita spend on the arts. I know that the Committee has considered per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland throughout this inquiry.

1617. We recommend that DCAL work with local councils to increase council funding to the arts and that ACNI increase its budget allocation to community arts. We also recommend the development of interdepartmental arts policies and strategies and the promotion of joint working between Departments. That is particularly relevant to community arts projects that frequently contribute to the objectives of many different Departments, but that have difficulty accessing financial support. I brought a copy of this piece of research that Arts for All, which is based in north Belfast, has just completed. It finds that community arts often fall between stools, namely, the Department for Social Development (DSD), the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), but that none of those Departments takes responsibility for community arts.

1618. We also recommend that, in consultation with the arts sector, DCAL and ACNI should develop and implement a long-term funding strategy and introduce appropriate five- to 10-year funding programmes. That would help support stability and sustainability in the sector. Arts Council funding packages are for three years, and, even within that, it is necessary to reapply year on year.

1619. In consultation with the arts sector, we would like DCAL and ACNI to develop and implement a transparent policy and procedures for reviewing ACNI decisions. At present, if groups do not receive ACNI funding, there is no appeals process, and that can be frustrating for groups. I know that members do this already, but our final recommendation is that members of the Committee become active advocates of the arts across the region. That would involve practical measures such as attending arts events and promoting the arts at full Executive meetings, and presenting, on behalf of the arts, to other Departments.

1620. The Chairperson: Thank you, Heather. I will ask the first question. We have heard evidence from an organisation called Voluntary Arts Ireland. How does the Community Arts Forum’s work differ from that of Voluntary Arts Ireland?

1621. Ms Floyd: The Community Arts Forum deals with organisations that work in a community development context or framework. We follow through the principles to which Conor referred — access, participation, authorship, and ownership. That is quite a specific model. Voluntary Arts Ireland works with anyone who works on the arts voluntarily, including bands, sewing circles and other activities.

1622. Ms O’Donnell: It covers pretty much any kind of arts activity that could be leisure related, whereas the Community Arts Forum tends to work in a more community development context.

1623. Ms Floyd: We work very closely with Voluntary Arts Ireland, and together we chair the arts policy subgroup in the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA). Therefore, we do quite a lot of cross-cutting work together.

1624. Mr Shields: Another distinction to make is that the artists and arts organisations that work under CAF’s umbrella are professional, rather than purely voluntary or hobbyists’ organisations.

1625. Mr McCarthy: Thank you for your presentation. Your submission states that you find it difficult for community arts groups to access sponsorship and financial support from the private sector. Is there anything that DCAL or the Arts Council could do — or should do — to make it easier to attract private-sector funding and sponsorship?

1626. Ms O’Donnell: In my experience, sponsorship is very hard to get, even for well-established, well-staffed groups. Such groups frequently have to make numerous applications before they can access even one sponsor. Community arts groups do not have that capacity. They do not have the staff or the time, and it might not be as appealing to business organisations to support small community projects. I am not sure what ACNI can do to support that; it simply may not be viable.

1627. Mr Shields: Even the Ulster Orchestra, which is one of our largest recipients of arts funding, is experiencing great difficulties in retaining sponsorship, and I suppose that that is because of the economic downturn. However, it is very hard to attract sponsors who want to target the whole social strata, when we are talking about arts in hard-to-reach communities that, for the most part, are found in targeting social need (TSN) areas that may rate highly on the Noble deprivation index. Our profile in community arts does not tend to attract a lot of private sponsorship, although we are always looking for it.

1628. Mr McNarry: Good morning. You suggested that DCAL should set up interdepartmental arts policies and strategies to increase the engagement of other Departments in the arts. Are you suggesting that that is not happening in the Department of Education (DE), or in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI), which deals with tourism? What would be the overall benefits of such a move?

1629. Ms Floyd: If there were a cross-departmental policy, such as those of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS), every Department would have some responsibility for the delivery of the arts and for supporting the arts. There should be some acknowledgement and recognition that the arts have an impact on all areas of Government. Therefore, all Departments should have responsibility for the arts, and it should not fall back solely on DCAL. A lot of community arts groups are being shifted from pillar to post, and that would not happen if every Department had a little bit of responsibility for arts in the region.

1630. Mr McNarry: The same pool of money would be open to everyone. Are you suggesting that if awareness were increased, that pool would also increase?

1631. Ms Floyd: That is a possible outcome. It would be a very welcome outcome for the arts sector if every Department were to have an arts policy and a small resource pool.

1632. Mr McNarry: Does the Department of Education contribute?

1633. Ms O’Donnell: I think that all Departments probably support arts, but it is unclear how groups apply for funding through different Departments. We know of instances where groups have asked for support from other Departments, and they have been told that they should go back to DCAL, because that is the appropriate Department. That is where an arts policy could perhaps help Departments to recognise that they can also meet those groups’ aims and objectives.

1634. Ms Floyd: When DCAL was first set up, it launched the Unlocking Creativity initiative, which encompassed DETI, the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL), DCAL and the Department of Education.

1635. That means that there have been cross-cutting strategies in the past, but not all Departments were involved. We would like to expand those strategies. The Department of Education’s creative youth partnership programme has been running for the past four or five years and has had a hugely successful effect on the promotion of the arts in schools and on out-of-schools programmes.

1636. Mr McNarry: Do you know how much the Department of Education has spent on that programme?

1637. Ms Floyd: No.

1638. Mr McCarthy: That programme got £50,000 from the Department of Education, but DCAL has not yet followed suit.

1639. The Chairperson: That is right. The Department of Education has recommitted money to the creative youth partnership programme. We are waiting for confirmation of a similar commitment from DCAL.

1640. Mr McNarry: In your submission, you recommend that Committee members become active advocates of the arts across the region. If I narrow the discussion to my Strangford constituency, could you write to the Committee and give me a list of arts activities that are happening there?

1641. Ms Floyd: We will do that.

1642. Mr McNarry: That would be very interesting.

1643. Mr Shields: To answer the previous question, the difficulty with community arts is that it involves a range of varied outcomes. It can be instrumentalist; not only can one make art for art’s sake, but there are additional outcomes for health issues, environmental concerns and inter- community dialogue. Community arts can fall into the remits of different Departments; it is not purely about art for art’s sake. Most Departments use art in certain ways, but there are no clear policies or relationships between them when it comes to access for organisations such as CAF or the New Belfast Community Arts Initiative. Therefore, we are asking that those relationships be streamlined or made more accessible.

1644. Mr McNarry: That is a point well made, Chairperson.

1645. Mr McCartney: My question follows on from David’s. We have heard from various sources about the problem of going round the Departments, and community arts organisations in particular have discussed that with us. Neighbourhood renewal groups that have a relationship with one Department have the same difficulty. Other Departments may offer a commitment, but when people go to their door they respond by saying that the responsibility lies elsewhere. What practical measures should come out of this inquiry about making all Departments relate to the arts? How can they live up to what they are supposed to, but beyond that, deliver in real terms?

1646. Conor gave us a definition of community arts. I know that other members share my view that the Committee’s inquiry should come up with a definition for the sector. If the figures are correct, only 9% of the available funding goes to community arts groups. How can community arts make a greater impact? Should money for community arts be ring-fenced? One of the problems is that it is sometimes difficult to define community arts. We heard from a group from the New Lodge Road in Belfast, which, while it was not saying that community arts cannot be delivered in city-centre buildings, suggested that projects that are housed in city-centre buildings attract more participants. How can that be done in reverse? That might be more of a view than a question.

1647. Ms Floyd: I will deal with the second part of your question first. Conor touched on that issue in his comments. We define community arts as the production of original artwork in a collaborative process between an artist and a community, and that has significant elements of access to the arts. It is also about individuals’ active participation rather than their just being members of an audience. Authorship is important — it is not about a community group putting on a production of ‘Hamlet’; they will be producing a play that usually reflects issues in their community. The community group should own the work of art; it should not belong to the artist or the playwright concerned. The first practical benefit that should come out of the Committee’s inquiry should be the establishment of an all-party interdepartmental arts group that would develop a policy for supporting the arts.

1648. Mr Shields: To expand further on the definition that I gave earlier, quite a few different chief executives of community arts organisations came together for the Arts Council’s strategy that was developed three years ago. Given that community arts is a multifaceted activity, in that there is pedagogic activity where people teach and transfer skills, there can be collective realisation of pieces of art. At the same time, some pieces may be participant driven and led, meaning that the community is facilitated by a professional artist.

1649. Having quite a flexible definition is the way to capture the full ambit of community arts. Inherently, community arts is about being flexible and about shaping itself so that it maximises the access, participation, ownership and authorship of processes. We have to be careful not to be too prescriptive about what community arts is; we must still allow a flexible definition, which, I hope, will allow various Departments to develop their own policies so that they can see the instrumental benefits that community arts can bring to their remits. One may find that different Departments could offer community arts clear ways in.

1650. Hopefully, we would have more than the 9% funding, and, hopefully, the level of need could be reflected in those terms. Ms O’Donnell said that a great many more applications for funding are submitted than are successful. Of course, that is about capacity and resources, but there are so many ways in which community arts could be utilised in a very utilitarian sense by Departments and used as a tool to develop different ways in which they could talk about and disseminate policy in the community. It would be helpful if the Committee could come up with a definition that retained the flexibility of community arts but allowed for the maximum embrace of community arts.

1651. The Chairperson: Is there any European Peace funding for community arts?

1652. Mr Shields: There is. New Belfast has been very successful through Peace I and Peace II, and we are about to go into a Peace III programme. As community arts positions itself as an aid to the most marginalised and to intercommunity dialogue, one finds that a lot of community arts activity fits within the scheme of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) or European Social Fund (ESF) money.

1653. Mr McCartney: I am not trying to put you on the spot, but do you know of any arts groups, collaborative or collective that have gone to other Committees, such as the Committee for Education, the Committee for Social Development or the Committee for the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister and said that those Committees were not living up to their expectations in the delivery of the arts, with the result that all the direction and money comes from DCAL?

1654. Ms Floyd: Not as far as any of us know. However, in 2007, the Community Development and Health Network researched the impact on the health of those who participated in arts projects; indeed, the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety was informed about that research.

1655. Mr McNarry: Will you let the Committee know how much Peace money has contributed to your organisation? More critically, when that money runs out, how much of a shortfall do you envisage and what ideas do you have for bridging that shortfall?

1656. Ms Floyd: We had Peace II funding that ran between January 2006 and August 2008. That amounted to between £130,000 and £150,000 over that period.

1657. That funding has now run out. We prepared for that during the two and a half years of the programme. During that time, we decided to work much more strategically with groups if we were not doing workshop delivery ourselves. Many other groups are engaged in that activity, such as the New Belfast Community Arts Initiative or Belfast Community Circus, but we have more of a strategic research role.

1658. At the minute, we are working on an application to the Big Lottery Fund research programme for funding to work with 10 community groups to research the impact of community arts on participants. That research will build on the report by the Community Development and Health Network, which I mentioned earlier, and similar reports. The most major recent research on community arts was carried out in 1998, but that needs to be updated. Since our Peace II funding ran out, we have tried to be positive. We have taken the chance to consider the organisation’s work and to think about how to work differently in the future, because the Peace II money was used on direct workshop delivery.

1659. Mr McNarry: I am sorry to be parochial. In my constituency, I work closely with loyalist groups that have a genuine keenness for what they call community arts. They struggle and feel neglected — I will not go so far as to say that they feel discriminated against — about their inability to access money to engage their interests in comparison with other areas. They are anxious about Peace III, because they do not receive funding for some of their projects.

1660. Ms Floyd: Do they want to apply for Peace III funding?

1661. Mr McNarry: Yes. I am not making a pitch on their behalf, but the inquiry needs to consider that matter generally. Some loyalist areas are not deemed to be deprived, and nobody thinks that poor people live in my constituency. I can assure them of the contrary. However, those groups suffer and have difficulty accessing funding.

1662. Mr Shields: Even professional organisations that have been drawing funding for years and are skilled administrators have a great deal of difficulty in not only accessing Peace moneys, but in administrating the onerous levels of paperwork, evaluation and monitoring that is required.

1663. Through the development of Peace I, into Peace II and now into Peace III, the pendulum has shifted. During Peace I, the view on how to engage with processes and how to monitor projects was relaxed. That approach was adjudged to be too light. Peace II introduced rigorous controls, especially regarding financial monitoring. That applies to trained administrators who have a lot of experience. As a member of CAF, the New Belfast Community Arts Initiative was happy to run one of the largest Peace II programmes in Belfast. However, a lot of work was involved. Therefore, it is a question of capacity.

1664. Mr McNarry mentioned loyalist groups, and I can understand the frustrations of many groups that want to access moneys and have a clear determination that, based on the criteria, they should be able to do so. However, it is a big job and much at-risk work would have to be done in the first place to produce an application that is good enough. There are two stages of application processes, rigorous levels of monitoring, and so on. I understand those groups’ frustration, and I sympathise with them. As an organisation, we have had to pick and choose programmes carefully in order to manage and maximise our resources and to ensure that the outcomes are well balanced for the community groups that we serve.

1665. Mr McNarry: You could send any spare cash that you have to Newtownards in a few weeks.

1666. The Chairperson: They could enclose a cheque with that list of groups that they are going to send.

1667. Mr McNarry: I am not a Westminster MP.

1668. Mr K Robinson: I thank my colleagues for asking the bulk of my questions.

1669. Your submission states that only 9% of Arts Council funding goes to community arts groups. Given that that represents underfunding in the light of how it has contributed to addressing the targeting of social need on other levels, if that funding were to be increased, what other arts forms should have their budgets cut to provide that additional funding? That is the political question, so I ask you to leave it hanging for a moment.

1670. Conor, you mentioned the communities that do not traditionally engage with the arts. David McNarry reinforced that point, and it is one issue that I would like to take up. It is a thread that has run through my questions to the groups that have appeared before the Committee. You also mentioned a lack of capacity, which has an impact on access to funding. There is tension between the established groups that can access funding and have the expertise to do so and those groups that do not. How should that be addressed?

1671. I have been taking notes throughout your presentation, and I know that you said that artists sometimes say that they are informed by what is happening in communities. How do you allow the communities, once they have established their capacity and accessed the funding, to say who and what they are and how they feel? As a former teacher, I know that whenever children are doing art, you tend to tell them that a hill is not really the shape that they have drawn it, or that a tree is not shaped as they have shown it, for example. In trying to guide their work, you are to some degree stymieing the child’s view of the world. Could we be stymieing a community’s view of itself and of art by allowing the professional artist’s expertise to come through and guide their thoughts on the way that they want to move ahead?

1672. I was very taken by Dan Gordon, who appeared before the Committee previously. Dan had a little play called ‘The Boat Factory’ for schoolchildren in Belfast. To me, the purpose of the play was to not only get them involved and enthused about the arts by giving them skills and so forth, but to help them rediscover who they are and what their community is.

1673. I would be interested to hear your comments on access and ability and about how you develop latent arts talent and how communities see themselves, whether through music or visual arts. How do you coax that from them without superimposing something of your views of the world on them?

1674. Mr Shields: You asked about how to ensure that an artist’s view did not stymie or constrain that of the community. The New Belfast Community Arts Initiative is a membership organisation of CAF, and it is a delivery organisation, so it provides access work all the time. It has over 160 artists on its books. The key to community arts is to take those artists through a process before they come into contact with the community so that they can have a working ethos that they understand. That will hopefully preclude their ability to superimpose their views.

1675. The role of an artist in community arts is to be a facilitator. They are not necessarily stymieing a community’s view; they are supporting it, because that capacity does not exist in the community already. Those processes have as long an engagement period as possible so that the communities that do not have the language of artistic expression, whose representatives perhaps have not been to university, and who do not understand the various palettes of arts that are available, are given time to learn through skill building. That allows the communities to develop their own ideas about themselves.

1676. Most of the time, that process deals with identity, because people know more about themselves than the arts that they are dealing with. Everybody has a strong sense of their own identity, whether that is a cultural or an individual identity. Community arts mostly wants to draw that out of people and facilitate it.

1677. Mr K Robinson: How do you get over the inherent feeling in those marginalised communities that in some way, what they are and what they represent is inferior to what is nice or acceptable in society? The fact that what they do well and what they feel from the heart is perhaps not accepted by wider society adds to their feelings of being marginalised. How do you draw that out and give those communities confidence?

1678. Mr Shields: I do not know of a group that engages with us that considers itself to be in an inferior position. Indeed, the confidence that organisations are immediately given by having access to cutting-edge arts activity often engenders more confidence and a greater ability to communicate the fact that they do not feel marginalised and are not on the fringes of society. They feel that they have as much right as anyone else to say whatever they feel. Therefore, it is a very empowering process.

1679. We also work within a schools framework and attempt to dovetail with curricula. We are in no way trying to undermine or superimpose on other processes. We always play a supportive role, because the individuals and communities that are involved are key to the process. It is a process-driven activity, and the output is secondary, even though it is excellent in many cases. However, the engagement process is the key, and that is the reason that we need the manpower and resources to make that period last for as long as possible.

1680. Mr K Robinson: The evaluation of certain schemes engages the Committee often. You talked about the benefits that community arts have for the health and confidence of individuals and communities. How do you evaluate those benefits in order to inform funders or people such as us so that they can lobby on your behalf? Can you quantify your tangible output from every pound that is spent?

1681. Ms Floyd: That is the reason that we need research and the reason that our organisation has decided to go down that road. We need to produce robust evidence so that we can set out to, for example, the Department of Health or the Department of Education the impact that community arts has on participants and communities.

1682. Mr K Robinson: Do you recognise the purpose of evaluation, and are you actively engaged in it?

1683. Ms Floyd: Yes.

1684. Mr P Ramsey: You are very welcome this morning. Both the written and oral presentations were very helpful and focused. One of your key recommendations is that a commitment be made to increase arts funding significantly, and, indeed, that is what the inquiry is all about. The Committee recognises that other regions have thought it purposeful to invest in the arts. However, to date, robust or qualitative evidence has not been produced to convince other Departments or the Executive in Northern Ireland that they must invest, whether that is in economic or social regeneration. We need that evidence, so how would you go about getting it?

1685. You are one of the few groups that mentioned Liverpool, and some of us will be going there for a study visit. You referred to the huge social and economic regeneration that was brought about in Liverpool through its being the European Capital of Culture in 2008. There was huge investment in Liverpool’s built heritage, with millions of pounds being used to modernise old buildings. Are there any issues that we may not be aware of that you feel we should raise on our visit to Liverpool?

1686. The aim of your organisation is to provide opportunities for groups to access community arts, and that is valid. David and Ken alluded to a theme that has emerged throughout the inquiry, which is that Protestant communities in Northern Ireland do not have either the capacity or the confidence to come forward. I recall a mapping exercise of general funding in Peace I being carried out in Derry. It found that programmes of money were developed to increase the capacity of areas to access funding. The Committee needs to examine that.

1687. One of your other recommendations is to ensure that councils across Northern Ireland increase funding. However, there is a clear lack of consistency in council funding. I do not have the relevant evidence, but it is generally accepted that more money is spent per capita in nationalist- controlled council areas than in unionist-controlled council areas.

1688. Reference is made to people feeling culturally poor. One would imagine that where people are not accessing that participation, a level of cultural poverty comes into the equation. How can we, as a Committee and as a wider society, ensure that Protestant or unionist communities do not feel alienated and marginalised from the centre and be part of the whole shared future that we are trying to deliver, particularly among young people?

1689. Ms Floyd: First, over the next week or so, we could research a good community arts group in Liverpool that you could visit — we could perhaps go through the Chairperson with that. As regards Protestant communities, a piece of research, for example, was carried out by a group that is based on the Shore Road in Belfast. Our experience is that there are excellent community arts projects based in all areas and working with all types of groups: gay and lesbian; those from minority ethnic backgrounds; and those in loyalist and in republican areas. They are all producing really good arts projects.

1690. Ms O’Donnell: The demand for arts projects, and the number of enquiries that I get, has never been greater. We are getting many requests. People are interested in building their own capacities.

1691. Mr P Ramsey: Is that proportional to the nationalist community? Is that the bottom line?

1692. Ms Floyd: We see a lot groups in loyalist areas that are using the arts for community development to build the capacity of their communities for health projects, for example. We do not take a tally of —

1693. Ms O’Donnell: We do not take a tally of their backgrounds when we get an enquiry. Whoever we get the enquiry from gets the information.

1694. Ms Floyd: Certainly our experience of groups in Protestant areas is that we get a lot of enquiries from them and we know about a lot of projects that are going on in loyalist areas.

1695. Mr Shields: There would be a way to ensure that there is balance when bigger programmes from larger organisations are in question. We obviously have a vested interest in that. However, to ensure the balanced delivery of programmes, it would help if funding were to flow through organisations on the premise that the organisation reflected the make-up of the local community or the population in Northern Ireland. As a membership organisation of CAF, New Belfast ensures that there is a balance between the Catholic nationalist and Protestant unionist groups that access our programmes. The groups that are outside those two groupings would come from a disabled organisation, or have a gay and lesbian background, or whatever.

1696. Mr P Ramsey: I want to make it clear that we are not suggesting that people are being treated unfairly or that, as David said, there is any level of discrimination. However, at the same time, I sense genuinely that something is not right. May I ask, Chair —

1697. Mr McNarry: The only point is that there is a difference between discrimination and unfairness. I would not make the point about discrimination, but I would make it about unfairness.

1698. Mr P Ramsey: That depends. If people do not have the capacity or confidence, that might make the difference. Perhaps we should discuss that at a later stage. To home in on one particular point, 9% of Arts Council funding goes to community arts development. What happens in England, Scotland and Wales?

1699. Ms Floyd: I do not know whether we have statistics for that.

1700. Ms O’Donnell: It would depend on how the Arts Council measures it. We would need to do some research to get statistics.

1701. Mr P Ramsey: You were able to measure it very definitively.

1702. Ms O’Donnell: Yes. We would need to see whether it has a clear definition of community arts, then we could get back to you with the figures.

1703. Ms Floyd: We can follow that up as well. I am conscious that we did not answer your question.

1704. Mr K Robinson: I was 99% certain that it was going to be revisited.

1705. Mr Brolly: I was going to ask that question anyway.

1706. I will re-ask Ken’s question. First, given that in present circumstances and for the foreseeable future, there will not be any change in the per capita spend on the arts, I do not think that you should continue to beat your head against a stone wall and that you should zoom in on the various Departments. I think that you should certainly add the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to your list, particularly where rural development is concerned. Some young farmers’ clubs are very active in rural areas, but the tendency is to always think of Belfast. I want to make it clear that rural art is very important. In many ways, it is probably much more important because of the isolation of rural communities.

1707. Given that the pool of money will remain the same, it was implicit that you consider the 9% to be a disproportionate underspend. Who do you think is getting a disproportionate amount of the 91%?

1708. Mr P Ramsey: Be brave.

1709. Mr Brolly: At times, I have expressed my views on the matter very forcibly, because I believe that art should work from the bottom up rather than from the top down. We should take what we have and develop it. Perhaps we could move more towards elitist areas, which is what happens. We bring up some of our greatest artists from the very ground. I absolutely agree that 9% is a disproportionately small sum. I would be quite prepared to offer views on who could be chopped.

1710. The Chairperson: For the purposes of the inquiry, you are asking that question of the Community Arts Forum.

1711. Mr Brolly: You could say that you do better work than others. If you are being knocked back when you approach other Departments, do you think that the Committee has a role in contacting those Departments that we think should contribute to the Community Arts Forum?

1712. Ms Floyd: The Committee should have a role to play. Setting up an interdepartmental arts group would deal with that. In relation to the knotty question of the 9% —

1713. Mr Brolly: I think that it is vital.

1714. Ms Floyd: It is. There are two different issues, one of which is the per capita spend. I know that you said that that will not increase, but we need more money to go into the pot. The per capita spend in the North is ridiculous compared with that over the border. If a person lives in Dundalk —

1715. Mr Brolly: I asked the question because I know that that situation will not change.

1716. Ms Floyd: The pot would increase if more Departments contributed to the pot. We have to be positive and optimistic about it. We should regard it as something that can change, and then —

1717. Mr Brolly: If those Departments were to put money into the pool, the difficulty would be that you would still only get 9%, which is disproportionately too little.

1718. Ms Floyd: The issue of distribution would then come into play. We should deal with the per capita spend, and we could then seriously consider distribution when the spend increases. I think that that is a difficult conversation for the arts sector. We have a responsibility to have open and frank discussions with our colleagues in the arts sector about how the money is divvied up. If extra money comes in, there should be a commitment to increasing the amount that goes to community arts because of all of the knock-on benefits that they bring.

1719. Lord Browne: You stated that you are carrying out longitudinal research into the economic and social benefits of arts schemes. How would you quantify the economic benefits of schemes that you have worked on, particularly in east Belfast? I know that that is difficult, but how would you judge the economic benefits?

1720. Mr McNarry: The Glens won the championship.

1721. Ms Floyd: Arts Council research indicates that every £1 that is invested in the arts brings another £3·60 into the local economy. Spend on the arts has proven to generate other spend in the economy. However, I do not have specific figures for east Belfast.

1722. Lord Browne: Is there a balance between north, south, east and west Belfast in the number of schemes that are being funded?

1723. Mr Shields: The New Belfast Community Arts Initiative, which is just about Belfast, carried out a demonstration project in 2005 called social return on investment. That is an American model that monetises — excuse the jargon — the social benefits of community arts. It was a very complex piece of research that involved huge spreadsheets and so on, and it took up a lot of resources. Despite us doing as much discounting as possible to account for any assumptions that we were making, we found that there was a return of anything between £6 and £14 on every £1 that is spent. The project found that people were attending hospital less often, going to their doctor less often and taking less prescription medicine, because they were feeling better about themselves, their confidence had been boosted, they had found new ways to engage with others, and they were being more proactive.

1724. In addition to the health benefits, the project identified the social benefits of involvement with community arts. For example, unemployed people were looking for work, and many people had gained their first accredited qualification, so they were able to boost their earnings. Therefore, lots of knock-on benefits resulted.

1725. That project was a very small, short-term piece of research. As Mr Ramsey said, we need a much larger piece of research to allow the Committee, as much as ourselves, to show the benefits of community arts, which are clear and demonstrable across Europe. There are few societies in Europe that do not recognise the immediate knock-on effect that community arts have on health and confidence at the lowest economic level.

1726. Mr Shannon: I apologise for not being here for your presentation; I was at a photo shoot for a family fun day that is being held here.

1727. I had my hands on the Gibson Cup, and the chairman of Glentoran Football Club informed me that that would be the nearest that Ards Football Club will ever get to it, which I thought was very unfair. I apologise for that digression, but some Glentoran Football Club supporters have not had their hands on the Gibson Cup.

1728. Given the funding that you receive from the Arts Council, I am impressed that through your projects you have reached almost 20,000 people. I am keen to see how we can build on the partnerships. Francie Brolly touched on the issue of opportunities in a rural development programme. Partnerships could be developed with young farmers’ clubs through community networks, and there are many other such examples. I could take you to Strangford — people will be surprised to hear that — and identify different networks that could be utilised to take advantage of opportunities for arts. I am aware of the good work of community arts initiatives and the resulting feel-good factor, and I am keen to see whether we can build on that. Do you agree that the young farmers’ clubs or other groups could be used to increase partnerships through community networks?

1729. Wearing my other hat, my council — Ards Borough Council — is involved in a partnership with community arts initiatives, and I have been to a couple of events recently in which tremendous work was done. The confidence of the young people in particular is encouraging; one cannot fail to be impressed by the 14 weeks of preparation that have gone into an event. Young people who used to cause bother, no longer do so; all their energy goes into such events. I am keen to hear your ideas on how we can progress.

1730. Ms Floyd: Partnerships always work; two or three organisations provide more bang for your buck. Returning to the interdepartmental policy, if DARD had a policy for the arts and a corresponding resource allocation, the young farmers’ clubs could apply for funding, work with an arts group, and deliver very successful rural arts projects.

1731. Mr Shannon: Have you had any direct contact with organisations such as the young farmers’ clubs? Have you tried to build relationships with community networks, which usually take in all the community associations from a certain area? If not, perhaps that could be considered.

1732. The Chairperson: I think that the Community Arts Forum will note your suggestion.

1733. Ms Floyd: We have a long-standing working relationship with the Rural Community Network, but not, as far as I know, with the young farmers’ clubs.

1734. The Chairperson: We will bring the meeting to a conclusion. I thank Heather, Caragh, and Conor for coming along and helping us with our inquiry. Thank you very much.

1735. Ms Floyd: I am leaving copies of the Arts for All research, and I urge members to read it.

1736. The Chairperson: Thank you very much.

21 May 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Mr Francie Brolly
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Mr Bobby Acheson Mr Adrian Rolston

Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group Association

1737. The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McNarry): Before I invite in the first set of witnesses, members should declare any relevant interests.

1738. Mr P Ramsey: I am a member of Derry City Council and the Millennium Forum Theatre and Conference Centre in Derry.

1739. Mr McCarthy: I am a member of Ards Borough Council.

1740. Lord Browne: I am a member of Belfast City Council.

1741. Mr K Robinson: I am a member of Newtownabbey Borough Council.

1742. Mr McCausland: I am a member of Belfast City Council.

1743. Mr Shannon: I am a member of Ards Borough Council.

1744. The Deputy Chairperson: I welcome the representatives of Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group Association, and thank them for attending. Mr Bobby Acheson is the chairman and Mr Adrian Rolston is the group’s public relations officer. I understand that Bobby will make a brief opening statement — in our language that means 10 minutes — after which members will have an opportunity to ask questions.

1745. Mr Bobby Acheson (Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group Association): It is a pleasure to be here. I am simply a country guy who has never been in a place like this before, but I will do my best. I am sure that you will not put too much pressure on me.

1746. The Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group Association was formed in 2000, when our Lodge was celebrating 175 years in existence. As well as being chairman of the group, I am the master of the Lodge. The members of the Lodge felt that they had missed the 150-year anniversary, which was important. Some 25 years later, we discovered that the Lodge was indeed 175 years old. We decided that we would have a small festival to celebrate the lives of members of the Lodge who had passed on to a higher place. We had six musicians, and 100 people came along to hear them. It turned out to be a terrific event, and it was attended by members of Larne Borough Council. They said that the event was really good and asked us to consider running it again the following year. We did so, and ran a two-day event that attracted more than 200 people. It developed over the next three years, and has now grown into a five-day festival. The festival has seen great growth over the five years, and I know that a couple of Committee members here have attended it.

1747. Most people may not know where Cairncastle is. It is a small rural village four miles north of Larne. Members will know where the Ballygally Castle Hotel is; Cairncastle is one mile up from there. It is simply a wee village with three or four houses, one or two churches and a pub. We wanted to offer something to our community. Most of the people who live in our area come from an Ulster-Scots background. It is mostly a farming community — my ancestors came from Ayrshire and they were Church of Scotland ministers and United Irishmen who settled in Cairncastle and started to farm there.

1748. We live right on the east Antrim coast. In 2005, we started to explore the feasibility of building east-west links with the west coast of Scotland. In the first year, we went to Stranraer and took part in a small music session. We have been paying for the east-west links out of our own pockets. P&O Irish Sea Ferries was the only company to come on board to help us, as it feels that east-west links are important. We found that there was a great lack of interest in the Stranraer area for the Ulster-Scots tradition.

1749. We thought that we should look further into Ayrshire, so the following year we went to Ayr. We started slowly to build up links with the west coast of Scotland. The first time we went, 100 people came to the event that we held in a local hotel. We negotiated with the hotel, and it gave us the room free of charge. P&O also helped us. Again, however, we funded the event ourselves.

1750. We were in Scotland two weeks ago to promote our festival and, again, we paid for that out of our own pockets. We could not get any funding for it, other than from P&O Irish Sea Ferries, which sees the potential in the east-west links for tourism.

1751. This year we went to the Ayr County Show, which was a great success. We have formed our own local folk band, the Grouse Beaters, which is a 10-piece band made up of local lads. We played there over two days and promoted our festival. We have negotiated a deal with local hotels there for this year. However, unfortunately, some of the local hotels here do not seem interested in giving us a decent price. The Halfway House Hotel at Ballygally was prepared to do a deal with us, so we have fully booked the hotel for the Scottish visitors who will attend our festival.

1752. We are absolutely disgusted with Larne Borough Council. Adrian, myself and two or three others have met council members over the past two or three years to ask them for some help. The council has certainly helped us with the festival, but it is not interested in the east-west links or tourism.

1753. We are trying to develop a cross-community aspect to our festival. Thirty years ago, before the Troubles, we had great community relations with all our Catholic friends in the village where I lived. We now live in a better country, and members and musicians from both traditions come to our Orange Hall. Scotland has a different tradition to ours, and we have built up a great relationship with the people there. The guy who hosts our festival is a Celtic supporter — [Interruption.]

1754. The Deputy Chairperson: Do not be distracted. You have three minutes to go.

1755. Mr Acheson: We have built up a relationship with the people who work on the BBC programme ‘A Kist O’ Wurds’. The BBC went with us to Scotland and spent three days there. The programme will be on Radio Ulster this Sunday afternoon at 4.00 pm should members want to listen to it.

1756. Our biggest problem is that we give up all our time voluntarily, and we are only a small group. We have been fighting for funding for a part- time worker to help us, and we have met representatives of various bodies, but we find that we cannot get any help. The Ulster-Scots Agency has been helpful. We talked to the Arts Council this year, which was the first time. We never realised that the Arts Council could fund us. Nobody seems to be able to tell us about anything that may be available. A lack of help is the main problem. Damian Smyth of the Arts Council has been helpful, and there is the possibility of a small grant from the Arts Council this year.

1757. As I said, Larne Borough Council could be doing a lot more. That is all I have to say.

1758. The Deputy Chairperson: You have done very well for a wee boy from the country who is not used to this sort of thing. A number of members wish to ask questions. We are pressed for time, but that is not to say that we will neglect you in any way.

1759. Mr McCarthy: Thank you for attending. Comin fae tha countra masel, Ah’m sairie at ye hinnae get ocht fae onie is eens for tae eik yeez.

1760. Did you understand that? [Laughter.]

1761. Mr Acheson: Yes.

1762. Mr McCarthy: In the area that I come from, a group of volunteers put on a week-long festival that the community is delighted with.

1763. For some time, there was an issue with the arts establishment recognising groups that work in the unionist community. That situation must be addressed positively. How can that issue be addressed, and, bearing in mind that extra funding would be required, who is best placed to do so? You criticised Larne Borough Council, but, presumably, it has an arts officer who may be able to direct you to a source of funding.

1764. Mr Adrian Rolston (Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group Association): They have an arts officer, but funds are limited, and it was only through luck that I got on to the Arts Council for Northern Ireland, which does not seem to sell itself. We attended a number of roadshows for funding bodies, but the Arts Council has never been represented.

1765. Mr Acheson: From the unionist community’s perspective, finding help has been a major problem. We have developed our festival ourselves. The Ulster-Scots Agency has development workers, including a development officer for County Antrim; however, because he has been tied up with so many other projects, he has never been able to help us.

1766. Mr McCarthy: I am surprised to hear that, because, as I understand it, the Ulster-Scots Agency has loads of money, and, in some instances, it has been unable to spend its allocation.

1767. Mr Rolston: It is very hard to get money out of it.

1768. The Deputy Chairperson: Do you have a business plan, a vision for the future, a mission statement and a strategy?

1769. Mr Rolston: We have a business plan, but we have never had an opportunity to pass it on to the agency. According to its guidance, if people wish to run and event or a festival, they should complete and submit an application form.

1770. The Deputy Chairperson: Do members agree that it may be useful for us to look at the witnesses’ business plan if they were to forward it to us?

Members indicated assent.

1771. Mr Shannon: For a country boy, you have done all right today. By the way, you are among country boys, so you are in good company. There is the odd townie or two, but we will not worry about those guys.

1772. In your submission, you said that the Ulster-Scots Agency has helped you with funding. Interestingly, you also mentioned east-west funding. I am keen to inquire into why the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) told you that regulations do not permit you to seek east-west funding. Have you had discussions with the Arts Council about whether it can fund east-west projects? I understand that it can, so I am interested to find out from where you got your information. You said that you had had discussions with the Arts Council, but, that sometimes you were unsure about what was available. I am interested, therefore, in whether the Arts Council’s help has been forthcoming.

1773. You indicated that although the Ulster-Scots Agency has been helpful, there have been a number of shortfalls, one of which you mentioned when replying to the previous question. You also said that obtaining funds is a bureaucratic and difficult exercise that involves a paper mountain. Can you suggest a method whereby the application process, or the funding criteria, may be simplified in order to make funds easier to access?

1774. Mr Acheson: Speaking as ordinary country guys, we see great economic potential for east Antrim as a result of the east-west connection, particularly through tourism. When we came to Stormont a year ago, Edwin Poots, who was then the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, told us that the problem is that although the Ulster-Scots Agency can fund North/South projects, it cannot fund east-west projects.

1775. As politicians, youse would know more, but it is related to the Belfast Agreement. It is sad that we have to pay for trips to Scotland every year out of our own pockets.

1776. The Deputy Chairperson: I do not want to get bogged down in ifs, buts and whys, because members want to ask questions. Although I do not want to distract the discussion from your comments, Nelson will clarify that position.

1777. Mr McCausland: Bobby is absolutely right. When established, the cross-border language body was given an island remit. Foras na Gaeilge was able to spend money on projects outside the island of Ireland. However, certain limits were placed on the agency, one of which was about travel. The Minister is working on that issue and is on the verge of resolving the matter.

1778. The Deputy Chairperson: Therefore, Bobby’s point is valid.

1779. Mr McCausland: Yes; it is valid.

1780. The Deputy Chairperson: We will underscore that point, Bobby.

1781. Mr McCausland: It is one of several differences between the bodies.

1782. The Deputy Chairperson: It is a well-made point that the Committee needs to develop and understand.

1783. Mr Shannon: I asked about the Arts Council, because I understand that it can provide east-west funding. I was involved in an Arts Council project that received east-west funding.

1784. Mr Acheson: The problem that we have as a wee group is that, truthfully, we have never known who to approach for funding. It is sad that no one has been able to advise us. One day, I suggested to Adrian that we approach the Arts Council for help, because we were getting down about the situation. I can only praise Damian Smyth; he has been absolutely fantastic. However, I am unsure whether we discussed east-west funding.

1785. Mr Rolston: We discussed that matter in December, and Damian was helpful and receptive to our needs. We forwarded costings for our operation to him. However, he did not communicate with us again for two months. When he did contact us again, he told us that, unfortunately, the pot from which he had planned to draw funding was no longer available. He advised us to apply to the Lottery’s Awards for All scheme for up to £10,000.

1786. The Deputy Chairperson: I want to ask a question about a matter that the Committee has discussed previously. It is not a planted question; it has just come into my head. We unionist members of Committee — members are respectful to each other — recently made the point that unionists seem to need to catch up as regards their position on the funding ladder, and so on. Your comments suggest that that is your experience. Do you still have difficulties? Do you still have much to discover?

1787. Mr Acheson: Absolutely.

1788. Mr Rolston: We are now on the ladder in the Arts Council. However, other similar groups have not identified that funding opportunity. The Arts Council does not sell itself; it should attend roadshows or publicise in newspapers.

1789. The Deputy Chairperson: That is an opinion, and I am grateful for it.

1790. Mr Acheson: We thought that groups such as ours could not apply to the Arts Council. Nobody told us it was possible.

1791. Mr McCarthy: Surely, the first point of call should be your local council, because councillors could advise you. For instance, councils have arts officers or events officers who can direct you. That is my experience with Ards Borough Council.

1792. The Deputy Chairperson: I want to establish the reasons for the problem that Bobby and Adrian mentioned. Several ways to address the problem exist, but the Committee should not apportion blame. The evidence is very forceful.

1793. Mr Rolston: To be fair, Larne Borough Council appointed a new arts officer this year, by which time we were already on the ladder.

1794. Mr McCarthy: Could you approach the council’s good relations officer?

1795. Mr Acheson: The council in our area is unionist-controlled, and I do not want to say too much. However, such bodies do not want to help wee folks on the ground.

1796. The Deputy Chairperson: Bobby, I assure you that there are enough people around this table who will talk to councillors in Larne Borough Council. You made the point strongly.

1797. Lord Browne: For a relatively small group, you have achieved a lot in delivering arts to the community. However, the clear message that is coming through is that you have found it difficult to access funding and that you need help. Has the Arts Council been helpful to your organisation? Is it difficult to work with it? Have you been successful in obtaining a grant from the Arts Council in this financial year?

1798. Mr Rolston: We have not been successful. We submitted an application form, and we will be advised of the outcome in July. That application form is for the Lottery’s Awards for All scheme, not the Arts Council.

1799. The Arts Council has been more than helpful. I could not say a bad word about it.

1800. Lord Browne: Do you receive funding from any other agencies? If so, how does it compare?

1801. Mr Rolston: We receive funding from the Ulster-Scots Agency and Larne Borough Council, and we received a capital grant from the Awards for All scheme.

1802. Lord Browne: How does that funding compare with funding that other organisations receive, such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians? What do you think of the distribution of funding to the unionist community?

1803. Mr Rolston: It comes from the Ulster-Scots Agency. Therefore, I presume that it is for the Ulster-Scots groups. We do not know of any other funding that DCAL, for instance, gives to other groups.

1804. The Deputy Chairperson: Is it correct to say that you are cross community in what you do?

1805. Mr Acheson: We run soirées once a month in our Orange Hall. Any of youse are more than welcome to come and bring an instrument. We started off with three or four people. People now come from County Down, County Londonderry and all over the place. We now have 24 musicians, and they come from both traditions, which is fantastic to see.

1806. The Deputy Chairperson: Do you charge an entrance fee?

1807. Mr Acheson: No. A whole spirit is developing; there is an opening for what we do. We are rekindling things, and people are looking for something different. Tradition music —

1808. The Deputy Chairperson: Ken?

1809. Mr K Robinson: Thank you for calling me, Deputy Chairperson, but I am sorry that you stopped Bobby when he was in full flow. I have written down that he has naive enthusiasm. For me, he has encapsulated what it is all about. He is enthusiastic; he has achieved; he wants to take action. However, for some reason, the bodies that we think should be helping him — and which, presumably, think that they should be providing help — are not clicking; it is not interlocking.

1810. The one mistake that you have made so far is to issue an open invitation to certain people to turn up. You have reduced your audience by half.

1811. Your submission addresses the allocation of public funding to the arts. You made the case that you are, first, finding it difficult to know whether funding and help are available and, secondly, how to access that help. You have made contact with the Arts Council, and you have been supportive of the gentleman from the Arts Council who came to see you. However, funding and help are not coming through. That is what the Committee needs to be aware of.

1812. I looked at your achievements, and, for amateurs, you are not doing badly. I attended only one of your meetings; I went to a meeting in the Halfway House Hotel, and, because the car park was so crammed, I almost parked in the tide. I have not enjoyed myself so much in years. All the talent was local. However, there was one recognisable name: Willie Drennan; I have seen him in other places. I watched from the back of the hall; I do not know whether you knew I was there. A former MLA sat with me, and we both remarked on how enjoyable the evening was and that there should be more of such entertainment.

1813. You have brought a naive enthusiasm. You talked about the talent and entertainment that is in the unionist community. We know that it exists, but we cannot get it out; we cannot get it recognised, and we cannot help it to develop.

1814. Rural unionist communities have been suspicious of the arts establishment, and there is a perception that they would not be accepted for what they are. What can DCAL, the Committee or the Arts Council do to change that perception?

1815. Mr Acheson: We had not realised that the Arts Council could fund us. We thought that the Arts Council awarded grants of £50,000, £60,000 or £100,000 and that it was interested only in the more upmarket projects, not the grass roots. We want to develop because there is great potential. Between 10 and 12 people sit on our committee, and we are farmers and ordinary guys. Some of the young guys are unemployed having lost their jobs at FG Wilson.

1816. We are trying to help the entire community, and our strategy is to develop the group because it has unbelievable cross-community potential. You mentioned the musical evening that you attended. Some of our musicians had previously never in public, they played only at home. As you heard that evening, we have been able to develop their musical skills and form a folk band. Our strategy is one of development, but we need help on the ground, because our daily lives are tied up with work. I am strongly committed to the work of the group, but I have to look after the small business that I run at the same time.

1817. The Deputy Chairperson: OK, Bobby. Members, we still have a number of questions to get through. I am not putting pressure on anyone, but time is running away from us a bit.

1818. Mr D Bradley: Good morning. I congratulate you on the good work that you are doing under what are extremely difficult circumstances. I am interested in the east-west link. You are probably aware that down through the centuries, there has been a close link between Gaelic Ireland and Gaelic Scotland, particularly in County Antrim. Have you considered developing your project to include an element of Gaelic culture, both Irish and Scottish? If so, an organisation called the Columba Project promotes Gaelic culture and may be helpful to you.

1819. I note that you bring tourists from Scotland to Northern Ireland. Have you approached the Northern Ireland Tourist Board to see whether it could help or support you in any way?

1820. Mr Acheson: I appreciate what you said about the Gaelic culture, and we have absolutely no problem with that. However, to be truthful, only a couple of us work on the east-west link. I have taken much from that link, but it is slow to develop. We need to creep before we walk, and we are still at the early stages.

1821. The group has been going for five years now, and this year we got the big break. Until this year, we did not have a website. Adrian has some wee leaflets about the site that he can give you. If you go to the website, you will see the wee bits of work that we did in Scotland. I agree with you about the economic aspect of our work. We are considering all cross-community options, but it will take time to develop those because we are a small group. We have not closed the door to any option.

1822. Mr D Bradley: I suggest that you contact Malcolm Scott, who is the officer who runs the Columba Project. He may lead you in a direction that could be fruitful from a funding perspective.

1823. Mr McCausland: Rather than asking questions, I will save time by making only a couple of points to supplement what has been said. An important point was made about the Arts Council. Damian Smyth is, in many ways, a breath of fresh air in the council. As I said before, in the past, some officers in the Arts Council virtually denied the existence of Ulster Scots. From their perspective, as people involved in Ulster Scots did not exist, they could not deal with us.

1824. As for the support that is available to groups, the Ulster-Scots Agency has four development workers, as has the Ulster-Scots Community Network. There are now, therefore, a total of eight, which was reached only in the past couple of months. However, those eight development workers cover the nine counties of Ulster. The small number of workers explains why they are stretched to the limit.

1825. The point about east-west travel has already been addressed. To pick up on Dominic’s point about the east-west links, the Columba Project is, as he said, a Gaelic programme. A tenuous proposal has been put forward for an equivalent Ulster-Scots body that would facilitate east-west relationships. However, at the time that the Columba Project was established, there was no equivalent. The difficulty is that Governments set up initiatives that are for one community, but not necessarily for the other.

1826. The Deputy Chairperson: Thank you for those points and that information. I remind our guests that this session is recorded by Hansard, so everything that you say will be used in evidence against you. [Laughter.]

1827. You may request a copy of the Hansard report, and I recommend that you do so to enable you to read what you have said and the comments of the members.

1828. Mr P Ramsey: You are both very welcome this morning. For such a “naive" organisation, as Ken described you, you present a good, substantial document. I thank and commend you for it.

1829. The Committee is considering the funding of the arts, how it can best be used and the contribution that arts can make to communities. I take the point that the Deputy Chairperson made about the method and distribution of money not reaching unionist communities. If that is the case, this Committee, which scrutinises the Department, should be examining that issue. As a Catholic nationalist, I am saying that if that is the case, it is wrong and we should be doing something about it. Having said that, you are doing tremendous work and you have the passion and enthusiasm that so many others have.

1830. We are trying to get quantitative evidence that demonstrates that putting more money into the arts can be beneficial for social cohesion and bringing communities together. It can also help the economy, and you referred to the fact that tourists are coming across from Scotland. What difference would it make to your organisation if you had someone on board specifically to manage your project, and what additional outreach work could you do?

1831. Mr Acheson: We want to develop a lot of projects and go into all the local schools with musical projects. As members know, we live on the periphery of Larne, a town that has had a difficult time during the Troubles with loyalist paramilitaries. We are trying to address that. We feel that music unites everyone.

1832. Highland dancing has recently started in our Orange Hall, and people from both traditions attend, which is fantastic. Young mothers come on Saturday mornings to the Orange Hall, and they can have a cup of tea upstairs and meet each other. That area has no facilities, and we are offering a facility for our community. As our main project, we want to bring music into the local schools. We feel that that would be good for the Larne area, because there is nothing for young people in our area to get involved in. Young people have such skills.

1833. Mr P Ramsey: Are you referring to young people who do not have access to musical instruments or the opportunity to participate in music projects?

1834. Mr Acheson: Yes. They need to be able to improve their skills.

1835. Mr Rolston: From an economic perspective, we want to establish an Ulster-Scots music centre that will create employment and encourage tourism.

1836. Mr Brolly: For me, asking a question would be inadequate. I want to sit down with the witnesses and have a good chat. It rings so many bells with me.

1837. The Deputy Chairperson: You can arrange that after the meeting.

1838. Mr Brolly: You said that, until recently, the Arts Council was fundamentally away up there in the ether and that you did not think that you had access to it. I have complained about that. The Arts Council should be coming to you. There is a huge lack of interest in cultural projects that take place at grass-roots level.

1839. The Deputy Chairperson: OK. We need a question now, Francie.

1840. Mr Brolly: I would nearly have a million questions, David.

1841. Now that you have attended the Committee meeting, how do you think that we could help you through all those difficulties? How can the Committee help you to get to the Arts Council?

1842. Like so many other organisations, you work on a cross-community basis. However, you will have the devil’s job trying to persuade funders that you are a cross-community organisation. Indeed, funders often use that issue as an easy way to get an organisation off the list and they then give the funding to another group. Some funders require organisations to be cross-community. As an Orange Lodge, they may say that you are not considered to be cross-community — end of story. You need to push very hard to bring it to people’s attention that you are a cross-community organisation.

1843. That happens on both sides of the divide, and it would be useful for your organisation and other community groups to make it known that you operate on a cross-community basis. That would also have an effect on society in general and impact on the social cohesion that everyone wants. Of all the groups that have attended during this inquiry, you have contributed most to the feelings that I have on the matter. I do not have a question.

1844. Mr Shannon: He had a million questions and now he has none. [Laughter.]

1845. Mr Acheson: I thank Francie for making those points. We are Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group Association, and that name is very important. A lot of groups may feel that they cannot use, or have no right, to use such a name. However, in today’s society, it is important that you are what you are. People will respect others for being what they are and for not hiding anything.

1846. The Deputy Chairperson: That is a good point.

1847. Mr Acheson: We had success in that regard, perhaps not from funding bodies, but from ordinary people on the ground. What we are doing is unique. Adrian has suggested reconsidering our name, but I refuse; if our name was changed, I would walk away. It is important that everyone has their own tradition and that we are able to air our traditions.

1848. We are just country folk who are trying to find our way. We need an organisation such as the Arts Council to work with us, advise us and point us in the right direction. You are in a job, we are in a job, and we have little spare time. We can either go backwards or forwards, but we want to go forwards.

1849. We have found that what we do brings enjoyment to people’s lives. Ken Robinson came to a soirée that we had to launch the first ever DVD of our festival. The enjoyment that our organisation brings to people could be seen on their faces at that event. Another guy who came to that soirée owns a transport company and is connected to Liam Neeson, the actor from Ballymena. That guy had a major problem and was very concerned mentally, but he finds therapy in the music sessions and says that it is the first thing that has ever helped him.

1850. The Deputy Chairperson: Thank you very much. We all enjoyed the evidence session and took it seriously. Country boy or not, you have made an impression. You have now done the country boy bit, so we will not wear it the next time. [Laughter.]

1851. Regardless of whether Simon Cowell knows about you or not, Cairncastle has got talent. You must continue to do what you are doing. We might need some further information from you, and the Committee staff will follow that up. Thank you very much indeed.

21 May 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Mr Francie Brolly
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Mr Conrad Clarke Mrs Hilary Singleton

Mid-Armagh Community Network

1852. The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McNarry): I need to leave the meeting for about 10 minutes. The protocol is that the Committee Clerk calls on members to nominate someone to stand in for me while I am away.

1853. The Committee Clerk: Are there any nominations?

1854. Mr K Robinson: Pat Ramsey.

1855. Mr Shannon: Pat Ramsey; it will keep him quiet. [Laughter.]

1856. The Deputy Chairperson: Pat Ramsey is the Committee’s unanimous choice.

(The Acting Chairperson [Mr P Ramsey] in the Chair)

1857. The Acting Chairperson (Mr P Ramsey): I welcome the representatives of the Mid-Armagh Community Network. Mr Conrad Clarke is the director of the organisation, and Mrs Hilary Singleton is the co-ordinator of the organisation and is a member of its committee. We are continuing our inquiry into arts funding in Northern Ireland. We have received your written submission, but we are keen to listen to what you have to say. Members have indicated that they wish to ask questions after your 10-minute presentation.

1858. Mr Conrad Clarke (Mid-Armagh Community Network): Thank you for inviting us here today. The Mid-Armagh Community Network is an Ulster-Scots group that is based in Markethill in County Armagh. It was established in 1998 and has built up over time. We are a volunteer organisation; all our committee members are volunteers, and many of the folk who assist our music and dance productions are volunteers. We have a few paid members who work on a part-time basis.

1859. We are essentially a school. We teach fiddle, bluegrass guitar, Scottish dancing, pipe-band drumming and Lambeg drumming. The original idea that we started out with has developed to the point at which approximately 150 people come through our doors every week. We operate during the academic year of September to June, and at the end of each year our fiddle students take examinations and our dance students, who Hilary will talk about shortly, perform in competition.

1860. Towards the end of the year we hold a parents’ night, which for the past few years has been moved from Markethill courthouse to the Market Place Theatre and Arts Centre in Armagh. We put on a performance based on what the students have learned throughout the year. Hilary will pass around one of our programmes for members to look at.

1861. We are mainly funded by the Arts Council and the Ulster-Scots Agency. From time to time, depending on what we are doing, other funders come into play. That is our organisation in a nutshell.

1862. Mrs Hilary Singleton (Mid-Armagh Community Network): I serve as a committee member of the Mid-Armagh Community Network and the co-ordinator of the dance section. We teach Highland dance and Scottish country dance, which is expanding. Some 700 to 800 girls compete in Northern Ireland at provincial level and at competitions in Scotland. Indeed, some of our girls have won gold at the European championships. We are, therefore, progressing well.

1863. We set up the Markethill Ulster-Scots Dancers when the Mid-Armagh Community Network was formed in June 1998. Our aim was to provide dance classes for children in Markethill and the surrounding area in the context of the Ulster-Scots culture. Initially, we targeted children in local primary schools in an area that was hard hit by the Troubles: Markethill was bombed on numerous occasions.

1864. We aimed to provide low-cost classes that were accessible to even the lowest income brackets. We had the occasional boy attend the classes, but the majority are girls. There are 50 to 70 dancers on our books at any given time. We started with country dancing classes, which were, initially, taught by a tutor from Portadown Scottish Country Dance Group. Girls were asked to bring £1 per week to their dance class, which we used to pay the tutor. When she left, I took over the teaching of the country dance classes for no remuneration.

1865. The girls have performed at many high-profile events, including the televised launch at the Odyssey of the Ulster-Scots Agency’s website, and at Windsor Park with a massed group of Highland dancers and other dance schools. We joined the Portadown Festival Association in order to introduce a Scottish dance section, which is now a Highland dance section, in the Portadown festival. That is our latest programme, and I am now secretary of the Highland dance section of the festival.

1866. We started the Highland dance classes approximately five years ago, and that involved a significantly greater outlay, because we had to use qualified Highland dance tutors. There was also a need for costumes, which are very expensive, and for equipment such as swords, CDs and music. In addition, once the dancers become registered and progress through the groups, the number of costumes that they need increases, because they need different types of costumes for different classes.

1867. Our initial dance funding was a small grant from Children in Need. In the main, however, our funding has been from the Ulster-Scots Agency, which is limited to the cost of tuition and the provision of music. We have additional costs that the funding does not cover. Our girls go through examinations and we bring examiners over from Scotland. The United Kingdom Alliance of Professional Teachers of Dancing and Kindred Arts (UKA) provides examiners, and we have to raise money to pay for their flights and transport.

1868. As Conrad said, we have an annual showcase concert at the Market Place Theatre at which all our performers, not just dancers, perform. We receive Arts Council funding, a portion of which, I believe, comes to the dancers. However, we are in great need of funding to allow our pupils to progress. If they are to progress beyond provincial level to championships in Scotland, we obviously need funds to provide transport to competitions. We even need funding for transport to events and competitions in Northern Ireland.

We also need funding for costumes. An entire Highland dress outfit costs nearly £300, which not everyone can afford.

1869. Highland dancing is an expanding area, about which I am passionate, and my perception is that most of the funding for it is secured by dance schools in the Belfast area. Therefore, schools in outlying areas are largely forgotten, so we want that situation to be addressed.

1870. The Acting Chairperson: Thank you, Hilary. You do some interesting work; well done. My I suggest that we move some of the chairs so that you can give us an exhibition of your party piece.

1871. Mr McCausland: Only if the Acting Chairperson takes part. [Laughter.]

1872. Mr McCarthy: Thank you for your presentation. I commend you for the work that you are doing, and I wish you every success, because it is community work and everyone enjoys it. Have you explored the possibility of obtaining funding from private firms to help you in your work?

1873. Mr C Clarke: We explored that possibility in our early years. From our fiddle classes, we developed an orchestra, and, to fund various trips for it and to buy musical instruments, we targeted a number of businesses by sending leaflets and a copy of a CD that we produced. However, we had zero response.

1874. Mrs Singleton: That was in the context of the fiddle orchestra planning a showcase trip to Georgia in the United States, during which it performed in local schools. We relied heavily on Americans, who provided accommodation for orchestra members in their homes. That co-operation was invaluable.

1875. Mr McCarthy: It is disappointing that you got zero response. The leaflet from the Portadown festival that you handed round details a lot of sponsors. Would they not put some funds in your direction?

1876. Mrs Singleton: The Portadown festival comprises various sections, including speech, Irish dancing and music. Those elements have been going a lot longer than us — 85 years — so they have a track record of sponsorship. Some local businesses may sponsor a cup for a competition, but, beyond that, we have not had a great response from private sponsors.

1877. Mr McCarthy: That is disappointing. However, having listened to evidence from other witnesses, a difficulty in obtaining private sponsorship seems to be a theme. I suppose, like the organisers of the Portadown festival, you will simply have to keep at it.

1878. Mrs Singleton: Also, we are in a credit crunch.

1879. Mr C Clarke: In the early years, we found that a community group from a Protestant area was viewed with suspicion, because there was no history of community-group organisations in those areas, and that probably hindered us to some degree.

1880. Mr K Robinson: Thank you for your presentation, which was different to that of the previous group in that it was measured and controlled. However, you highlighted the same points. You already answered my question to some degree. Is there adequate recognition of the groups that work in the unionist community, and, if not, who do you think is best placed to address that issue?

1881. Mr C Clarke: As I said, in the early days, there was a problem with recognition for community groups. Funding bodies were not set up to deal with Protestant community groups, and they had no history of funding such groups. In the main, they would have funded groups from the Gaelic tradition. We were one of the first groups to force the issue, and we presented many funding bodies with a dilemma. They had to reconsider how they would approach us and modify their systems to take account of our needs.

1882. Mr K Robinson: That is a very interesting answer. Why do you think that they had that difficulty? It is obvious that they had a track record of funding other groups and were able to accept those groups for what they were, what they were doing and what they hoped to achieve. Why did you have a difficulty? Did you not adequately present your case to them, or were they not able to identify or understand what it was that you were trying to do?

(The Deputy Chairperson [Mr McNarry] in the Chair)

1883. Mr C Clarke: We pitched our case as best we could, but we felt that in the main, many funding bodies employed people from a nationalist background because of the nature of the situation. Over the years, funding has traditionally come from Europe, and nationalist groups were, in the main, geared towards that funding, whereas we certainly were not. I do not believe that they understood our perspective. That is gradually changing, but that was our perception of the early years.

1884. Mr K Robinson: I want to pursue that issue, because it is crucial and has been raised on several occasions. Why do you think that those funding bodies were unable to identify with you, apart from coming from a different community? What were the barriers? Was your culture almost dormant, and therefore not recognisable, or was it because another culture was so vibrant that it was easier to attach moneys and expertise and PR to it? I am trying to tease out the reasons for that situation. What has caused that? Why has the unionist community appeared to be so far back? Is it your fault for not pushing yourselves forward and for not saying what you had to offer and insisting that it be accepted, or is it the fault of officialdom — for want of a better term — in not reaching out and recognising that you were applying for funding because you were almost dormant?

1885. Mr C Clarke: You are essentially correct as far as being dormant is concerned. In the early years, people from a Protestant background did not understand community development. They associated it with nationalism and left-wing politics, without realising what it was essentially about. Regardless of persuasion, it is about empowering the community that you belong to. In the early years, Protestant groups, mainly in rural areas, kept themselves to themselves. They did not put their heads above the parapet; they were happy to go about their business and not seek recognition. A lot of community work was done on an underground basis. People did it voluntarily and did not want any recognition at all, and the situation developed from that.

1886. Mr K Robinson: Please indulge me, Deputy Chairperson; I know that my colleagues want to ask questions about this matter. Is there a reservoir of latent talent that we could tap into and which would regenerate your communities? We heard from a previous group of witnesses about how tourism in their area has taken off as a result of their efforts. Can we lance the boil?

1887. Mr C Clarke: We think that we have been very successful in what we do. We put that down to attitude and commitment. There is great support for what we do in the area that we come from. In the new and enlightened millennium, parents want their children to reap the educational benefits that are available. I cannot speak for other areas, but there is talent, and a groundswell of support for that could produce results.

1888. Mrs Singleton: You asked about the problems that we encounter. One major problem is that funding bodies are uncomfortable with single-identity organisations such as ours. They mention again and again the necessity for an organisation’s work to have a cross-community aspect. When we say that we are an Ulster-Scots group with a single-identity that promotes Ulster Scots as its culture, many funding bodies try to wash their hands of us.

1889. You asked whether we feel that our culture is dormant. There has been an Ulster-Scots revival, which is mirrored by the creation of the Ulster-Scots Agency. There is an element of us feeling our way as we go. Moreover, a lack of familiarity with how to complete forms for funding is a problem. The more forms that a group completes, the more expertise it develops and the more it realises what to include in order to obtain the necessary funding. That is how the system works.

1890. Mr K Robinson: You gain that expertise through experience.

1891. Mrs Singleton: Absolutely; groups gain that through the years. We are developing in that regard.

1892. The Deputy Chairperson: Ken has to leave at 12.30 pm, so I will not allow him to ask another question. I advise members that we are well behind on our schedule. I know that the subjects are important, but we need to condense the questions.

1893. Lord Browne: I admired the bravery of your dancers who performed at Windsor Park on an exceptionally cold evening. It is not always easy to engage the spectators at Windsor Park, particularly at half time. However, they appreciated the talent that was on show that evening.

1894. Funding is the main problem. Have you approached any Departments other than DCAL, particularly the Department for Social Development or the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister? How could the Committee help you to access funding?

1895. Mr C Clarke: We probably could make applications to other bodies. However, we are a voluntary group; we all have day jobs and do that work in the evening. Therefore, we do not have much time. The applications forms are considerable, and an excessive amount of information is required.

1896. The Deputy Chairperson: Does that response suggest that you have not approached anyone else?

1897. Mr C Clarke: No; that is not the case. We have not approached any groups for funding for our Ulster-Scots activities. However, another group that we work with has approached DCAL, and we have worked with the International Fund for Ireland. Therefore, we have a history of working with those groups. We find that, because of our organisational structure, it is easier to work with bodies such as the Arts Council, which provides money up front that enables us to begin programmes. With other groups, such as the Ulster-Scots Agency, we have to pay the money first and claim it retrospectively. That is exceptionally difficult.

1898. Mrs Singleton: The bulk of our money comes from the Arts Council’s Annual Support for Organisations Programme (ASOP). The figures from 2002 to the present show that funding for the Protestant community amounts to approximately 25%, whereas the Catholic community receives approximately 78%. That balance must be redressed.

1899. In the programme in which we are involved, the Andersonstown Traditional and Contemporary Music School, the Armagh Pipers Club, the Belfast and District Set Dancing and Traditional Music Society, the Irish Traditional Music Archive and the Armagh Rhymers received £127,000 in 2002-03. However, the Mid-Armagh Community Network and the Northern Ireland Piping and Drumming School received £35,000. That is a percentage of 76·4% against 21·6%. Those percentages in the distribution of money are reflected year in, year out.

1900. The Deputy Chairperson: A trend is developing from Wallace’s question. The Committee is taking widespread evidence sessions, and, soon, we will be examining the elements of reasons for that disparity. It needs to be addressed, for everyone’s sake.

1901. Mr Shannon: Thank you for your energy and enthusiasm. I am particularly interested in the 150 people who are involved in the weekly fiddle tuition classes. Your paper states that 500 people have been involved in the Highland dance classes. You are reaching out to lots of people.

1902. A recurring theme runs through the whole process. Therefore, the questions are repetitive, but my question has not been asked before. How have you reached out to those people in the community who are in social need? Have the Arts Council or the funding bodies in Northern Ireland helped you to target those areas of social need and to address the regeneration of communities.

1903. I commend you for what you are doing; your work is great. One can see the benefits. Are we getting to the right people? If you are getting to the people who are in social need, are you receiving the funding to back it?

1904. Mrs Singleton: We keep fees for the dance classes and the other classes to an absolute minimum so as to encourage everyone — even the underprivileged — to come on board. Short of doing that, I wonder how else we can target people. We go to local schools, and we publicise our classes. Before we start our classes for the year, we publish registration forms in the local press, in which we provide details of class starting times and tutors. We open our classes to the entire community.

1905. Mr Shannon: I know that you listened to the evidence from the previous set of witnesses, and you heard about sources from which they receive funding. Have you asked for help from the Arts Council? Has it been supportive of what you are doing? Or, does it go back to the single-identity issue that you mentioned at the beginning?

1906. Mr C Clarke: Although we are a single-identity group, we are more than happy to reach out to other parts of the community. We also do that through our employment practices. We do not know how other groups that apply to the Arts Council fulfil their cross-community requirements. We have made approaches to other groups, but no one has ever approached us to form any sort of alliance or partnership to that end.

1907. Mr D Bradley: I congratulate you on the good work that you are doing. I am a County Armagh man, and I am interested in many of the activities in which you are involved, especially the music and dance aspects. I commend you for your work.

1908. You mentioned that you sent out letters seeking private funding. I suggest that face-to-face approaches are sometimes more successful. One organisation that gave evidence to the Committee has expertise in helping arts groups get money from private businesses and so on. We will furnish you with the details of that organisation and it may be able to help you with that.

1909. You said that one reason you were not successful in receiving funding is that funding bodies employed people from a nationalist background. Will you expand on that?

1910. Mr C Clarke: We found that to be the case. Obviously, we do not deal with every individual in any organisation. However, we all live in Northern Ireland, and, through a reasonably quick assessment, one can establish who is who, and who is not who. We found that in dealing with the Ulster-Scots Agency, we met people of a similar background who noted the problems that we have. However, with the Arts Council, not one of the caseworkers who dealt with us was from a unionist background. We found it difficult to get across what we needed and what our perspective was. We also found it difficult to make them understand why we needed the funding, what it was for, how it empowered on our community and how we could develop our community through receiving the funding.

1911. Mr D Bradley: Funding organisations have certain criteria and it is up to any group, no matter what its background, to meet those criteria. If your organisation meets the criteria, it should get grant aid. If it does not meet the criteria, it will probably be turned down.

1912. Mr C Clarke: Perception is also a big issue.

1913. Mrs Singleton: It is important for the organisation that funds any group to keep an eye on what that group is doing. A relationship should grow up between the two and there needs to be familiarity. We have extended invitations for various events at which we performed, including our annual concert. The response of the Arts Council in attending those showcase events was pretty poor. Therefore, we felt that they were not responding to us or making an effort to come and see what we were doing, as others did.

1914. Mr C Clarke: We have been in operation for 10 years. We hold an average of one committee meeting a month, which equates to 120 meetings during those 10 years. No one from the Arts Council has ever attended any of those meetings.

1915. Mr McCarthy: Have they been invited?

1916. Mr C Clarke: They have been invited on every occasion.

1917. Mrs Singleton: They have a standing invitation to our meetings.

1918. Mr C Clarke: We have held 10 concerts, and we had a positive response from the Arts Council on only one occasion.

1919. Mr D Bradley: That conflicts with the evidence given by the previous witnesses. They praised one of the Arts Council officers who, they said, was very positive towards them and provided them with great help in developing their project.

1920. I must ask about the of single-identity issue that you mentioned. Do you believe that Ulster-Scots culture is for the unionist/Protestant people only, or is it a shared tradition throughout all Northern Ireland?

1921. Mrs Singleton: It is predominantly of interest to those in the Protestant community. However, I know that in the Markethill area, people from the other tradition attend our historical and other lectures. Those are of interest to them, and our local priest has attended some of the lectures that we organised. I would not say that it is purely of interest to one side of the community.

1922. Mr D Bradley: Why, then, do you describe yourselves as a single-identity group?

1923. Mrs Singleton: That is because we are focused on the Ulster-Scots culture. I focus on the nature of the group, which is an Ulster-Scots group.

1924. Mr D Bradley: Surely it is a shared tradition? Mr McCarthy comes from the Catholic tradition but is an Ulster-Scots speaker. He is extremely interested in the Ulster-Scots tradition, and he promotes it.

1925. Mr C Clarke: As I said earlier, we do reach out. We advertise regularly in the local press, and we moved to Market Place Theatre not only to accommodate the growing numbers of people who wanted to attend the concerts, but to reach out to a wider audience. We are more than happy to reach out, and there is no doubt that it is a shared culture.

1926. Mr D Bradley: My point is that you should not necessarily define yourself as a single-identity group, because you deal with a culture that is shared by the entire community.

1927. Mr C Clarke: The phrase “single identity" did not come from us, but from funding bodies in the early years when groups had to identify themselves as belonging to a particular strand of culture.

1928. Mr D Bradley: Do you find that the criteria in many of the application processes demand a cross-community element to your work?

1929. Mr C Clarke: Yes, many do. Not all processes demand that, but it is implied in the application forms that include, for example, questions on how an applicant proposes to achieve a cross-cultural understanding.

1930. Mr D Bradley: How can the Ulster-Scots community increase its familiarity to funding agencies, so that future groups do not encounter the same problems of confusion, suspicion and lack of awareness of the work that you did at the beginning?

1931. Mr C Clarke: The Ulster-Scots Agency was established to reflect those problems.

1932. Mr D Bradley: That is only one funding agency; there are many others with which promoters of Ulster-Scots have to deal.

1933. Mr C Clarke: We cannot access many funding streams because we are primarily a cultural and music group. Were we a different type of community group, we could approach more grant bodies.

1934. Mr D Bradley: At the same time, multitudes of funding sources exist.

1935. Mr C Clarke: Yes, but they all have different criteria.

1936. Mr D Bradley: You said that, in the beginning, you encountered problems of people being suspicious of you or not understanding what you were about. How can we get across to other funding bodies an awareness of what is being done to promote Ulster Scots, so that new groups will not come across the same difficulty in the future?

1937. Mrs Singleton: We hope that meetings such as this one today will publicise the difficulties that such groups experience. Surely, giving evidence to a Committee creates a profile that helps to address any problems that we have encountered or will encounter.

1938. Mr McCausland: Both groups highlighted funding difficulties and the disparity and differentials, which exist for a range of reasons. My main concern is that those issues have been identified over a number of years, yet funding bodies have not addressed them. They have tended to put those issues in a box marked “too difficult". I was about to suggest —

1939. The Deputy Chairperson: We want to send out the message to all our guests that the inquiry has a wide remit and is open-ended. We are not here simply to hear your evidence and then say goodbye. We will carefully consider the evidence from you and all the communities. I want to assure you that we are listening to you. Our questioning, which may be forensic at times, is for the purpose of obtaining information.

1940. Mr McCausland: If we are moving into a shared and better future in Northern Ireland, I suggest that one possible way to address the issue would be to persuade the Arts Council, other funding bodies and bodies dealing with cultural issues to provide their staff with training in cultural awareness. Perhaps people from the Ulster-Scots community could explain to those workers face to face who they are and what they do.

That should apply not just to the workers, but to the people who sit on the boards and the senior staff of those organisations. Would that be useful in trying to make those organisations more aware of the work that you do and the validity of it?

1941. Mr C Clarke: We try to do that when we apply for funding. I do not want to pick on the Arts Council, but it would be of great benefit to us, because there is an onus on the Arts Council to be proactive in how it promotes the funding that it can make available, especially to Ulster-Scots groups. Perhaps it is down to a lack of awareness; groups may think that they cannot apply for funding because they do not realise what is there to be attained.

1942. As Hilary said earlier, there has been a consistent 75% to 25% balance in Arts Council funding to the ASOP over the past 10 years. The Arts Council’s money comes from somewhere else, so it has its own budget to work with, but we find that even trying to get a percentage increase on that each year to allow us to grow any programme is exceptionally difficult.

1943. The Deputy Chairperson: Thank you very much. I am sorry that I missed the earlier part of your presentation. I assure you that this Committee has a wide remit. The evidence that we heard today may be news to our nationalist and republican colleagues on the Committee, but, as unionists, we should admit that it is also news to some of us, and we should know better. We are listening to you, and I am grateful to you — as are all members of the Committee — for the evidence that you presented. If you have left anything out that you wish to elaborate on, please feel free to submit that in writing to the Committee Clerk.

1944. Members, we are pursuing what is at times, perhaps, a sensitive line of enquiry. We are doing well in addressing the job at hand, and I ask that we continue in that vein.

21 May 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Mr Francie Brolly
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Mr Iain Carlisle Mr William Humphrey

Ulster-Scots Community Network

1945. The Deputy Chairperson (Mr McNarry): I welcome the representatives of the Ulster-Scots Community Network.

1946. Mr McCausland: I declare an interest in that organisation; consequently, I will not take part in the discussion.

1947. The Deputy Chairperson: William Humphrey is the director of the Ulster-Scots Community Network, and Iain Carlisle is the organisation’s operations manager. I have asked members to work with me, and I will ask you to do that as well. We are way over our time, without any disrespect to you. The earlier evidence sessions proved to be extremely interesting, as I am sure yours will. I will shut up, because I have used up enough time, and ask William to make his 10-minute presentation. If you could do it in less than 10 minutes, it would be appreciated.

1948. Mr William Humphrey (Ulster-Scots Community Network): Thank you for the invitation. I will set the area of Ulster-Scots interests in context. Ulster-Scots culture has a long history in Northern Ireland that stretches back 400 years to the time before the Plantation when the first Lowland Scots arrived in Ulster in 1606. They brought with them the Lowland-Scots culture and language, which evolved into what, in common-day parlance, we now call Ulster Scots. Ulster Scots is part of Northern Ireland’s cultural diversity, and must have a place in a shared and better future. Ulster-Scots culture should be set alongside the Irish culture and other cultures in that diversity.

1949. The Ulster-Scots Community Network is a representative body that covers all of nine-county Ulster and an umbrella organisation of some 170 groups. Those include groups that are actively involved in promoting language; drama; dance; piping; drumming; academia; fiddle; bands; schools; libraries; churches; living history; youth groups; and festivals.

1950. The Ulster-Scots community has been poorly served with development workers in recent years. For example, the Ulster-Scots Community Network has five members of staff, three of whom are development workers on the ground. Two deal with geographic areas of Ulster, and one deals with education. Recently, however, we wrote to the Ulster-Scots Agency about appointing administrative officers to assist groups in places such as Bready, Kilkeel and Markethill to promote Ulster Scots. That would be hugely important.

1951. As I said, the network consists of some 170 groups. A colleague from a group in rural Ulster told me that he learned at meetings with officials from the Department for Social Development that the Department’s ratio is for one development worker to every 15 groups. That shows the difficulties that development workers face. There are not enough of them, and, frankly, they are overworked and overstretched.

1952. Our full-time staff of five are charged with progressing community development, capacity building and increasing confidence. That is hugely important in the Ulster-Scots community, because from those being developed, improved and progressed will come better engagement between communities and, ultimately, lead to better community relations across Northern Ireland.

1953. The number of groups that are affiliated to the network demonstrates the high level of interest in the sector and the demand for it at a high and low level. That demand has to be addressed. The Ulster-Scots culture has been marginalised, and not just when it comes to funding. It is much more than that. The Ulster-Scots Community Network is committed to seeing the end of the omission of Ulster-Scots from the formal education system and after-schools and youth development.

1954. Ulster Scots has been ignored by the academic world, and we have been denied access to the media, especially television. Key events in our history, for example, have been ignored by the BBC simply because it did not know about them or did not understand them, and then it is too late when the moment has passed. Education and the media are key areas for any culture or sector, as those who have an interest in Irish are well aware.

1955. The Ulster-Scots Community Network recently established the Ulster-Scots Education Forum. Its members are practising teachers who are preparing a document on Ulster Scots, which will go to the Committee for Education and to this Committee. Recent examples of the network’s work with schools, led by Matthew Warwick, our education officer, include ‘The Boat Factory’, a play that was put together by the Ulster-Scots Agency and a number of schools across Northern Ireland. The play is centred on the mainstreaming of Ulster Scots in schools and with regard to our industrial heritage. The play was written by Dan Gordon, and I know that a number of members of the Committee attended performances. That event was important in trying to mainstream Ulster Scots in education and the community.

1956. The network is working on a project about the production of a Lambeg drum, which will visit schools with a fife, and be taught in schools. I mentioned language, and the language is important in a number of schools, and that is driven largely by individual teachers or principals. A key example of that is Ballinamore Primary School in north Antrim.

1957. When a programme was being put together a few years ago for the Smithsonian Festival, amazingly, the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure excluded Ulster Scots. We found that incredible, when one thinks of the impact of the Ulster-Scots community on the creation of the New World with regard to Presidents, and the people who went there and made huge contributions to industry, commerce, the arts, movie making and, of course, the military.

1958. Ulster Scots should be mainstreamed in the arts, drama and culture right across all those areas. However, change can happen only gradually. The difficulty is that if it happens very gradually, equality delayed is equality denied.

1959. The network receives funding from the Arts Council, but we need a more strategic and proactive approach from the Arts Council. In working with it, we are trying to build that relationship to our mutual benefit. We need the Department of Education, and the education sector as a whole, to embrace Ulster-Scots culture as the culture of many of the children in our schools. The development of Ulster-Scots culture is good for Northern Ireland. Such development recognises and respects our history and our cultural diversity. It enriches our lives, and a large section of our community enjoys that culture.

1960. Embracing Ulster Scots would open up the potential for social economy businesses and tourism. The fastest growing sector in the Northern Ireland economy is tourism, and 50% of tourists are cultural tourists, who are very discerning and will travel regardless of the economic situation or their circumstances. In Northern Ireland, the vast diversity of our cultural mix means that we have a huge selling point, and we are hugely attractive to people, regardless of the diaspora that they come from.

1961. As I said, we have five members of staff. The network, which was previously called the Ulster-Scots Heritage Council, was established in 1995. It is based in Belfast, but it has a sub-office in Markethill in County Armagh. Iain Carlisle is our operations manager, and we have a director, two development officers who work out on the ground and an educational officer. Our key objectives are to provide an organisation that acts as an umbrella for those who are engaged in Ulster-Scots activities across Ulster; to promote Ulster-Scots activities and educate our community and other communities; to act as a focal point for the dissemination of information, thereby raising awareness of Ulster Scots and its rich and diverse culture and tradition; and to develop Ulster-Scots culture and heritage throughout the education and tourism sectors in Northern Ireland.

1962. We represent some 170 groups, and we have worked collaboratively with those groups on many projects. Iain Carlisle will explain some of those projects, both past and present.

1963. The Deputy Chairperson: Thank you, William. Iain, I am not putting pressure on you, but could you be as quick as possible? A number of members have indicated that they have to leave soon. I apologise, but I am anxious that I do not lose the quorum, which would mean that the whole thing is up the shoot.

1964. Mr Iain Carlisle (Ulster-Scots Community Network): We are involved in a number of ongoing projects. In the closed financial year, some of those projects included working with more than 50 schools and libraries. We have put on taster-session showcases, book weeks and musical workshops. We also had four very successful pilot tours centred on Ulster-Scots history and culture, which ran on the four Sundays in July last year to Carrickfergus Castle and Andrew Jackson’s cottage. We used a professional Blue Badge tourist guide, who provided information on Ulster-Scots culture and history, and there was live music at the venues. It had an encouraging uptake, with an average of 33 tourists for each tour. It was aimed the tour-ship market, and the project was delivered for less than £3,000, which was good value for money.

1965. The Burns 250 Festival was core funded by Belfast City Council’s good relations fund, its festival fund and the Arts Council. It was a four- day festival with over 12 events. We had an average uptake of between 200 and 300 people, with audiences of up to 500 at some events. There was a mix of dance music, poetry, history, cookery and education. Again, it was a cocktail of partnership funding: the Arts Council, Belfast City Council and some from our own core funding budget.

1966. The Arts Council are working in partnership with us on a Lambeg drum project. The instrument, and the resulting booklet, will be included in tours of schools and be of use to our staff and Ulster-Scots Agency staff. Last year, we finished a wide-ranging project called the Sons and Daughters of Donegal with one of our core member groups in south Donegal, which examined the lives of 20 notable Ulster-Scots natives with Donegal roots, including politicians, military leaders and religious leaders. Again, that was done in partnership with the Ulster-Scots Agency.

1967. Some of the agreed projects that we are beginning work on are a schools resource pack for Scottish country dancing in primary schools, which we are working on with the Arts Council; a children’s language text introducing Ulster-Scots words and phrases to Key Stage 1 pupils; and funding seminars for our community groups to facilitate access to a number of core funders such as the Ulster-Scots Agency, the Arts Council and the Community Relations Council. We are also continuing work on projects in a historical and cultural context, such as the Ulster Scots influence in shaping America and the life and legacy of the Reverend WF Marshall.

1968. To raise the capacity of local Ulster-Scots musicians, we also hope to be able to facilitate masterclass format opportunities using traditional musicians from Ulster and Scotland. That is a taster of some of the project work that we are involved in, as well as the community development work.

1969. The Deputy Chairperson: Thank you, you have been very helpful. Four members have expressed a wish to ask a question. Nelson has declared an interest in this, and so will not say anything.

1970. Mr McCarthy: Thank you for your presentation. I commend the work that you are doing, and wish you every success in the future. What has your experience been in attracting funding from the private sector for your work?

1971. Mr Carlisle: To date, we have not actively pursued private or corporate funding. Given that we have a small staff, seeking private and corporate sponsorship is an onerous and time-consuming task.

1972. The organisation started from a relatively low base, and our focus has been exclusively on community development. We have sought core funding from the Arts Council and the Ulster-Scots Agency. We have experienced some very good partnership funding with Belfast City Council, the Community Relations Council and the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, so we do not exclusively seek funding from DCAL’s budget. Certainly, the private or corporate sector is one that we have not been able to explore as yet, but I would not rule it out.

1973. Mr Humphrey: We organise the Belfast Ulster-Scots festival. This year, it took the form of the Burns Festival because of the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of Burns’s birth. We have attracted private-sector funding for the festival, but the festival itself is very young, and has not yet been developed to its full potential. Private-sector buy-in tends to be brought in by festivals that have been around for a long time and that have large audiences. We aspire to be able to do that and to have something similar to the West Belfast festival.

1974. Mr McCarthy: Hopefully, over time, you will.

1975. Mr D Bradley: What are the biggest difficulties that you encounter because of funding shortfalls?

1976. Mr Humphrey: I mentioned the huge demand that exists. The bulk of our funding comes from the DCAL family, the Ulster-Scots Agency and the Arts Council. That is why we deliberately focused on partnership funding over the past year.

1977. The documentation that we submitted shows that we have attracted a significant amount of money from councils for the promotion and development of Ulster-Scots work. That is particularly the case with Belfast City Council, because its budget. In some way, that helps to alleviate the problem.

1978. Funding is short because budgets are tight and becoming increasingly more so because of the economic downturn. That means that the development work that we want to do and the projects that we want to bring to fruition have had to be put on hold simply because the funding has not been there. However, we understand that the funding may well not be available because of the economic climate and the demands on Government in the foreseeable future.

1979. Mr D Bradley: Which projects have been put on hold?

1980. Mr Humphrey: We are keen to increase the amount of staff that we employ. We believe that regional centres and employment of staff are key issues. We can talk about projects and the putting together of publications and leaflets, but to become a confident and coherent community, the Ulster -Scots community needs to be funded and needs to have workers on the ground.

1981. I mentioned the ratio that was set out by the Department for Social Development of one development officer working with 15 groups. All our members of staff work massively above that ratio, which places extreme demands on their time. One of our colleagues was taken ill and rushed to hospital last night due to that stress, and we are concerned about him.

1982. However, many projects are, effectively, curtailed because staff on the ground cannot cope with the demand. That is a recurrent theme. Exponential growth has taken place, and it is difficult for the demand to meet the supply.

1983. Lord Browne: Your development officers target and visit various areas and advise groups how to access funding and how to plan events. Do you focus particularly on areas of social need that require regeneration? Do you receive enough funding to target those areas? I saw the play that Dan Gordon wrote; it is an excellent production. Is it easy for you to access primary and secondary schools or do the school authorities hinder you? Do you visit a wide selection of schools?

1984. Mr Carlisle: Much of our work is carried out in areas of social deprivation. There are few major barriers, because most community groups in those areas are glad to receive project work or advice on how to source funding.

1985. The major difficulty is that Ulster-Scots community groups have started from a low level. The boom in growth and interest has happened only in the past 10 years. With help, those groups are capable of sourcing smaller funding streams. The agency runs a scheme through which it provides £250 for a one-off event. Such events do not tie up much time or manpower. The groups lack the capacity, confidence and ability to tackle the major funding streams. The expertise does not exist on the ground to apply for the £30,000, £40,000 and £50,000 Arts Council projects. As William said, although we work closely with as many groups as possible, we cannot fill in forms in for every group. Three development workers cannot serve nine counties.

1986. This week, I visited schools, and I received nothing but warm welcomes from principals. As William said, we hope that the school principals’ forum will push the educational aspect of Ulster Scots into the mainstream. Principals have offered no major opposition to Ulster Scots.

1987. Mr Humphrey: Lord Browne asked about areas of social need. Historically, we worked in many areas in Belfast, County Down and County Antrim. To be honest, we have been weak in the west of Ulster and in the north-west. In the near future, we intend to base staff in Donegal, Fermanagh and Londonderry. That is important, because people in the west often feel left out. Moreover, historically, in Donegal and in parts of County Londonderry, the Laganeers made a huge contribution.

1988. In autumn, we held a conference in Templepatrick that we jointly organised with the Ulster-Scots Agency. The education forum was created at that conference, and it is working hard to promote Ulster Scots in schools. Our education officer spends much of his time visiting schools and making presentations. In one of the most successful events at our Burns Festival, 350 kids from the greater Shankill area, which is one of most deprived areas in Northern Ireland, attended a workshop that was delivered by Matthew Warwick, who is a former schoolteacher who taught in that area. He has great empathy with those children. The event was well attended and the kids were enthusiastic about it. Our education officer is committed to school visits after school hours, during the summer holidays and in the three to four months that lead up to the summer.

1989. Lord Browne: How does the funding that you receive from the Arts Council compare with that received by other organisations?

1990. Mr Carlisle: We have been fortunate to secure a reasonable amount of funding from the Arts Council for the past three years. Last year, we received approximately £24,000 from the Arts Council: £18,000 for salary support and £6,000 for project support. That funding has gone to some partnership funders.

1991. As an organisation, we are very appreciative of that funding. Culturally speaking, community-based arts activities need more support. I am not saying that professionally-based arts activities need less support, but community-based arts projects in the Ulster-Scots community, whether for dance, drama or bands, are underfunded. There needs to be a wider definition of what community-based arts is so that it includes the activities that our member groups are involved in. Our organisation has had a reasonably good relationship with the Arts Council, but like everyone else, we want more support.

1992. The Deputy Chairperson: OK. I have left the last two questions to our long-winded members. Pat will go first and will be followed by Jim; I have identified you so that everyone knows who you are.

1993. Mr P Ramsey: It is unfortunate that we are rushing to finish the session, because this is a hugely important issue. On several occasions in our inquiry, we have used the term “marginalised", and presumably you are talking about the unionist and Protestant community. I want to tease that out, because there is a sense that public moneys, either from the Arts Council or DCAL, are not being distributed as fairly as people think that they should be. Is there evidence that the unionist groups in particular are alienated or marginalised in that process?

1994. Our inquiry is about the funding of the arts, and we were talking about the culture poor. If additional funding were made available, what contribution would your organisation make to social inclusion and access for people?

1995. The Plantation of Ulster was an important aspect in the history of Ulster, and its 400-year anniversary occurs next year. As a Catholic and a nationalist, that history is important to my culture and my community as well. What have you done with Derry City Council or any groups in that area to prepare for that huge and important event so that it can have the greatest possible impact?

1996. Mr Humphrey: On the subject of marginalisation, there is a huge perception in the Ulster-Scots community that there has been a disparity in funding. That stacks up over the years, but it is improving, and to be fair, we are getting to the point at which equality will be reached. I give credit to the previous Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, because one of the most positive things that he introduced was the community festivals fund. There was a perception among groups that we work with, and particularly in Belfast, that a lot of that money was going to festivals that were not even nationalist, but republican festivals. A more level playing field has been created, and good work has been done. For example, we got money from Belfast City Council for the Burns Festival. The distribution of money across Northern Ireland is much better now, and that has dealt with the perception that I mentioned.

1997. Ulster-Scots identity is not a Catholic/Protestant issue, nor is it a unionist/nationalist issue. It is multilayered; you can be an Ulster Scot, a Presbyterian, an Orangeman and a unionist; but equally, you can be a Catholic and a nationalist and speak Ulster Scots. John Hume, Cardinal Daly and Gerry Anderson are examples of that.

1998. We work with a lot of Government and semi-Government agencies to try to put an Ulster-Scots imprint on their work. We work with Tourism Ireland, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau and Ulster-Scots festivals, such as Orangefest.

1999. For the anniversary of the Plantation of Ulster, our organisation, the Ulster-Scots Agency, the Ulster Society and the Ulster Historical Foundation have worked together to make progress on a project about the Plantation. I commend Derry City Council. Mr Ramsey will be aware of the Walled City signature project and the work on the Apprentice Boys’ hall.

2000. Mr P Ramsey: We are getting close to it now.

2001. Mr Humphrey: Absolutely. The chairman of the agency, Mark Thompson, is working in conjunction with the chairman of our organisation and other colleagues in the Ulster Society and the Ulster Historical Foundation to progress the work on the Plantation. It is important that it is put in the right context and that it is something which is not seen to be divisive, but inclusive. It is an important part of our history. If we are to build a society of equals and one in which everyone in Northern Ireland can feel an equal part, it is imperative that we understand each other’s traditions. The understanding of each other’s traditions will, ultimately, lead to better community relations and a better place for all our people to live in.

2002. Mr P Ramsey: Perhaps, at a later stage, we will sit down and talk about the Plantation.

2003. Mr Carlisle: Recently, we completed a sizeable Peace III application based around the Plantation for some of our member groups in Donegal. I know that it is Derry City Council’s remit, but it is in that area. A piece of work is being conducted on a series of events that celebrate the Donegal Plantation.

2004. Mr P Ramsey: I am aware of that.

2005. Mr Shannon: It is nice to see you, and I apologise for the delay. They say that the best wine is served last. William placed emphasis on the importance of education. Why is it so important that input in education is made?

2006. You said that the funding of the Ulster-Scots Agency, in particular, is not filtering down to where it could do most good. What changes would you make to ensure that the funding is most effective in capitalising on the potential of the Ulster-Scots culture, history and language, for instance?

2007. Mr Humphrey: Ulster Scots has been maligned and mimicked by various people over the past number of years. Things that have been said about Ulster Scots have become urban myths; they are not true. Some people even think that Ulster Scots was created 10 years ago. I did my history A level, and it was not until I started that course that I was taught about Irish history. However, I was taught virtually nothing about Ulster-Scots history.

2008. I went to the launch of the integrated cultural strategy for Belfast, at which Martin Lynch, the playwright spoke. He said that Belfast was built by unionists, and he said that from a nationalist’s perspective. When one digs deeper, one will find that it was built by Ulster Scots. There is a built heritage and an industrial heritage. The shipyards, the arrivals of William Ritchie and Workman Clark, the mill workers and the rope works are part of an Ulster-Scots heritage. Furthermore, we have the politics, commerce and military. Ulster Scots made a great contribution, at home and abroad, to a huge panoply of areas. They made a contribution to the New World, in what is said to be the greatest democracy in the world.

2009. I had the privilege of being at the Smithsonian Festival, and I could see the thirst that existed in America. That is why we have a great story to tell, and we can attract lots of tourists.

2010. Too much emphasis has been placed on negative issues around Ulster Scots. It should be about making people confident about whom they are and making them feel competent so that they can engage. There is no better place to do that than in schools, where there is a thirst and a need for it. We do not need to fear each other. We are what we are, and we should be proud of that. Our traditions are diverse, but that is a strength for Northern Ireland; not a negative. If people are more competent and confident, they engage more.

2011. I keep going back to this, but it is when being involved in community work, as we are, that we see the importance of working with the communities and empowering them.

2012. Teachers are keen to embrace Ulster Scots, but they need the product. They have huge demands on their time. It is about a huge piece of work being done and providing them with the resources and tools to equip them to teach Ulster Scots in schools. That is why it is imperative that the Department of Education embraces Ulster Scots and delivers for it.

2013. The Deputy Chairperson: Thank you for attending the Committee. Hansard staff are reporting this Committee session, as they did all sessions. I am sure that you will find reports of all sessions interesting, and you can get a copy of them.

2014. Although we have been pressing you, we did not give you any less time than we gave to anyone else. If you want to add anything, you can write to the Committee Clerk.

2015. Mr Humphrey: If any Committee members are keen to talk to us or come to our office, we can give them a more detailed presentation of the work that we are continuing to do.

2016. The Deputy Chairperson: That would be valuable, and thank you for the offer.

25 June 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Francie Brolly
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Pat Ramsey
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Ms Heather Bulfin Ms Deidre Robb

Belfast City Council

2017. The Acting Chairperson (Mr P Ramsey): Good morning. On behalf of the Committee I welcome the representatives of Belfast City Council, Ms Deirdre Robb and Ms Heather Bulfin, who are here to give evidence for our continuing inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland. Please make your presentation, which should last no longer than 10 minutes, after which members will ask questions.

2018. Ms Deirdre Robb (Belfast City Council): Belfast has a population of 300,000. As the capital city, it is the regional driver and is a gateway for visitors to Northern Ireland. It is home to a wide variety of internationally acclaimed and locally based arts organisations. It has a wealth of festivals as well as extensive community arts provision, the impacts of which are internationally recognised, and which contribute to a sophisticated layer of artistic activity and provision across Belfast.

2019. To help to create and sustain a structure that harnesses the benefits of culture and arts, Belfast City Council, in partnership with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), has developed an integrated cultural strategy that will help to make Belfast a healthier, more creative and inclusive place in which to live, work and visit. As a local government council, we invest approximately £7 million in the arts each year, which has been boosted by a further £5·5 million investment in culture venues.

2020. Belfast City Council invests in the arts to help to regenerate the city and to help to grow a dynamic, innovative and creative economy. The council has been proactive in developing opportunities for cultural and artistic engagement to enable greater levels of social inclusion, community development and inter-community contact work across Belfast. Those are being delivered through the development of specialised arts initiatives and funding programmes; community festivals development; training programmes; and heritage initiatives. The council aims to create safe and creative environments, and to provide platforms for discussions that promote empathy, with the objective of making our city a more inclusive place for all its citizens.

2021. Public art has had a key role to play in the regeneration process and in community planning. There is evidence of both need and desire for communities, at a grass-roots level, to create visual landmarks that celebrate local identity as a way to address urban regeneration and to improve the physical environment. Belfast City Council has taken the opportunity to lead in responding to demand and to developing good practice in supporting communities and other interested groups.

2022. In the past few years, more than 45 temporary and permanent public art pieces have been created and placed throughout the city. Our involvement with the Re-imaging Communities programme, supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, has led to the removal of negative paramilitary murals and their replacement with community-driven and community-focused art pieces. We eagerly await the completion of the Rise sculpture at the Broadway roundabout, which is the result of another partnership initiative. That is due to be completed in October 2009. It will provide a striking landmark sculpture at a gateway to Belfast that will convey a message of hope and new beginnings.

(The Deputy Chairperson [Mr McNarry] in the Chair)

2023. We will continue to promote and encourage access to participation, especially among those who live in the most marginalised and disadvantaged communities in Belfast, and we will expand to include art programmes for older people. We support audience development through research into barriers to access, targeted community programming and initiatives such as Test Drive the Arts. Through such programmes, approximately 7·5 million audiences and 500,000 participants have attended and supported events and have accessed the arts in the city.

2024. Each year, Belfast City Council demonstrates its commitment to sustainability and funds a wide variety of arts organisations. Each of those organisations contributes to the quality of life, economic wealth and regeneration of the city — the greater the investment, the greater the return. Through the funding programmes, for every £1 that the council invests, it gets a return of £12.

2025. A skilled workforce is a critical feature of a competitive city, and the arts have a role to play in that. Almost 700 jobs have been created in the council-funded organisations. In addition, 1,000 creative industry businesses are based in Belfast, providing employment to approximately 17,000 people, 97% of whom are in full-time employment. Indeed, the creative sector is the highest growth area in our economy.

2026. At a broader level, the council acknowledges that the development of the cultural sector has been undermined by comparative underfunding of the arts. Per capita funding here lags behind the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and that has put the whole of Northern Ireland at a disadvantage. The economic downturn is likely to have an even more detrimental impact on the cultural sector, particularly for the provision of sponsorship for events and festivals and audience development, which provides much-needed income through box office sales. If the cultural industry is to gain the support of the private sector, it must be seen to be confidently supported through better public investment.

2027. Much work has been carried out in developing the cultural infrastructure in Belfast over recent years. That work includes the redevelopment of, and investment in, venues such as the Ulster Hall, the Lyric Theatre, the Crescent Arts Centre and the creation of the new Metropolitan Arts Centre, which will help strengthen Belfast’s cultural infrastructure and enable the showcasing of Belfast throughout the world as a culture tourist destination. However, it is important that the investment in those venues continues with increased support for, and development of, the cultural product in the city. It is crucial that the excellence of Belfast’s venues is matched by the quality of the cultural product that will be showcased in those venues.

2028. The establishment of a national gallery for Northern Ireland is another important part of the continuing cultural development of the region, and it is equally important that that gallery is located in Belfast. It is usual for national galleries to be situated in a country’s capital city, and as a regional driver, Belfast also has the largest population in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, Belfast has a rich visual arts tradition, but a relatively weak visual arts infrastructure, and although it has many small art collections and some medium-range art galleries, it lacks a major, dedicated arts exhibition space. Moreover, Belfast also has the advantage of accessibility for visitors, which is enhanced by the strong transport infrastructure. Belfast City Council’s commitment to the cultural tourism agenda will champion a gallery as a tourist attraction and as a centre of artistic excellence. Finally, a national gallery in Belfast will raise the profile of the many visual arts organisations that are located in the city, increase tourism, and provide new educational opportunities and inspiration for future generations of emerging artists.

2029. Northern Ireland has an international reputation in the area of culture and arts, and many local artists have been critically acclaimed for their work. However, Northern Ireland also has experienced a cultural diaspora that must be stemmed if we are to create a real cultural legacy. It is important that the issues in the sector that have led to that diaspora are addressed so that Belfast can develop into an internationally recognised centre of cultural excellence with confident citizens.

2030. Before we take questions from the Committee, I will highlight other specific areas that are in need of support. First, greater investment in our existing local arts organisations is required. That will lead to an increase in employment and greater outputs in artistic development. Secondly, greater encouragement for the development of new arts organisations is required, particularly in the areas in the sectors that are under-represented. Thirdly, ongoing and increased support for outreach and education is required to help develop audiences for the future that are arts literate and culturally aware. Fourthly, an increase in audience development and initiatives is needed to ensure that access to the arts becomes a right, rather than a privilege. Fifthly, increased support for artists through ongoing training is needed to increase the capacity of those arts. Finally, the way that arts organisations are funded through short-term funding has led to disillusionment and disappointment in the sector at large. Longer-term funding has been indicated as a way forward. All funding schemes currently allocated by Belfast City Council and the Arts Council are heavily oversubscribed. Where possible, supply should meet demand.

2031. Greater investment in culture and the arts leads not only to increased cultural activity but creates increased wealth and employment across a variety of sectors. It also creates increased tourism for the city and a confident cultural sector that is not afraid to take risks, develop and create a legacy of cultural excellence, not just for the city of Belfast but for Northern Ireland as a whole. Thank you.

2032. The Deputy Chairperson: Thank you. Before questions, I invite members to declare any relevant interests.

2033. Mr P Ramsey: I am an elected member of Derry City Council and a director of the Millennium Forum in Derry.

2034. Mr McCarthy: I am a member of Ards Borough Council.

2035. Lord Browne: I am a member of Belfast City Council.

2036. Mr K Robinson: I am a member of Newtownabbey Borough Council.

2037. Mr Shannon: I am a member of Ards Borough Council.

2038. Mr McCausland: I am a member of Belfast City Council.

2039. The Deputy Chairperson: There are too many councillors on this Committee, are there not?

2040. Lord Browne: I declared that I am a Belfast City councillor, so I will not be biased in my remarks. It has been indicated that Belfast City Council spends more than £7 million on the arts. What arguments have been used in the council to obtain that funding? What system does the council use to ensure that the money is fairly and equitably distributed among the arts throughout the city, particularly in areas of deprivation?

2041. Ms Robb: I indicated in my presentation that arts provide a vital resource to increase skills in communities and to develop our creative and cultural economy. That applies not only to engagement in arts but to participation in the process. Quite often, those skills are transferable.

2042. Ms Heather Bulfin (Belfast City Council): I have a few statistics that we have used, because, as the member knows, every department is seeking an increase in its budget. On the contribution to tourism, the arts are responsible for an estimated 25,000 bed nights a year, every £1 spent on the arts leverages around £3·60 and the private sector sponsors visitors and spectators. Arts developments such as the Cathedral Quarter have helped urban regeneration in Belfast. Examples of the arts helping other towns’ economies by attracting visitors include the Alley Theatre in Strabane and the Braid in Ballymena. The arts also build an individual’s confidence and skills. We have used all those arguments to secure funding for the arts. Arts events such as Proms in the Park and Ballet in Botanic also cross different departments. They are lovely civic events that use the arts to entertain people.

2043. A question was asked about monitoring and evaluation. Deirdre is one of the arts development officers.

2044. Ms Robb: We advertise openly through local media to ensure that all initiatives have open access to funding and that it is spread equally. We also look at where there is a low uptake on cultural activities and feed specialised programmes into those areas and organisations. All our funding is based on merit rather than geographical spread, but as members have seen from our presentation, it is distributed quite equally across the city.

2045. Mr Brolly: The Committee is used to applying a per capita figure when assessing financial commitment to the arts; do the witnesses have that figure?

2046. Ms Robb: Belfast City Council spends £45 per person on the arts.

2047. The Deputy Chairperson: Did you say £45 per person?

2048. Ms Robb: Yes. Apart from the culture and arts department, that includes events at venues such as the Waterfront Hall and the Ulster Hall as well as the arts across everything that is done by Belfast City Council.

2049. Mr Brolly: That is a considerable amount.

2050. Mr K Robinson: I thank the witnesses for attending. Some Committee members have recently been to Liverpool to see how it is trying to re-image and regenerate aspects of the city. I have a question and some observations. Is there still a perception in Belfast that arts funding is non-essential? Alternatively, does the wider community recognise the social cohesion, economic and regeneration benefits to certain communities that are delivered by the arts? If it has been accepted in that regard, how did you make the arguments to get such acceptance?

2051. In Liverpool, I was struck — as were, I am sure, other members — by the level of enthusiasm from the Lord Mayor down through the council members, officials and groups and the desire to turn Liverpool around from its previous image to where it wanted to go. There was a reservation, perhaps, that it was not trickling down to disadvantaged communities. At the top, they will say that that is not true, but taxi drivers, for instance, give a slightly different view.

2052. Your submission makes quite a play about the lack of a national gallery. May I say that you are somewhat previous in looking for 10,000 students from Newtownabbey to go into north Belfast? That is not allowed yet. From the national gallery point of view, you are concentrating on —

2053. The Deputy Chairperson: What council do you represent, Ken? [Laughter.]

2054. Mr K Robinson: You have missed a tremendous opportunity. Belfast is an industrial city. It is different from many others, and it is certainly different from Dublin and London. It may have similarities with Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. There is no representation of our industrial heritage or link into our maritime heritage. Why are we creating a national gallery or an art gallery, which can be seen in any large city, when we could create something unique to show where we have come from and how we have got to where we are?

2055. The Deputy Chairperson: There is a lot there. You have a minute and a half in which to answer. [Laughter.]

2056. Ms Robb: Will you repeat the first part, and I will take it point by point.

2057. Mr K Robinson: Is there still a perception that the arts are non-essential funding and that money could be better spent elsewhere?

2058. Ms Robb: The feeling is mixed across the board. The Invest in Inspiration campaign, in conjunction with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, started about two years ago. The Arts Council felt that there was a lack of understanding about the benefits and the value of the arts, and that feeling is rampant across the board. However, much work has been done. When the spend for the three years was rolled out, the response and level of engagement from the public and the arts sector was the highest so far, so it is increasing.

2059. It would be unfair to say that everyone understands it. However, alongside the work that has been done and, especially, through the Development and Outreach initiative, which is a targeted initiative in the super output areas in our communities, the level of engagement and involvement of the participants and the audiences in the programmes and the showcases is increasing. The Re-imaging Communities programme, which I mentioned, has been successful in removing the paramilitary murals. In the context of that process, there is engagement: the communities are crying out and saying that they want more. Understanding is, therefore, growing.

2060. The media has a lot of responsibility for that, and much work can be done. A lot of my time is used engaging with the media and trying to get it to be more representative. Much of the problem exists because art does not have a high public profile. We are in a post-conflict society, but the media tends to concentrate and focus on the negatives, and the culture of positive celebration —

2061. Mr K Robinson: Sorry, will you repeat that sentence; I did not catch it. “The media still tends to…"

2062. Ms Robb: The media still tends to focus on the negatives.

2063. Mr K Robinson: I think that that will come as some surprise to most members of the Committee.

2064. Ms Bulfin: Philip McDonagh from PricewaterhouseCoopers wrote a nice article about the benefits of the arts, which was published in a mainstream newspaper. It was useful, because a lot of people read that newspaper each morning. The article provided a lot of statistics to illustrate what the arts do.

2065. Mr K Robinson: So you want to accentuate the positives, as the song says.

2066. Ms Bulfin: Yes. It was a positive piece, which was refreshing to see. Ken Robinson made a good point about Belfast’s industrial past. We have an industrial heritage. My colleague is working on a display that will take place at the opening of Belfast City Hall in October. We are also involved in the Titanic Quarter, and, once it takes shape, we will ensure that tribute is paid there to Belfast’s industrial past. Recently, a lot of art works have been on the theme of the linen workers, and we have tried to highlight and accentuate the history of that area.

2067. Mr K Robinson: Bus loads of tourists come to Belfast everyday, and they want to see something that is unique to the area that they are arriving in.

2068. Ms Bulfin: Yes; to see what is different about it.

2069. Mr McCausland: Far be it from me to interpret what Ken was saying, but, perhaps, he was also highlighting the point that, in addition to attractions for people to go to see, such as the exhibition or the art pieces that you referred to, we could do more to help communities to explore and celebrate that heritage themselves and to get a sense of pride back through doing so.

2070. Ms Robb: We have engaged in a community archives programme, which is designed to do exactly that. It works in partnership with a number of other councils. What is the number —

2071. The Deputy Chairperson: Excuse me; you are our guests here, and you are not permitted to confer with anyone in the Public Gallery, nor are they permitted to confer with you.

2072. Ms Robb: I am sorry; I apologise for that.

2073. The Deputy Chairperson: I know that you did not know that, but do not do it again.

2074. Ms Robb: OK.

2075. The community archives programme works with a number of councils. It is a Northern Ireland-wide project with which Belfast City Council has engaged this year. The output will be an online publication, which we expect to see in March 2010.

2076. The Deputy Chairperson: Being aware of time and bearing in mind our next two questioners, I ask that questions and answers are brief.

2077. Mr P Ramsey: I thought that I might be given a bit of grace, as these will be my last questions in this Committee.

2078. You are very welcome. It is appropriate that Belfast City Council, which invests so much in the arts, is one of the final contributors to the Committee’s inquiry.

2079. The difficulty that members have, and I am sure that most would concur, is that we were hoping that an inquiry would provide evidence that would enable us to convince the Executive, or even the Minister in waiting, of a strong rationale for investing in the arts. You made the point earlier about a £12 return on every £1 that Belfast City Council invests. How do you establish that evidence?

2080. When you evaluate and process applications, what weighting is given to, for example, job creation, targeting social need and social regeneration? That is the evidence that the Committee needs to make its case. Your point that during the consultation on the Budget and comprehensive spending review more than 50% of people asked for increased funding for arts and culture was correct. However, unless the Committee has the evidence, it will be hard to convince the Executive or the new Minister of the rationale that, if extra money is spent per capita, the return is A, B, C and D. The Committee is finding it hard to get to that point. Can you elaborate on how you established your evidence?

2081. Ms Robb: We do not fund art for the art’s sake; it is not about pure artistic development. We use arts funding to regenerate the city. We do that in an equal spread over the following five areas: celebration and artistic engagement; leadership; economic return; good relations and social disadvantage; and management and governance, which is about how well the organisation operates as a business. Each of those areas receives 20%. Organisations must make an argument on that basis.

2082. The £12 return for every £1 spent that I referred to relates to the funding programmes only. We do not yet have figures that relate to everything that we do. However, we count in leverage of other funding; value for money as regards what the council will get back; and volunteers and the use of local services and goods. All those areas contribute to the overall weighting and score. Our training programmes encourage organisations to look at that in a greater capacity.

2083. The culture and arts unit links increasingly with tourism. The unit is becoming one for culture, arts and tourism. It is looking at the benefits for the tourist industry and the high impacts on return and investment, which is the language that people understand better. We are also engaging in a level of research into our terminology. I agree that even some of our local councillors do not understand because we do not have the hard facts and figures, but we are working to attain them. We are not quite there yet, but we are getting closer.

2084. Mr P Ramsey: If a member of your community is unemployed or alienated, or in particular social need, what value do they receive from the council’s investment in the arts?

2085. Ms Robb: Any kind of engagement with the arts has been proven to have a positive effect with a positive outcome —

2086. The Deputy Chairperson: I do not want to stop your flow, Deirdre, but you are getting quite cosy in that corner. This is a Committee meeting.

2087. Ms Robb: Sorry. Engagement with the arts helps to build the confidence and capacity of an individual or organisation. It is difficult to measure the building of confidence, but often people from disadvantaged communities do not want to engage in anything except sitting in front of the TV. Engagement with the arts gives them the confidence to do more. Direct engagement with a tutor on a one-to-one basis gives them skills that can be transferred into further employment along the line.

2088. Ms Bulfin: The organisations involved in targeted funding schemes, including the Development and Outreach initiative, work with groups of people with disabilities, or from the 50% most deprived areas in Belfast. That is a good way for them to work in partnership. The Creative Legacies programme that is available through Peace III funding is aimed at section 75 groups, so we are hoping that more people who are not normally involved in the arts will come on board.

2089. Mr Shannon: Thank you for coming along today. I congratulate you on the significant amount of money that Belfast City Council makes available to the arts. All of us in other councils are envious, but it is brilliant what you do.

2090. Do you feel that the significant amount of money that has been spent and invested has reached the right people? Has it reached the communities, the areas of disadvantage, disabled people, and pressure groups, which are keen to develop their relationship with the arts?

2091. Cultural tourism, in which I have an interest, has been mentioned. What has the council done about that issue? I asked that question before the Deputy Chairperson told me I could not ask another.

2092. Ms Robb: About five years ago, some research was carried out into Belfast City Council’s arts funding, which found that its arts programmes were mainly reaching “BT9ers", for want of a better term. I think that that is what you were referring to. However, in the past five years, the council’s special programmes and initiatives have balanced out. Some 54% of arts programme funding goes to professional arts organisations, and 46% goes to community-driven schemes, which reach participants on the ground. Therefore, a good balance has been created.

2093. A lot of the professional arts organisations also engage in outreach and educational work, but it is harder to measure that and to give a percentage. The new Creative Legacies programme, funded by Peace III, makes an extra £350,000 available directly to the communities in the next year. That will be evaluated and measured to ensure that it reaches the right people.

2094. Ms Bulfin: I will give a few examples of groups, which may make that clearer. Arts Care is a group that runs a lot of programmes, such as providing clown doctors in the children’s hospital. Kate Ingram, through Open Arts, runs an all abilities choir, which was recently featured on a television show. The disability organisations come to the council’s advice clinics and secure funding, as do ethnic minority groups. The Indian Community Centre, Arts Extra, the Chinese Welfare Association and the Polish Association are all involved in the Queen’s Film Theatre project. All those groups have benefited. Deirdre and another colleague operate advice clinics every time a funding scheme is opened. That helps groups that are not quite sure how to fill in the forms — they are able to talk through the process, and are given advice on what to highlight.

2095. The Deputy Chairperson: If I could interrupt you; did you say that you run an advice clinic?

2096. Ms Bulfin: We run five clinics, Monday to Friday.

2097. The Deputy Chairperson: Perhaps, if you have not done so already, you could forward some details of those clinics to the Committee.

2098. Ms Bulfin: Of course. They run in different parts of Belfast so that people can easily access them.

2099. Mr McCarthy: Thank you for the presentation, and congratulations on the work that you are doing around the Cathedral Quarter. Some of us spent two hours there yesterday morning. We saw the work going on and the enthusiasm of everyone involved, and it was fantastic. Well done and keep it up.

2100. Your submission states that there has been cultural underfunding for older people. Has the Arts Council recognised that issue, and is it able to rectify it?

2101. Mr Shannon: Is Kieran declaring an interest?

2102. Ms Bulfin: I am not sure. Belfast City Council set up an older people’s working group last year, with involvement from the Arts Council and other organisations.

2103. Ms Robb: The Arts Council has recognised the need for new initiatives and programmes to be dedicated to older people.

2104. The Deputy Chairperson: How has the Arts Council recognised that?

2105. Ms Robb: It is engaging with Belfast City Council and seeking to develop programmes to counteract the problem.

2106. The Deputy Chairperson: Perhaps when that bears fruition, you might send the information to the Committee.

2107. Ms Bulfin: Yes, absolutely. I have seen posters on buses that encourage people over 60 years of age to get involved.

2108. The Deputy Chairperson: Kieran’s face is on those posters. Have you not seen it?

2109. Mr McCartney: Correction, Mr Deputy Chairperson: older people are new recognised as those over 50. There are more red faces than mine around.

2110. Mr Shannon: They do not get a state pension.

2111. The Deputy Chairperson: Will you give the Committee your council’s definition of community arts?

2112. Ms Robb: Community arts is about engaging with communities through participation in, and access to, arts activities. It is also about maximising the potential and the opportunity of creating a sense of authorship. In other words, the community being involved in the design of the art piece and having ownership means that they have a sense of buy-in with regard to a particular piece of art.

2113. The Deputy Chairperson: That is a good answer. Thank you very much.

2114. Ms Bulfin: We apologise for conferring with our colleague earlier, we thought that he was on leave this week.

2115. The Deputy Chairperson: I will not be so difficult the next time. Thank you for your help. It has been of great assistance to the Committee.

2 July 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Mr P J Bradley
Mr Francie Brolly
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Ms Joan Dempster Ms Roisín McDonough Ms Lorraine McDowell Mr Damian Smyth

Arts Council of Northern Ireland

2116. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): I welcome Roisín McDonough, chief executive of the Arts Council, who is joined by three of her senior colleagues: Lorraine McDowell, director of operations; Damian Smyth, head of drama and literature; and Joan Dempster, arts development officer for community arts. Thank you for coming along. Since we already have your submission, we will start with members’ questions.

2117. Mr McCarthy: You are all welcome. Many witnesses have told the Committee that arts funding could be increased if there was an interdepartmental approach to funding. Does the Arts Council share that view? Who would be best placed to co-ordinate such an approach?

2118. Ms Roisín McDonough (Arts Council of Northern Ireland): The Arts Council would welcome support for the arts from right across Government Departments. I am sure that many submissions to the inquiry have mentioned that the arts connect with employment; the economy; health; education; regeneration; personal development, particularly for young people; and so on. Therefore, the Arts Council believes that all Departments and associated agencies can, and should, make a contribution to the arts.

2119. We believe that the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), which is our parent Department, should lead the co-ordination of funding. I add a note of caution in that looking at the arts without additional funding may not bring about the result that we need, which is more funding. The establishment of an interdepartmental co-ordinating mechanism needs to come with a commitment to increase funding.

2120. Mr McCarthy: Would DCAL take the lead role in that?

2121. Mr McDonough: Yes; I think so.

2122. Mr McNarry: One of the values of this inquiry — [Interruption.]

2123. Obviously, Jim was not here when the Chairperson made the announcement about switching off mobile phones.

2124. Mr Shannon: Sorry.

2125. Mr McNarry: One of the values of this inquiry is that it has helped me understand more about the work of the Arts Council. I recognise the passion of the witnesses, and they have gone up in my estimation. This is an inquiry, and although we might make you feel like you are in the dock at times, that is not what this is about.

2126. You consistently made the point that the Arts Council of Northern Ireland has a lower per capita spend than that of the Irish Republic, England, Scotland and Wales. However, it appears that the Department is challenging the robustness of the figures that have been used. For example, the Department makes the point that that figure does not include spend by other Departments or local councils. In light of what you have said on record, it is interesting that the Department, the same Department that initially funds you, is making that point. It is a key point. On the basis of what I said, do you take the view that, in comparison with other regions, the arts in Northern Ireland are underfunded? What evidence can you give the inquiry to show that you are taking full account of the same information as the Department that funds you?

2127. Ms McDonough: We are talking about per capita funding on the Exchequer side. For comparative purposes, we agreed with the other arts councils what we would and would not count. None of the other arts councils take into account spend from other Government Departments or local authorities. We are talking about per capita spend from central Government, from the Department for Culture Media and Sport, from DCAL, and from their counterparts in the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. Those are the figures that we are using for comparison.

2128. We submitted evidence to the Committee in the form of a letter. We made reference to local-authority funding for the arts and we furnished the Committee with that information. Over time, the Arts Council has collected information through its local government expenditure survey on the arts, which has been validated by the Department of the Environment. We collect that information on a biennial basis, and I think that our latest figures are from 2006-07.

2129. With respect to other central Government Departments, what we know from the arts organisations that have come to us, and from our own experience, is that when it comes to regeneration, the pot for arts funding has been reduced. The cultural traditions money, which we got from the Department of Education, has been reduced, and there has been a reduction in funding for schemes such as the Creative Youth Partnerships, which again, are funded by the education sector. As the Committee knows, Peace funding has been contracted over the years too. In general, there has been a reduction in funding for arts activity, artists and arts organisations.

2130. Mr McNarry: This is a key point for the Committee in the inquiry. I, along with other Committee members, supported you, by making your case in the Assembly and arguing for an increase in funding. I think that I want to continue to make that argument, for the sake of consistency. We have concerns about how you manage your affairs, among other things. Facts and figures will help us if we are to continue with this line of questioning.

2131. Have you taken on board the Department’s view? Do you accept that it is saying that the Arts Council is not taking into account the financial assistance of other Departments and local councils? I am not asking that you do it now, but if you have not, you should, because you have to build up your defence for the case against you. The Department has made a powerful challenge to you. I have heard your explanation, but facts and figures will help. It might be useful if you were to collate what you receive from other Departments and councils, because that might make a difference when we are trying to get an uplift in your funding, as I intend to continue to do.

2132. If Committee members were to speak in a debate on a motion similar to one that was tabled recently, the Minister would be putting the Department’s view. That would challenge other Members who would not have the in-depth knowledge that we have gained, and they would be concerned about why the Minister is saying what he is saying. You need to take that on board.

2133. I accept that you have checked with other people and that you have made a like-for-like comparison, where you can, but we need to know what differences the other resources make to you. However, you do not have to tell us that today.

2134. Ms McDonough: I am happy to come back to that question. We saw the Department’s submission just when we arrived. From a cursory glance at it, I see that the Department recognises that in order to make as accurate comparisons as possible between the various countries, a huge amount of additional research will be required. In our submission to you on 27 March in the form of a letter —

2135. Mr McNarry: If it requires a huge amount of additional research, let it be done. Otherwise, we will not understand it. I have heard it said before that something may require a huge amount of additional research, and it usually means that they have not got the whole truth about it and that they do not know exactly what they are talking about.

2136. Ms McDonough: We are comparing ourselves as an arts council with other arts councils across these islands, and we think that that is an appropriate comparison. On top of that, we have collected local authority expenditure, and it is only recently that the National Association of Local Government Arts Officers in England and Wales, comprising 415 people, carried out a similar survey of local authorities in England and Wales. It found that the average spend in local authorities in England and Wales was higher than the average local spend of local authorities in Northern Ireland. Therefore we have two bits of the jigsaw tied down in respect of the funding equation.

2137. Mr McNarry: I have heard you say that. We need to have a piece of paper that details it a bit more. We cannot get into it too much here. There is a message; have you got it?

2138. Mr McDonough: We are not the only funders of the arts. We recognise the role that local authorities in particular play, because they have been one of our long-standing partners. We have got those figures. We also recognise that, from time to time, other Government Departments have helped to fund arts activity for a particular purpose. Given that the arts touches many areas of society’s activity and Government objectives, those Departments should fund more. We are happy to work with them accordingly. However, a large-scale research project would be required to quantify the precise amount that they have spent, because the extraction of those figures carries huge definitional and methodological problems.

2139. Mr McNarry: You are taking a route that makes me anxious. If you and others cannot define “the arts", the Department’s statement does not hold up. The Committee needs to be clear about the definition of “the arts". The Committee has asked about the definition of community arts, and we have not received a bad answer. All the answers have been excellent. I sometimes get lost in the namby-pamby gin-and-tonic stuff about the arts. I have no clue, but it seems to be somebody’s choice. I do not know how narrow the definition is, but I cannot work without a clear definition of arts.

2140. Ms McDonough: I appreciate your issue. However, the Arts Council is clear that it funds within the ambit of the arts. Other Departments and agencies may experience problems if they move into territory that is not their own. We do not have such problems; we know that we fund the arts.

2141. Mr D Bradley: The process should not be, as the Department suggests, an over-complicated process to establish how much public money is spent on the arts by central Government and local government. That can be broken down further; however, in general, it should not be a huge task. The Department’s submission suggests that funding of the arts should include philanthropic donations, private sponsorship, and so on. Do you agree with that, or do you think that, for comparative reasons, it is better, more accurate and more objective to confine the per capita issue to public spend?

2142. Ms McDonough: As I said, it is the only figure that we can authoritatively speak about. I know that Arts & Business has briefed the Committee and provided a significant body of evidence about its private investment and the cultural survey that it undertakes. Those facts and figures are available. As I said, we conduct a local government survey. We are happy to play a part if the Department is willing to take the lead and examine other central Government funding sources for the arts. That might provide the Committee with a picture of the totality of potential funding opportunities.

2143. Mr D Bradley: Do you agree that the inclusion of areas such as charitable donations and so on makes it difficult to achieve an objective comparison across Northern Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland?

2144. Ms McDonough: Yes; real inherent definitional and methodological problems exist with how to attribute spend to a particular category. That is one complexity of the issue. I read some evidence from the Research and Library Service on the difficulties of making comparisons within these islands and further afield through consideration of how the arts is funded in other European countries. The evidence considered different funding models for the arts; everyone recognises the difficulties that exist. When we talk to the Committee about per capita spend, we agreed that common classification with the research departments of the four arts councils. We stand over that figure.

2145. Mr Damian Smyth (Arts Council of Northern Ireland): It might be useful to point out that the comparative resources that are available in other parts of these islands for philanthropic giving and private investment by individuals, organisations and businesses into the arts is much greater than those that are available in Northern Ireland. When the other categories of arts funding elsewhere are factored in, Northern Ireland probably still comes off far worse than it does just from looking at the arts councils. One reason it is important to focus on the arts councils is that each of them has defined categories for funding that, although they are not exactly comparable, they are still comparable. In other factors, Northern Ireland is at even greater disadvantage.

2146. Lord Browne: Has the private-public ratio in Northern Ireland changed greatly during the past three years? What is the private-public ratio here compared with that of other parts of the United Kingdom?

2147. Ms McDonough: The Arts & Business submission covers some of that. For every pound that we have given to an arts organisation that we support, we looked at the leverage that it yielded from other sources; that is income other than that which it earned from its own box office, and so on. We found that for every pound that we have given during 2005-06 and 2007-08, leverage has gone down by a factor of two, I believe. Therefore, we are witnessing a process that is actually going the other way.

2148. Obviously, the Arts Council, as you would expect, is concerned to try to reduce dependence on public subsidy and to try to strengthen the ability of arts organisations to acquire income from other sources. We have done much work with them in that regard. Unfortunately, however, we have found that movement is in the other direction because of the trends that Damian Smyth referred to a moment ago and which Arts & Business articulates in its submission. It is getting tougher for people, rather than easier.

2149. Mr Brolly: So far, we have discussed funding for the arts. Recently, some Committee members visited Liverpool. There is growing interest in examining and assessing the impact of the arts socially and economically. It seems that the response will be positive, certainly in Liverpool, where the impact of its year as European Capital of Culture is being assessed. We were told of some of the early findings of that assessment, which suggest that, for a start, the economic value is quite considerable.

2150. Clearly, the perception here is that money that is spent on the arts is spent relatively frivolously, and that it should go to health, education, or to building, but not to art galleries. Would it not be worthwhile to put effort into an impact study of some of the projects that have been funded? PricewaterhouseCoopers recommends that an overall, umbrella examination should be carried out on the impact of funding.

2151. Obviously, your work is difficult and complex. To what extent do you, having funded a particular project, go back to those people and ask for numbers, attendance figures, economic return, social impact, and so on? Quite clearly, if the public can be assured that arts are worthwhile socially and economically, it will be more likely to contribute to it and to participate in it. Arts would grow; therefore, it would be a win-win situation.

2152. Mr K Robinson: The thing that struck me on the Liverpool visit was that the arts did not appear to be detached from what was going on in that city. No matter who we met in the wider city governance, from the Lord Mayor downwards, seemed to have a buzz that the arts were central to what was going on in the city. Furthermore, it was a two-way process, and there seemed to be an enthusiasm for the arts that went beyond the introverted arts sector that we often comes across here.

2153. Mr D Bradley: Even the local transport company was very much involved in the promotion of the arts, and saw the value of that involvement.

2154. Ms McDonough: We receive information from our arts organisations through our annual regularly funded organisations survey. That contains information on earned income and other forms of received income such as trusts and private-sector moneys. It also tells us how many people are employed in the arts sector, what the level of voluntary activity is, and so on. That is one piece of information that we use, and we are happy to share it with the Committee.

2155. The Arts Council also carries out impact evaluations on some of its other programmes of activity. For example, we have just completed an impact evaluation of the work of the Re-imaging Communities programme, and we have also recently completed a similar evaluation of the Art of Regeneration programme, which is carried out in conjunction with local authorities. Furthermore, we are laying the foundations for an evaluation of the creative industries innovation fund, which will examine how many businesses and jobs that that fund has created and what gross value added benefit that it will bring to the economy here.

2156. Obviously, Liverpool has had a fantastic year as the European City of Culture, and I am sure that the Committee was rightly and forcibly impressed by its achievements. As the Committee will know, the Arts Council worked with Belfast, which was unsuccessful in its bid to become the European City of Culture in 2008, and one of the main reasons that the judging panel gave for Belfast’s failure — which Aideen McGinley, the permanent secretary of the Department at the time, called her most successful failure — was the lack of infrastructure that was in place. There was not just a lack of hardcore physical infrastructure but a lack of collaborative networks and the types of activities and programming that are associated with a dynamic arts sector in a city. Furthermore, the judging panel also noted a lack of collaborative partnerships across Government partnerships, agencies and bodies.

2157. However, the failure of Belfast to be awarded the European City of Culture in 2008 was a big wake-up call. There had been a lack of investment in the arts across the spheres that I described, and the reason Aideen McGinley called it her most successful failure was that following the decision, more resources were released for the physical infrastructure of the arts and, with the support of the Committee, increased revenue resources were also released. As a result, the arts are in a healthier position now than we have ever been.

2158. Finally, Francie is quite correct to refer to the public’s concerns about funding of health, education, and so on. However, the Arts Council finished a general population survey in February 2009, the results of which show that 78% of the population here support public subsidy of the arts, because they recognise its importance. That is a significant figure, and we should collectively cheer that figure because it gives us all, particularly the Committee as champions and leaders, the information and evidence of public support and recognition of the arts.

2159. Mr Brolly: With a positive impact evaluation of the arts, the target should be in attaining private, as opposed to public, funding. However, the one source of funding that gets lost in all that is the income that is generated by the arts themselves, such as from attendances at theatres and so on. Should we not target that? If we have a good message, we should target the public and say that this is good and creates an economy to support the arts. Private funding can be a bit iffy if it is being depending upon. Public funding, too, can be a bit iffy.

2160. Ms McDonough: Many arts organisations do earn income. Therefore, they are not 100% publicly subsidised. We work with them, and with Audiences Northern Ireland, which we fund, to strengthen the capabilities of our arts sector to develop marketing and audience development plans that target not only those who attend the arts. Not everyone knows who attends the arts, and we are encouraging arts organisations to get to know their audience. We invest substantial resources in box office ticketing systems so that they can analyse their audiences, target them appropriately with proper marketing, and, most importantly from our perspective, find out who is not attending the arts so that they, too, can be appropriately targeted. The Arts Council puts a lot of investment into that area, but more needs to be done to build and strengthen the capability of our arts organisations. Some are quite large, and are sophisticated in targeting their audience; bur others are small, and need that capacity strengthened.

2161. Mr Brolly: It strikes me — and Ken and Dominic will be aware of this — that Liverpool started from the ground up. They first went into the communities. We tend to be a bit top-down with the arts. Liverpool did amazing work, literally going into communities and schools around the place in the two or three years during the build-up to it being European Capital of Culture. That is possibly why Liverpool was so successful, and why, as Ken said, people who never talked about the arts now do so.

2162. Ms Joan Dempster (Arts Council of Northern Ireland): I know that it is not my job to question you; it is the other way round.

2163. Mr McNarry: Do not dare. [Laughter.]

2164. Mr Brolly: I do not have to answer. [Laughter.]

2165. Ms Dempster: I want to explore who went into the schools, and who was going into the community and spreading the message. I am sure that it was quite often other arts organisations that had the capacity to transfer their knowledge to the community.

2166. Mr Brolly: There were a huge number of volunteers in those local communities, obviously led by people from Liverpool City Council. However, as Dominic said, every organisation was involved, even the city transport company.

2167. Mr D Bradley: Merseytravel.

2168. Mr Brolly: They were all involved, and the more people who became involved, the more the enthusiasm grew. There is probably a lesson for us there.

2169. Ms Dempster: There is a lesson to be learnt. To give a small-scale example, I worked on the Re-imaging Communities programme, and I was tasked to find a community champion who could speak to a transport company yet who was equally comfortable speaking to the Lord Mayor. It is often the case that people have a passion and an interest about participating in the arts, but that they do not always know where to start. Therefore, they need such a person.

2170. The projects that were rolled out during the Re-imaging Communities programme almost always had a community champion in each area. As community arts officer, I want to build on that, especially in communities that have a weak cultural infrastructure or, perhaps, a fear of getting involved in the arts. You are, however, quite right in that much more work is needed.

2171. Mr Shannon: Thank you for your presentation. Witnesses have told the Committee that they were grateful for funding. However, they were concerned to find that it was renewed annually, even though they had been told that it was renewable on a three-year basis. That is something of a contradiction. Can you clarify the position when a group is awarded a three-year contract?

2172. Ms McDonough: We used to award three-year funding under our Lottery programme. That is one side of the house. On the Exchequer side of the house, we admit three-year clients to give them a modicum of stability. We ask for a three-year programme of activity, and each year we ask them to give us the programme for the next year. As the Committee knows, the confirmation of our funding comes on an annual basis only. Often, our funding decisions are not confirmed until February. Therefore, from time to time, we have had to make funding decisions in the absence of a confirmed budget, because we know that the arts sector needs some degree of certainty. The sector often has to programme long in advance, particularly a festival, a theatre company or a visual arts organisation. Programming can be for 18 months or even two years in advance and organisations need some certainty. We talk to them about it. However, the sad reality is that that is the way that Government funding works and we can only pass on what we have. We have tried to move to three-year funding.

2173. This is the third and final year of the comprehensive spending review in 2010-11. We know what our indicative budget is, and we have plans for how we want to spend it. However, there are murmurings already that we might not receive all the indicative allocation, and, therefore, it becomes hugely difficult. The ambition of the Arts Council, its board and executive is to be able to confirm three-year funding agreements with our arts clients.

2174. Mr Shannon: I understand and appreciate the difficulties, but it has been something that the witnesses have raised.

2175. Ms McDonough: Indeed.

2176. Mr Shannon: They are concerned that they, and their staff, have an uncertain future.

2177. Ms McDonough: Absolutely.

2178. Mr Shannon: When organisations start off in the financial year, they think that everything is hunky-dory. Then when nine or 10 months pass, they start to look at the financial position for the next year, for which they have made plans. I have concerns about that.

2179. Ms McDonough: I share that concern.

2180. Mr Shannon: A big issue that has come out of the inquiry is about community arts, and Joan may be the person to respond to this question. Witnesses indicated to the Committee that 9% of Arts Council money goes to community arts. Everyone has said to us that they want that figure to be higher. The Committee is aware of the good work that the community arts do, how much more they could do, and the benefits that their work brings to the community. The public service agreements refer to promoting and increasing access to the arts by 2%. It can only increase by 2% if that is reflected in the funding that goes to community arts. How have you reflected that target of 2% in your funding to try to ensure that the target is met? Does the Arts Council accept that community and voluntary arts have a higher level of participation and that, therefore, they deserve more funding?

2181. Ms Dempster: The Arts Council disputes the figure of 9%. In my role in the Arts Council, I have a portfolio of clients who are classified as community arts clients. That is not to say that other organisations that are funded through the Arts Council do not carry out community arts activity. I assume that the figure of 9% is drawn from the portfolio that I look after as regards the Annual Support for Organisations Programme. Therefore, the figure of 9% is not a clear one. A number of organisations do not sit in my portfolio for operational reasons but do carry out community arts activity. For example, the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast, Best Cellars Music Collective, which is based in east Belfast, and the Playhouse in Derry/Londonderry. They would see themselves as delivering community arts activity, but they do not sit in the community arts portfolio. Therefore, the grant, or the moneys, that we award them, would not have been calculated in that figure of 9%.

2182. Ms McDonough: Within our budget, we do not have percentages that are allocated to particular art forms or to specialist areas. As Joan explained, we have a range of officers and a range of clients, and we divide the caseloads accordingly. Broadly, Joan is the community arts officer, and the other officers, who work in the sphere of youth arts, disability and health arts and voluntary arts, have their own portfolio of clients. Adding all those together, along with other art forms and other officers’ workloads and portfolios, would give a much more accurate figure. Calculating 9% from Joan’s clients is inaccurate, and we dispute that figure.

2183. Ms Lorraine McDowell (Arts Council of Northern Ireland): In the submission that we provided at the beginning of the inquiry, we gave the Committee a breakdown of how we saw our funding falling into sectors: community arts; voluntary; disability and health arts; and youth arts. The figures in that breakdown show that in 2008-09, community arts were receiving around 20% of the grants that we gave out. That is a substantial shift from 9%, which was based only on the clients in Joan’s portfolio. It is a much bigger percentage.

2184. Mr Shannon: There is obviously a difference in the figures. However, there is a target to increase participation by 2%. I think you will agree that to do that, you will have to spend more. The thrust of the question is whether you will be spending more to meet that target.

2185. Ms McDonough: You are right in that we have a public service agreement target of increasing attendance and participation by 2%. We can achieve that only through our funded clients. We absolutely agree with you on that. However, you have to look at our funding programmes in totality in order to achieve greater participation and attendance rates in the arts. That is why we have other funded programmes that put people on a route to enjoying the arts. That route starts with small grants, perhaps an Awards for All grant, then moves on to Lottery project funding and beyond. It is a journey on which the arts officers, including Joan, but not exclusively, work with small-scale, fragile and voluntary organisations, to increase their awareness and interest in the arts. We progress them through a journey of support and development. It is not an easy journey, and we know that it is often patchy in certain areas. That is why we have targeted some programmes at particular communities, where we can give them ready access to small amounts of money as seedcorn to make a difference. Joan has worked with local communities on some of those programmes.

2186. Mr Shannon: Will you achieve your target of 2%? I am not being disrespectful, nor am I being argumentative; however, the Committee deserves a commitment that that target will be achieved. I want to know how it will be achieved, as I am not entirely convinced that it will.

2187. Mr Smyth: We have made it a condition of all our funding that regularly funded organisations deliver a strategy to the Arts Council for increasing audiences and participation over the designated period. We are monitoring that and get returns on annually. The target period was not as long as one would have hoped to be able to achieve that, but we are confident that we will be able to deliver positive returns on that 2% target.

2188. Mr Shannon: Can that be achieved without spending more or allocating more funds? That is the point that I am trying to get down to. I am not trying to wear this out; I am just trying to get an answer.

2189. Ms McDonough: Arts organisations, many of which will come before the Committee, tell us that they are expected to achieve more with the same amount of money. They ask us how on earth we think that they can do that. Our response is that we absolutely appreciate the difficulties that they face; however, this is a target that has been handed to us by the Government in order to justify funding for the arts. We happen to think that it is not a particularly considered target, and we are on record as saying that. We talked to the Department about that figure and whether it was appropriate, meaningful or achievable and how it could be delivered. We raised fundamental questions; however, we were directed to meet that target, and the only way that we could begin to meet it was to pass it on to our arts organisations. I am sure that the Committee has heard some of what those organisations had to say in about that.

2190. Mr Shannon: The community arts organisations were very clear about that. They said that they can achieve those targets, but only with extra spending.

2191. Ms McDonough: I agree with you that extra resources are required.

2192. Mr McNarry: Unionist members of this Committee started this inquiry with, and still possess, a clear perception that unionist communities are way behind in realising their potential in working with the Arts Council. We heard from a number of organisations that identified themselves as being from a unionist background and said that they were not aware that they could access Arts Council funding. Jim has been saying that as well. What is the Arts Council doing to proactively target those groups from unionist communities that do not have a history of accessing Arts Council funding?

2193. Ms McDonough: I will ask Damian Smyth and then perhaps Joan to address that issue.

2194. Mr McNarry: Do you realise, or do you accept, that our perceptions exist?

2195. Ms McDonough: We fully appreciate those perceptions. We are aware of areas of weak infrastructure and low levels of participation in certain communities. We are endeavouring to deal with that. It is a developmental issue: people need not only financial resources but support to enable access to, and the development of, programmes of activity. We have endeavoured to adopt that twin approach. Damian and Joan will speak about their experiences in that regard.

2196. Mr McNarry: I respect Damian’s view on this, but are you actively seeking an increase in funding to deal with the gap that you say you are aware of in unionist communities? Are you actively saying that that is a target, and that more money is needed specifically for unionist communities?

2197. Ms McDonough: We are looking at that issue. Previously, I advised the Committee that in the autumn, the council will look at the issues that affect areas where there is weak community infrastructure and weak access to the arts. That would be differential —

2198. Mr McNarry: You are being evasive.

2199. Ms McDonough: No, I am not being evasive.

2200. Mr McNarry: I am asking you directly about unionist communities.

2201. Ms McDonough: Yes, we recognise that there are issues that are associated with the Protestant, unionist and loyalist communities with respect to access to the arts.

2202. Mr McNarry: Thank you.

2203. Ms McDonough: We are also saying that those issues are not exclusive to those communities.

2204. Mr McNarry: I understand that.

2205. Ms McDonough: We do appreciate that point.

2206. Lord Browne: What is the rough breakdown of funding to the different communities — the ethnic minority communities, the unionist communities and the nationalist communities?

2207. The Chairperson: Members are obviously exercised by this point. Dominic wants to contribute.

2208. Mr D Bradley: Two groups from the Protestant/unionist community gave evidence to the Committee on one day, one of which was from County Antrim. They were very positive about the support that they got from the Arts Council. They mentioned Damian’s name, and said that he could not have been more helpful. On the other hand, another group that gave evidence said that they perceived that there was a bias among arts funders against Protestant/unionist communities. There you have two different perceptions from within the one community; one very positive about the Arts Council and the other, possibly, feeling quite alienated from the process.

2209. Mr McNarry: Dominic is right.

2210. Mr K Robinson: The group to which Dominic referred is from Cairncastle. I know that it is very appreciative of the work that Damian did and attempted to do on its behalf. Its representatives also told me that it had difficulty in accessing where help lay, how to access that help, who to approach and what mechanisms were in place. As Damian will probably confirm, their major complaint was a lack of knowledge about how to get into the system. Once the group was in the system, it found it to be helpful, but it lacked knowledge of how to do that.

2211. The Committee, particularly the unionist members, feels that the unionist/Protestant/loyalist community has an endemic lack of knowledge of how to access the system and that that community has been self-sufficient. Last night, I went into Belfast, and I estimated that around 1,200 musicians were walking around east Belfast. Where on earth would more than 1,000 musicians play on one evening? I suspect that limited public funding is available for that, whether from the Arts Council or elsewhere. I did not even take into account the amount of money that had been expended on uniforms; I simply looked at the instruments and thought that an astronomic cost must have been involved in accessing them. I wondered where those musicians got the money from; they are self-sufficient.

2212. Ms McDonough: They are not.

2213. Mr K Robinson: Belatedly, they are now accessing funds.

2214. Ms McDonough: They can access the Council’s musical instruments for bands fund.

2215. Mr K Robinson: Please expand on that.

2216. Ms McDowell: The bands scheme has operated for a number of years, and, after it was temporarily suspended, it was reintroduced in 2002. Since then, the Council has given £2 million to the band sector, and, before then, we gave £1·5 million. Therefore, the Council has provided £3·5 million specifically to buy instruments.

2217. Mr K Robinson: Having acquired the instruments, what mechanism is in place to allow the bands to increase their technical expertise? Much of their evolution appears to be because of the knowledge in their community. One band that I saw last night would not have been out of place at Trooping the Colour. That is the standard that can be reached.

2218. Ms McDowell: I do not have definitive figures, but we can provide them later. Through our small grants programme, the previous Awards for All programme, and, to an extent, Lottery project funding, we also provide tuition costs for the bands to bring in outside help and expertise to raise the level of the quality of their music making. When we give grants for instruments, we look at the quality that they already produce, and we speak to them about bringing in expertise.

2219. Mr McNarry: Did those funds go specifically to bands from a unionist community or to bands generally?

2220. Ms McDowell: The funds went to bands. We do not have information on whether the funding went to the unionist community.

2221. Mr McNarry: Dominic was right. Both the evidence sessions to which he referred highlighted the fact that those who managed to access help had a positive experience. I want that experience to be repeated. Damian is well-respected when people get to him, but the other experience is that people do not know about the help that is available or think that it is for them. They think that they are excluded from it and that they are second class. Have you heard that view expressed before?

2222. Ms McDowell: That has not been put to me directly.

2223. Mr McNarry: I was not asking you to jump into my politics, but we are dealing with those sorts of views. You can throw up all sorts of figures to show that you are brilliant and that you given money to bands, but I am referring to a whole culture that is wider than bands, and I am not simply talking about unionist/Protestant bands. Partly because of devolution and the work that MLAs are doing in their communities, groups that are new to the process say that they are not sure whether they can get on the ladder of Arts Council funding because the presence of well-established groups appears not to allow room for them. They also come away thinking, which might not be true in some cases, that the Arts Council is making it too difficult for them and that they are not wanted. We must knock that down.

2224. You keep on talking about funding, which we understand. My point seems to be that you now have no more money to look after Protestant/unionist needs. How do you get that money, and how we help you to get it? That means how do we address those who say that it is the established people who are well known to the Arts Council and who have been working with it who get the funding, and we cannot get on the ladder? That is then reflected in community arts. That is how those people feel about the matter, and they are not all from Belfast.

2225. Mr D Bradley: This is probably largely an issue of capacity building in certain communities, and it is not confined to the Protestant/unionist community. Other smaller rural communities from a different background simply do not have the experience of dealing with the whole funding edifice. Until they get up to the door and get the door opened, they can struggle. That can create the impression that they are not welcome. Perhaps the Arts Council has to make a greater effort to communicate with those harder-to-reach communities and inform them about what funding is available and how to access it.

2226. The Chairperson: I need to allow the Arts Council to respond to the many issues that have been raised. Time is of the essence.

2227. Mr Smyth: I take into account everything that was said. Crucially, however, it is a matter of capacity, and that needs to be addressed in an interdepartmental way with regard to economic conditions and the self-confidence of communities and their organisations.

2228. Mr McNarry: Are we right in saying that there is a problem and a funding gap? It is not a question of simply throwing money at the problem. However, did you say that you will look at the issue in the autumn? Is there more than an element of truth in what people are saying?

2229. Mr Smyth: We work closely with the Ulster-Scots Community Network, which was formerly the Ulster-Scots Heritage Council. That is an umbrella group for more than 200 small cultural organisations across Northern Ireland. Very few of those organisations would be at a level in capacity terms to be able to make an application for funding, even to the Ulster-Scots Community Network or to the Ulster-Scots Agency. In working with the Ulster-Scots Community Network, we can begin to identify organisations that might be better placed to take that next step into a funding stream, which would help to develop their artistic —

2230. Mr McNarry: Are you saying that the Ulster-Scots Community Network is somehow a quasi-representative of Protestant/unionist opinion in Northern Ireland?

2231. Mr Smyth: Not at all. That is one area that has a clearly defined cultural and artistic remit, and which we can easily identify and begin to look for ways to support. Capacity issues exist that affect the Protestant/unionist/loyalist communities across Northern Ireland, which may not manifest themselves in cultural or artistic terms, but which may do so at some point, and, perhaps, soon. However, the Arts Council does not have the capacity itself, or the resources to build the capacity in those types of communities.

2232. Mr McNarry: You can, however, make a case.

2233. Mr Smyth: We can make a case.

2234. Ms McDonough: We can, absolutely, make a case.

2235. The Chairperson: We have to start another session in the next couple of minutes. Perhaps Joan will wish to add something to what has been said. I will then seek the agreement of members to write to the Arts Council about additional questions that the Committee wants tabled.

2236. Mr K Robinson: To make a quick point, ArtsEkta is an active organisation that represents ethnic communities, which sometimes run into brick walls. Given our current circumstances, can we place a positive focus on such an organisation? It has projects in the pipeline, and it has raised its capacity over a number of years. However, it is experiencing difficulties at the moment. I want to flag that up.

2237. Ms Dempster: I will address Mr Robinson’s point. It is my job in the Arts Council to consider social inclusion in organisations regardless of their background or ethnicity. If they feel socially excluded, I will bring them to the arts. We do that in a number of ways, primarily through small seeding grants, an example of which is the STart UP programme that we ran last year. Although it was a small project that cost £100,000, it punched well above its weight. In Northern Ireland, 20 projects were funded with small grants of about £5,000 and, as a result, some organisations are in negotiations to proceed to larger grants. However, that approach must be replicated across Northern Ireland, particularly in communities that, as my colleague Damian said, need to build their capacity. In my job, I engage in hand-holding and take groups through the application forms step by step. That needs to happen much more, but we need the capacity to do so.

2238. Ms McDonough: I wish that the organisation had 10 workers like Joan. Perhaps that is a slight exaggeration; however, I wish that I had many more.

2239. Mr Shannon: Ten for the price of one? [Laughter.]

2240. Ms McDonough: Some development funds are required to address the issues that the Committee has rightly touched on. We share that perspective. We know that we are not reaching a whole swathe of communities that we passionately believe should have access to the arts. Moreover, we know that once the arts touch them, they will enjoy it and grow and develop accordingly.

2241. The Chairperson: I thank the team from the Arts Council for attending today.

2 July 2009

Members present for all or part of the proceedings:
Mr Barry McElduff (Chairperson)
Mr David McNarry (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Dominic Bradley
Mr P J Bradley
Mr Francie Brolly
Lord Browne
Mr Kieran McCarthy
Mr Ken Robinson
Mr Jim Shannon

Witnesses:

Mr McCausland		The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Ms Anne Tohill Ms Linda Wilson		Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure

2242. The Chairperson (Mr McElduff): We will now have an evidence session with the newly appointed Minister, Nelson McCausland, who previously served as a member of the Committee, and departmental officials. The Minister took his position with effect from yesterday. The written submission and the Minister’s response on per capita spend issues are included in members’ packs. I welcome the newly appointed Minister, Nelson McCausland, and congratulate him on his appointment. Fair play and good luck to you.

2243. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure (Mr McCausland): Thank you. I am accompanied by Linda Wilson, the director of culture, and Anne Tohill, the head of arts and creativity. I will start with my introductory statement, which I will keep as brief as I can so that there will be more time for questions, as I know that is what the Committee would prefer.

2244. Thank you for the opportunity to contribute further to the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee’s inquiry into the funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland. I welcome the inquiry and acknowledge the Committee’s important role in engaging with the diverse range of stakeholders in the arts sector and its understanding of the specific issues that impact on the sector.

2245. The inquiry is timely, not least because of the current economic climate and the difficulties that that has presented to many arts organisations that are seeking to secure much-needed funding and ensure their ongoing sustainability and viability. It is incumbent on all of us to do all that we can to explore ways in which to support and help our economy recover from the current difficulties. I am convinced that continued investment in the arts, in our creative people and in the creative sector generally will make an important contribution to that recovery.

2246. Over the past few months, the Committee has gathered evidence from a wide range of stakeholders. It is clear that there is much support for the arts sector and a genuine desire to ensure that appropriate levels of funding are allocated to the arts to enable the sector to continue to grow and develop. It is also apparent that there is widespread recognition of the many benefits to be gained from such funding. The arts and creative sectors contribute to the cultural, social and economic life of all the people of Northern Ireland. In addition, the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) estimates that more than 36,300 people were employed in the creative industries or creative occupations in Northern Ireland in 2007. That equates to 4·6% of the workforce, which demonstrates the significance of the creative sector.

2247. It has been recognised for some time that the most prosperous economies are characterised by a strong creative sector. Creativity generates innovation, and the two are inseparable. In turn, innovation drives productivity by introducing new and higher value added products and processes, leading, ultimately, to wealth creation. We must ensure, through our investment in the arts and creative sectors, that we continue to foster and promote creativity in our young people through all stages and structures of our education system, our businesses and the workforce in general.

2248. I am sure that the Committee shares my goal of ensuring that we have the best model possible for the allocation and distribution of funding for the arts. I recognise that we have a responsibility to make the case for the importance of arts funding. However, it would be unrealistic to do so without recognising the very tight public expenditure conditions in which we currently work. We are competing with other Departments for scarce resources and we need to be realistic as to what we can achieve and deliver. In that context, it is imperative to have a funding model in place, which will enable us to continue to provide sufficient levels of support for the development of the arts in Northern Ireland, while delivering value for money.

2249. In its terms of reference, the Committee identified a number of areas on which it wished to focus. My Department has provided a detailed written response about the specific elements of the terms of reference of the inquiry. The first point is about per capita spend on the arts. Currently, there is no universally accepted indicator of that nature, which creates a difficulty. It is vital that any comparisons made are like for like and that they adequately capture all public expenditure on the arts here and in other justifications.

2250. The second point is about innovative approaches to funding. With regard to innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding, private- sector giving and philanthropy have been an increasingly important source of support to the arts in recent years, and we should do everything possible to encourage that. We see that in other countries, and it is something that needs to be encouraged here. However, we have already seen examples of how the more challenging economic climate is influencing funding from those sources. That, in the immediate term, could make it difficult for many arts organisations to continue with current levels of activity.

2251. As mentioned, we must also recognise that public funding of the arts also directly supports the creative sector which is a sector of considerable significance to the current and future prosperity of the Northern Ireland economy. Given the economic significance of the creative industries, it is important to understand how other regions and countries provide funding to the creative sector and that we benchmark the levels of funding that is made available.

2252. The third term of reference of the Committee’s inquiry deals with the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts, and I already outlined the range of such benefits associated with that investment. However, there is no commonly agreed approach to the measurement of that, nor is there an accepted multiplier that can easily be applied to capture direct and indirect employment and productivity effects. That lack of a commonly agreed approach has been widely recognised, and to attempt to assess the impact at a Northern Ireland level would require a bank of relevant data to be collected, which would then need to be built up and quality assured. That would take time to construct and would require additional resources.

2253. The fourth term of reference of the Committee’s inquiry deals with the allocation of funding across art forms. The Arts Council is undertaking a review of it grant-making process, which will include consideration of a number of the issues that are listed in Committee’s terms of reference for this inquiry. The Department provided the Committee with a detailed breakdown of the funding provided by the Arts Council to its funded organisations, which I hope will prove to be of assistance to the Committee in its deliberations.

2254. It is important that there is a balanced allocation of funding to various art forms and to the professional, voluntary and community sectors. I believe that the Arts Council is seeking to ensure an equitable distribution of funds, bearing in mind the high demand for such funding. Programmes and initiatives being taken forward by the Arts Council and Northern Ireland Screen are contributing to a range of Government objectives including those that are set out in ‘A Shared Future’.

2255. The fifth term of reference of the Committee’s inquiry deals with how other regions allocate funding for the arts. It is important to understand and, where appropriate, learn from the funding- allocation process used by other organisations that provide public funding to the arts. However, every region is different and Northern Ireland, like other regions, has its own unique cultural demographic and social characteristics that are reflected in the allocation of funds to various art forms.

2256. Finally, the sixth term of reference of the Committee’s inquiry deals with whether there are art forms in receipt of sufficient funding, and whether funding is being directed at targeting areas of social need and is contributing to the regeneration of communities. The Department agrees that it is important to ensure that funding is allocated to those arts activities where there is a clear need and demand for funding, and where the greatest impact against a range of indicators can be achieved.

2257. It is clear that the arts can play a key role in addressing issues of social exclusion, in targeting social need and in contributing to the economic, physical and social regeneration of deprived communities. A considerable element of the Arts Council’s funding has been directed at projects and initiatives for that purpose, but I understand that the Arts Council is currently unable to meet the very high levels of demand for funding through its various funding streams.

2258. Ultimately, the Executive has to manage within the resources that are allocated to it by the Treasury. There are competing demands across Departments, and those must be managed within the Northern Ireland expenditure limit.

2259. In conclusion, I very much welcome the Committee’s inquiry into the funding for the arts and I look forward to its conclusions and recommendations. I believe that those will be of benefit to the Department and to me.

2260. Mr McCarthy: I thank the Minister for his presentation. I congratulate him on his appointment and I wish him every success for the future.

2261. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: No doubt just for the moment.

2262. Mr McCarthy: Indeed. You spoke briefly about per capita spend on the arts. The Department made the point that the figures that were produced by the Arts Council on per capita spend do not include spend by other Government Departments or local councils. It also said that it is not possible to use per capita figures to draw robust conclusions on either the over-provisions or under-provision of spend on the arts in Northern Ireland. Given that statement, am I correct in thinking that the Department’s view is that the arts are adequately funded in Northern Ireland?

2263. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: The conclusion that you are drawing may not be correct. There are difficulties in drawing comparisons across jurisdictions and countries. As I said in my presentation, every area is different, and we have structures of Government here that do not exist in other places. For example, representatives here from the greater Belfast area will be aware of the amount of money that is directed into the arts through the Belfast Regeneration Office and the Department for Social Development. There are other sources of European funding which may not appear in other areas, such as the Peace III funding and so on. There are differences in that regard, and therefore, as you acknowledged, there is a difficulty with drawing comparisons. However, that does not in any way diminish the fact that we believe that more money should be directed towards the arts. I agree with you fully on that. The one caveat is the competition across Departments.

2264. Mr McCarthy: I am grateful for your response. What you are saying is that the arts could do with more funding, if the money was available.

2265. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: You expressed the caveat: “if the money was available". However, the case must be presented as robustly as possible, and the Department is certainly committed to doing that.

2266. Mr McNarry: You are welcome, Minister. On the back of what you said to Kieran, perhaps there is a distinction to be made between funding for the arts and funding for the Arts Council. What are the Department’s criteria for defining arts, and, on the basis of that, allocating funding directly to the Arts Council?

2267. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: Definitions can sometimes be constrictive or inclusive, but the Department is willing to make the definition as broad and inclusive as possible. Some activities have sometimes not received as much recognition in the past as I would like. By way of example, the biggest community arts sector in Northern undoubtedly consists of people who play music in bands. In looking at the hundreds of those across Northern Ireland, the number of people playing in them and so on, it has to be recognised as the biggest community arts activity that exists, yet sometimes it is not seen as art. I want the Department to be broad and inclusive, not just in regard to the general definition of arts. Sometimes people try to define community arts, voluntary arts and professional arts in distinct ways, and draw strict lines between them. That is not particularly helpful, because there is often an overlap. There are community and voluntary arts organisations that are very professional in the way they do things. There are lots of professional artists who work with community and voluntary arts organisations. An earlier Assembly report produced a definition of community arts that took a broad approach, which I think is a good one. Community arts is effectively art that is happening in the community. We should keep definitions as broad as possible, and seek not to be restrictive.

2268. Mr McNarry: I am satisfied with your answer. I do not want to put words into your mouth, but you seem to be saying that the definitions should be not only broad but flexible.

2269. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: Indeed.

2270. Mr McNarry: In saying that, do you think that the Arts Council has the capacity to address those issues?

2271. The Minister of Culture Arts and Leisure: To take the area to which I referred earlier, the funding that has been provided by the Arts Council for musical instruments for bands has been a positive development, and has enabled that sector to engage with the Arts Council in a way that it did not previously. I use that as an example, but the same principle applies across a range of sectors. At the end of the day, the Arts Council is an arm’s- length body, and the Department’s influence is, therefore, limited. The Committee has been closely examining the relationship between arm’s-length bodies and the Department, and it will want to ensure flexibility for the Arts Council. This is only my second day as Minister, and I have not yet had the opportunity to meet the Arts Council. However, I note your point and will raise it during my conversation with the Arts Council.

2272. Mr McNarry: I appreciate that it is only your second day, but how does the Department determine what percentage of its overall budget should be spent on the arts as opposed to on other areas that it funds? I do not want to enter a funding competition. I am keen on the arts, as you know, but I am also keen on sport. Do the arts sit below, above or alongside other funding from the Arts Council?

2273. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: I will hand that over question to Linda.

2274. Ms Linda Wilson (Arts Council of Northern Ireland): From a departmental perspective, both are key strands of our work. However, when it comes to the allocation of money, we have to submit bids to the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP) as part of the budgetary process and make the case for the arts or whatever other funding we want. DFP then scrutinises those bids.

2275. Mr McNarry: Excuse me; I know all that. Do you bid equally, place one strand above the other, or does it vary?

2276. Ms L Wilson: It varies depending on the priority that the Department attaches to the individual bid that we are submitting at the time. DFP always considers the order of priorities.

2277. Mr McNarry: I am not too concerned about what DFP does. I am more concerned about your approach to the work that challenges you. I sit on the Committee for Finance and Personnel. I am trying to determine what leeway exists. As the Minister said, there is the question of flexibility. You are saying that you exercise the same flexibility when it comes to bidding. However, I want to get an overall picture of where the arts sit on the Arts Council’s ladder. I did not want to introduce sport, but, compared with sport, where do the arts sit?

2278. Ms L Wilson: It depends on the bid; it varies.

2279. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: In a sense, we are considering what is needed, and that shapes how much money is sought, through bidding, for a particular sector in DCAL, whether it is libraries, the arts, museums or sport.

2280. Mr McNarry: The Arts Council is carrying out a review. If, during that review, a particular gap in community funding was identified and a bid was made, would it be considered on a level playing field? In line with policy, would you be likely to bid for an increase in funding to fill that gap?

2281. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: As I said earlier, bids may be submitted but whether they are successful is another matter.

2282. Mr McNarry: The intention behind the bid is also important.

2283. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: If the Arts Council identifies a particular need that has not been accommodated until now, it would be incumbent on it, having recognised that need, to consider how it could be met within its budget.

2284. Mr D Bradley: Fair fye til ye, Minister. Tá céad míle fáilte romhat. Congratulations on your appointment, I wish you success in your post. I was reading through your Department’s response to the Committee’s inquiry. I particularly noted the part that is pertinent to the per capita spend. In the Department’s view, public and private sources of funding should be taken into account. I disagree with that, and contend that we would get a more objective view of the issue and a better comparison of the various regions if we were to use public money alone. Does the Minister not agree that a Department such as his and a Statutory Committee such as this one should be more focused on the per capita public spend, and look on philanthropic donations and so on as an added bonus?

2285. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: I will take comments from the officials who are here, but I made the point earlier that one of the difficulties is that there are different structures in each of the jurisdictions. The result of that is that there are other sources of public funding in Northern Ireland that may not exist in other parts of the United Kingdom. Therefore, we are not always comparing like for like when we look at this arts council or that arts council. A huge amount of the community arts infrastructure was built around Peace II; I hope that it will receive some money under Peace III as well. That is something that does not exist anywhere else, so it is not quite a like for like situation. I acknowledge that the priority has to be on the public sector funding. However, that does not and should not in any way diminish either the departmental or, indeed, the Committee’s responsibility to encourage and facilitate those other sources of funding. It is not about choosing either a or b; it is about encouraging a and b. Having looked at the arts in other countries, there is a different attitude to philanthropy and private-sector funding.

2286. I recall that, during the conversations that we had when I was a member of the Committee, we talked to people who were dealing with the issue of private-sector funding, such as Arts & Business. There are differences even within regions of the United Kingdom. It is easier, sometimes, for businesses in London or wherever to put money into the arts than for businesses here, because they have more control over the budget in other regions than we might have where a subsidiary of a UK-wide business is involved. I acknowledge your initial point that there has to be a priority on securing what we can for the arts.

2287. Mr D Bradley: Having read the Department’s paper, I got the feeling that there is a tendency to over-complicate the matter to the extent when comparisons might become meaningless. I contend that it is more sensible to take a more confined view of per capita spending. It is probably more reliable if we look at it, initially at least, in the public sphere.

2288. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: I have no difficulty in folk making comparisons with different regions. In Northern Ireland, however, money may well come in from the Exchequer and be directed into another Department, but still end up by an indirect route being spent on the arts. It is important to take all those factors into account when we are looking at figures.

2289. Mr D Bradley: I agree with that.

2290. Ms Anne Tohill (Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure): One of the reasons that we would like to understand private-sector investment is to see where we are at in comparison to other regions and then, if necessary, consider what the policy response to that should be. If, for example, we know that we raised £8·53 million from private investment in the arts, and compare it to other regions as a percentage of the overall investment, should we be doing more? Organisations that the Department funds through the Arts Council, such as Arts & Business, are proactive in working with the business sector to encourage that, but we do need to understand the totality, if possible, so that we can formulate a policy response.

2291. Mr D Bradley: The representatives of the Arts Council told us this morning that the system of comparison that it uses reveals that Northern Ireland comes out as one of the lowest recipients of funding. It added that if we were to add in the philanthropic donations from the private sector and so on, we would come out even worse in a comparison.

2292. Ms Tohill: We highlighted some of the concerns about the figures. They do not include, for example, the Department’s capital spend. This year alone, more than £10 million has been allocated for arts capital projects. Like the Arts Council, we want to ensure that we have a similar understanding of the spend. There are other factors. For example, Scotland has the Scottish Ballet and a national theatre. We do not have those, and we do not know whether we could sustain them if we did. If a comparison is undertaken, it is important to understand what is being compared and whether a region such as Northern Ireland needs exactly the same investment as other regions.

2293. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: I will pick up on a point that Anne made. Over the past number of years in Northern Ireland, we have directed quite a large amount of resources towards building up the regional infrastructure. Many towns across Northern Ireland now have their own dedicated arts centres. Newtownabbey Borough Council has the Ballyearl Arts and Leisure Centre, and it now has plans for further developments. We are seeing a huge growth in that area. That was needed because it was an issue that was not addressed over the years during the Troubles, so resources have been directed towards that. We do not need three arts centres in every town, so there comes a point at which that process will have met its target and reached fruition. It may well be that there are then opportunities to see how we can reprofile.

2294. Mr Shannon: Minister, it is good to see you. You heard it first in Jordanstown when I said that the winds of change were coming and that Tornado McCausland would be taking over. You are here, and it is good news. The only thing is that we did not put any money on it. Ken and I were just saying that if we had bet on it, we would have gained an advantage out of it. It is good to see you here.

2295. Mr McNarry: What a crawler. Did you ever hear the like of it? [Laughter.]

2296. The Minister of Culture Arts and Leisure: He does it very well.

2297. The Chairperson: Jim, do you have a question about the inquiry?

2298. Mr Shannon: I have a question, but I wanted an interlude beforehand.

2299. Mr McNarry: Do you need some money for something in Greyabbey?

2300. Mr Shannon: I am sure that I will ask for the Minister’s help at some stage, but that is by the by.

2301. As a member of this Committee, you will have heard witnesses indicating that there should be a cross-departmental attitude to issues such as sport, culture and leisure. That approach would bring advantages, whether in health, education, through tourism or social development. Has any thought been given to having a cross-departmental approach to see what benefits can be brought?

2302. The Chairman and I once attended an education event in the Long Gallery. We could clearly see the benefits for the young people who were there. Has thought and real focus been given to that issue? It is something of which we have not seen enough. Has an interdepartmental group been set up to look at the matter? If so, can we have some feedback?

2303. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: I welcome your question because it raises and important issue, which Anne will respond to.

2304. Ms Tohill: At present, there is not a cross-departmental or formal strategy for the arts. Having said that, however, as members will be aware, the Department works with other Departments on various initiatives that support the arts sector, an example of which is the Re-imaging Communities programme, in which the Department for Social Development, the Department of Education, the International Fund for Ireland and the PSNI are all involved. There are many examples of cross-departmental working.

2305. A further example is the creative industries innovation fund, in which we work with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, the Department for Employment and Learning, and the Department of Education. We are conscious that there have been several representations to the Committee about that. It is probably an area that requires further consideration, but we feel that we are working as closely as we can with other Departments on various arts issues.

2306. The Arts Council also takes account of the Minister’s priorities in delivering its corporate and business plans each year. Again, a lot of the initiatives that the Arts Council take forward are in partnership with other organisations and Departments.

2307. Mr Shannon: It is important to have that issue considered so that it is at least on the table and in the mindset of your Department. One of example of that is the fly-fishing festival that we have every year in Killyleagh. The idea behind it is to bring in young people who are involved in antisocial behaviour. It takes all the bodies working together to make that happen. DCAL has a part to play, although the funding role has not been as apparent as it should have been. The PSNI, the Department for Social Development and the council are involved, as is everyone who is feeding into education, health, and so on. It is important that we explore those areas, because the benefits are clear. I could talk about them at length, but I will not. Let us have a real focus. I am disappointed that there has not been an interdepartmental group approach yet, but I am encouraged that you are looking at that. I will be more encouraged if you come back and tell us what you are going to do. Perhaps at some stage in the not-too-distant future we could have some detail about how that would come together.

2308. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: Yes, I think that that is something that we will want to consider. At the moment, as Anne said, there are individual examples of cross-departmental co-operation. As people see the value and benefits of that, an atmosphere can be created in which people are more prepared to consider taking it a stage further. We will certainly take that on board.

2309. Mr Shannon: I appreciate that; thank you very much.

2310. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: One caveat that I would attach to that is that, if people enter into a cross-departmental working group, it is important that they do not simply come with their two arms the one length.

2311. Mr Shannon: Absolutely, they must come with deep pockets.

2312. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: I am delighted to hear that point from you, Jim. A key issue is that they bring a contribution to the table.

2313. Mr Shannon: Yes; I accept that.

2314. Lord Browne: Minister, I congratulate you on your well-merited promotion. I am confident that, with your expertise and knowledge, the arts and sport will flourish under your control.

2315. Mr Shannon: Have you got your list then?

2316. Lord Browne: Some organisations that the Committee has heard from, especially the smaller ones, have expressed concern that they are struggling to meet the day-to-day expenses to pay their staff, to commission projects and to fund research work. It is difficult for them to do that when they do not know when they will receive funding. Can you clarify when the Department provides funding to the arts? Is it on an annual or a three- year basis? Many organisations would benefit from funding being on a three-year basis. If the Department were to provide funding for a three-year block, the Arts Council could do that as well. Many small organisations find the financial situation difficult, especially in the current economic crisis when the banks are on their backs. If funding was on a longer-term rather than an annual basis, organisations would know whether they were going to receive funding and it could be released earlier.

2317. Ms L Wilson: The Department is tied into the wider public expenditure process, which means that its budgets are confirmed for one year only and it cannot give formal commitments outside that. I do not know whether there is scope for the Arts Council to do something on the basis of a semi- formal understanding. However, the Department is tied formally to the annual letter of offer.

2318. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: Some organisations see the benefits of three-year, funding. It creates more job security for their staff and it means that they do not have staff members coming in with one year’s funding and starting to look elsewhere for another job after six months, which results in the organisation not getting the best benefit. A difficulty with three-year funding is that it commits large amounts of money and smaller organisations that are trying to get in for the first time can have some difficulty. Longer-term funding has pros and cons that need to be considered carefully.

2319. The Chairperson: Is the Department satisfied with the way in which the Arts Council allocates its funding when investing in organisations and projects that have the greatest impact in social, economic and regeneration terms? Also, does the Department provide any guidance to the Arts Council on what its priorities for allocating funding should be?

2320. Ms L Wilson: The Department agrees the Arts Council’s corporate plan and annual business plan. When I say “agrees", I mean that to prior that, a process of engagement takes place during which we discuss the priorities. If the Minister wants certain issues to be reflected in the plan, we work with the Arts Council to ensure that that is the case.

2321. As regards the issue of investment, we look at the outcomes of formal evaluations to measure the impact that projects have on areas of social and economic regeneration. If there are issues of concern, we engage collaboratively with the Arts Council to address those.

2322. The Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure: I intend to meet the Arts Council soon. In the past, I expressed my support for the contribution that the arts can make in regenerating communities that have certain social needs. I intend to raise issues such as areas of social need and communities that are under-represented in arts activity with the Arts Council at the earliest possible opportunity to get its views on such matters.

2323. Mr McNarry: I forgot to congratulate the Minister; it is nice to see that a former colleague from this Committee has been elevated to that post.

2324. Mr Shannon: After he did his apprenticeship here first.

2325. Mr McNarry: I do not whether it is a case of poacher turned gamekeeper, but there certainly is a fella here who owns plenty of guns and shoots anything on sight.

2326. Mr Shannon: For the record, I do not do that. [Laughter.]

2327. The Chairperson: The Committee intends to follow up in writing on a number of questions that were raised today. Thank you.

Appendix 3

List of Written Submissions to the Committee

List of Written Submissions
to the Committee

Adapt Northern Ireland

Antrim Borough Council

ArtsEkta

Arts and Business Northern Ireland

Arts Care

Arts Council of Northern Ireland

Arts and Disability Equality Charter

Arts and Disability Forum

Belfast City Council

Belfast Community Circus School

Belfast Festival at Queen’s

Big Telly

Cairncastle LOL 692 Community & Cultural Group

Cathedral Quarter Steering Group

Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival and Out to Lunch Arts Festival

Committee for Finance and Personnel

Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety

Committee for Social Development

Community Arts Forum

Consultancy Centre for Cultural European Programmes, Romania

Cookstown District Council, Burnavon Arts and Cultural Centre

Coors Light Open House Festival

Craft Northern Ireland

Creative Youth Partnerships

Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure - Response

Department of Education

Department for Employment and Learning

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment

Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety

Department of Social Development

Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company

Equity

Fermanagh District Council

Forum for Local Government and the Arts (FLGA)

Frankie McCafferty

Gemma Mae Halligan

Grand Opera House

Greater Shantallow Community Arts

Jan Branch

Kabosh

Let the Arts Blossom

Limavady Borough Council

Lyric Theatre

Mencap

Moving on Music

Music Theatre 4 Youth

New Belfast Community Arts Initiative

New Lodge Arts

Newry & Mourne District Council

Newry Drama Festival

North Down Borough Council

Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions

NICVA

Northern Ireland Theatre Association

Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister

Old Museum Arts Centre

Omagh District Council

Open Arts

Opera Theatre Company

Replay Productions

Sole Purpose Productions

ThDeaFtre

Tim Loane

Ulster Orchestra Society Ltd

Ulster Theatre Company

Voluntary Arts Ireland

Western Education & Library Board

Young at Art

Appendix 4

Written Submissions
to the Committee

Adapt Northern Ireland

27 February 2009
Dr Kathryn Bell
Committee for Culture Arts and Leisure
Room 424 Parliament Bldgs
Stormont
Belfast BT4 3XX

Funding of the Arts in N Ireland

ADAPT is the only local organisation solely committed to building equality and inclusion for disabled people through accessibility. Since the early nineties our work has expanded beyond a grant-making remit to providing a programme of practical support for disabled people and arts organisations alike, aiming to fulfil statutory obligations for disability equality. Our reputation as a leading accessibility consultant to the culture, arts and leisure sectors has evolved from communicating the ADAPT vision for accessibility to public venues across N Ireland and by

• providing technical and practical assistance to improve the infrastructure and physical access of culture, arts, leisure and community venues
• facilitating disability equality training to raise awareness and change mindsets that cause attitudinal barriers

A core organisational value is the contribution arts, cultural and leisure activities make to enhance the lives of all people. In this response to the Committee review of funding for the arts, we focus on specific points within the terms of reference that reflect our objectives; to help sustain a more culturally diverse infrastructure that is accessible to all people.

4 To examine how organisations which provide public funding to the arts allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

(a) Find a balance between community and professional arts sectors.

In our experience, community arts programmes which often operate from multi purpose venues, particularly in rural areas; have been at a disadvantage. For example, in former access grant scheme/s, due to the nature of the contractual agreement with ACNI and in accordance with the funding criteria: multi-use community centres were excluded “Only multi purpose venues with an established arts programme could apply for up to 75% of half the project costs as opposed to primary arts venues receiving up to 75% of actual costs.

Recommendation. That any future comparable schemes are funded from a central source such as DCAL to ensure fairness and consistency in funding criteria for all recipients across the wider culture, arts and leisure family

(b) Target social need;

A study by the Institute for Public Policy Research (Mar 2007) , revealed evidence of the association between disability and economic hardship. A view endorsed by a more recent study carried out by Leonard Cheshire (Jan 2008) which compounded concerns, that disabled people encountered living costs 25% higher than non-disabled people. Financial factors prove to be a significant barrier to inclusion, and the relationship between disability and poverty are consistent issues in relation to social inclusion and accessibility to arts. Similarly, ADAPT with partner organisations Open Arts and ADF promote the Arts and Disabiliy Equality Charter to arts venues (to demonstrate their commitment to equality and inclusion). We can identify with the impact the current economic climate has on our work and indeed on venue resources available to achieve models of good practice. Nevertheless we have noted that for some time now that the limited availability of incentives and a lack of sanctions for venues not seriously committed to equality can weaken the feasibility of this project and other similar initiatives.

(d) Engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding

Since the withdrawal of ACNI funding for the ADAPT Accessibility Grant Scheme which provided financial support to arts organisations improving accessibility to facilities. ADAPT has designated a small fund from financial reserves in an attempt to meet the ongoing demand from arts, community and cultural venues for this practical support to make the changes necessary to comply with legislation and to building equality and inclusion for disabled people. The programme has been oversubscribed with applications for FY2008-09

Recommendation: For any slippage in arts funding identified elsewhere this current year, to be re-allocated for immediate distribution. Also that any future response to this specific area of need give consideration as per point 4a above,

5 Regarding organisations which do provide public funding to the arts for capital projects

The extent to which it has been necessary for new arts venues to apply for accessibility grants to make adaptations and improve accessibility should be noted. In our experience this would imply that the monitoring of the contractual terms of capital funding programmes and particularly those conditions relating to sustaining accessibility from the building design into construction could be more rigorously monitored subsequent to the offer of award.

Recommendation Award Conditions should stipulate accountability for accessibility throughout the project cycle.

6 To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities

The level of interest and uptake of ADAPT practical access support initiatives would indicate that the sustainability of disability equality and inclusion is relative to the economy and societal attitudes. The extent to which disabled people can participate fully in the arts and other social activities is subject to economic, physical and attitudinal barriers which are interrelated, and in need of wide-ranging support to counter the impact

These comments are offered with the view to supporting the needs of disabled artists and disabled audiences alike. All arts practitioners will benefit or at least will not be impeded by measures taken to improve accessibility for disabled people. Finally, on behalf of ADAPT, I wish to express appreciation for this opportunity and our enthusiasm to contribute further in assisting the Committee address the habitual gaps that exist in the arts infrastructure.

Yours sincerely

Caroline Shiels
For ADAPT

Antrim Borough Council

25th March 2009

Ref: G/4

Dr Kathryn Bell
Clerk
Committee for Culture, Arts & Leisure
Room 424
Parliament Buildings
Stormont
Belfast

BT4 3XX

Dear Kathryn

Subject: Inquiry into ‘Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland’

Further to receipt of your correspondence dated 30th January 2009 requesting comments on the above inquiry. Mindful of our scheduling of Committee and Council meetings within Antrim Borough Council, my office was unable to formally respond before your deadline on 27th February 2009.

Antrim Borough Council has now considered the details set out in your terms of reference and I would ask the Committee for Culture, Arts & Leisure to note the following comments:

1. Antrim Borough Council is aware that such comparative analysis has been carried out and that aspects of the ‘Invest in Inspiration / Keep Our Arts Alive’ campaign had used the analysis as a basis to inform the debate for increases in arts funding within the current Programme for Government. The campaign successfully lobbied for an increase in the arts budget for the period 2008 to 2011 and involved arts sector organisations and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Mindful that particular emphasis had been placed on comparing per capita spend across the United Kingdom regions and the Republic of Ireland, Council would welcome a Europe-wide analysis.

2. Council believes that the arts sector is often characterised as having a ‘culture of entitlement’ and sometimes it ignores the fact that public funders, such as ourselves, are accountable to the general public for how they spend their money.

Public bodies that fund and resource the arts, including Antrim Borough Council, operate within a legal framework that is open to varied interpretation. This can often lead to inconsistencies regarding service delivery and funding distribution. By nature, the arts sector has a high dependency on public subsidy; however Council would welcome new innovative approaches to fundraising so that the level of dependence is reduced.

There also needs to be a shift in the perceptions among arts organisations and individual artists that there are a number alternative funding options. It is our view that further work is required to build the capacity of the sector so that it can respond to additional funding opportunities that exist or may arise in the future.

3. It is vital for the sector to have tangible evidence of its wider impact on society. To that end, Council would advocate the importance of valuing the benefits the arts make to a cohesive society and would support a research process that gathers evidence from all appropriate sources. Although economic and social benefits may be judged as a catch all term, Council would suggest that the ‘terms of reference’ should include health, well-being and quality of life issues.

4. Council recognises the complexity of distributing funding in a fair and equitable way. We would caution against a process that may have the potential to adversely affect the various constituent parts of the arts sector. Although differentiating between the community and professional arts may seem appropriate our view is that they should not be considered as separate entities. Professional artists across all art forms are an important resource used in local community arts and consequently they are inter-dependent. We also consider that professional inputs are vital in maintaining the quality of community arts.

Antrim Borough Council through its draft Local Cultural Strategy has identified a series of priorities and objectives that take account of all of the above points. There are limited resources to fund arts organisations and individuals and therefore we concentrate most of our efforts on direct arts programme intervention. In this respect, Council appointed a Community Arts (Outreach) Officer in 2006 in addition to our existing Arts Centre staff. This appointment widened the scope of arts programming in Antrim Borough, with the result of improving community access, building awareness of the benefits of engaging in the arts, delivering high quality projects and activities and providing advice and guidance to community organisations.

Any examination of the arts should acknowledge that many parts of Northern Ireland have their own particular strengths that attract significant public funding. Council acknowledges that funding decisions are often taken on the basis of prevailing local circumstances, which may have a detrimental impact on support for all or some art forms.

5. We feel that it is important that the Committee examines art forms that fall within a broad definition of the arts and should include emerging aspects of the creative industries. Furthermore, as community and popular music are of particular interest to Antrim Borough Council through our support for the Musicians of Antrim District Development Group (MADD), we would ask that this constituent part of the arts sector be included. In addition, we would ask that appropriate expertise is engaged that has sufficient knowledge of all potential public funding avenues.

6. In our opinion, all art forms have the potential to address these important issues. However, in certain circumstances, some art forms are more suited than others; for example, local, community driven public art can play a significant role in regenerating local communities. Council would welcome a detailed examination on this issue, which may help inform public funding decisions for under-resourced art forms in the future.

7. Council would ask to be kept updated on this inquiry and would welcome the opportunity to provide oral evidence to the Committee, if appropriate.

In conclusion, we would extend our best wishes to your Committee with this inquiry and we look forward to notification of its findings, in due course.

Yours sincerely

Gary Shaw
Cultural Services Manager

ArtsEkta

Cultural Bonding Through The Arts

ArtsEkta
Level 2 Suite 2
123-137 Philip House
Belfast, BT15 1AB

Tel: 028 9023 1381
Web: www.artsekta.org.uk
E-mail: nisha@artsekta.org.uk

Background of ArtsEkta:

ArtsEkta founded in August 2006 (word Ekta means bonding or uniting in Indian language) is the first arts-based organisation to provide a unique display of all multi- ethnic arts within the North and South of Ireland. It is a cutting-edge, progressive organisation with an international outlook, based in the heart of Belfast. It works to enhance the practice, understanding and appreciation of minority ethnic arts across the North and South of Ireland within a contemporary artistic, social and educational context. ArtsEkta will be dedicated to strengthening and deepening relationships between all the different cultures through an exciting and inspiring arts-based program.

1. In response to your inquiry into the funding of Arts Council Northern Ireland per Capital Arts spend:

Scotland £ 14.04, Wales £ 10.10, Republic of Ireland £ 19.78; £ Northern Ireland £ 7.58

This clearly shows that NI is seriously behind the rest of UK / Ireland in it’s per capita spend. As ArtsEkta is mainly working in the area of “Ethnic Arts", our research in this area shows the allocation of spend in this field is further lacking in NI. The percentage spends on Black minority groups arts activities of the total spend are; Scotland 3.2%, Wales 2.1% and NI 1%.

2. Additional Funding sources for the arts:

Business Sponsorship: Businesses are not forthcoming for community arts but normally sponsor high profile events and major festivals. Additionally the current world economic climate is affecting the amount spent on sponsorship for the arts.

Arts organisations should consider having Social Economy strand such as selling of Art and craft products, charging for performances, workshops etc. This can often prove difficult due to lack of awareness/training about Social economy programmes. Also, there is the issue of the requirement of funds to market the organization effectively.

“Impact Arts" from Glasgow is a good practice model of Arts organisation under social economy. (www.impactarts.co.uk/)

“Rangoli Craft by Ranbir Kaur" from West Midlands is another good example of Minority arts being active in raising funds through new innovative methods. (www.rangoliarts.com)

3. Research on the benefits of the arts:

Although many researches have been carried out on benefits of Arts, most pertinent to ArtsEkta is the one carried out in 2007 “Community Development and Health Network" (CDHN) published the results of a study looking at the impact of arts participation on six section 75 groups over a three year period.

- It is suggested in their report on art and health to resolve what is meant by ‘health benefits’. Drawing upon the body of evidence in this field that focuses on the ‘importance of such factors as increased well-being and self-esteem, and on the role of participation and social connectedness in the enhancement of people’s health by building social capital’

- 98% of participants had increased self-esteem after being involved in the arts activities.

Clearly demonstrates benefits of social integration and good relations building, which the arts provide in particular to the migrant communities.

The most recent addition in NI has been the Ethnic Arts Forum, which was conceptualized by ArtsEkta in 2006 without any real effective support.

4. Public Funding Allocation

In our experience and knowledge organisations providing funding to the arts in Northern Ireland, generally have a balanced approach to all areas (points a to d in your document). However there is imbalance in the allocation of funds towards the arts within BME groups. All of the points (a to d) affect BME groups equally and should be considered on that basis. Input of arts from BME groups additionally provides greater variety to the overall “arts culture" in NI and is hugely effective in social integration.

5. Comparing organisations, which provide public funding to the arts.

Scottish Arts Council--- strategic development strategy 2002 has a specific document on Black Minority Ethnic Arts which relates to

• Research
• Policy Development
• Diversity 2002 Funds
• Capacity Building
• Partnerships
• www.scottisharts.org.uk/DownloadPublication.aspx?pub=4196
• www.hi-arts.co.uk/ART-deliver-art!-appendix-b.pdf

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) should consider these issues. There is also a report, which has been written by Amanda Leighton for Equality commission on Section 75 arts. www.artscouncil-ni.org/departs/all/equality/annual_report_equality_2006_2007.pdf. ArtsEkta have been unsuccessful on a number of occasions in securing funding for research into the whole issue of Ethnic arts in NI including needs analysis, benefits, groupings etc.

6. Consideration of whether specific art forms are receiving adequate funding:

Dance- music- visual art- and drama on a community level is not adequately supported. It adds to integration of all communities through multi community participation and hence targets the social needs and regenerating communities.

There is an inadequate support for multiethnic festivals which encompasses all art forms and assists hugely in the TSN areas e.g. “Belfast Mela"

7. Recommendations

ArtsEkta makes these recommendations to the Culture, Arts and Leisure committee

7.1 Increase the per capita spend on Arts in Northern Ireland

7.2 Increase the amount allocated to the BME arts in Northern Ireland

7.3 Increase in Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) budget for Community Arts.

7.4 It is important that there is greater attendance of the CAL committee members of arts activities at least in their geographical areas..

7.5 There should be a compulsory diversity arts module in the curriculum of Arts and Music departments in schools in NI.

Arts and Business Northern Ireland

Arts Care

25th February 2009

To Members of the CAL Committee

Thank you for the opportunity to make a written submission to your enquiry into ‘The Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland’.

In this submission we will be addressing:

(1) Introduction to Arts Care and the benefits of the arts to health

(2) Arts Care’s approaches to sourcing additional funding

(3) Research undertaken and research planned by Arts Care

(4) Funding, targeting social need and engagement of communities

(5) Allocation of funding

(6) Areas of inadequate funding

Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further information you may require.

Kind regards.

Yours sincerely

Lorna Hastings
Director
ARTS CARE
c/o Central Services Agency
2 Franklin Street
Belfast
BT2 8DQ

028 9053 5639
artscare@cinni.org

1 Introduction to Arts Care and the benefits of the arts to health

1.1 Arts Care, which was founded in 1991, is a unique Arts and Health Charity based in Northern Ireland. Arts Care’s mission is to promote and co- ordinate the development of arts provision in Health and Social Care settings throughout Northern Ireland, for the well-being of patients, clients, residents, staff and visitors.

Arts Care practises a social model, as opposed to a medical model of art, i.e. the artists who work for Arts Care are professional artists who work in a healthcare community and are not art therapists who are part of a therapeutic team.

At present, Arts Care engages 20 artists-in-residence, 5 ClownDoctors and many project artists, who work in Health Trusts across Northern Ireland (The Royal Victoria Hospital excepted, as it has its own Arts & Environment project, although Arts Care’s Northern Ireland Clown Doctors visit the Royal Children’s Hospital) . The artists-in-residence include visual artists, performance artists, musicians, dancers and creative writers who offer a diverse range of participative art. They work on two levels;

1.1.1 Participative workshops and attending performances

1.1.2 The improvement of the environment of the health & social care settings

The Northern Ireland ClownDoctors are professional performers who regularly visit children in hospitals, who have long term and life limiting conditions. The ClownDoctors visit the children and their families every week, bringing them fun and laughter and something to look forward to, at a very challenging time. The children are encouraged to lead the play and can forget about their illness for a while.

1.2 Benefits - In recent years research has shown that participative arts in health can:

• Enhance mental and physical health and well-being, especially for long term patients
• Improve sensory awareness and physical dexterity
• Decrease social isolation
• Develop self confidence and self esteem
• Positively affect the culture in hospitals
• Improve staff and patient relationships and morale
• Improve social skills
• Helps communication on many levels
• Strengthen hospital communities
• Develop creativity in the work place
• Transform a challenging period in hospital into an enjoyable experience
• Provide opportunities to develop new skills
• Through involvement in arts projects members of community groups or local schools on the environs of the hospital or health & social care facility can develop a feeling of pride and ownership in that hospital or facility

1.3 Enhance the environment of health and social care facilities

Arts Care’s remit does not extend to commissioning or co-ordinating art in new buildings. However, we support fully the practice and encourage art created by patients and staff, facilitated by our artists-in-residents or project artists, to be displayed alongside the commissioned art. The following quotation speaks of the reasons for incorporating art in health and social care buildings used by the public:

Art is able to provide solace, exhilaration and satisfaction in a huge variety of different forms. Above all it is able to humanise a building, infusing an often soulless and impersonal environment with affirmation...many critical moments in our lives occur there – from birth through to death – and they ought to take place in surroundings which honour their significance (Baron and Greeve 1984).

2 Arts Care’s approaches to sourcing additional funding

The main body of our funding comes from the Department of Health and Social Care. A considerably lesser percentage is received from DCAL, administered through the Arts Council.

Additional funding is raised from various sources, e.g:

Partnership with Queens University Belfast

Partnership with University of Ulster

Charitable Foundations

Sponsorship

3 Research undertaken and research planned by Arts Care

Over the years Arts Care has attempted to evaluate the effects of the arts on health. Our previous research projects have included:

3.1 Hosting a conference on ‘The Evaluation of Art and Health’, Knockbracken Health Care Park, April 2003

3.2 Undertaking a pilot project, ‘Dreams’, at the Mater Hospital. This was a three year project aimed at finding appropriate methods of measuring the benefits of art to health. The study assessed the benefits of art interventions to members of 6 participant groups involved in a visual arts project. The project achieved positive results for all assessed criteria and Arts Care is currently seeking funding for the second phase which will invite adults with mental health difficulties in areas all over Northern Ireland to participate.

3.3 In recognition of the Dreams research, Arts Care received first prize in the Blair Sadler Award, an international competition based in USA. A book recording the winners over the years is shortly to be published from Washington.

3.4 Arts Care Director Lorna Hastings completed an MA research project in 2004 ‘Arts and Health: Towards Evaluation’

3.5 Dancer-in-Residence, Dr. Jenny Elliot, completed a PhD in 2008 on the place of the artist in health care and the beneficial effects of dance to men with acquired brain injuries.

4 Funding targeting social need and engagement of communities

The vast majority of Arts Care’s work engages people from communities all over Northern Ireland. Hence, most of our funding is spent working with members of these communities. For instance, adults and children from all social classes and all communities can find themselves in health and social care and many will experience the arts, for the first time, through becoming involved in Arts Care projects facilitated by professional artists. This can often lead to these adults and children joining visual art classes, drama groups, dance classes or creative writing groups when they leave to go home.

Many facilities have arts exhibition spaces, e.g. Belfast City Hospital. The art exhibited in these galleries is seen by many thousands every month.

One example:

Recently a patient with mental health difficulties, through the Arts Care workshops, was encouraged to consider an exhibition of his work. The exhibition in Arts Care Gallery was hugely successful with most of the paintings being sold and the artist receiving several commissions. This goes a long way to enhance this person’s well being through increasing his self confidence, self esteem, skills, and decreasing his feelings of social isolation. Not all patients will be this successful but all will benefit at their own levels.

Furthermore, adults and children who are in long term care are still part of a community i.e. a hospital community.

One example of building an infrastructure in this type of community is exemplified by a group of men with acquired and enduring brain injuries who live in a secure unit at Knockbracken Healthcare Park, Belfast. These men, who would rarely have left their unit, were encouraged to form a dance group, Dance Maine, facilitated by Arts Care Dancer in Residence, Dr Jenny Elliot. They now regularly perform at concerts, at conferences and in community arts centres. Some of the staff also became involved and perform as part of the group which has changed the culture of the ward. The knock on effect is that the families are thrilled to see their ‘loved ones’ in a social setting, achieving what they would have thought impossible, and boundaries are broken down for people in the community who may never have had experience of disability or mental health difficulties.

5 Allocation of funding compared to other organisations outside of Northern Ireland

The model adopted by Arts Care is unique to Northern Ireland and through visits from overseas practitioners and invitations to international conferences it has become clear that the model is greatly admired internationally. The Arts Care model enables very many healthcare facilities to benefit from one management system.

6 Areas of inadequate funding/recommendations

The work of Arts Care has proved to be very successful on many levels, including addressing social issues e.g. social isolation, and the demand for this work far exceeds the organisation’s capacity to deliver. It also renders further research difficult, for example, Dreams 2.

With regards to funding, Arts Care has built up a relationship with the Department of Health and Social Care, from whom most funding is received. At present, Arts Care also receives funding from DCAL, administered through the Arts Council, however the funding received from the Department of Health is currently five times more than the amount received from DCAL, through the Arts Council. Given that Arts Care is championing the arts within the health and social care system, and providing work for very many artists, Arts Care believes that this disparity is an issue which should be considered by DCAL.

Arts Council of Northern Ireland

1. To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

Historically, the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland is renowned for being the lowest in the UK and Ireland. While the uplift from £6.13 to £7.58 was welcomed in 2008, we as a region are still at the bottom of the per capita arts funding league as illustrated in Table 1 and Table 2. The Scotland figure in Table 1 includes Scottish Executive’s funding of the national performing arts companies (namely, Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, the Royal National Scottish Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the National Theatre of Scotland).

Such limited funding allocation to Northern Ireland has had a direct impact upon artists and arts organisations, as the number and value of applications submitted to ACNI far exceeds the available funding resources.

For example, the Annual Support for Organisations Programme (ASOP)[1] in 2009/10 received 129 applications. The total value of these applications amounted to £13.5m. However, the total amount of funds available for this programme was only £10.1m.

This has been a trend over a number of years where there has been a significant gap between requests for funding and the funds available to meet them. The following tables show the gap for both the ASOP (organisations) and SIAP (individuals) funding programmes.

ASOP
Year	Completed and vetted requests	Requests awarded	Funding gap	Percentage rejected
	£	£	£
2003/2004	9,010,488	7,548,010	1,462,478	16%
2004/2005	10,071,680	7,473,116	2,598,564	26%
2005/2006	9,177,959	7,642,815	1,535,144	17%
Total	28,260,127	22,663,941	5,596,186	20%

 

SIAP
Year	Completed and vetted requests	Requests awarded	Funding gap	No of individual artists rejected	Percentage rejected
	£	£	£
2003/2004	1,895,554	665,285	1,230,269	259	65%
2004/2005	1,253,381	445,562	807,819	208	64%
2005/2006	1,529,772	472,512	1,057,260	216	69%
Total	4,678,707	1,583,359	3,095,348	683	66%

This funding shortfall has impacted upon the ability of the Arts Council to respond to need and has artificially deflated the sector’s potential

In relation to spend on the arts in other European countries and regions, it is difficult to directly compare UK funding, due to different systems of support for creativity and cultural life, distinct definitions, and the range of legal structures and cultural policies.

Cultural activity is a basic human and developmental need. It is recognised by Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human rights which states that: ‘Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.’

Table 1: Arts spending per capita in the UK and the Republic of Ireland for 2008/2009

Area	Arts Spending per Capita
Scotland	£14.04
Wales	£10.10
England	£8.47
Republic	€17.92
Northern Ireland	£7.581

Table 2: Arts spending per capita over the last three financial years in the UK and the Republic of Ireland

Region	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09
Scotland	£12.01	£9.21	£14.04
Wales	£8.81	£9.60	£10.10
England	£8.09	£8.14	£8.47
Republic	€12.46	€18.87	€17.92
Northern Ireland	£6.09	£6.11	£7.58

To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

Current Sources of Funding

Funding for the arts in Northern Ireland comes from a mixture of sources within both the public and private sector as well as from European sources. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) is the primary source of arts funding in the region, receiving both exchequer and lottery funding from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The arts sector is also supported through partnership funding from the 26 local authorities, OFMDFM, DSD, DE, NIHE and IFI.

Earned Income

While there will always be a need for public subsidy of the Arts, some organisations such as performing arts organisations generate box office related income through ticket sales/admissions, programmes, merchandising, café facilities, sale of work, or source additional income through other tradable services, for example, providing arts based training in their specific art form.

Other forms of income

Other sources of income include membership schemes, patronage schemes, fundraising events and other one-off projects. However, it has to be recognized that such forms of funding are either transient or short-term in nature. As a direct consequence of how the arts sector receives financial support, it is difficult for many organisations to offer full-time or part-time positions. The arts sector therefore relies heavily on voluntary support as a source of invisible subsidy. For example, the arts organisations reported nearly 2,400 individual working in a voluntary capacity in both in formal and informal roles (Source: The Arts in Numbers – A Statistical Analysis of the 2006/07 Regularly Funded Organisation Survey). In addition, 900 voluntary arts groups were recorded by Voluntary Arts Ireland; and it was noted that 12% of the adult population participates in the arts through voluntary arts groups.[2] Additionally, the value of the voluntary contribution to the arts is more than just monetary. There is an intrinsic benefit of volunteers operating in the sector which is fully aligned with the government’s objectives of strengthening citizenship, community cohesion and improved community relations.

Risks to Current Funding

Sourcing additional funding for the arts sector is especially pertinent within the current economic climate, especially if partnership funding from the Department of Education (DE) and Department of Social Development (DSD) may be considered to be at risk. For example, the continuation of funding from the DE to the Creative Youth Partnership (CYP) is dependent on the success of a recent business plan submitted by the CYP Steering Committee. Additionally, DE’s review of their Community Relations Policy may have a detrimental impact upon the funding of arts organisations that fall under ‘Cultural Traditions’ within the Traditional Arts sector. Other arts organisations such as Greater Shantallow Community Arts may lose vital financial support from the current review of the Neighbourhood Action Plan within the DSD. Local government has been experiencing unprecedented financial pressures and constraints due to loss of revenue income, the rise in estimated debt and escalation in the cost of waste management all of which may result in a reduction of services, including arts provision. Such pressures may mean that a major arts event hosted by Belfast City Council is likely to be cancelled in 2009.

For those arts organisations that are not charitable or community and voluntary-led, a reduction in disposable income may impact upon box office receipts as the recession affects the levels of discretionary spend by the public. There is a danger the arts may be seen as an unaffordable luxury and given the prevailing financial circumstances, families may have to make hard choices, which could damage box office income for arts organisations. An interesting apparent paradox is that receiving theatres in the UK are experiencing an increase in attendance possibly as a relief from economic gloom. However, this may be a short-lived phenomenon.

It is also important to consider post RPA changes upon local government. For example, one proposal, with specific reference to the arts, was that £1.4 million of Arts Council funds should transfer to local government. The funding picture, however, has altered since that original assessment and the figure could reduce. Irrespective of that future sum, the Arts Council wishes to place on record that it fully supports the principle of local authorities making decisions on locally based arts organisations within their catchment area. We are working with colleagues in local councils to maximise the transferred amount as well as ensuring adequate protection exists for the arts given the very real pressures faced by local government in the current circumstances.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship, defined as the “the payment of money by a business to an arts organisation with the explicit objective of promoting the business’ name, its products, services or image" is also a source of funding for arts organisations in Northern Ireland.

Arts and Business (A&B) define private investment as amounts covering business investment (cash, in-kind sponsorship, corporate membership, donations, awards and prizes); individual giving (including donations, legacies and bequests, and friends’ schemes) and trusts and foundations.

A&B carry out a Private Investment in Culture Survey (PICS) on an annual basis and such research has revealed that the arts account for only 18% of the UK’s total sponsorship market.

The figures for 2007-08[3] indicate that:

• UK Private Investment in Culture is just under £687m. in total. This is an increase of 12% on the previous year and it continues to represent a significant influence on the cultural funding landscape.
• Private investment is still largely concentrated on the big national organisations.
• Business investment (cash, in-kind sponsorship, corporate membership & donations, awards & prizes) in 2007-08 was £163.42m. which equated to 24% of all private investment in the UK – in 2007-08 Business investment was down 7%, not surprising given the economic climate
• Individual giving was the biggest private provider in 2007-08, bringing in just over £382m. up 25% from 2006-07
• Trust & Foundations contributed £141m. in 2007-08, up 7% on the previous year
• Top 50 organisations in the UK take 65% of the total private investment figure – 30 of these are based in London
• In 2007-08 Northern Ireland received 1.2% (£8.53m. including in-kind) of a UK private investment total of £687m.
• The breakdown of the Northern Ireland PICS figure is as follows: investment from business comprised £3.99 m. of the total; individuals comprised £2.21m. and investment from Trusts and Foundations comprised £2.33m. of the total.

Within that total, business investment has decreased by 8.9% from 2006-07. Business investment accounts for 47% of the total private investment in Northern Ireland, most of which comes from sponsorship. It is worth noting that annual fluctuations in private investment figures can be linked to the ‘natural cycle’ of fundraising campaigns linked to time-bound projects, notwithstanding, the challenging economic climate is a contributing factor. The small scale of private enterprises in Northern Ireland has limited the number of companies and businesses that can be approached for sizeable sponsorship deals and, given the volatility of the economic markets it is unlikely that this form of funding will increase further, at least for the foreseeable future.

However, it should be borne in mind that the Arts & Business PICS survey covers the entire cultural sector, including museums and heritage. ACNI’s own main survey instrument of its funded clients is the Regularly Funded Organisations Survey. The most recent figures below provide a snapshot of the sponsorship market in Northern Ireland and show the percentage of income that Regularly Funded clients received through sponsorship in 2006- 07:

Table 3: Sponsorship income for ACNI Revenue Funded clients (2006/07) [4]

Rank of ACNI Funding (1=largest)	Revenue Grant Income (‘000)	Sponsorship Income (‘000)	Sponsorship as % of total income
1 to 10	3,6792	436	4
11 to 21	1,040	116	3
22 to 32	764	282	8
33 to 43	558	66	4
44 to 54	405	9	1
55+	775	129	2
	7,221	1,038	4 (mean)

Source: ACNI RFO 2006/07 (Note: Figures are self-reported by client organisations and are based on a sample of 98 organisations in receipt of revenue funding).

Table 3 shows us that:

• The total sponsorship received by revenue funded clients during 2006-07 totaled just over £1m, comprising 4% of their total income
• The top 10 revenue funded clients received £436,000 in sponsorship during 2006-07, representing about 40% of the total sponsorship secured in that year.

Since completion of this data, Belfast Festival at Queen’s has secured a major sponsorship deal with the Ulster Bank for a 3-year period commencing 2008/09 and the Lyric has managed to secure an individual donation of £1m for its new theatre. However, these are exceptional in scale, timing and frequency of occurrence.

Philanthropy

In a modern sense, philanthropy is the “contributions to support a cause by means of time, money or goods by individuals or corporations" (Atkins, Kingsley, ‘Promoting Philanthropy in Ireland; 101 Fund Raising Tips’ The Ireland Fund, 2004).

Philanthropy has been gaining ever increasing press in Ireland however while figures suggest there may be as many as 100,000 millionaires, philanthropy is estimated at just over 0.55%GDP. The comparable figure for the United States is double this.

The overwhelming trend is that while high net worth individuals are willing to fund the arts, they do not do so to the same extent as they fund others sectors. A recent report produced by Venture Philanthropy Ireland estimates that arts philanthropy is the poor relation to other sectors: health, education and the environment. From a corporate perspective the position is somewhat different. A McKinsey Global Survey (February 2008) suggests that 46% of businesses addressed culture & arts issues as part of their corporate philanthropy programme. However, as with individual giving this was the lowest percentage in a list of corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues including sport, education and health.

UK-wide figures from Arts & Business show that Individual Giving in 2007/08 reached record levels, experiencing a 25% increase and amounting to £382.4 m., which now exceeds corporate sponsorships and grants from Trusts and Foundations. In Northern Ireland, Individual Giving equates to 25.8% of Private Investment support (£2.21m.) and although this increased substantially from 2006-07, business investment is still ahead in Northern Ireland equating to 47% of private investment support. The increase in Individual Giving in Northern Ireland is attributed some major donations linked to capital programmes. The NICVA Northern Ireland Giving Survey 2008 indicates that the Arts receive 0.1% of all donations made by the sample surveyed, with an average monthly donation of just £4.60. This is below the overall average donation of £22.69, and significantly below the top three supported causes (religious organisations, health and children).

Trusts, foundations, and charitable giving

Although the UK has seen trusts such as Paul Hamlyn and Joseph Rowntree provide funding for arts based organizations, other funding opportunities are accessed through such schemes as Comic Relief and Children in Need. For example, the Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company (an ACNI funded client) hosted a series of dance workshops for disadvantaged children through funding secured from Children in Need. However, such funding opportunities are often project based and time bound and do not address the long term sustainability issues of arts organisations.

PriceWaterhouseCooper’s ‘Managing in a Downturn’ report, December 2008, indicates that within the charity sector there is widespread concern that most sources of income will at best remain static and that income from trusts, corporate organisations, and legacies in particular will decrease. On average 36% of charities surveyed for this report expect no increase in income, and a further 39% expect a decrease.

The current recession and its effect on disposable income may also have repercussions on the income received by organisations through individual giving. NICVA’s Northern Ireland Giving Survey (2008) shows that excluding cash donations in a place of worship, there has been a 10.3% decline in the financial yield of charitable donations from 2005 to 2008. 54% of individuals surveyed in this research stated that the amount of money they give to charity is determined by the level of their disposable income.

EU Structural funding

The EU Structural Funds exist to support economic development in disadvantaged areas of Europe. Arts and cultural projects have been directly supported by the EU structural Funds (European Regional development Fund and European Social Fund) in the past because they have met both EU and UK criteria for economic and social development. Further opportunities exist for arts organisations to implement projects through transnational funds such as Leonardo and PEACE III, although these are highly competitive. It is however, difficult to establish what the total value of all awards has been. Another issue that will impact upon such investment is the revised rules to the EU Structural funds, which places priority on supporting countries that became EU members from 2004 onwards. The result of such changes means that countries like the UK are not seen as a priority for such investment.

Gift Aid

This is the key element of tax efficient charitable giving in the UK. Under the scheme, an individual will obtain income tax relief for a ‘qualifying donation’ made to a charity. The individual is treated for the purposes of income tax as if the gift had been made after deduction of income tax at the basic rate, or where applicable at the higher rate. A company may similarly claim relief from corporation tax by way of a charge on income for a ‘qualifying donation’. HMRC figures indicate in 2007-08, £3,950m. was donated through the scheme[5]. No figures are available from HMRC which indicate the receiving charitable sector. NICVA research indicates that in Northern Ireland, seven in every ten donations that qualify to be gift-aided are not, resulting in an estimated annual loss of £48.2 million to the voluntary and community sector. [6]

Innovative approaches of sourcing funding across the sector:

Boston Museum of Fine Arts[7] has diverse income streams – earned income 40%; endowment income 40%; and fundraising 10-15%. It concentrates on using all assets, e.g., renting space, events, retail operations, cultivated relationships, and entry charges. The Director of Institutional Relations described this approach to funding as ‘sweating the asset’. However, the UK arts sector and indeed patrons of the arts in Northern Ireland operate in a vastly different context to the United States. While this may be the case such ideas may be drawn upon and adapted to suit the Northern Ireland context.

What is more relevant is the move in the UK towards social enterprise as opposed to charitable enterprise, as more and more charities are creating independent income streams. The Social Enterprise Coalition forecasts that the current low share (less than 2% registered with Companies House as of 31 December 2007 with obvious cultural/artistic purposes) of Community Interest Companies is likely to grow in the future as the benefits of asset-locking and social intent are recognised.

The Creative Industries sector operates with a different model and focus, and while this is a more entrepreneurial sector, it cannot exist without public subsidy. Nevertheless, it can provide some useful and innovative models of sourcing additional funding and as a sector; it is also embracing the social economy framework and moving towards a self-sustaining model. For example, the Oh Yeah music centre in Belfast is a social enterprise. Oh Yeah is providing a physical location where various strands of the music industry can grow and interact. These include performance, rehearsals, recording, song writing, networking, PR, marketing, management, graphic design and music media skills. The aim is to give long-term and real-time advice plus office space to emerging music projects. Oh Yeah is currently financed by donations, plus income streams from use of the building. Oh Yeah has received funding support from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, UnLtd, 4Talent and Belfast City Council, and in addition have been sponsored by Carling and HMV. They use the income provided by hire of office and rehearsal space to finance projects. Such projects will involve outreach to young people who wouldn’t traditionally use a service like Oh Yeah, plus training and mentoring musicians and showcasing their talent.

Additionally, a number of ACNI clients have established a trading wing in order to financially sustain their organisation. Such examples include Belfast Print Workshop and the Belfast Community Circus who run separate legal entity trading wings as social enterprises.[8] Craft NI is another example of an arts organisation that is currently working toward being financing self-sustaining.

Some arts organisations are accessing vacant de-rated commercial premises, and while this is not a long term solution it provides a potential stop- gap and additional cost-effective space for some organisations. For example, the currently unoccupied Northern Bank (the former Exchange and Assembly Rooms), in Waring Street is used to stage occasional theatre performances (such as The Parker Project, a joint Lyric Theatre and Rough Magic Theatre production which was staged as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival) and for exhibitions, such as the Emer Gallery’s recent showing of ‘New Works & Retrospective Exhibition by J B Vallely’.

2. To carry out a stocktake of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

The arts are important to societies and cultures across the world as they contribute to both economic and social growth. For instance, the intrinsic and extrinsic value of the arts has grown significantly and has supported the development of a complex mixed economy in which the public, private, voluntary and community sectors all interact. Additionally, participation in the arts has been shown to enhance quality of life, promote social cohesion, to develop community relations as well as fostering local identity.

Creative industries are increasingly seen as part of a modern, knowledge-based economy, in a variety of areas. While global cultural production has become more concentrated in a handful of centres, the potential of these sectors has been demonstrated for re-branding and for diversification of their economic base away from declining industrial sectors.

In general, the creative industries are seen as increasingly important for the economy for the following reasons:

• Creative and cultural industries are a fast growing economic sector – now accounting for 8% of the UK’s GDP[9]
• Falling barriers to entry into some creative sectors- digital technology has helped to promote innovation and new entrants
• Creativity is increasingly seen as an important input in to the whole economy.
• Consumers are spending more of their income on a range of cultural and leisure goods.

The link between culture and the wider economy is increasingly important. For example, the creative industries provide some of the ideas and images that are used in other contexts, such as advertising copy, product design, branding or other commercial manifestations of creative culture.

Recent years have seen both an expansion of cultural and creative industry practitioners and the development of new markets for skills. As well as greater opportunities for commercial engagement, there has been a growth in demand for the services of cultural and creative industry practitioners in new public sector settings – education is a primary market for those in involved in Creative Partnerships, but there are also new markets in health and urban regeneration.

Specialist centres for art, design, fashion, communication and the performing arts are developing an unrivalled base of creative knowledge in the UK with expertise available not just for creative businesses but for all businesses. The UK government-funded Technology Strategy Board promotes the development of innovation in many ways. As well as investing in programmes and projects, much of its work is in spreading knowledge, understanding policy, spotting opportunities and bringing people together to solve problems or make new advances. It does this through the creation of new networks and knowledge transfer programmes.

Economic Growth

Government wishes to increase the economic competitiveness, prosperity and productivity of Northern Ireland. As the structure of European economies move into a post-industrial phase, knowledge and innovation become key elements of added value. The arts can contribute directly to this new creative economy by providing employment opportunities, generating a range of commercial activities and building confidence and pride within artists, arts organisations and the communities they serve. Evidence of this potential is set out below:

• Creative Industries: In the UK, employment in the creative industries amounts to just over 1 million jobs, with a further 790,000 creative jobs in other industries. A recent study by DCAL estimated that over 33,500 people were employed in the creative industries or creative occupations in Northern Ireland in 2003[10]. This represents 4.6% of the workforce compared to 6.8% in Great Britain. The potential exists therefore for greater expansion of the sector.
• There are complex reasons why Northern Ireland lags 2.2% (equating to approximately 16,000 jobs) behind the GB average (and therefore much further behind the leading regions), but it cannot be disassociated from the historically low level of public investment in the arts and the restricted local market that has been developed in recent years. There is an urgent need for major increases in the investment in the arts sector in Northern Ireland, which will in turn directly and indirectly develop the creative industries sector over the coming years. This presents both huge potential and a major challenge for the Government and the Arts Council.
• Impact Studies: A social and economic impact study of the Grand Opera House carried out in 2004 found that every £1 of Arts Council revenue subsidy resulted in over £5 being spent within the wider Northern Ireland economy. A similar study of the Ulster Orchestra showed that it generates direct spend of over £3 million, equating to £1.90 for every £1 of revenue subsidy received.
• Arts Attendance: A recent Arts Council survey estimated that nearly three quarters (73%) of those surveyed among the general population had attended an arts event or performance.
• Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s (October) achieved record box office sales in 2008 of £660,000, a £130,000 increase on the previous year, estimated economic value of £7.8million (source QUB). The Festival welcomed 479 artists to Belfast from outside Northern Ireland, the number of visitors to the festival from outside of Northern Ireland rose by 250%. Research has shown that income generated as a result of the Festival each year is significantly higher than the majority of arts festivals in the UK[11].
• Employment: Preliminary analysis of the Regularly Funded Organisations (RFO) survey reported that the 147 organisations involved in this survey and funded by the Arts Council employed 3,128 individuals in 2006/07, of these 2,365 were artistic staff and 763 administrative, working either on a contract or permanent basis, including both part and full time staff.
• Volunteering: The sector, in turn, levers a significant voluntary contribution that provides a substantial positive impact. Without this support many of these organisations would be unable to function effectively, or at all. In a regional economy like Northern Ireland voluntary input is often vital to the sustainability of ‘grass roots’ organisations that nurture the arts and the wider creative economy.
• Capital Programme: Since 1994 the Arts Council has helped to establish 13 cultural buildings in towns and cities across Northern Ireland. Buildings as striking as the Marketplace Theatre in Armagh City; the £10.5m. Strule Arts Centre, situated in the heart of Omagh; the Burnavon Arts and Cultural Centre in Cookstown; the Millennium Forum and the Verbal Arts Centre in Derry – all of these dedicated facilities are now established landmarks playing a prominent part in the local community. Other notable capital projects include: the Island Arts Centre in Lisburn, the Millennium Court Arts Centre in Portadown, the Carnegie Museum and Arts Centre, Larne the Flowerfield Arts Centre in Portstewart and most recently The Braid Museum and Arts Centre in Ballymena and the Alley Arts and Conference Centre in Strabane. These venues have helped to bring additional direct and indirect employment at the construction stage and subsequently for venue staff, artists and other support services. The importance of improved cultural facilities has also been recognised in the Government’s Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland, which is committed to providing £20 million for arts infrastructure projects over the next 10 years[12]. There are further plans for buildings in Belfast: Crescent Arts Centre, new Lyric Theatre, the Metropolitan Arts Centre situated in the Cathedral Quarter.

The following tables illustrate the proportion of those awards allocated outside Belfast and the spatial distribution of capital awards throughout the region.

Capital Awards 1995-2008

£24.4m (73%) Of Capital Awards Were Allocated Outside Belfast

Spatial Distribution of Capital Awards 1995-2008

Cultural Tourism: Northern Ireland experienced an unprecedented growth in tourism in the decade from 1994-2004, with visitor numbers increased by more than 60%. The arts help to establish Northern Ireland as a tourism destination. They bring distinctiveness to the tourism product and help to shape consumer perceptions of place. Festivals in particular offer year-round opportunities, catering for short-break visitors. Many of our smaller festivals are based in non-traditional venues, are sustained by the enthusiasm and dedication of individuals and create niche market opportunities. For example, the Open House Festival delivers a programme of new wave American Roots Music, Old-Time, Bluegrass, Cajun & Creole and Irish Traditional Music

(September); Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival (May) offers a vibrant programme of events covering live music, theatre, art, comedy and a raft of family entertainment; the Bluegrass Music Festival at the Ulster American Folk Park, Omagh (first weekend in September), attracts international artists from USA and Europe as well as artists from Northern Ireland; Féile an Phobail provides festival goers with a rich mix of music and comedy, drama and exhibitions and family events in August, and the spring festival, Féile an Earraigh and Draíocht Children’s Arts Festival (late October) extend the programming range; the William Kennedy Piping Festival in Armagh (November) has distinctive profile, provides vibrant and diverse programme from the world of piping; the Belfast Children’s Festival (May) is organised by Young At Art and Foyle Ulster-Scots Festival showcases a number of Ulster-Scots events in August.

But challenges remain:

• Northern Ireland still not seen as “holiday" destination (pure holiday visitors account for between 18% and 21% of visitors – Visiting Friends and Relatives (37%) and Business Visitors (38%) are much higher proportionately
• Tourism is still a small section of the economy - contributes an estimated 1.82% of GDP and is considered to be underperforming compared with the Republic of Ireland - 4.4% (Source: the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee Report, 2007), yet it still amounts to £510m. direct spend (Source: Northern Ireland Tourist Board).
• Systematic failure to take tourism seriously and adequately fund long-term product development. For example, the Arts Council ideally would like to give Festivals and other providers guaranteed funding to make the necessary long-term investment needed (5 year horizon).
• Largest market - Great Britain - is softening but the advantageous exchange rate and lower rate of VAT may encourage visitors from the Republic of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is Northern Ireland’s second largest source of tourists - 322,000 visitors spent £43m. in 2007 - border towns such as Newry and Enniskillen have recently benefitted from an “invasion of shoppers" but it is questionable whether this has the potential to bring more general benefits to other areas of the economy

Supporting International Opportunities: The Arts Council, with its partners, is helping to promote the arts from Northern Ireland abroad and to generate interest in our artists and their creativity. Northern Ireland’s artists are increasingly travelling abroad for career development and marketing opportunities. In doing so, they reveal to international audiences the distinctive character of our society.

The Arts Council’s exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 2007, the world’s foremost showcase for contemporary art was a resounding success, as was Northern Ireland’s presence in Washington DC during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas is one of the largest music festivals in the United States. 2009 is the third year that the Arts Council has supported the Northern Ireland Music Industry Commission (NIMIC) to help artists, music businesses and entrepreneurs participate in the event. The Northern Ireland Centre in Europe has forthcoming plans to showcase the best of our arts in Brussels and last year the Arts Council, in association with the Golden Thread Gallery, presented a Contemporary Survey of Art from Northern Ireland as part of the Harbin Winter Cultural Festival at Heilongjiang, China. This commitment to raising Northern Ireland’s international profile is expected to attract international attention, promote investment and encourage the development of tourism.

In summary, while this section demonstrates the economic impact and benefit of the arts to society, there are relatively few evidence-based studies in this area. Such studies are imperative in arguing the associated benefits of the arts to the Northern Ireland economy. The Arts Council recognises the need to achieve a better picture of the economic footprint of the arts upon society. Consequently, a number of studies are currently being commissioned in order to strengthen this evidence base. For example, a joint commission between An Chomhairle Ealaion and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland will establish an in-depth study of the living and working conditions of artists in Ireland as the last study was almost a decade ago. A forthcoming Arts Council project will lead to the development of a Digest of Arts Statistics for the region - a single source publication that will capture such data as arts consumption, employment, expenditure levels, direct and contributed income figures for the sector. Finally, the Arts Council is commissioning an evaluation of the economic impact of its Capital Programme and what it has delivered over the past 14 years.

Children and Young People: The economic importance of knowledge and creativity has led to a renewed interest in the role of the arts in education. Through Creative Youth Partnerships (in conjunction with DCAL, DE and the ELBs) the Arts Council has provided over £1.5 million to develop access to, and participation in, the arts by young people in Northern Ireland in both formal and alternative learning environments. Established in 2004 under the strategy ‘Unlocking Creativity’, the programme was designed to develop arts activity for children and young people aged between 3 and 25. CYP ensures that children and young people have the opportunity to participate in long and short term programmes of creative arts activities, in contexts of their own choosing and across a wide range of art forms. The programme has led to an increased range, breadth and spread of participation in youth arts activity, new partnerships with providers such as youth clubs, strengthened links with the curriculum and offered high quality experiences for young people.

CYP has five Development Officers which operate within each of the Education and Library Board (ELB) areas. In addition to the development officers, Action Zone Support Groups operate within the five boards. These comprise organisations whose work involves young people promoting personal, community development, cultural development. To date the CYP prgramme has provided creative arts programmes and activities for approximately 11,000 children and young people in youth and community settings, and approximately 50,000 children and young people in schools . While some of the CYP projects were one- offs, while others were more sustained in nature.

Research has shown that the CYP programme has supported the implementation of the Northern Ireland Curriculum and is contributing to dissemination of good practice. CYP’s work outside schools has been particularly effective in engaging disaffected young people with an increased volume of activity focused on NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) groups, working through Youth Service and voluntary organisations.

Qualitative research undertaken with 32 school principals across Northern Ireland identified the impact of CYP. The findings suggest that CYP has had an impact on pupils’ learning; that it has led to improved levels of confidence, and has helped to develop thinking skills, communication skills, enhanced levels of motivation and improved the ability of participants to learn independently. It has also been identified as a way of working in support of the revised curriculum and has helped to supporting ongoing professional development of teachers.

Ofsted - The impact of Creative Partnerships: Ofsted[13] published a report on the Creative Partnerships programme in England after inspecting a sample of 36 schools. The findings of the Ofsted inspection confirmed that Creative Partnerships is delivering improvements in the aspiration and achievements of young people and in the skills and creativity of teachers. It noted that there were significant improvements in basic learning skills of young people who had participated in Creative Partnerships activities:

Improvements in literacy, particularly writing, and speaking were significant in the majority of schools visited. Developing and applying mathematical skills in context was also an indicator of pupils’ achievement which several schools identified. Pupils used information and communications technology (ICT) effectively to research, explore, develop and model ideas in and across different subjects.

Inspectors found that the projects had improved the confidence and creative skills of young people. The development of these new skills and attributes contributed significantly to improvement in the overall attitude of young people to education. Inspectors also found that the programmes were contributing to the Every Child Matters outcomes.

Impact on schools and teachers: An independent survey of head teachers conducted by British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) spoke to 75% of head teachers from Phase 1 and 2 areas to assess their perception of the impact of Creative Partnerships. Secondary schools have reported that:

92% have seen an improvement in pupils’ confidence; 91% have seen an improvement in pupils’ communication skills; 87% have seen an improvement in pupils’ motivation; 80% have seen an improvement in pupils’ enjoyment of school; 78% have seen an increase in pupils’ ability to learn independently and 70% have seen an improvement in pupils’ behaviour.

Health

Over the past 30 years, the relationship between the arts and improved health outcomes has been increasingly recognised. This has been manifested through arts in healthcare programmes, art therapy, integrated public art in healthcare venues as well as the use of arts as a core recreational activity in long term care facilities. Funding of the arts in such settings is beneficial to physical, emotional health and wellbeing.

The development of links between the arts and public health policy recognises not only the preventative capacity of the arts but also its power to aid patient recovery, reduce anxiety and depression levels. For example, Arts Care[14] funded by the Arts Council is an organisation that provides a range of creative activities in many healthcare facilities in Northern Ireland. Such interventions include the Clown Doctors programme, delivered in hospitals and respite centres for life -limited children, using performing arts skills to interact with young patients. This service would not have been possible without the Arts Council seed funding.

Another example of Arts Care work is within the recently established Bayview Resource Centre in Bangor[15]. Prior to its construction a series of participatory arts workshops were held over a two year period. The ethos of this project centred on the users of the facility creating visual artwork that could be incorporated into the design of the building.

The Arts Care ‘Moment by Moment’ project involved a series of workshops with patients, families and staff at the Cancer Centre, Belfast City Hospital. An artist-in-residence programme led to a series of workshops in poetry, visual arts and digital art and the younger participants created digital animation which they were able to share with friends and family through the social networking website, ‘Facebook.’

The ‘Dreams’ project at the Mater Hospital was also funded by the Arts Council. The aim of this project was to measure the impact of arts within a health facility and consisted of a series of workshops in which patients created visual art which was then exhibited within the hospital. This work was independently evaluated by the Community Evaluation Northern Ireland (CENI). The findings in this report show that 88% of those who took part in this project described the arts activity as beneficial. The scheme won the first prize in the prestigious Blair L. Sadler International Healing Arts Competition.

The Arts Council has a strong history of funding integrated public art in the healthcare estate. In recent years, we have invested just under £1.2m in a variety of facilities across Northern Ireland. It is clear that art in healthcare settings, along with high quality architecture, enriches the lives of patients, staff and visitors, and plays an active part in bettering patient outcomes. For example, the positive effect of our contribution to the children’s unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital has helped to enrich the overall environment and the Holywood Arches Health is another example of an integrated arts projects.

Regeneration

Arts Council funding has contributed to culturally-led regeneration.

Iconic public realm projects such as the ‘Big Fish’ at Laganside and the new promenade at Newcastle have received much public recognition; the latter receiving the Civic Trust Award for Excellence in the Public Realm.

Large capital investment projects such as the Millennium Forum Theatre in Derry (£2.57m); the Verbal Arts Centre; the Playhouse (£1.1m) and An Gaelaras (£0.65m) have directly contributed to the regeneration of the City. Such cultural builds would not have been possible without Arts Council funds and partnership working with ILEX.[16]

A network of new arts centres has been developed in towns and cities around Northern Ireland. The Market Place, Armagh which hosts a number of thriving events attracts many visitors to the City. Events such as the renowned John Hewitt International Summer School are bringing a confident new profile, attracting participation from leading writers, poets, artists and musicians and stimulating local economic development. Another popular event is the William Kennedy Piping Festival that was conceived to bring together pipers from different countries and traditions, from across Europe, Canada and the USA as well as the cream of Irish pipers.

In Belfast, the Grand Opera House (GOH) is often cited as a contributing factor to the regeneration of Great Victoria Street, in relation to shops, restaurants, pub trade, and evening economy. This area is commonly referred to as ‘the Golden Mile’. Despite the onset of the Troubles, and having been very badly damaged by bombs blasts, the theatre was restored extensively and continues to thrive, promoting musicals, plays, pantomimes and live music. An extensive development in 2006 offers much improved facilities that have been warmly received by the public.

The new generation of cultural facilities in Belfast, for example, Belfast Waterfront Hall, and new projects in development and in the pipeline (the Ulster Hall refurbishment, the Crescent Arts Centre, the new Lyric and MAC in St Anne’s Square) will greatly improve the cultural infrastructure and have an important impact in the transformation of the City .

In rural areas this investment has been no less transformational from state-of-the art facilities at Strabane, to smaller scale capital projects, such as The Patrician in Carrickmore. These cultural venues bring visitors, throughput and spend into the local economy, revitalizing the commercial heart of our towns and acting as a lever to other investment and enhancing the built environment.

It should also be noted that less obviously but equally importantly, the arts have played a central role in the social transformation of urban and rural districts. In Northern Ireland the contribution of community theatre has been particularly important in facilitating engagement and providing a safe environment for the exploration of difficult social issues. Carnivals and festivals have created neutral spaces that allow people from different social and community backgrounds to mix and work together. A recent survey of the Arts Council’s Regularly Funded Organisations (RFOs) demonstrated that 66% of participation-based activity is cross-community.

Equality and Inclusion

The Premium Payment award was introduced by the Arts Council in 2003 for recipients of Access to the Arts and New Work awards. The identification of need for the payment of additional costs emerged from results of the Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA). Drawing on findings from the consultation exercise, augmented by additional data and research, it was clear that the overall ceiling of 10% on administration /running costs limited the scope of what organisations could do to promote access and participation amongst Section 75 groups. To address this differential, the Arts Council introduced a premium payment of up to £3,000, awarded on top of the main grant. Such payments are not paid automatically but rather are based on need, as demonstrated through documented, acceptable expenditure.

In general terms, the introduction of Premium Payment reflects the overarching objectives of the Arts Council of encouraging access to and participation in a broad range of arts activities and overlaps with the general equality issue of differences in participation and uptake by different groups. Similarly, the skewing in our objectives towards, for example, persons with a disability gives explicit recognition that different groups have different needs, experiences and priorities in relation to arts policy. The implications in terms of data requirements for equality monitoring are discussed later but in overall terms the introduction of the scheme gives substance to the Council’s commitment to directly support client/user groups to work towards achieving better and more equitable representation of S75 groups within the arts audience.

The Arts Council has voluntarily chosen to introduce equality monitoring for its funding programmes, an action which led to the Arts Council being chosen as a case study on equality monitoring with OFMDFM recommending the Arts Council’s model to other organizations. The introduction of equality monitoring provides a concrete means of demonstrating compliance with our statutory duty.

Examples of organisations funded by the Arts Council that have focused on enhancing the quality of life of people with disabilities through their participation in artistic activity include the work of Open Arts, Share Arts, Drake Music, Share Music and Dungannon Community Arts Studio. We have commissioned research into participation levels among disabled people, disability awareness and facilities for disabled people. The findings reveal high interest in the arts amongst the population of people with disabilities, with 82% expressing interest in one or more art forms. Further, it has given us an insight into the physical, economic and social barriers which hinder people with disabilities accessing the arts[17]. In 2007 the Arts Council commissioned first large-scale study of disability in Northern Ireland to use the ‘social model’, a concept which, in its simplest terms, moves the focus away from people’s impairment towards the obstacles to inclusion that disabled people cope with every day. The report (Barriers to Disabled People’s Participation in and Access to the Arts: IPSOS MORI) is an important step towards the removal of attitudinal and environmental barriers to participation and provides high level findings which emerge from a substantial body of research evidence around arts and disability.

The Arts Council also works to improve access for disabled people to the arts by funding ADAPT NI and the Arts and Disability Forum. Such organisations are committed to correcting the under-representation of disabled people in the arts audience. Barracuda Club Night and Oska Bright Film Festival were two projects that targeted younger adults with learning disabilities through empowerment-based social and arts activity at their core. The Arts Council is the lead funder of the National Deaf Children’s Society’s arts programme, which has won many awards for its work and is seen as leading the way for deaf children who want to be involved in the arts, in confidence-building and skills development.

Additionally, the Arts Council recognises the need to strengthen participation amongst older people and is currently developing a strategy to overcome the barriers older people face in accessing the arts. To date, a number of consultations have taken place with relevant stakeholders such as Age Concern, Help the Aged and the Age Sector Platform. Examples of dedicated work with older people include: Poetry in Motion, an audio anthology of voices from Belfast and the Big Telly’s work with older people through healthcare facilities, for example, in the Dementia Centre. The Arts for Older People Network, funded by the Arts Council, has conducted research into good practice in relation to arts projects engaging older people. This research has been widely used. Other examples include plays devised from older people’s authentic stories and memories, performed by older actors.

In March 2009 the Arts Council will be launching a public campaign targeted at older people with the aim of encouraging them to participate in the arts. We are currently working with media partners to incentivise participation through competitions for free tickets as well as a poster and web- campaign.

Other examples of how the Arts Council is supporting equality and inclusion include: working with Audiences NI and its members to promote family friendly policies in all our arts organisations. In addition the Open Arts Choir is an example of an ensemble that demonstrates inclusion and it received national recognition in 2008 when featured in a UK-wide BBC Choir Competition.

Disadvantaged, Vulnerable and Shared Communities

Much of the Arts Council’s core funding is directed towards organisations based in and working with disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. For example, the Arts Council is currently in discussion with the Simon Community regarding an artist in residence programme in one of their hostels. Another proposed project is with Victims’ Support Northern Ireland in relation to running a project in one of their centres. In addition, through a variety of dedicated programmes e.g. ‘Support for Victims and Survivors’ and ‘STartUp’, the Arts Council has contributed to the Government’s aim of enriching and uniting local communities.

The Council’s £3.6m programme ‘Re-imaging Communities’ is rooted in the building of a shared future for Northern Ireland. We are working with other agencies (OFMDFM, DSD, NIHE, CRC & IFI) to free the public realm from displays of sectarian and racial aggression and intimidation while encouraging the legitimate expression of cultural celebration. This programme extends across the whole of Northern Ireland and is not simply aimed at the major conurbations. Many of our small towns and villages have such legacy challenges.

Ethnic Minorities

The arts help us to develop and celebrate diversity in terms of our own identity. ‘Diversity’ is one of the core values of the Arts Council and we aim to provide equal access to opportunities for all sections of society. Diversity and social inclusion are integrated into all of our funding programmes. The Arts Council has historical and continued links through funding awards with a number of organisations that support ethnic minorities. In the past ten years the Indian Community Centre, Chinese Welfare Association, An Munia Tober, the Mandarin Speakers Association and ArtsEkta, have all been recipients of Lottery funds through the Arts Council.

The Arts Council, in association with the Community Relations Council, delivered a pilot programme for Black, Minority and Ethnic communities that tackled some of the associated characteristics of racial intolerance and marginalisation. This programme was a good example of successfully encouraging and promoting integration and social inclusion now mainstreamed in Arts Council core programme funding. While one of the four priorities within the newly launched Small Grants Programme addresses cultural diversity. The Arts Council is placing priority on ethnic minority communities availing of such grassroots arts programmes in order to develop understanding of the multiculturalism in Northern Ireland today.

4a. To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors

The role of the Arts Council is to support the development of the Arts across Northern Ireland. We do this primarily through the disbursement of Exchequer and National Lottery funds to artists and arts organisations. Funding decisions are informed by the Council’s five year development strategy for the arts, 2007-2012 and by a set of individual policies for each art form. Funding recommendations are made to Council by specialist artform development officers.

Individual artform areas identified as being in need of development may be given extra support, current examples being Dance and Drama.

The Arts Council creates opportunities for artists and arts organisations to engage with other sectors and contribute to wider Government agendas and cross Departmental strategies, through a range of special initiatives and targeted programmes. In addition, Arts Council funding criteria encourages arts organisations to bring their work to new audiences and encourages greater participation through audience development and outreach schemes.

The Arts Council advocates the social, creative and economic benefits of the arts to Northern Ireland and promotes the local and international successes of our artists and art organisations in their pursuit of excellence.

Artists have diversified to meet the needs of modern society. Increasingly, professional artists work with local residents to enhance their community image, with teachers to develop arts activities for children within the curriculum, in hospitals and health care settings working with staff and helping to achieve good patient outcomes.

Increasing coalescence and overlapping of artistic practice in the last 20 years means that traditional distinctions between the different branches of the arts, including Community and Professional Arts, have lost much of their definition and significance. The situation in terms of modern practice in Northern Ireland is more fluid and many practitioners would no longer recognise themselves as belonging to fixed categories of artistic practice.

The Arts Council’s view is that artistic practice in Northern Ireland involves a wide variety of different but frequently interrelated types of activity.

Although not exhaustive, this range of this artistic activity includes:

• Professional artists engaged in a community context (eg. Re-imaging Communities Programme; Art of Regeneration Programme; working with teachers to develop creative opportunities for children through the Creative Youth Partnerships Programme);
• Community Arts organisations employing the arts as a tool for wider community development linked to regeneration (eg. Wheelworks; Down Community Arts; New Lodge Arts);
• Voluntary and Amateur Arts organisations rooted in local communities but not defining their primary activity as developmental (eg. Belvoir Players; local watercolour or photographic societies; Donaghadee Male Voice Choir);
• Many Community-based organisations regard their practice as highly Professional – a view endorsed by the Arts Council (eg. Andersonstown Comtemporary School of Music; NI Piping and Drumming School);
• Organisations and collectives whose primary ambition is the development of their specific art form (eg. Echo Echo Dance; Queen’s Street Studios; Lyric Players);
• Organisations which address the needs of specific groups within society (eg. Young at Art; Sticky Fingers; Replay; ArtsCare; Open Arts Choir);
• Festivals and venues which provide a broad mix of arts activities and which engage with the local community through outreach and development programmes (eg. Foyle Ulster Scots Festival).

One of the distinguishing features of the Arts sector in Northern Ireland is the interconnectedness of its various activities. In this small region, artists and arts organisations operate in a fragile ‘ecosystem’ in which even moderate changes to one element may create ‘ripple-down’ consequences for the rest.

A recent illustration of this finely-balanced symbiosis in Northern Ireland’s arts sector is the network of regional theatre venues. As a consequence of pressure on the arts budget, the Arts Council reluctantly reduced funding to District Council-run regional venues in order to safeguard the future of the independent arts sector. However, we are aware that decreased levels of funding for regional venues has resulted in: (1) reduction in choice of quality arts and outreach activities available to the public in these areas; (2) reduction in opportunities for indigenous companies to tour their work, leading to fewer opportunities for local actors, musicians, etc. to develop their careers and generate income, leading to fewer opportunities for local writers to have their work commissioned and produced. With a modest increase in resources under the current CSR, we will review the situation.

In conclusion, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland strives to facilitate greater co-operation across the sector in order to encourage the best out of this connectivity. It is equally the role of an arts council to support the pursuit of excellence and the integrity of artistic practice.

On a practical note, we are pleased to provide a breakdown of our grants distribution since 04/05 – 08/09. This includes both Exchequer and Lottery funding.

The Committee is invited to note the Council operates a number of funding programmes as follows:

• Annual Support for Organisations Programme (ASOP)
• Support for the Individual Artist Programme (SIAP)
• Project Funding
• Re-imaging Communities Programme
• Equipment grants
• Musical Instruments for Bands
• Public Art
• Awards for All (in 09/10 to be re-launched as the Arts Council’s Small Grants Programme)

Table 4 provides a breakdown of exchequer and lottery funding by artform, excluding capital funds for buildings. (Please note “combined" includes venues & festivals and cross- artform projects)

	04/05	05/06	06/07	07/08	08/09
Architecture	98,100	106,470	23,749	43,401	135,000
Combined	7,200,554	5,792,552	6,009,718	4,364,834	5,511,087
Craft	176,015	484,003	410,585	133,022	265,570
Dance	218,062	294,530	189,842	118,911	247,370
Drama	2,205,578	2,483,262	2,538,986	1,966,915	2,245,588
Film	94,652	14,340	47,689	53,372	13,170
Literature	592,792	1,349,810	915,391	512,323	959,296
Music	3,224,494	3,393,351	3,537,784	4,370,346	3,342,644
Opera	69,416	322,784	179,470	389,051	360,418
Traditional	736,494	691,839	634,533	490,686	688,408
Visual	2,000,922	2,839,041	2,477,066	2,792,676	3,087,704
	16,617,079	17,771,981	16,964,813	15,235,537	16,856,255

However, more refined analysis shows that within each of the artforms the pattern of arts practice (including community arts) has been funded as set out below.

	04/05	05/06	06/07	07/08	08/09
Community	3,729,891	1,546,321	3,107,638	2,361,613	2,908,928
Health/Disability/Voluntary	374,854	678,354	615,634	439,718	534,100
Youth	948,957	1,084,884	1,460,649	979,447	1,512,874
	5,053,702	3,309,559	5,183,921	3,780,778	4,955,902

The above table does not include grants made under the Awards for All programme or the Musical Instruments for Bands programme which could also be considered community arts.

4b. Target Social Need

The Arts Council is very conscious of its obligations with respect to wider government policies including TSN and the need to encourage community regeneration as well as engage with ‘hard to reach’ communities.

Two years ago we revised our application forms and scoring criteria to take account of geographic, artform and social disadvantage issues. These elements are now weighted in the scoring process.

Moreover we are soon to commission an independent review of the Council’s entire grant making system which, once agreed by the Department, will inform 2010/11 funding decisions.

An analysis of our awards by deprivation and spatial pattern of funding between 2003/04 – 2007/08 reveals the following;

Principal Grants Programmes Awards by Deprivation

£31.5m (56%) of Principal Grant Progrmame Awards Were Made Within The 20% Most Deprived Areas In Northern Ireland

Spatial Distribution of Principal Grant Progamme Awards

In Belfast the pattern of awards to the most disadvantaged areas is represented in the following table

Principal Grant Programme Awards by Deprivation (Belfast)

£24m (59%) of Principal Grant Awards Were Awarded Within The 20% Most Deprived Areas Of Belfast

4c & d Encourage community regeneration and engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding

There are a number of programmes and initiatives that the Arts Council delivers which have been designed to encourage participation from groups which have historically not accessed the arts. It should also be noted that, in most programmes, we have reduced the level of required partnership funding to encourage new applications from community groups.

Awards for All

The joint Lottery distributors’ Awards for All programme was established in Northern Ireland in 2001/02 and offers up to 100% funding to small groups to run arts programmes involving people in their communities. The awards are intended to make a real difference to smaller groups and strengthen community activity, particularly among those who struggle to find funds from elsewhere.

The programme is intended to:

• bring people together and increase community-based arts activities by helping communities to meet their needs through voluntary action, self-help projects, local facilities or events. ‘Communities’ could be people in a local area or people who share a common interest or need;
• involve more people in a wide range of community-based activities by developing projects and supporting activities which are open and accessible to everyone wishing to take part;
• increase skills and activities by supporting projects which help to develop people and organisations, encourage talent and raise standards;
• have a focus on improving access to the arts amongst the most disadvantaged people in society.

It is through this programme that the Arts Council funds the many amateur musical and drama companies to mount their annual productions and the competitive festival circuit by providing the costs of professional adjudicators.

From 2001 to date the Council has awarded £4.1M to 1021 groups across Northern Ireland. In the period 2004/05 to 2008/09, a total of £2,71M has been awarded, 59% of which has been to groups outside Belfast and Derry.

Whilst Awards For All has served Northern Ireland well over the past number of years, it has become increasingly complex to have a single scheme which responds to a wide variety of applications. As a result Awards For All is changing with each Lottery distributor providing its own ‘tailor-made’ small grants scheme. The Arts Council’s Small Grants Programme was launched in January 2009 with the first decisions expected in April 2009.

The table below demonstrates the spread of artform activity funded through Awards for All during the period 2004/5 to 2008/9.

Bands

With the introduction of Lottery funds in 1995 the Arts Council offered a programme for the purchase of Musical Instruments for Marching Bands. Within a period of 2 years the Council had awarded £1.5M to 109 bands throughout Northern Ireland. Given the level of funds invested in this sector as compared to that invested in the arts sector as a whole over the same period, the Council suspended the funding programme. The programme was re- introduced in 2002/03. The Council’s total investment in bands since 1995 is £3.9M to 340 bands many based in rural/deprived areas. 91% of the funds allocated under this programme have been to bands outside Belfast and Derry and reach across all 26 local authority areas.

Spatial Distribution of Awards to Bands 1995-2008

In 2006 the Council commissioned PriceWaterhouseCoopers to conduct a review into the impact of the Council’s investment in the band sector. Amongst the findings the review concluded that the progrmme delivered benefits to the music sector by encouraging participation from young people learning new skills and extending their repertoire. Contrary to popular perception, 33% of surveyed bands had cross-community membership.

STart-UP

The Start-UP programme is an example of how the Council provided seed funding to areas where there was weak cultural infrastructure. Funded through the DSD’s Renewing Communities programme, STart UP ran for one year in 2007/08 with a budget of £100,000. The aim of this programme was to provide support (including 100% grant aid) to those organisations who had not previously availed of Arts Council funding and at making a real difference to smaller groups, particularly for those who struggle to find the money from elsewhere.

DSD funding ceased but the Arts Council has now identified a small budget from its own 2009/10 resources to offer “seed funding" to encourage community groups to initiate arts programmes which may be developed to a stage where they could apply under the Council’s main funding programmes.

The 2007/08 programme, employed 49 artists, primarily located in rural areas and involving a mix of Protestant and Catholic communities. There were also a number of projects involving ethnic minority groups.

St Patrick’s and St Mary’s Mothers Union	500	Windsor Hill	Newry & Mourne
Market Street Beacon Centre	5,000	Town Parks East	Magherafelt
Glynn Community Development Association	5,000	Glynn	Larne
Carrickfergus Neighbourhood Development Group	5,000	Milebush	Carrickfergus
Benedy Community Association Ltd	5,000	Upper Glenshane	Limavady
Friends	5,000	Glenaan	Moyle
Muintir na Mointeach	5,000	Washing Bay	Dungannon
St McNissi Tiny Tots	5,000	Randalstown	Antrim
Latinoamerica Unida	5,000	Botanic	Belfast
The Change That Art Group	5,000	Hamiltonsbawn	Armagh
Fermanagh Women’s Aid	5,000	Portora	Fermanagh
Augher/Clogher Carer’s Group	5,000	Clogher	Dungannon
The Dominican Playgroup	5,000	St Marys	Newry & Mourne
Stiles Community Group	5,000	Stiles	Antrim
Bridge Youth Project - REACT	5,000	Kilkeel Central	Newry & Mourne
Ardinariff Historical and Cultural Society	5,000	The Highlands	Limavady
Pomeroy Resource Centre	5,000	Pomeroy	Cookstown
Pomeroy Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eirean	5,000	Pomeroy	Cookstown
Lylehill Girls Brigade	5,000	Clady	Antrim
Kildress Area Youth and Community Club	5,000	Dunnamore	Cookstown

Art of Regeneration

The key aim of this programme was to position the arts at the centre of society in order to help meet some of the social challenges facing Northern Ireland. The Arts Council believes that by putting the arts and artists at the heart of regeneration, solutions, driven by artistic imagination and vision, may be found. A strong ethos of the programme centred on developing the relationship between communities and local councils through partnership working.

The three key themes of this programme were:

• The Environment – contributing to ‘sustainable development’ through the use of recycled resources and materials. Regeneration through environmental enhancement;
• Good Relations – encouraging good relations between communities, promoting tolerance, respect and mutual understanding;
• Anti-social Behaviour – reducing low level neighbourhood disorder and anti-social behaviour by building relationships with young people developing skills and wider community participation.

Ten awards totalling £2.4m were made to local authorities working together with a diverse range of delivery partners such as traditional musical schools, youth organisations, community safety partnerships and local tenants’ associations.

Re-imaging Communities Programme

With a total budget of £3.6m the Re-Imaging programme was launched in 2006. Working under the strategic themes of Shared Future, Community Relations, Community Cohesion, Regeneration through the Arts and Neighbourhood Renewal, the programme provides support for a range of projects which

• Support cultural awareness and development of community based arts projects focused on the public realm
• Commission public art for shared spaces
• Remove redundant symbols and emblems
• Support locally based charters outlining how communities plan to tackle negative perceptions of their areas in an integrated manner
• Remove aggressive sectarian/racist murals and graffiti.

Re-imaging Communities complements other structural programmes within the following broad categories:

• Neighbourhood Renewal Areas
• Anti-Sectarian and Anti-Racist Strategies
• District Council Good Relations Strategies
• Local Arts and Cultural Plans
• Urban/Rural/Village/Housing Estate Programmes
• Community Safety Strategies

The programme is funded by the Arts Council through its National Lottery funds, DSD through its Renewing Communities Programme, OFMDFM, Northern Ireland Housing Executive and the International Fund for Ireland.

The programme is now scheduled to end in 2009/10 when current funds run out. The Council has commissioned an economic appraisal and evaluation of the current programme in order to seek further funds from a range of public bodies to extend the life of the programme.

To date the programme has supported 112 projects, 57 of these are situated in predominately Protestant areas, 20 in predominately Catholic areas and 35 in areas that are not considered to be of ‘single identity’.

It is worth highlighting that projects can be further categorised as follows:

• 74% of Re-imaging projects are based in the most deprived super output areas
• 60% has been awarded within designated Neighbourhood Renewal Areas
• 5% has been awarded in designated Areas at Risk.
• 49 are in NIHE estates
• 15 are on arterial routes
• 13 are in small towns or villages
• 12 are in interface areas
• 6 are on main thoroughfares

5. To compare those organizations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

Arts Councils in each of the UK regions and the Republic of Ireland support artists and arts organisations through Exchequer and Lottery funds. A breakdown across the various art forms for each of the Councils represents a significant piece of research in its own right owing to issues of consistency and comparability between budgets and systems of classification. We are more than happy to work with the Library and Research Services in their aim of offering an analysis to the Committee within the constraints of the available data.

6. To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their level of participation and /or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

The Arts Council has been commissioning independent reviews of each of the art forms that receive funding support in order to assess the developmental needs of individual sectors. A rolling programme of work began in 2007/08. The first art form review undertaken was Drama followed by Dance, Visual Arts and Opera. The latter two are due to conclude in June 2009. It should be borne in mind that Craft was the subject of a major review in 2002 and Architecture in 2005. Further plans to review other artform areas are dependent on resources, but the ambition of the Council is to conclude reviews of significant areas of its operation. Furthermore, by 2008/09 Drama and Dance had received uplifts in funding of 14% and 108% respectively, reflecting the recommendations of their respective reviews.

For purposes of illustration, the Committee may be interested to know the extent to which the Arts Council has been able to meet the requests of arts organisations submitting successful exchequer and Lottery applications in 2008/09. This is set out in the table below:

Artform	Amount Requested	Value of award	% met
Architecture	43,401	43,401	100
Combined	6,548,898	4,263,553	65
Craft	148,050	123,022	83
Dance	132,015	118,911	90
Drama	2,485,191	1,903,560	77
Film	28,250	28,250	100
Literature	655,796	502,948	77
Music	4,573,181	4,183,475	91
Opera	456,794	389,051	85
Traditional Arts	490,933	376,415	77
Visual Arts	3,436,049	2,744,534	80

The Council is of the firm view that the whole of the arts sector is underfunded and this includes all artform areas and community, youth and disability arts organisations as well as our individual artists. The Council is also conscious that there are real developmental issues which need to be addressed in certain communities, in certain artforms and in certain arts practices.

It is also necessary to highlight the displacement caused by the closure of funding programmes such as the EU Peace Programme, and within the current funding climate, to note the increased financial pressures on community-based projects arising from the threat to partnership funding from the Department of Social Development amongst others, and the unprecedented constraints on local government funding which will almost certainly result in a reduction of services, including arts provision.

Appendix 1: Sponsorship income for ACNI funded clients List of organizations

The table details the organisations in each band in Table 3, based on the amount of funding received from ACNI and starting from 1 being the highest amount of funding, to 54 being the lowest amount of funding.

1-10	11-21	22-32	33-43	44-54
Ulster Orchestra	Replay Productions	Aisling Ghear	ADAPT NI	Context Galleries
Grand Opera House Trust	Moving on Music	Belfast Print Workshop	Cahoots NI	Lagan Press Ltd
OMAC	Tinderbox Theatre Co.	Beat Initiative	Play Resource Warehouse	Flax Art
Verbal Arts Centre	Opera Theatre Co.	Open Arts	Voluntary Arts Ireland	Creative Writers Network
Derry Theatre Trust	Feile an Phobail	Belfast Festival at Queens	Anderstown Traditional and Contemporary Music School	VOID
Castleward Opera	Audiences NI	Blackstaff Press Ltd	Maydown Youth Training Project (Waterside Theatre)	Drake Music Project
Culturlann McAdam O’Fiaich	Big Telly Theatre Co.	Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival	NI Piping & Drumming	Ulster Association of Youth Drama (UAYD)
Crescent Arts Centre	Kabosh Theatre	Armagh Rhymers Workers Co-operative Ltd	An Gaelaras (Blathanna)	Streetwise
North West Play Resource Centre (The Playhouse)	Belfast Community Circus School	Young at Art	Seacourt Print Workshop	Queen Street Studios
Arts & Disability Forum	Community Arts Forum	Belfast Exposed	Sticky Fingers	Echo Echo

[1]Grants for programming costs for organisations running arts programmes through the year.

[2]Facts, Figures and Futures: Voluntary arts the State of the Sector (2003)

[3] at the time of writing only headline figures had been produced for 2007-08

[4] See appendix 1 for list of organisations

[5] www.hmrc.gov.uk

[6] NICVA Northern Ireland Giving Survey 2008. Accessed on 13/02/09 at www.communityni.org/index.cfm/section/News/key/271108-charitable-giving-survey

[7] From ‘Philanthropy & the Arts’ Venture Philanthropy Ireland Ltd, 2008

[8]Social enterprise means that the profits that the company make is reinvested back into the business

[9]Creative Industries Economic Estimates Statistical Bulletin, January 2009

[10] Estimating Employment in the Creative Industry Sector in N Ireland, Philip Spotswood of DCAL 2006

[11] EUCLID, Review of the Belfast Festival 2003

[12] Strategic Investment Board (2005), Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland (ISNI) 2005-2015

[13] Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) inspect and regulate care for children and young people, and inspect education and training for learners of all ages.

[14] Arts Care, founded in 1991, is a unique Arts in Health Charity based in Northern Ireland. In partnership with Health Trusts throughout Northern Ireland, Arts Care engages 21 Artists-in-Residence and 7 Clown Doctors as well as many project artists, who facilitate and co-ordinate participatory workshops and performances. Believing in the benefits of creativity to well-being, Arts Care makes all forms of art accessible to patients, clients, residents and staff in healthcare settings.

[15] The Bayview Resource Centre in Bangor is a £4.6million facility that ensures the continuity and improvement of services to elderly people, older people with a learning disability, and or dementia, physically disabled people and those who suffer from mental ill-health problems, so that they may continue to live more independent lives.

[16] ILEX is an urban regeneration company that was established to promote the physical, economic and social development of the Derry City Council area.

[17] Arts Council Northern Ireland (2007) Disability Baseline Report

Arts and Disability Equality Charter

Written response to Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure Inquiry into: The Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland

Index:

• Introduction to The Arts and Disability Equality Charter:
• Response to DCAL points:
  (Infrastructure pg.4)
• Appendices:

A: The Arts and Disability Charter Criteria

B: Disability Facts

C: Rationale to Venue Managers

1. Introduction: The Arts and Disability Equality Charter

The Arts and Disability Charter Equality is a set of twelve standards, developed at a conference and workshops, which covers areas such as access (physical and attitudinal), participation of disabled people in the arts and working with arts venues through an advisory support group. (See Charter statement Appendix A) The Charter-mark is awarded to arts venues that prove they practice the criteria set out in the Charter. Due to the use of advisory groups, the Charter is a living process through which users have an active role rather than a time-limited tick box exercise.

The Charter Project has been working with thirty venues throughout NI – rural and urban, big and small, new and old. The Charter Project helps venue managers by identifying barriers and solutions, providing information and advice, as well as helping to set up local advisory groups. The Charter also draws on the resources of other organisations on its committee (Open Arts, Arts and Disability Forum, AdaptNI and Arts and Disability Ireland). Through a formal application and assessment process, these organisations form the panel which decides if a venue is eligible for the Charter.

Four venues have reached the stage where they are ready to be awarded the Charter. Ten venues are in a situation where they are eligible for an intermediate Certificate: ‘Working Towards the Charter’- these are venues which may have structural reasons for not being eligible for the full Charter (e.g. old buildings with limited access and limited funding).

Response to Inquiry Points

This response focuses for the most part on arts and disability issues, as other organisations will provide detailed evidence on the wider themes.

1. To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

1.1 Compared with other regions in GB and ROI, it should be noted that NI has the highest level of disability i.e. one in five people are disabled, and one in four families, have direct experience of disability. As well as the duty to promote inclusion, there is also audience development argument for addressing an untapped resource (see Disability Facts Appendix B).

1.2 It should also be noted that many people injured in the conflict, as well as many older people do not see themselves as being disabled people. Therefore, although they come up against the same barriers, which impede their access to arts facilities, there are no reliable statistics to reflect these people.

1.3 Compared with other regions, ACNI has been consistently underfunded for the past forty years.

2. To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

2.1 Models of Good practice. It is recommended that ACNI compares their strategy, operations and Disability Equality Action Plan (New Duties legislation - Disability Discrimination(NI) Order 2006) with other Arts Councils ( e.g. see Arts Council England’s (ACE) arts and disability strategic and operational arts and Disability Equality Action Plans (e.g. see ACE (South West) Disability Equality Action Plan ( http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/), as well as individual projects such as Scotland Arts Council mystery shoppers scheme to monitor access in arts facilities). DCAL/ACNI should also review not only their client organisations awareness of the New Duties, but their need to address their clients responsibilities as required by the legislation.

In the light of such research, efficient and effective models should be introduced here.

3. To carry out a stock take of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

3.1 We would emphasise that there is a wide body of research which shows that the arts provide conduits to creativity and expression and encourage social engagement as well as community regeneration and improved health and well-bring. (e.g.ACNI, CAF, VAI submissions)

3.2 Scientific evidence shows that the arts have a positive influence (i.e. both mind and body) ranging from strengthening the immune system through to prevention of dementia and other conditions related to growing older - as well as facilitating self-esteem, empowerment and sense of control. One local example is that 88% of people surveyed at the Mater Hospital said arts activity benefited their health. Further evidence is highlighted by ACNI, Voluntary Arts Ireland and Community Arts Forum publications.

3.3 There is ample evidence that disabled people would like to have more access to the arts but are prevented from doing so either as consumers and participants. In a Mori study for ACNI, two in five respondents ( 38%) expressed some interest in participating more frequently in the arts , 10% were very interested. (see

‘Arts Council of Northern Ireland: Barriers to disabled people’s participation in and access to the arts in Northern Ireland;’ Pg 8 see also, executive summary pp: 5-18)

3.4 A short rationale document attached (see Appendix C) provides economic and social reasons as to why an arts venue should apply for the Arts and Disability Equality Charter.

4 To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors;

We believe that community arts should be strengthened as this can provide a range of relevant art forms, in a familiar and inclusive environment, to people who may otherwise be deterred from being involved in the arts e.g. due to perceptions that professional arts are elitist and expensive. Community arts can not only provide access to the arts on familiar ground but also provide a bridge to a wider arts experiences through the professional arts.

Ref. Professional arts, the Charter welcomes the development of audience development techniques ( interpreting, audio captioning, audio description etc) which enable performance to be accessible to older and disabled people, as well as facilitating arts and disability touring groups with a programme of joint work shops .

b and c ) - b)target social need and c) encourage community regeneration ;

ACNI have made significant progress in recent years in ensuring that relevant local communities are targeted and community regeneration is encouraged. However, more inroads and more significant change could be facilitated if appropriate funding was made available from Government.

d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

d1) The community of disabled people have historically been discriminated against in many areas of life (See appendix B). Relevant organisations in the arts and disability sector see the necessity to address this disadvantage by taking a two–pronged approach: (1) improve access to mainstream arts for disabled people and (2) have affirmative action programmes which provide an alternative - where mainstream arts venues are not accessible. The Arts and Disability Equality Charter encompasses both approaches through the development of an arts and disability infrastructure which can act in advisory support to accessible mainstream arts venues.

d2) Mainstream Arts: Address barriers to mainstream arts venues by identifying needs such as such as:

• Inclusion ( e.g. on boards, decision-making or advisory roles)
• Disability Awareness and equality training at relevant staff levels;
• Environmental (e.g. car parking, induction loops, signage, accessible workshops, auditoria);
• Marketing (e.g. alternative information formats, distribution of information);
• Employment (e.g. mentoring and apprenticeship schemes for disabled artists and administrators) etc.
• Economic ( e.g. additional costs due to need for personal assistants) .

(d3) Affirmative Action. Provide affirmative action programmes which address the disadvantage of disabled people in accessing the arts through:
venues hosting advisory groups for disabled users;
providing dedicated workshops or awards for users who may be excluded form mainstream facilities;

(d4) Responsibility for Legislation. Venues appear unaware of obligations and funders are ambiguous concerning responsibility. For example: “… only three of the fifteen venues (managers) interviewed were aware of staff having received training in this area (ref. Disability Discrimination Act). Although all claimed that compliance with the legislation was monitored , seven could not say how this was achieved. Those that could respond were more likely to say that compliance was monitored on an ad-hoc basis (see Arts Council of Northern Ireland: Barriers to disabled people’s participation in and access to the arts in Northern Ireland; see executive summary Pg 9)

The Disability Discrimination Act addresses many of these barriers but needs to be more adequately implemented in practice. Funders should be responsible for monitoring their clients through effective checks and inspections..

(d5) Recommendations for improving the infrastructure.

There is a need to ensure that:

(i)) there are adequate access funds e.g. a re-introduction of the DCAL Access Fund which supported relevant grants - terminated in 2006. An access grant can be implemented at management level through a panel including ACNI and relevant experts and at operational level by a relevant organisation such as AdaptNI. This would ensure that access was given due recognition and that the process had some ‘clout ‘ to ensure it was effective.

(ii) funders take effective action in order that funded clients a) meet the requirements of the legislation and b) strive for continuous good practice

(iii) more priority is given to developing an arts and disability infrastructure. .

5. To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

In response to this inquiry, we have initiated contact with the other arts councils but ‘like for like’ figures are not available. Given that ACNI is easily the most disadvantaged, this can be expected to be reflected in the deficit of funds devoted to core funded organisations and lottery projects.

6. To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

6.1 In relation to disability, it is the case that whilst a person may have an impairment or restrictive condition, the extent to which that person is ‘disabled’ depends on the environment and culture they live in. In terms of the arts, the extent to which people are disabled depends on how accessible the arts are to them and the need for the concept of equity to be promoted through action. The Arts and Disability sector does not receive adequate funding for a number of reasons:

6.2 Funders such as ACNI/DCAL are at a disadvantage compared to other departments, as until recently there was little quantitative research to support the economic and social benefits of the arts and thus lobby for effective funding.

6.3 As funders do not take enough responsibility for ensuring that the Disability Discrimination Act is enforced through appropriate inspection and review measures, then there continues to exist many barriers which impeded access to the arts for disabled and older people. For example - in relation to training, research with arts venue managers shows that “In many cases only senior managers or key staff had received the training and there was an expectation that they would pass their knowledge to other staff members" This matters if front of house staff are to be inclusive and welcoming to disabled people. (see Arts Council of Northern Ireland: Barriers to disabled people’s participation in and access to the arts in Northern Ireland; see executive summary Pg 9 )

6.4 Until arts venues and practices are fully accessible and there is an adequate infrastructure, there will be a need for dedicated support groups and projects such as Open Arts, the Arts and Disability Forum, AdaptNI and the Arts and Disability Equality Charter. These organisations exist on minimal funds with little room for development.

6.4 There is a perception that existing funding criteria in relation to inclusion and access do not appear to be inspected, monitored or evaluated on a regular basis.

A proven commitment by clients to access - not token responses in application forms- would be critical to funding policy and would be supported by a) applied legislation as well as b) an efficient and effective access fund would enable venues to meet their responsibilities.

6.5 There is a need to reinstate the Access Fund which DCAL facilitated through AdaptNI until 2006. Delivery of adaptations through a new fund could be strengthened and given more ‘clout’ if ACNI were to appoint an internal senior manager as part of a expert assessment and follow-up panel (including organisations such as AdaptNI). This would ensure that the fund was respected in implementation by organisations applying for or receiving ACNI funding.

7. To report to assembly and recommendations to departs and others

7.1 It is recommended that DCAL take the lead in setting up a co-ordinating group including planning, road services and local authorities, to be responsible for ensuring that the external environment to arts, sports and other relevant venues is accessible e.g. appropriate set-down points and designated parking, within good practice, as well as legislative guidelines. (NB this would need to be in place almost immediately to address the ongoing development of the Cathedral Quarter ( i.e. blue badge designated parking, ramped kerbs etc )

7.2 Ref. Should there be a ‘New Deal’ strategy ( e.g. Franklin D Roosevelt strategy for the last great recession in USA ), which includes a building programme, it is recommended that DCAL use this opportunity to address the need for refurbishment of many older arts venues which are physically inaccessible. In the years between 1929 and 1939, creative talent in the USA flowered as in no other period of the last century. Numerous buildings e.g. The Museum of Modern Arts , The Whitney, the Frick and the Guggenheim all opened their doors during this period – as well as this, the Empire State Building , the Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Centre were built in the first ten years of this period. Culture focused on the arts rather than financial services.

7.3 It is recommended that DCAL and ACNI, work with the Victims and Survivors commission and forthcoming Forum to explore the possibilities for innovative arts projects and workshops with bereaved and injured people i.e. centred on creativity and expression which encourages self-esteem, capacity building and well-being, as well as social engagement and community regeneration.

Appendices

Appendix A: The Arts and Disability Equality Charter

Arts and Disability Equality Charter

Introduction

This charter is an output from a conference organised by Open Arts, the Community Arts Forum, ADAPT NI and the Arts and Disability Forum, which was held in the Craigavon Civic Centre. Disabled and non-disabled people involved in the arts sector informed both the content of the conference and the subsequent Arts & Disability Equality Charter. The event was attended by around 120 delegates including arts consumers and practitioners, administrators, architects, funders and local authority representatives.

The conference focused on five main areas:

• Policy
• Participation
• Employability
• Access (physical and attitudinal)
• Programming

Five speakers specialising in these areas addressed the conference. Conference delegates then broke into workshops where they had input into a draft Charter which set out the minimum standards they considered necessary for a venue to be inclusive and welcoming to disabled people.

The enclosed Charter is a result of this process. The Charter-mark will be awarded to arts venues that prove they have achieved all the elements required within the main body of the document.

Arts & Disability Equality Charter

We (insert name of arts organisation) are committed to upholding the following standards:

1. We welcome disabled people to a fully inclusive environment.

2. We provide the best standards of access (physical, sensory, intellectual, attitudinal and relating to communication) to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged by the venue’s environment.

3. Our members of staff receive on-going disability equality training.

4. We have a disability access policy which is integrated within the wider policy environment of the organisation.

5. All members of staff are responsible for ensuring the implementation of the disability access policy and we have a designated member of staff, with managerial support, to assist the team.

6. Our disability access policy is monitored and evaluated against agreed targets in consultation with disabled people, to ensure continuous improvement in terms of inclusion and to maintain quality provision for all.

7. We make information available to disabled people in accessible formats.

8. We develop our audiences and promote our services to disabled people, thereby increasing the number of people who attend from the disabled community.

9. Disabled people are represented at all levels of our decision making, through an advisory group, and also by representation on our board/management committee.

10. We actively promote the employment and retention of disabled people throughout the organisation.

11. Disabled people have meaningful input into programming.

12. Appropriate systems are in place to ensure that disabled people can take full part in arts activities, as consumers and practitioners.

Appendix B: Disability Facts

• 1 in 5 people in NI has a disability of some kind.
• 1 in 4 families in NI is directly affected by disability.
• The incidence of disability is higher in NI than in the GB or ROI.
• Only 3% of people are born with a disability. The vast majority of people acquire their disability during their lifetime. Disability is not something that happens to someone else, any one of us could become disabled at any time.
• Over 200,000 disabled people in NI are of working age.

However, people with disabilities make up only 10% of our workforce.

• Compared to a non-disabled person, a person with a disability is up to four times as likely...

(i)- To be unemployed. Even though:

Disabled people make an average of two and a half times as many job applications as non-disabled people and yet get fewer job offers.

SCOPE, Ready, Willing and Disabled, April 2003

Disabled graduates are more likely to be out of work than non-disabled individuals with no formal qualifications. Monitoring Poverty & Social Exclusion 2006, New Policy Institute

About a third of disabled people have been unable to accept a job offer because of the inaccessibility of the built environment. SCOPE, Ready, Willing and Disabled, April 2003

(ii) To have no qualifications.

Disabled people are almost twice as likely to have no qualifications; this pattern on inequality has not changed since 1998. Labour Force Survey, June 2005

(iii) To have to live on or below the poverty line.

Source: Disability Action ‘OneinFive’ Leaflet and Employer’s Forum

Appendix C: Rationale for the Charter ref. venue managers

Why you should apply for the Arts and Disability Equality Charter

The Arts and Disability Equality Charter is a set of standards which aims to promote and recognise the achievement of arts venues which provide appropriate access to disabled people. It is a commitment, not just to physical access, but also to equitable policies, practices and relationships which can ensure that a venue is accessible. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has as its first objective in the Arts Form Policy for 2007-2012 “to support the ongoing development and delivery of the Arts and Disability Equality Charter for Northern Ireland, which has been developed from consultation with disabled people".

Having an accessible venue which removes barriers, will promotes equality and enhance the quality and effectiveness of services for all sections of society. A venue which reaches Charter standards makes life easier and safer for everyone including disabled people, older people, young people and parents with young children. For example providing ‘easy read’ information for people with learning disabilities also benefits non-English speaking people, tourists and people who have reading difficulties; whilst parents with buggies can avail of power-assisted doors, level access or lifts.

Recent census figures identify that more than 20% of the population has a disability – an incidence level higher than that found in Britain or the Republic of Ireland and that more than 25% of the population is directly affected by disability issues.

(sources: census 2001;OFMDFM, 2003). Disabled people are customers and employees, students and parents, councillors and rate payers, you and your neighbour.

Most of us will experience some form of disability – even on a temporary basis - at some point in our lives and at any time, one in five people will experience difficulties in getting around. These figures will increase with growing life expectancy and an increase in the number of people with age related disabilities.

Much of the accommodation needed to ensure a venue is ‘barrier free’ can cost little or nothing and facilitating access can be seen as an investment which is recovered in abundance through factors such as quality customer care, more effective outreach and audience development , low accident rates, less litigation, improved staff morale ( e.g. with the knowledge that efforts will be made to retain staff if they acquire a disability ), an increased pool of potential employees and a recognition of corporate responsibility and social ethos. Increased participation, for example, in the form of a support or advisory group, also ensures that a venue can draw upon the advise and expertise of disabled people (users, artists and administrators) to inform strategic and operational development and improve services to this socially excluded group.

In conclusion, increased participation brings economic benefits to the venue, ensures that organisations promote inclusion and meet their legal duties - as well as to provide access to the arts for disabled people and their friends who are users, project participants, artists, visitors and administrators. Achieving the Charter is not just a recognition that a venue has reached the standards of good practice, but also that the venue has made a conscious effort to ensure that inclusion is a living, developing and nurtured practice.

Arts and Disability Forum

1. I am submitting these comments both as an individual and as Chair of the Arts and Disability Forum (ADF).

2. I cannot imagine what my life would be like without having access to the arts. As a blind person the arts have had a vast influence on my life, be it performing or enjoying a trip to the theatre. It is as important to me as the air that I breathe.

3. I have been very lucky that because of Arts Council funding I have been able to see the growth of the Open Arts Community Choir, of which I am a member. We have been singing for the last nine years and have gone from strength to strength. We have performed in Northern Ireland and in the Republic, and last year we were the only choir from Northern Ireland to compete in the BBC television show Last Choir Standing. We have also been invited to sing in front of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Cherie Blair.

4. Like most people I enjoy going to the theatre and this experience is enhanced when one can enjoy an audio described performance. It is equally important that signed and captioned performances are available for deaf and hard of hearing people. This will only be possible with adequate funding.

5. Access to information is vital when visiting a museum or art gallery. Similarly, you can only be on equal terms with other members of the public if you have the season’s programme for, say, the Grand Opera House, in your preferred format, such as braille, large print or audio. Again, arts providers need to be funded adequately to guarantee this.

6. As you will see, I have benefited greatly from the arts both as a performer and consumer.

7. The Arts and Disability Forum has played a significant part in my life recently. This is an organisation made up of disabled artists. I have been involved with them for the last five years and have served as their chairperson for the past year.

8. Our role is to support disabled artists. Were it not for money being put into the arts, we would not be able to do this. We offer the Arts and Disability Awards Ireland which artists can apply for to help them develop their particular art form. This can include visual arts, performing arts and creative writing. We are very proud that we have been able to see disabled artists reach their goals and fulfil their dreams and aspirations. I myself have been able to develop my singing skills as a recipient of one such award.

9. Another string to our bow is that we run a gallery where disabled artists exhibit their work. We employ a gallery officer and have regular exhibitions. We also provide an information service and have a wide membership throughout the Province.

10. At the moment our organisation is going through a period of change, but we are very keen to be involved in this enquiry and we would encourage those who have influence as politicians to come and visit our gallery at 109-113 Royal Avenue in the centre of Belfast and learn more about what we do.

11. I hope I have given you a flavour of where your money is going and the good that it is doing. I cannot stress strongly enough that the executive should continue to fund the arts. Without this funding many small organisations who are doing good work would flounder and I believe disabled people who enjoy all aspects of the arts would suffer because of this. It is my opinion that politicians should have the arts as one of their priorities. They should remember that disabled people are voters and this is an important issue.

12. I hope I have painted a picture of how the arts has inspired me and fulfilled me as a disabled person. I know that we are all in the grip of the dreaded credit crunch but please believe me when I say that we can only reap the benefits as described above if the Executive continue to prioritise and fund the arts in a way that will bring equality to all.

13. I trust that when the Committee has concluded its report it will be made available in alternative formats, for example braille, large print or audio. I look forward to hearing of future developments. I would be happy either as an individual or on behalf of the Arts and Disability Forum to give oral evidence.

Margaret Mann
Chair,
Arts and Disability Forum
Home address:
64 Thornleigh Park
Lisburn
BT28 2DD
Tel. 028 9260 7894

Belfast City Council

Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland

Introduction:

Belfast as a Capital City – Regional Driver to maximise economic return to the city and regeneration

With a population of 300,000 in the city and approximately 600,000 in the Greater Belfast area, Belfast holds over one third of the population of Northern Ireland within a 20 mile radius of the city centre. It is home to a wide variety of internationally acclaimed arts organisations, festivals and events, ranging from the world famous Ulster Orchestra to critically acclaimed theatre companies such as Tinderbox and Kabosh, to the award winning Belfast Carnival. It is home to a minimum of 80 festivals each year ranging from small community based festivals across local areas in the city to international events such as Young at Art Children’s Festival and the Belfast Festival at Queens. The development and implementation of Community Arts in Belfast and the impact that it has had across the city is internationally recognised. Each year Belfast City Council funds a wide variety of visual arts, performing arts, festival, dance, music, drama, literary and heritage organisations. Each of these organisations contribute to the quality of life, economic wealth and regeneration of the city, the greater the investment - the greater the return. It is important that DCAL recognise Belfast as the regional driver for Northern Ireland and the capital city of the region.

Integrated Cultural Strategy - The development and implementation of the Integrated Cultural Strategy, created in partnership with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure, creates a structure within which culture and arts have the potential to play on ongoing, sustainable and significant role in the ongoing urban regeneration of the City, helping to make it a healthier, more creative and inclusive place to live. It is vital that all partners remain pro-active in the implementation of the Strategy, in order to ensure that its aims and objectives are achieved strategically, strengthening the sector and as a result the city as a whole.

Belfast City Council would encourage DCAL to take a more pro-active partnership approach with other funders, which would strengthen the sector and ensure a more strategic approach.

Investment in Cultural Infrastructure - Belfast City Council welcomes the cultural infrastructure investment and recognises the positive impact that it will have on the city for those who live there and those who visit it.

It should be noted there is a requirement for investment in indigenous cultural product. Undoubtedly, the redevelopment of venues such as the Ulster Hall, the Lyric Theatre, the Crescent Arts Centre and the creation of the new Metropolitan Arts Centre will help strengthen Belfast’s cultural infrastructure and will enable the showcasing of Belfast as a cultural tourist destination throughout the world, however, it is crucial that the current investment in these venues continues in conjunction with greater support and development of cultural product within the city. It is vitally important that the excellence of Belfast’s venues is matched by the quality of cultural product showcased within them.

Legacy and sustainability - Northern Ireland currently has an international reputation for excellence in the area of Culture and Arts, with many local artists internationally and critically acclaimed for their work, however Northern Ireland is also experiencing a cultural diaspora that must be stemmed if we are to create a cultural legacy of the highest quality for future generations. It is important that the issues within the sector that have led to this are addressed in order that Belfast is allowed to develop as a city internationally recognised as a centre of cultural excellence.

Examples of this include:

• Greater investment in existing local arts organisations, leading to increased employment, greater outputs and artistic development.
• Greater encouragement for the development of new arts organisations, especially in areas within the sector that are currently under- represented
• Ongoing and increased support for outreach and education initiatives that help develop audiences for the future that are arts literate and culturally aware
• Audience development initiatives that ensure that access to the arts becomes a right rather than a privilege
• Increased support for Artists, ongoing training in order to increase capacity.

In addition to these it is important to explore the way arts organisations and initiatives are currently funded. It is not enough to put in place funding that is initially appropriate and then either stops or is gradually eroded. Short term/gap funding leads to disillusionment and disappointment within the cultural sector and society at large. If a successful initiative is run and there is a demand for it, then the supply should where possible attempt to meet this need. Greater investment in Culture and Arts leads not only to increased cultural activity, it creates increased wealth, increased employment across a variety of sectors, increased tourism for the city and a confident cultural sector who are not afraid to take risks and develop leading to a legacy of cultural excellence for the city.

National Gallery - A National Gallery for Northern Ireland is a vitally important part of the continuing cultural development of the region. It is equally important that the Gallery is placed in Belfast. It is to be noted that the National Galleries of most countries are situated in their capital cities [London, Dublin, Paris] and Belfast is the regional capital for Northern Ireland. There are other reasons to argue for Belfast being the most appropriate site for the Gallery listed below:

• With a population of 300,000 Belfast City alone holds over three times the amount of people as the next biggest urban centre in Northern Ireland, leading to a captive audience of hundreds of thousands of local people. This figure is doubled when one includes the population of the greater Belfast area.
• Belfast’s position within Northern Ireland is easily accessible to the rest of the region. It is a gateway to the region with a strong transport infrastructure, for both public transport as well as private.
• It is positioned strongly for attracting audiences from the Republic of Ireland and in particular its proximity to Dublin will attract many more visitors and tourists to the city.
• Its position beside two airports will also attract many visitors from the UK and further afield. The Cultural Tourism agenda embraced by Belfast City Council will support the Gallery both as a tourist attraction and also a centre of artistic excellence for over a half a million people
• The University of Ulster’s Art campus is situated in Belfast and the lack of a National Gallery within the city puts students of art at a serious disadvantage to many of the peers within the UK and Europe. This is even more relevant with the anticipated £10,000 new students due to be re-located to the Belfast campus
• Belfast is a city with a rich Visual Arts tradition but a relatively weak visual arts infrastructure. While it has many small arts collectives and some medium range art galleries it lacks a major dedicated Visual Arts Exhibition Space. In addition to the provision of a National Gallery in Belfast will raise the profile of the many visual arts organisations within the city, increase tourism, provide new educational opportunities and provide inspiration for future generations of emerging art.

Percent for art - The development of the cultural sector has been undermined by comparative under-funding of the arts and heritage sectors across Northern Ireland. Per capita funding lags behind the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland and this looks set to continue. If the cultural industry is to gain the support of the private sector it needs to be seen to be confidently supported through public investment. This is vital given that 38% of businesses currently operational in Northern Ireland can be classified as Creative Industries.

Increased funding for Community Festival Fund - Belfast City Council has accepted the commission from the Department of Culture arts and Leisure to manage the Community Festival Fund in the Belfast Area. DCAL allocation to Belfast was £77,300 which is considered wholly inadequate for Belfast. At the time BCC agreed to a match funding allocation of £120,000. BCC requested additional funding and financial support but DCAL did not increase the original grant offer.

In February 2009 DCAL announced that the amount to be awarded to Belfast City Council was to remain at £77,300 which represents a standstill funding. Belfast City Council is disappointed at the amount allocated for 2009/2010 as we have clearly identified a need for greatly increased funding to effectively deliver the initiative across the communities of Belfast.

Increased funding for art forms which are currently under-represented (e.g. literature, dance) – Funding through the Belfast City Council schemes show that there are a number of art forms currently under-represented in Belfast. These include Dance and Literature. In particular although there is a world-class orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra, there is neither Ballet nor Opera Company of even comparable standing, which is an overwhelming cultural disadvantage to those who live in Belfast and across Northern Ireland in comparison with other regions and countries the UK and Europe.

Increased funding for cultural activities for older people - Many projects focus on work with young people yet there are few initiatives aimed specifically at older people. Within the arts sector, there is a strong focus on children and young people with educational and community projects. With an ageing population, it is increasingly important to meet the needs of the over 60 age group. In 2008 Belfast City Council set up an Older Peoples’ Steering Group to address the needs of the over 60s. It is a cross-departmental group with representatives from different departments including Development Dept, Parks & Leisure and Health & Environmental Services. It is recommended that in line with the Integrated Cultural Strategy’s Aim of Increasing Quality of Life that DCAL support and develops this area further.

Increased funding for disabled people who are also under-represented - The Disabled Community are under-represented within the arts. Even though there are many arts organisations that run outreach programmes that are disability focused, this can often be tokenistic due to a lack of resources. There are still a significant amount of venues with limited disability access. This is an area that needs to re-inforced. In order to have a fully inclusive and equal society all events and venues must be fully accessible for all Belfast’s citizens. Belfast City Council would encourage DCAL to increase support for disability access to and participation in the arts.

Economic downturn - Given the current economic downturn the sourcing of additional funding for the arts is becoming increasingly important, especially in cases where partnership funding from other governmental departments has the potential to be at risk. Belfast City Council has prepared an economic crisis action plan. This includes initiatives to counteract the negative impact of the credit crisis and provides assistance to local residents and organisations.

Belfast City Council - Belfast City Council is a local government council and invests approx £7 Million annually in arts and heritage, in addition, through enhanced capital investment in cultural venues in 2008/2009 this has increased to over £12.5 Million. Our shared vision for cultural development in Belfast is to create a vibrant, cultural capital where arts and culture and placed firmly at the centre of economic, social and environmental regeneration in a way which inspires, empowers and elevates those who live, work in and visit the city.

Belfast City Council mainly uses income from the rates in Belfast to provide for funding schemes for the arts. On occasion, European funding has been used e.g. PEACE III funding is being provided through the Chief Executive’s Department and this is being used for an enhanced Development and Outreach programme. Similarly, the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure.

The Belfast City Council funding streams for cultural groups and activities is part of the developmental strategy to improve quality of life in the city (this is a corporate objective). Improving quality of life makes Belfast a place where people want to live, work and enjoy making it more attractive for residents, businesses and tourists. The vision for Development Department is “To animate the city, creating a unique personality and the place to be"; the arts sector plays a vital role in this vision.

The Integrated Cultural Strategy was launched in June 2007 in partnership with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. There was extensive consultation with the cultural sector and relevant stakeholders. The objective of the strategy was to take a more collaborative approach and create meaningful partnership working. Our shared vision for cultural development in the city of Belfast is to create a vibrant, cultural capital where arts and culture are placed firmly at the centre of economic, social and environmental regeneration in a way which inspires, empowers and elevates those who live, work and visit in the city. It is a vision and strategy for the future with key areas being Strategic Leadership, Creating Wealth and Quality of Life.

Council funding for arts organisations is a commitment to sustainability. Belfast City Council invest in and support the arts:

• A range of funding Schemes (see below)
• Strategic Development of the cultural sector
• Belfast Waterfront and the Ulster Hall (both managed by Belfast City Council) provide a venue for cultural events and activities
• Creative Industries programme has invested £249,000 in 08/09 on a project to help small companies in the music industry
• Events Unit organise civic events which frequently have a cultural element such as ‘Opera in the Gardens’, Lord Mayor’s carnival parade and Titanic festival

Key issues in funding of the arts - There are considerably more arts organisations applying for funding than the budget allows. Approx 38% of arts organisations applying for Annual Funding and Rolling Programme schemes are not successful and do not receive a grant. The high level of applicants has made the process much more competitive. Organisations applying for annual funding had to reach a threshold of 65% in 2008-2009. There are arts organisations who do very good work but a score of e.g. 63% results in no grant from Belfast City Council due to the high volumes of applications received.

Culture and Arts development through Belfast City Council acts as a leader, advocate, facilitator, mediator, funder and supporter within the cultural sectors. In doing this it builds capacity in culture, arts and heritage, provides information to stakeholders and ensures that the Council functions as a ‘junction box’ for cultural development in Belfast.

During 2008-2009 (financial year) Belfast City Council has funded a wide variety of arts related projects, ranging from Community Art to Fine Art in Belfast City Council recognises the importance of culture, arts, heritage and leisure and invests in the future of the city and its citizens through the following initiatives: [The following figures are representative of the most recent amounts spent]

Funding schemes for the arts – Belfast City Council

a) Multi-Annual funding which lasts for three years and is for larger amounts. This is aimed at flagship organisations within the cultural sector and assessments are rigorous. The total amount for multi-annual funding is £612,000 and grants range from £30,000 up to £143,500. The Multi-Annual Funding is a funding scheme with an allocated amount for three years; this allows the organisation to plan and budget ahead with more security. Organisations wishing to become a multi-annual funded client must submit a tender to the Culture and Arts unit. The tenders are assessed in the following areas and with different weightings:

Cultural Experience and Infrastructure (50%); Accessibility (15%); Economy (15%); Capacity (10%); Management and Governance (10%);

The organisations must receive over 70% in order to proceed to the next stage of application. The criteria used for assessing Multi-Annual funding applications cover the areas of Leadership, Celebration, Good Relations, Economic Regeneration and Management and Governance.

All assessments in the tendering stage and subsequently the application stage are moderated by Arts and Development Officers. Recommendations by Culture and Arts are made to the Development Committee.

Belfast City Council funding represents 4.6% of the collective turnover for Multi-Annually Funded organisations This equates to a direct return for investment of 1:22. This underlines the value for money that these flagship organisations represent and supports the impact of increased investment in these organisations.

b) Annual Funding is for smaller amounts of grants and any arts or heritage organisation can apply. The total amount for annual funding is £373,000 and grants range from £3,000 up to £28,500. Fully constituted arts and heritage organizations are eligible to apply for annual funding. The scheme opens and closes in a six week period. Applications are assessed using the following criteria:

Leadership, Celebration, Good Relations, Economic Regeneration and Management and Governance. Through moderation a threshold determines the amount of funding available. Recommendations by Culture and Arts Officers are made to the Development Committee.

Belfast City Council Annual Funding represents approximately 4-5% of the collective turnover of Annually Funded organisations. This equates to a direct return for investment of 1:25.

c) The Rolling Programme to Support Innovation in Arts and Heritage supports high quality innovative arts and heritage development in order to develop and support Belfast as a creative and cultural centre in line with the Integrated Cultural Strategy. It offers small grants that range between £500 and £3,000 for arts or heritage organisations to develop activities, particularly those of a one-off, pilot or developmental nature, promoting sustainability and working towards security of funding for the cultural sector. The Rolling Programme for Innovation has no fixed deadline so organisations can apply throughout the year providing more flexibility. The total amount for annual funding in 2008/09 was £28,000.

It is worth noting that a small award through the Initiative can often lead to leverage of a far greater sum, enabling the staging of a large scale event as a result of Belfast City Council’s investment in the project.

Belfast City Council funding represents approximately 10% of the collective budgets for Rolling Programme projects. This equates to a direct return for investment of 1:10.

d) Development and Outreach Fund encourages a partnership approach with 3-6 organisations working together and a mixture of community groups and arts or heritage organisations, where one partner organisation takes the lead and is responsible for the administration of the project. It aims to build capacity and boost cultural activity in communities with weak cultural and arts infrastructure in areas of multiple deprivation. The initiative is designed to extend participation and access to culture and arts activity to those most marginalised within Belfast’s communities. It targets TSN areas and projects working with disabled people. Total amount for the Development and Outreach fund in 2008/09 was £160,000 with grants ranging from £7,500 up to £16,000. The purpose of Development and Outreach is to enable enhanced engagement with people who would otherwise to be excluded to cultural provision due to Economic/Social deprivation. Therefore it is not a requirement of the scheme to have matched funding. Council encourages groups to build capacity on the ground through the provision of funding for training, mentoring, marketing, development etc. On average Belfast City Council funding represents approximately 50% of the collective budgets for projects funded through the Development & Outreach Initiative.

e) Community Festivals Fund is a joint funding scheme with DCAL and supports local communities organising their own festivals. This initiative supports a variety of activities such as exhibitions, family fun days, historical talks, sports tournaments and concerts. The aims and objectives promote participation, involvement and common interest, which make an important contribution to the social well-being of the community In 2008-09 Council supported 21 Community Festivals with a total amount of £197,750 with grants ranging from £2,702 to £10,000.

Criteria of the scheme promote participation, involvement and common interest, which make an important contribution to the social well-being of the community. In 2008-09 Council supported 21 Community Festivals with a total amount of £197,750 with grants ranging from £2,702 to £10,000.

Specific Criteria form the core of the assessment process for all our funding schemes. Each initiative has its own specific set of eligibility criteria which if not met can lead to automatic disqualification for funding. Over and above this each initiative is governed by assessment criteria. Each scheme has tailored criteria that are relevant to its own particular aims and objectives. The headings exist in order to develop key areas that Council wishes to support leading to the regeneration of the city. These are:

• Leadership, which includes evidence of a need or demand for the activity and value for money.
• Celebration, which includes quality of activity which enhances the cultural experience of the city
• Good Relations which includes widening access to cultural activity and engaging with marginalised communities
• Economic Regeneration/Place which includes skills development and sustainability of activity
• Management & Governance, which includes sound financial management, appropriate policies and effective monitoring and evaluation.

The majority of the initiatives have equal weighting across all areas. It is usual that the threshold for funding is a score of 60% or over which indicates good adherence to the criteria for the scheme. Due to the competitive nature of the Initiatives, this threshold is on occasion raised by a further 5 or 10%.

This leads to a consistent approach to funding that ensures quality of process and product, sustainability of activity and beneficial impacts to the city.

Arts sector in Belfast

The majority of arts organisations are based in Belfast; a number of these would tour or do workshops across the province. Arts organisations are made up of a mixture of venues, festivals, networking organisations and those who specialise in a particular art form e.g. theatre companies, galleries.

The economic impact of the arts is two-fold – job creation and positive contribution to the evening economy. Almost 3,000 people are employed in the arts (based on organisations funded by Belfast City Council in 08/09).

Annual Funding	£ 348,000
Multi Annual Funding	£ 612,000
Development & Outreach	£ 160,000
Rolling Programme	£ 28,000
Public Art	£ 190,000
Cultural Communications	£ 50,000
Festivals Forum	£ 30,000
Brighter Belfast	£ 177,300
Community Festivals Fund	£ 162,774
Creative Industries	£ 249,000
Waterfront Hall	£2,194,100
Events	£2,600,000
Sub-Total:	£6,833,174

 

Special one-off large scale initiatives 08/09
Ulster Hall Re-development	£3,510,000
Waterfront hall	£2,194,100
Sub Total:	£5,704,100
Total	£12,537,274

Areas of financial investment other than funding schemes which Belfast City Council supports:

a) Festivals Forum

Council is committed to addressing the continuing development of our festivals and invests £32,000 in festival development. Belfast Festivals Forum was established in response to the growing need of the sector. The Festivals Forum is a pro-active collective of festival organisers and agencies working together to build on the existing strengths of our festivals.Over 60 organisations are members of the festivals forum who meet approximately 4 times a year. Through the Forum, Council supports the Festivals Forum Action plan which is working on eight specific areas; festivals skills development, marketing and ticketing co-ordination, performance venues, sponsorship and grants, programming, audience development, good relations and monitoring and evaluation. The action plan is operational and is developing a programme of co-ordination, marketing, and space and venue development. It is delivering a co-ordinated approach to the planning, training, promotion and managing of festival activity across Belfast.

b) Heritage Forum

Belfast City Council invests in the Heritage Forum which was set up in May 2008 with a membership including Queen’s University, University of Ulster and The Open University, Public Record Office Northern Ireland, Belfast Education and Library Board, Northern Ireland Environment Agency and Heritage Lottery fund. Council recognises heritage is a key element in the social and economic sustainability of Belfast. The Heritage Forum is a network where organisations with an interest in the city’s heritage can meet and exchange information. As well as the public sector bodies who are involved with heritage, we have set up a strand encouraging smaller heritage and community groups interested in heritage to become involved. We are keen to help create a space where good practice can be shared and concerns can be addressed through this forum.

c) Carnival Consortium

The Carnival Consortium was set up as a co-ordinating group to oversee the collaborative development and delivery of Carnival in Belfast and Northern Ireland. It aims to develop carnival in communities by: Actively recruiting in local areas for outreach sessions, training and carnival events, Supporting local carnivals and festivals through sharing experience, resources and capability and developing a calendar of carnival and related activity. The 2008 Consortium has a membership of 12 organisations which is made up of representation from arts, community, and statutory organisations. They manage a database of over 200 community groups across Belfast and aim to engage directly with young people from cross-community areas, single identity areas and Section 75 groupings. They have created an international network which includes organisations from Belgium, Italy, Spain, England and the Republic of Ireland. In addition to the annual Belfast City Carnival, they aim to produce an international Ireland wide Carnival by 2010.

Belfast City Council Culture and Arts Unit breakdown of funding between different schemes

Multi-Annually Funded organisations 2008-2009

Organisation	Amount awarded	Art Form
Beat Initiative	£33,000	Carnival / Circus
Belfast Community Circus School	£33,000	Carnival / Circus
Belfast Exposed	£30,000	Visual Arts
Belfast Festival @ Queens	£66,250	All
Cinemagic	£30,000	Film
Crescent Arts Centre	£33,000	Multi-Art Form
Grand Opera House	£33,000	Theatre
Lyric Theatre	£36,500	Theatre
Linen Hall Library	£41,250	Literature
New Belfast Community Arts initiative	£32,750	Multi-Art Form
Young At Art	£30,000	Multi-Art Form
Old Museum Arts Centre	£39,750	Multi-Art Form
Northern Visions	£30,000	Film
Ulster Orchestra	£143,500	Music
Total	£612,000

Total Audience: 2,334,948
Total Participants: 76,002

Annually Funded Organisations 2008-2009

Organisation	Amount Awarded	Main Art Form
Andersonstown Traditional and Contemporary Music School	£ 3,750	Music
Arts and Disability Forum	£ 3,250	Visual Arts
Arts Care	£ 3,000	Visual Arts
ArtsEkta	£ 5,250	Multi-Art Form
Belfast Film Festival	£ 27,250	Film
Belfast Philharmonic Society	£ 3,000	Music
Belfast Print Workshop	£ 6,250	Visual Arts
Bruiser Theatre Company	£ 8,000	Theatre
Cahoots NI	£ 4,500	Theatre
Catalyst Arts Ltd	£ 3,000	Visual Arts
Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival	£ 16,000	Festival
Community Arts Forum	£ 20,000	Multi-Art Form
Creative Writers Network	£ 4,000	Literature
Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich	£ 8,000	Multi-Art Form
Dance Resource Base	£ 4,250	Dance
Dance United NI	£ 3,250	Dance
East Belfast Arts Collective	£ 5,000	Visual Arts
Educational Shakespeare Company Ltd (ESC)	£ 3,000	Multi-Art Form
Féile an Phobail	£ 16,500	Multi-Art Form
Festival of Fools	£ 10,250	Carnival/Circus
Golden Thread Gallery	£ 7,250	Visual Arts
Kabosh Productions	£ 13,250	Theatre
Kids in Control	£ 12,750	Multi-Art Form
Maiden Voyage (NI) Ltd	£ 3,500	Dance
Moving on Music	£ 17,750	Music
Music Theatre 4 Youth	£ 3,000	Multi-Art Form
Naughton Gallery at Queen’s	£ 3,000	Visual Arts
New Lodge Arts	£ 3,000	Multi-Art Form
Northern Ireland Music Industry Commission	£ 5,500	Multi-Art Form
Open House Traditional Arts Festival Ltd	£ 9,500	Festival
Ormeau Baths Gallery Ltd	£ 16,000	Visual Arts
Partisan Productions	£ 3,000	Theatre
Play Resource Warehouse	£ 3,250	Multi-Art Form
Prime Cut Productions	£ 11,000	Theatre
Queen Street Studios	£ 5,250	Visual Arts
Queen’s Film Theatre	£ 11,500	Film
Ransom Productions	£ 4,000	Theatre
Replay Productions	£ 11,000	Theatre
Source Magazine / Photo Works North	£ 3,000	Visual Arts
Streetwise Community Circus Workshops	£ 5,500	Carnival/Circus
Tinderbox Theatre Company	£ 16,250	Theatre
Ulster Architectural Heritage Society	£ 3,000	Heritage
Ulster Youth Choir	£ 3,000	Music
WheelWorks	£ 8,250	Multi-Art Form
YouthAction Northern Ireland’s Rainbow	£ 8,000	Multi-Art Form
Total	£348,000.00

Total Audience: 3,079,845
Total Participants: 121,879

Development and Outreach Scheme 2008-2009

Organisation	Amount Awarded	Main Art Form
Beat Initiative	£16,000.00	Carnival
Belfast Community Circus School	£7,500.00	Circus
Beyond Skin	£11,500.00	Music & Art
Creative Writers Network	£14,000.00	Literary Arts
Lower North Belfast Community Council	£14,500.00	Mixed
Northern Visions	£12,000.00	Film
Prime Cut Productions	£11,000.00	Theatre
Queen’s Film Theatre	£13,500.00	Film
Sonic Urban Music	£12,500.00	Music & Art
Streetwise Community Circus	£12,500.00	Circus
West Belfast Athletic & Cultural Society	£10,000.00	Heritage
Young at Art (Belfast Children’s Festival)	£13,500.00	Festival
YouthAction Northern Ireland’s Rainbow	£11,500.00	Theatre
Total	£160,000.00

Total Audience: 140,270
Total Participants: 3,186

Rolling Programme for Innovation 2008-2009

Organisation	Amount Awarded	Main Art Form
Arts Care	£1,500	Multi-Art Form
Bbeyond	£2,000	Visual Arts
Belfast Festival at Queens	£2,000	Multi-Art Form
Creative Media Partnership	£2,000	Film
East Belfast Titanic Festival	£2,500	Multi-Art Form
Feile an Phobail	£2,500	Multi-Art Form
Friends of Ulster Orchestra	£1,500	Music
Green Shoot Productions	£2,500	Theatre
Happenstance	£1,500	Theatre
Open Arts	£1,500	Multi-Art Form
The Beat	£2,000	Carnival Arts/Circus
The Linenhall Library	£2,000	Multi-Art Form
Tinderbox Theatre Co.	£2,500	Theatre
Total	£26,000

Total Audience: 35,700
Total Participants: 2,358

Exploring innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

Funding Schemes

Funding schemes run by Belfast City Council aim to create sustainability so that there is a long-term benefit to the organisations and the sector. The funding from council is invaluable in providing leverage and securing additional funding from public sector, trusts and foundations or the private sector. One of the criteria in our funding schemes is that organisations show value for money in their projected budget and source funding from various sources.

Sponsorship

A number of arts organisations have secured sponsorship from private sector companies or secured sponsorship-in-kind. Belfast City Council has been working in partnership with Arts & Business NI; the January 2009 awards and details of all organisations who were nominated are on their website – www.aandb.org.uk

Some examples of successful sponsorships are:

• Belfast Festival at Queen’s secured 3 year sponsorship from Ulster Bank
• Belfast Film Festival secured sponsorship from Jamieson’s Whiskey
• Ulster Orchestra has a range of sponsors for concerts such as First Trust Bank, Barclays Commercial, HSBS, Patton Group, Firmus Energy

Metal Technology and Ulster Bank

• Open House Festival and Botanic Inns (Coors Light)
• Cinemagic and Coca-Cola

Cultural Tourism Networking Events organised by Belfast City Council have continued to facilitate the opportunity for the cultural and tourism sectors to meet, exchange information and discuss business-to-business opportunities. These events have been endorsed by the tourism and cultural sectors and tangible outputs have been realised including the creation of hospitality packages, pre and post performance restaurant deals and awareness of business opportunities between the sectors.

Evening economy – Late Night Art - Late Night Art was launched by Belfast City Council in summer 2008 – art galleries in Belfast stay open late for the first Thursday evening of each month. This has helped galleries since they are working together and bringing in new visitors. It is also part of the Evening Economy allowing people to enjoy going to galleries as well as some late night shopping or going for a meal or drinks.

The Evening Economy project is an impressive example of partnership work formalised by the establishment of an Evening Economy Steering Group with membership from the private and public sector. The core aim of the Evening Economy Initiative, launched in spring 2006 is to increase the commercial competitiveness of the city by focusing on access/opening hours, value for money and developing commercial product accordingly. Objectives of the initiative include increasing trade, increasing footfall in Belfast City Centre between 5pm and 8pm, Increasing the attractiveness and vibrancy of the city centre, creating a pleasurable city centre experience for visitors and locals, ensuring that Belfast continues to develop into a vibrant cosmopolitan European city.

Celebrate Belfast 2006 – Belfast City Council organised a series of high profile events arts events during 2006. Belfast had previously made a bid for the European City of Culture (which Liverpool won) and in order to utilise the work for the bid, funding was allocated for the Celebrate Belfast celebrations. Belfast City Council secured funding from the Millennium Commission and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (Art of Regeneration funding) as well as the council budget to organise events which were free of charge to people. The total investment was £3.5 million which supported more than 1,000 events between October 2005 and December 2006. High profile events included Opera in the Gardens, Celebrate Belfast Showcase at the Waterfront Hall, the Beat summer carnival and a New Year’s Eve party at City Hall. Additional funding was provided to support festivals e.g. the C.S.Lewis festival was established and the Festivals Forum was established during Celebrate Belfast in 2006.

Training - Belfast City Council works closely with Arts & Business and commissioned them to facilitate training for arts and heritage organisations. There have been 15 training sessions throughout the year for organisations funded by the Council and several have focused on issues such as securing sponsorship and building partnerships with the private sector. This training has equipped the organisations with the skills, confidence and expertise to secure private sector sponsorship.

Festival Training Programme - Council commissioned Arts & Business to develop and deliver a training and development programme to assist festival organisations operating in Belfast to develop capacity and business skills for the long term sustainability of festivals. Over fifty festival managers attended the various training events, whose main aim was to help the participating festivals to maximise their full potential.

Several festival organisations also secure sponsorship in kind from the private sector e.g. hotels and ferry companies.

Summer Sundays - Launched four years ago in partnership with Belfast Community Circus, Summer Sundays aimed to create a quality programme free of charge street theatre that connected to an audience as well as shining a spotlight on the Cathedral Quarter area of Belfast. Performers collect money from the crowd with onlookers throwing money ‘in a hat’ rather than buying a ticket. Initially held at Custom House Square, the event has moved to Cotton Court, where it is attracting steadily growing new and repeat audiences of approximately 200 per day. 20,000 brochures were printed and distributed across Greater Belfast. Impact was excellent, with tourists picking up brochures from a variety of venues, attending events and leaving feedback describing positive opinion on the Cathedral Quarter. Canvassing has taken place which highlights that a substantial number of local businesses view the initiative as being of significant benefit.

Economic Diversity - Successful cities that respond well to economic change are those which are least dependent on a single sector. Through training programmes such as those delivered by Arts & Business, Council aims to address aims to promote mutually beneficial relationships between business, arts and public sector in order to increase private sector investment.

Symposium – Belfast City Council is organising a symposium for the cultural sector on 25 March 2009 with the theme ‘Harnessing cultural value in tough economic times’. One of the issues which the symposium will address is about innovative approaches to funding with speakers from London and Liverpool taking part. (See attached details)

Leverage of other funding - The amounts of grants from Belfast City Council make up a small part of an organisation’s overall funding; however, securing this funding is extremely helpful for the organisations in securing additional funds. For the private sector the local council support shows a level of quality and acts almost like a stamp of approval which gives more confidence. Similarly, with other public sector funders, trusts and foundation, it is reassuring that another funder has awarded a grant and the project or organisation is not solely reliant on their funding. Please see description of funding schemes to see direct return for investment.

Research which has been carried out to date regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts

Economic - Council recognises that viable long term city regeneration can only occur in an environment of strategic partnership working as has proved to be the case across Europe and is even more important in Belfast. In order to assess the Economic Impact of community festivals within the City, Council has commissioned ongoing research in this area from Millward Brown Ulster.

Barriers to Access - Belfast City Council commissioned Audiences NI to carry out the ‘Barriers to Access’ research which identified barriers to people attending the arts. A mixture of traditional and perceived barriers were identified – cost, lack of time, location, lack of public transport, lack of information, unsuitable events and feeling uncomfortable or out of place, leading to the conclusion that audience development is an essential and long-term process. This research led to the creation of the initiative ‘Test Drive the Arts’.

Test Drive the Arts - Devised by Arts about Manchester and adopted by Audiences NI the ‘Test Drive the Arts’ framework was a first in Northern Ireland. Research identified trends in participation of cultural activities and continues to develop Council’s audience intelligence. The project reached 80 individuals who had never attended an arts event by providing free tickets for performances to households from Super Output Areas across the city. A direct mail-shot was sent to 2,500 households with a personalised letter offering two complimentary tickets. 120 complimentary tickets were offered in total during spring 2007 for events at Belfast Waterfront Hall, the Grand Opera House and an Ulster Orchestra concert, resulting in extremely positive feedback.

Balance between the community and professional sectors

Belfast City council introduced a groundbreaking Development and Outreach initiative in 2002. This was a new and innovative model of practice not been delivered elsewere. The main aim of the Development & Outreach Initiative (which started in 2002) was to strengthen communities with a weak cultural and arts infrastructure. It helps community groups learn new skills from cultural organisations. Assessment has indicated that this scheme overall has been successful and met its targets – one of the criteria is that there is a lead applicant working in partnership with community groups ensuring that quality arts delivery that is community focused. It has also provided professional organisations with an insight to the needs and difficulties of community groups.

Another factor is the Community Festivals Fund which has had a very positive impact in reaching a balance and ensuring engagement of the community arts sector. It has empowered local community groups and given them the opportunity and confidence of securing funding and organising festivals for local people. This is reinforced by the Festival Forum which has membership of both community and arts festivals.

Most cultural organisations have an education/outreach officer with the remit of diversifying audiences and tailoring activities for schools or community groups. So while e.g. the Ulster Orchestra is a professional arts organisation, they have an education officer and education assistant that run an extensive programme with schools and community groups. The approximate breakdown of organisations funded by Belfast City Council in 2008/2009 is 54% professional: 46% community.

Professional and community organisations funded by Belfast City Council

Targeting social need, encouraging community regeneration & engagement with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

Council has been proactive in developing opportunities for cultural and artistic engagement to enable greater levels of social inclusion, community development and inter-community contact work across Belfast. This has been delivered through the delivery of Culture & Arts / Good Relations funding, Community Festival Development, Training Programmes and Heritage Initiatives. Council aims to create safe and creative environments and provides platforms for discussion which promotes empathy, aiming to make our city a more inclusive place for all of its citizens.

Funding schemes - Through Funding Initiatives such as Development and Outreach which supports creative development in areas of deprivation and with disadvantaged groups, encourages accessibility to and participation in arts and heritage activities. Establishing Good Relations as a key criterion for funding Council has been actively positioning culture and arts as a mechanism for social and political change in Belfast, which has resulted in an increase across the city in the development of an appreciation of the value of arts and heritage leading to further trust and understanding. The majority of programmes have a cross-community element, encouraging people from traditionally polarised areas to imagine, work, play, and create together including programming to tackle various issues such as: sectarianism, racism, prejudice, homelessness identity, substance abuse, multi- culturalism, cultural diversity, disability and citizenship.

Development and Outreach fund

One of the criteria of the Development and Outreach fund is that the project benefits people living in TSN areas. The total amount of grants awarded last year was £160,000 for the Development and Outreach fund. It aims to equip community groups with the skills and partnerships to work on other activities in the future.

On average Belfast City Council funding represents approximately 50% of the collective budgets for projects funded through the Development & Outreach Initiative.

Criteria in funding schemes - The criteria established for funding programmes are relevant to both professional arts and community organisations. There are five specific areas included which are Leadership, Celebration Good Relations, Economic Regeneration and Management and Governance. Each are has equal weighting therefore providing the opportunity to address all areas of regeneration process that applies to Strategic Leadership, Creating Wealth and Quality of Life as outlined in the Integrated Cultural Strategy.

Community - Through numerous initiatives such as Re-Imaging Belfast, Training Programmes and the implementation of the Community festival Fund Council demonstrates a clear commitment to the communities of Belfast. This is enhanced by ongoing development work with the two major community festivals Orangefest and St. Patrick’s Day.

Through its involvement with the ACNI funded Re-Imaging Communities Project Council targets community groups throughout Belfast. This was initiated by conducting a series of workshops, managed by New Belfast Community Arts Initiative. These workshops resulted in a strategic plan which Belfast City Council is now taking forward through the current Re-imaging Communities Programme, contributing to capacity building within the community and improving community relations. A total of 12 re-imaging projects across Belfast will reflect the positive changes and social regeneration taking place in these communities, including helping the communities to replace existing murals with positive images reflecting their culture.

In addition, funding initiatives such as Development & Outreach and the Rolling Programme, support arts access and participation in communities across the city in Super Output areas. Initiatives such as Public Art and Community in the City are further examples of Council’s commitment to connectivity through ongoing engagement and consultation with individuals and communities throughout Belfast.

Community Festivals Fund - The purpose of this fund is to encourage the development of community festivals in Belfast. Promoting social cohesion, equality of opportunity, good relations and social inclusion, the aims and objectives of the scheme encourage participation, involvement and common interest, making an important contribution to the social well-being of the community. It aims to encourage activities in areas of social need. Belfast City Council held advice clinics in venues throughout Belfast. Almost £160,000 was awarded in grants in the first tranche of the Community Festivals Fund. It is anticipated that the 2009/2010 scheme will receive requests of up to six times available resources.

Local areas funded by Community Festivals Fund

Heritage – Heritage within the Council has supported cultural developments focused on audience development in four key areas. The Community Archive process is enabling and mediating between expressions of community and individual identities. Ongoing consultation and advice has contributed to major programmes and initiatives. All programmes will create opportunities to generate new and diverse audiences. The establishment of the Thompson Dock is an example of how Council has been instrumental in assisting in the development of a high-quality heritage product which appeals to local and international audiences. The Titanic Signature Project has been a result of working closely with NITB in developing an overall Northern Ireland brand and a subsidiary brand for this Signature Project. The Signature Project will be a £91 million iconic building with a display & exhibition area and conference facilities.

Skilled workforce - A skilled workforce is a critical feature of competitive cities. Across Council’s funding initiatives and specifically through the Community Festivals Fund and The Rolling Programme, provision is made for the inclusion of training programmes in a wide variety of skills development and specialist areas.

Encouraging community regeneration through public ar - Public art has a key role to play in cultural development with the Community Planning and regeneration processes. There is evidence of both need and desire from communities at a grass roots level to create visual landmarks which celebrate local identity as a way to address urban regeneration and improve the physical environmental. Belfast City Council has the opportunity to take the lead in responding to this demand thorough developing good practice and supporting communities and other interest groups.

An Artist in Residence was appointed three years ago as part of the continued development of public art; this is part of the Brighter Belfast programme. The Artist in Residence, Dr Eleanor Wheeler has promoted a consultative approach with communities through regeneration initiatives and programmes. A Public Art Officer has been agreed as part of the revenue estimates for 2008/9. This post is essential to provide a focus for the continued development of Public Art in Belfast. A searchable, publicly accessible website database for information relating to public artworks within Belfast is due to be launched. In addition, five major public art programmes are currently being delivered in North, South, East, West Belfast and Greater Shankill. Renewing the routes, Brighter Belfast Re- imaging communities programme.

‘Rise’ sculpture at Broadway roundabout - Belfast City Council has worked closely with Roads Service and the Department for Social Development and the Arts Council of NI who are key funders of the new sculpture which will be built at Broadway roundabout in Belfast. The total cost of the sculpture will be £400,000 and it will provide a beautiful landmark sculpture at a gateway to Belfast. The artist has been working with the local community groups who will have an input to the sculpture which will improve the local area at Broadway/St James.

Artform breakdown - Belfast City Council does not fund on an art form basis, funding is based upon criteria and awarded on merit. The art forms which receive the lowest levels of funding from Belfast City Council are Dance and in particular Ballet; Opera and literature – please see Figure 9. However, it is also important to note that umbrella organisations are under-represented. One difficulty is that they cannot be categorised as a particular art form yet they do invaluable work in strengthening the sector, almost acting like the cement and catalyst of the arts infrastructure in Northern Ireland.

NB - All organisations who secured funding from the Community Festivals Fund have been classified under the art form ‘Festivals’.

Figure 9: Funding of art forms by Belfast City Council – aggregate of five funding schemes

Belfast Community Circus School

Name: Will Chamberlain
Director of the following Organisations based in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter:
Belfast Community Circus School
Festival of Fools
Premiere Circus
Contact details:
23 & 25 Gordon Street, Belfast BT1 2LG

will@belfastcircus
www.belfastcircus.org
www.foolsfestival.com

Organisation background

Belfast Community Circus School was founded in 1985 and is the leading circus organisation in Ireland – running the only circus building in Ireland. It offers a wide range of circus arts training for around 270 children and young people each week at both its Belfast headquarters and in outreach projects across Northern Ireland; This work introduces young people to the arts and promotes personal development. The target audience for outreach is young people with fewer opportunities. Belfast Community Circus School has had a long history of engaging with youth circus around the world. This has included youth exchanges to Peru, Australia, USA, Germany, France and Belgium. In recent years, the Circus School has co-founded a pan European association of Youth and social circus organisation leading to exchanges of young people, trainers and methodology. The work of the Circus school with young people has been recognised in numerous references in academic theses and has even led to invitations from Cirque du Soleil to talk about its work. In addition, the Circus School provides professional development training to support existing artists and teachers and to encourage aspiring professionals into the field.

The Festival of Fools is the only street festival in Northern Ireland. Now in its sixth year, it brings the highest quality international street artists into Belfast City centre for five days. The original purpose was to redefine people’s relationship with the city centre in the post conflict era and to create shared space where people could enjoy the arts in the ultimate accessible experience – free of charge and centrally located. Now it is also a driver for tourism and supporting the retail and hospitality sectors of the city. The 2009 festival has gained the support of Victoria Square as lead sponsor – a recognition of the retail benefits the festival brings to the city.

Premiere Circus is a social economy business which operates an agency selling the services of circus artists to businesses, local authorities and events in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. Premiere Circus exists to provide employment for artists and to support initiatives which promote business and tourism into Northern Ireland. All profits for Premiere Circus go towards the Belfast Community Circus School.

The collective turnover for all three organisations was £670,000 in 2007/08. (Up from a base of £68,000 in 1999.) Of this £190,000 was derived from Arts Council through Annual Support and Lottery funding. There are 7 full time staff and 23 self employed artists employed by the three organisations.

Will Chamberlain is currently Chair of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival and is on the board of the Black Box venue as well as being a founder member of the Cathedral Quarter Steering Group. In the past, Will has been the Chair of the Community Arts Forum and has spent two years as a member of the Arts Council.

1. Per Capita Spend

It is a well established fact that per capita spend in Northern Ireland is well below that of the rest of the UK. In correspondence with Direct Rule Ministers, I was unable to secure any kind of justification as to why this inequality existed. Since devolved responsibility for arts funding has passed to Stormont, the per capita discrepancy has narrowed, but is still significant (most notably in comparison with Scotland) and remains unexplained. With respect to Scotland, it would appear that the higher investment in the arts has resulted from a combination of factors. These would include an apparently higher value placed on presenting an image of Scotland as a powerhouse of the arts presenting a positive image of the country to the ‘outside world’; the desire to support investment in the arts as an economic driver; and an acknowledgement of the role of the arts in supporting a greater quality of life and ‘national confidence’.

On a classical economic model, the logic dictates that, if you want the same level of services in a place the size of Northern Ireland, you would need a much higher per capita spend than in somewhere the size of England due to economies of scale. In respect of the arts, if Northern Ireland is to have a comparable breadth and quality of provision as elsewhere in the UK, a considerable uplift is required in order to ensure that we can sustain producing theatre companies, resident opera production, a full scale classical music orchestra etc.

Our experience with EU partners is that there is far greater investment in arts activity involving young people. This investment comes from a wider range of agencies than is the case in Northern Ireland. In addition to funding from National Arts agencies, there is significant support from municipal government and far more investment from social and youth agencies and from the education system. The reasons we have been given for this much greater level of investment in youth arts is that the social and personal development impacts of using circus arts with young people had widespread recognition. Surprisingly, this is not due to any significant body of evaluation, or research (in fact Belfast Community Circus School has a greater body of reports) but rather it is due to a more holistic approach to supporting the development of young people and the willingness of agencies to visit projects and to accept the evidence of their own eyes.

With respect to street theatre, again there are far higher levels of investment in street arts across Europe than in Northern Ireland. In France, the annual funding for one leading company alone is equivalent to 10 times the total spent on all street theatre in Northern Ireland. Street theatre in Europe is regarded as being an important civic celebration, which, in most cases, is supported due to its contribution to the wellbeing of local people and the ‘social glue’ it brings rather than any thoughts that it acts as a driver for tourism.

2. Sourcing Additional Funding

It should be noted that the idea of sourcing additional funding should not be seen as an alternative to adequate resourcing for the arts in Northern Ireland, but should rather be seen as avenue towards enhancing the impact and quality of work carried out by a properly funded arts sector.

The Circus School has extensive and close links with comparable organisations across Europe. This experience has shown that the biggest source of additional revenue comes from other areas of government apart from arts and cultural ministries. These additional resources come from the likes of Departments of Education, Social Development, Health and Employment. Given that these are government departments, it would seem that the best hope of securing additional funding would be through the long awaited introduction of ‘joined up government’

Our experience working with other European arts organisations has revealed that in most other countries there is a much more progressive approach to identifying and securing EU funding under the Culture, Youth and Training strands of support offered by the EU. There seems to be a lack of expertise and advice available to arts organisations in Northern Ireland. Occasionally, an organisation called EUCLID is brought over for an information day, but this merely signposts organisations to EU websites and offers no practical support to advance applications. On a visit to Aarhus in Denmark, we were struck by the way that the arts unit from the local authority had a level of devolved power and were constituted to apply for EU Culture grants in collaboration with local arts organisations.

Whilst organisations such as the Community Arts Forum provide an excellent information signposting towards various funding possibilities, there is nowhere to actually receive help in applying for funds.

One suggestion would be to look at the work of the Arts Council and explore ways in which it could be freed up to support complex EU applications. One way this might be possible would be through lobbying DCMS to relax the excessively time consuming monitoring requirements for the National Lottery. This would free up considerable human resources in the Arts Council, which could then be directed towards supporting arts organisations to make applications to other funding agencies. However, it is vital that this does not take up additional resources, but is only viable if savings are made from Lottery monitoring.

This partnership focussed approach between organisations and the Arts Council could lead to increased quality across the sector and enhance transparency in applications and monitoring processes.

In addition, such a change to monitoring would free up massive amounts of time within the arts sector and would also free up the associated cost!

Another suggestion would be to direct existing research resources within the Arts Council towards identifying new sources of funding for the arts.

3. Stocktake of research

The hard copy of this submission contains a number of evaluations into the social impact of circus arts and young people.

4.

(a) It is the opinion of the Belfast Community Circus School that the Arts Council has made significant steps in recent years to recalibrating the funding imbalance which had been very evident in respect of community and professional arts. We would also like to point out that community arts are often delivered by working with professionals of the very highest order and the very fact that one form is labelled community whilst the other is labelled professional is both misleading and indicative of a value placed on each form. Despite the progress, there is still an unspoken assumption that community arts in some way equates to ‘cheap and unprofessional’ and there is a ceiling to funding for community arts organisations which is far lower than for ‘professional’ arts.

b) Belfast Community Circus School has worked extensively in areas of high social need and it is our experience that this work requires greater resources in order to establish the groundwork for a successful project and requires artists with specialist training to deliver the project. However, is would be our experience that this work is not sufficiently resourced. As in the observation for point a) it is the case that work in the community has a lower level of resources than ‘professional’ arts.

c) Whilst there are significant initiatives focussed on community regeneration being delivered through the Arts Council, this would not be a priority. We would argue that the arts is but one contributory factor to this regeneration and that the onus lies with other government departments such as DSD and DETI to establish the foundations for such regeneration and that the arts can then make a significant impact, but this cannot be done alone.

d) We feel that much progress has been made in engaging with these communities and grants such as Awards for All have made a contribution to these communities accessing funds. Up until now this grant has been ridiculously demanding in terms of the application process, but it is anticipated that the new Small Grants scheme to be administered directly by the Arts Council will be much more straightforward. In terms of capacity building, we feel that the absence of an arts infrastructure is a reflection of weak community infrastructure and that this needs to be addressed by agencies such as DSD and Youth Service.

6. Art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities

We feel very strongly that circus and street arts receive inadequate funding in relation to the volume of work carried out, the audience numbers, participant numbers, social impact, targeting social need and the benefits for Northern Ireland.

The work we carry out receives Annual Support of £147,500. This work reaches well over 200,000 audience members each year and involves the participation of more than 1,200 young people and adults in projects across Northern Ireland. This contrasts with an allocation of more than £2 million for another organisation with an audience of 50,000 people and far less engagement with TSN and urban regeneration. Whilst we are not claiming that the quality of performance or participation is the same, it is undeniable that the circus and street theatre sector is not resourced to anywhere near the level of a great many other sectors within the arts. Were circus and street theatre supported to the same level as these other sectors, the quality would increase massively and we would see a massive increase in the number of people participating in circus activity and enjoying circus and street theatre performances. The Festival of Fools is Northern Ireland’s most accessible arts festival, yet it is dependent on Lottery funding. After five years of building an international festival, which attracts between 30-40,000 audience members each year and which was named as UK’s number 2 Boutique Festival by the Observer Newspaper, the Festival of Fools has only just this week been awarded funding for one part time staff member and this means that the planning and preparation is still done largely by volunteers. (Voluntary commitment valued at more than 1,100 hours and equating to approximately £20k)

General Observations about arts funding

To begin with, the underfunding of the arts in Northern Ireland is without justification; it is denying the rights of the people of Northern Ireland to enjoy the same level of cultural participation as other parts of the UK. Whilst it is understood that we are in unprecedented economic straits, the funds necessary to bring Northern Ireland’s arts funding up to that of the rest of the UK is miniscule in the scheme of things.

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has serious financial restrictions, but it also operates under a system where new organisations are rarely admitted into the system even when their merit outweighs those of organisations which are already funded. This situation will only change with an increase in overall funding settlement for the arts in Northern Ireland and with a determination to start each year with a ‘clean sheet’ approach judging organisations solely by their proposed programme for the coming year set against achievements during the current year without reference to historical funding and long gone reputations. This would be a challenging scenario with many contested decisions (as has recently been the case in England where a clean sweep approach was tried) but difficult decisions should not be delayed for ever just because they are potentially controversial. Some leadership from Stormont here would be good to see.

Observations about the short termism of arts funding

Even though the Arts Council has introduced a 3 year funding programme, this does not deliver any minimum funding guarantees for organisations accepted onto this scheme. All funding decisions are delivered a month before the new financial year. This means that, for most arts organisations, they are forced to plan the programme for the coming year without any financial security. With any business, the financial projections are based on the prevailing economic situation and current trading conditions. With arts funding, there is no such solidity in the predictive model.

This situation could be improved significantly by bringing forward the annual decision making and by guaranteeing minimum levels of funding for clients on the 3 year programme. This would improve the planning capability of arts organisations and result in enhanced delivery.

5 year funding of projects and programmes would be very positive. 3 year funding allows project development but its often the case that once a project is working to its full potential funding runs out or attention has to be diverted to re-funding

Big Lottery have engaged this longer term funding through a number of their programmes and it allows organisations to maximise potential and incorporate key projects as part of their infrastructure. Such a long term approach also frees up fundraising time and allows groups to focus on their core and crucial work.

Additional observations on funding deadlines

There are a number of events and festivals which fall in the first couple of months of the financial year (including the Festival of Fools) and these are seriously disadvantaged by the fact that many funding decisions are not reached until February or March. This means that these Festivals are effectively having to gamble on being awarded funding, or not apply for funds. Examples of funds governed by DCAL would include the Events Company and the Community Festivals Fund. In addition, the events grants offered by DSD would also fall into this category.

The argument advanced to defend this situation has always been that decisions cannot be given in advance of the annual budget settlement. However, it is perfectly possible to give indicative figures to arts organisations which will enable them to plan more effectively and to develop programmes more strategically. The arts sector is not a child, it is capable of understanding that indicative means that things will change if the overall arts settlement changes and plan with intelligence and prudence.

Specific thoughts about Circus and Street Arts

Over the past ten years we have witnessed and built on continuous growth in the demand for participatory circus learning experiences; for professional circus and street theatre performances; and in the role of Belfast Community Circus School and Festival of Fools as producers of street theatre programming. During this period, the turnover has increased by 1000%. This is in stark contrast to the experience of most of the traditional areas of focus for Arts Council spending.

This demand continues to grow, however, the ability to supply that demand has reached its limit. The result is that we are having to turn down requests for performance and for workshop projects. This has an adverse impact on the economy, tourism and the personal development of participants. The Circus School has been trying to address this situation for the past three years by attempting to stage a full time training course to create more artists and teachers. However, despite approaches to DEL, DETI and DCAL, there is no funding available for the staging of such a training course.

Circus and street theatre is one of the few areas in the arts where demand is increasing and it is extremely frustrating that there is no funding to support this demand. In a week where we understand that Invest NI is to spend £6,000 per job created in the call centre business, it highlights not only the priorities of the Stormont Government, but also the inability for government to think in any way outside the box.

We have enclosed a hard copy document outlining the costs and advantages of running professional development training which illustrates this last point..

Belfast Festival at Queen’s

1. Executive Summary

1.1 Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s is one of the oldest and most prestigious arts festivals in the UK and Ireland. It is Northern Ireland’s flagship festival. The 47th festival will take place in the autumn of 2009. In 2008 the festival sold a record number of 43,500 tickets. It welcomed 479 international artists to the city along with a visiting audience of 1300 from out-of-state, all availing of hotel accommodation. Major cultural events of international significance are crucial if Northern Ireland is to compete on a global stage. In early 2008, a £300,000 funding package was agreed by Minister Edwin Poots to secure the future of the festival until 2010/2011. This was followed by a sponsorship deal with the Ulster Bank Group worth £1.3million over the same period.

1.2 Van Morrison, Seamus Heaney, CS Lewis, Marie Jones, Liam Neeson, James Galway, Snow Patrol – these are names that have helped to put Belfast on the map. When you showcase the best of what Northern Ireland culture has to offer alongside international arts and culture of the very highest quality, you get a dream ticket: this is what Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s offers.

“Belfast Festival is instrumental in expanding people’s musical influences and inspiring us to look beyond our immediate surroundings." Snow Patrol

1.3 The festival creates an environment for talent to thrive, developing emerging artists who are exposed to the best the world has to offer and creating a magnet for visitors to the city. It is one of the key events which ensures that culture and the arts make the optimum impact on the city and region. It provides a strong, positive identity for the Belfast, showcasing to the world a mature, vibrant cultural capital, and fostering a real sense of celebration for audiences at home. The scope and breadth of artistic programme ensures a high level of inclusivity.

“Unlike some Festivals and greatly to its advantage there is no evidence of that schizophrenic division between high and low culture." George Melly

1.4 Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s works in partnership with Belfast’s major venues, adding real value over and above their existing cultural offerings, and providing access to new audiences. It also provides the perfect vehicle for the promotion of the use of public space in new and creative ways across the city.

1.5 Tangible economic benefits include a total spend in the economy of £7.9 million in 2008 compared to turnover of £1.75 million. Inward investors identify ‘quality of life’ as a key influencer in their decision making process and this festival ensures Northern Ireland can compete with other UK regions. It also has the critical mass to attract significant private sector income to the arts as evidenced by the Ulster Bank sponsorship deal.

1.6 Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s is a cultural asset, with deep roots. It has never been more needed than it is today. It is a flagship event which provides focus for economic growth through the development of destination tourism, hospitality and the entertainment industry. Everyone benefits from a strong festival.

2. Our Vision

To be a bold, distinctive, international arts festival which inspires, influences, informs and entertains audiences and artists locally, nationally, and worldwide.

3. Our Mission

Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s provides the best total arts experience on this island, portraying a positive image of Belfast and the region and acting as a catalyst for creative initiatives through the delivery of high-quality invited and commissioned events.

4. Our Aims

• Maintain and develop position as a high quality, ambitious and distinctive international arts festival rooted in the city
• Deliver a positive international cultural profile for the city of Belfast and Northern Ireland
• Reap significant economic benefits for the city and the region - ensuring there is a lasting legacy
• Showcase Northern Irish talent and communities in ways that reflect the ambition of the festival
• Reach out to widest audience across Northern Ireland community and beyond, providing an opportunity for shared celebration and fostering a sense of pride and ownership
• To ensure long-term sustainability through sound financial management, increased engagement of the private sector and increased public funding

5. Funding Comparisons with other International Festivals

The table below benchmarks the funding mix of Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s against other international festivals in the UK and Ireland. It is clear that public body financial support in Northern Ireland is below average, with the festival raising 75% of its revenue from box office and other sources.

Funding Source	Belfast Festival (2007 actual)	Belfast Festival (2008)	Manchester International Festival 2007	Edinburgh International Festival (2007)	Brighton Festival (2006)	Bath (2007)	Dublin Theatre Festival (2006)
Turnover (£m)	1.53	1.75	9.00	8.10	2.50	0.92	1.68
Ticket sales (%)	33.5	28.0	14.0	30.0	37.0	32.0	35.0
Sponsors/ Funds (%)	16.5	29.0	40.0	20.0	15.0	21.0	26.0
University (%)	20.0	18.0	-	-	-	-	-
Subtotal (%)	70.0	75.0	54.0	50.0	52.0	43.0	51.0
City Council (%)	4.5	4.0	26.0	7.0	20.0	27.0	11.25
Arts Councils & Government (%)	25.5	21.0	19.5	43.0	28.0	20.0	37.75
Total (%)	30.0	25.0	45.5	50.0	48.0	47.0	49.0

6. Additional Funding: Private Sector

In 2008 the festival attracted a sponsorship package from the Ulster Bank Group worth £1.3million over 3 years. This is by far the biggest single investment made by the private sector in Northern Ireland and it sends out a very clear message to the business community that the arts sector represents good business which benefits our community, our economy and our international status. The first year of the partnership between the bank and the festival in 2008 was very successful, with research carried out by the bank suggesting that brand awareness of both the festival and the bank has increased as a result. As a percentage of turnover, private sector investment in this festival is very high.

7. Research on Economic Impact of Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s

During the 2008 event the organisation surveyed a random sample of 600 customers in order to estimate the overall economic impact of the festival. It used methodology developed by the British Arts Festivals Association from research conducted with 135 festivals. Customers were asked to estimate how much they spent on goods such as accommodation, food, drink, parking, shopping and other attractions. This enabled the festival to calculate the indirect and induced impact of ancillary spending alongside that of its own direct spend. The results show that Ulster Bank Belfast at Queen’s contributed an estimated £7.9million to the economy of Northern Ireland in 2008. A healthy 6.3% of respondents stayed in hotel accommodation. This equates to over 1300 people and, together with visiting festival artists, gave rise to an estimated 4000 bed nights in Belfast. If the economic impact is divided by the average weekly wage supplied by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, then this equates to 311 full-time jobs.

8. Contribution to the Community

Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s aims to ‘reach out to widest audience across Northern Ireland community and beyond, providing an opportunity for shared celebration and fostering a sense of pride and ownership’. The organisation is making a concerted effort to widen the demographic of its audience. Specific targets within this strategic aim are to:

• Increase attendance among those living in disadvantaged areas by 10% in 2009/10 and 2010/11;
• Increase attendances by minority groups and people with disabilities by 10% in 2009/10 and 2010/11
• Increase attendance among the 16-24 age group to 17.5% in 2009/2010 and 20% in 2010/2011

Baseline figures will be set in early 2009 after a mosaic analysis of the 2008 has been conducted by Audiences NI.

9. Community Outreach and Engagement Schemes

The festival currently operates two community schemes which are oversubscribed and has submitted recent funding applications to Peace III, the Community Festivals Fund and OFMDFM in order to develop this area of activity.

9.1 Community Ticket Scheme

This scheme provides discounted tickets (£5) to schools and community groups to encourage them to attend specially selected festival events. 790 tickets were sold through this scheme in 2008 and 25 schools attended the festival. In 2009, 1000 tickets will be made available.

9.2 Hitch-hikers Guide to the Festival

This programme is designed to build awareness of arts culture as well as mutual understanding between communities through a curated festival journey. It is targeted at groups who have not experienced the Belfast Festival at Queen’s in the past, and aims to dispel the myths and stereotypes surrounding the arts as well as providing opportunities to become acquainted with other cultures through attending a diverse range of events. The scheme is delivered in partnership with the ‘Workers’ Education Authority’ and free tickets are supplied together with a tour guide. The following groups will participate in 2009:

• Ballybeen Women’s centre - East Belfast
• Belfast Foyer -South Belfast
• Carew II - Inner East Belfast
• Survivors of Trauma - North Belfast
• Footprints Women’s Group - Poleglass
• Greenway Women’s Group - Cregagh
• Take 2, Shankilll -Shankill
• The Vine Centre - Crumlin Road

10. Conclusion

The Northern Ireland Executive’s Programme for Government aims to create a region which offers a high quality of life to those who wish to live and work here. The Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s enriches quality of life in Belfast through a vision which provides new artistic and cultural experiences where they wouldn’t otherwise exist. It provides a major opportunity for celebration, bringing high quality international art to Belfast, and focuses international attention on the local dynamic arts sector. It is an international showcase which allows the Northern Ireland audience to hold up a mirror to itself through its own arts practitioners, to look at itself in the light of other world cultures and to broaden cultural horizons through exposure to excellence within these cultures.

The festival provides significant economic benefits. For Northern Ireland to take its place on the world stage as a vibrant cultural region with a lot to offer to both its citizens and its visitors, then Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s represents an excellent investment. Currently government investment is low when compared to other festivals in the UK and Ireland. The Festival is supported by direct investment from the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure, over a three-year period which ends in 2010/2011. To ensure its continued success and development towards its 50th anniversary and beyond, it is essential that additional public funds are invested in Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s - Northern Ireland’s flagship festival..

Big Telly

Cairncastle LOL 692
Community and Cultural Group

Adrian Rolston & Robert Acheson

26th February 2009.

1. Preface

1.1. The Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group (Association) should like to thank the DCAL Committee on its timely inquiry into the funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland.

1.2. We have felt for some time that the recognition by the arts establishment of groups working within the unionist community was an issue that needed to be recognised and positively addressed.

2. Introduction

1.1. Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group (Association) currently runs the annual Ulster-Scots Folk Festival in July, monthly soirees, annual Burns Night and weekly highland dancing classes in Cairncastle village within the electoral Ward of Cairncastle in the borough of Larne. This area suffers from isolation and a lack of access to services and therefore we feel that our area suffers from a geographic inequality in provision of services.

1.2. In the past two years the Association’s artists have developed an East-West Ulster-Scots relationship. This is a progression of the relationship developed over the centuries between the communities on both sides of the Irish Sea, when they traded with each other and holidayed in each other’s resorts. Indeed, East Antrim people feel geographically closer to the West Coast of Scotland rather than other parts of Northern Ireland, as their preference is to holiday in Stranraer, Ayr etc rather than Portrush, Bangor etc.

1.3. The Association would like to take our Ulster-Scots operation to the next level eg musical tuition for the youth and elderly, including further developing the East-West Ulster-Scots relationships with interested citizens on the West Coast of Scotland, and eventually establish a “Musical/Arts Centre". The Association would find this difficult to achieve with voluntary labour and lack of East-West funding, and feel we have reached the stage that both East-West funding and a funded permanent part time person are required to take the operation to the next stage.

3. Annual Festival

3.1 The first festival was held in 2000 for one evening, in the open air with approximately 10 artists and approximately 100 visitors, when members of the community decided to alleviate their community’s loneliness. This was easily serviced with voluntary labour, as there was minimal administration involved.

3.2 With the festival being so successful, the Association decided to hold an annual festival based on folk culture and mainly on Ulster-Scots tradition. Since then, the festival has progressively increased in size and stature. It is now held over five days in a large marquee in Cairncastle village, with over 200 artists and approximately 1,500 visitors attending. People attending the 2008 festival took approximately 150 bed-nights, and they came from as far afield as Australia, USA, Canada, Eastern Europe and remainder of the British Isles. Locally, people came from South Down, various parts of Counties Londonderry and Tyrone. The activities include Poetry, Highland Dancing, Folk singing and musicians playing a variety of instruments.

3.3 The extent of administration that is required to service this size of a festival has increased enormously from the first festival, and the Association is finding it difficult to get adequate volunteers possessing the necessary skills to carry out essential tasks.

4. Burns Night

4.1. Over the past eight years the Association has also celebrated the Scottish poet, Robbie Burns, each year. With the traditional Scottish flavoured Burn’s night.

5. Soirees

5.1. The festival was so successful in 2004 that some of those who attended it requested that the Ulster-Scots musical events be continued throughout the year, with the result, the Association decided to hold a soiree each month in Cairncastle orange hall. Initially, there were only about two dozen people attending each event including 3 or 4 people having musical skills, which was probably gained at school and in their home, they lacked audience exposure. Through Soiree practices, these people have developed their skills becoming competent artists. Although they are to some extent restricted in the variety of songs they can play.

5.2. Over the past 3 years the attendance has gradually increased to 100 including 20 musicians of varying skills and 4 juniors. This success has been achieved mainly through attendees networking and to some extent press publications etc. The additional artists also lacked audience exposure etc and are gradually developing these skills.

5.3. Attendees come from various parts of Counties Antrim and Londonderry eg Antrim, Limavady, portglenone and at times as far afield as USA, Canada, India and Japan.

5.4. The success of the soiree has put additional pressures on an already scarce administrative resource. The Association felt they had no other alternative but to hold the soirees, as there was a demand at grass roots level for it, and it helped alleviate some of the village’s isolation. It also enabled the Association to develop and promote the Ulster-Scots culture over the whole year. The alternative would have been unthinkable, as we would not be meeting the public needs and restricting the community growth and development in folk culture and Ulster-Scots tradition.

6. Highland Dancing

6.1. Towards the end of 2007 members of the local community approached the Association requesting that highland dancing classes be held, as there were no classes being held in the area covering north Belfast, County Antrim and East and South of County Londonderry.

6.2. The Association felt this was an ideal opportunity to engage broader membership of the community in the Scottish tradition and further develop Ulster-Scots culture in this area. The classes commenced in March 2008. There is currently an average of 25 children attending each class. This has imposed additional administrative demands on the voluntary Association.

7. Summer School

7.1. The Association runs an Ulster-Scots one-week summer school for children, over the same period as the festival is held. The summer school introduces children to Ulster-Scots culture and tradition eg various musical instruments, Ulster-Scots language etc.

8. East-West Relationships

8.1. In 2005 the Association commenced exploring the feasibility of developing Ulster-Scots musical and cultural relationships with interested communities on the West Coast of Scotland at their own expense. This entailed the Association’s folk band, the Grouse Beaters, visiting and playing with communities from Stranraer to Glasgow. More detailed information is in appendix 1.

8.2. Enthusiasm to establish relationships was found in Dunoon, Ardrossan and Ayrshire coastal communities, where the band has played in these locations on a few occasions. The band was invited by Ardrossan community to participate in the launching of their festival, which they attended in May 2008.

8.3. Unfortunately, Ardrossan was unable to obtain suitable funding from either their local or central Government for the trip. We enquired with the Agency and Minister Edwin Poots if funding was available, and was advised current regulations does not permit East-West funding. The Association is very concerned with the lack of East-West funding, as it is inhibiting further development of relationships that have been established over the past three years.

9. Senior Citizens Musical Club

9.1. As there are no community activities within a 5-mile radius of Cairncastle village and all services including shopping must be accessed in the town of Larne, which proves difficult for many of our residents who have no personal transport. Our Association is planning to run a Senior Citizens Musical Club from May 2009.

9.2. The club will meet in the afternoon from 1.00pm to 5.00pm on the first and third Wednesday of each month in Cairncastle Orange hall. The project will provide an opportunity for senior citizens to gather in the hall, mix with each other, people will sing tell storeys, others will play musical instruments eg fiddle, accordion, drum. It will not be an organised event, it will be a relaxed leisurely atmosphere, where people will feel free to participate if they wish.

10. Scottish Country Dancing

10.1. In response to community demand our Association is planning to run Scottish Country Dancing classes. We anticipate the classes to commence in September 2009.

11. Musical Tuition Classes

11.1. Our Association has made preliminary plans to run classes in teaching people to play musical instruments eg fiddle, Accordion, drums etc. Although, a number of people has indicated an interest we are waiting until the festival workshop to determine extent of interest and preference of instruments. It will also depend on funding to purchase instruments.

11.2. When plans are finalised we will advise the schools in the surrounding area of the classes being held and if any children are interested to attend.

11.3. Commence youth musical classes for the fiddle, flute, accordion, drums etc. This would develop the skills of young members of the community, who have a knowledge of playing an instrument, in folk music and as a member of a band. People with no knowledge of playing an instrument would also be trained.

12. Costing

12.1. The following financial values are an estimate of the annual costing for running the current and proposed events.

• Annual festival £83,807.63
• Soirees £8,995.00
• Highland Dancing £7,581.50
• Burns Night £1,660.00
• Summer School £5,700.00
• Senior Citizens Musical Club £6,032.00
• Country Dancing £5,240.00
• Musical Tuition £9,608.00
• Total £128,624.13

13. Ulster-Scots Agency

13.2. The Ulster-Scots Agency (Agency) makes a funding contribution to most of the events we run. The contribution varies depending on the type of event we are running, as the Agency has different levels of funding for each category of events eg festivals, events, tutorials etc, and they do not fund running costs, capital items or insurance.

13.3. The Agency indicates in their festival application form that they will fund 75% of costs incurred up to a maximum of £30,000.00. We submitted £21,625.91 in our 2008 application form and was awarded £14,100.91 which is only 65%. Thus leaving a shortfall of £7,525.00. With the result that we had to trim the festival events.

13.4. We submitted an application form for 10 soirees to the Agency claiming £8,995.00. The Agency awarded us £2,500.00. As it treated our monthly soiree as an event and awarded their standard event funding of £250.00 for each session, irrespective of how much the soiree is costing our Association. With the result we had to reduce the number of artists appearing, making it a less entertaining and satisfying event, as we could not raise the shortfall locally.

13.5. Regarding the highland dancing classes, these are treated as tutorials and the Agency funds 75% of hall hiring, tutor’s wage and telephone/postage costs. They also fund 100% of tutor’s travelling expenses. This level of funding is about bearable as it requires our Association to source additional funding to break even.

13.6. Finally, we find the funding application form to be completed for a one off event eg Burns Night is very bureaucratic for a grant of only £250.00. The amount of bureaucracy puts small groups off applying thus restricting small group development.

14. Northern Ireland Arts Council

14.1. We had a meeting with Damian Smyth of the Northern Ireland Arts Council (Council) in December 2008 regarding funding the shortfall and funding a part time development officer, which was very favourable. Further telephone conversations took place subsequent to the meeting and costing shown in paragraph 11 along with the following capital costing was forwarded in early February 2009.

• Fiddle £270.00 (3 off)
• Drum £250.00 (1 off)
• Accordion £1,500.00 (1 off)
• Bongo £190.00 (1 off)
• Flute £210.00 (3 off)
• Guitar £400.00 (1 off)
• PA System £1,900.00
• Lap Top £500.00
• Broadband £250.00
• Telephone £700.00 (2 people & based on costs incurred in last 3 months)

We are awaiting their response.

14.2. Although the Council staff have been more than helpful to us since we approached them. Nevertheless, I feel it is only right for me to state that small Groups like us find it difficult to identify the Council as a funding body suitable for our needs. Indeed, I have been to two funding shows in the past year, which were organised by a DSD funded body and the Ulster-Scots Agency and Council weren’t represented at either of them. I suggest the Council should inform local Councils etc of the funding available to small rural isolated groups.

15. Larne Borough Council

15.1. Larne Borough Council provided funding in 2008 for our events as follows:

• £6,000.00 towards our Festival; and
• £1,000.00 towards our Soirees.

16. Media

16.1. In the past year BBC – Radio Ulster’s door has been opened to us, as, at our Association’s request, they recorded a Hogmonny programme in the Half Way House Hotel and broadcast it on New Year’s Eve. Since then, they have included us on the A Kist O’ Wurds and Your Place and Mine programmes. However, even though BBC has been very good at making these broadcasts, our Association feel that the broadcasting of Ulster-Scots culture and events is underrepresented in comparison to the extent of broadcasting that Nationalist/Irish Language culture receives, especially on the Arts Extra programme, when Ulster-Scots events are rarely, if ever, broadcast.

16.2. We made a few approaches, both directly and indirectly, to BBC TV regarding the feasibility of them producing a documentary of our annual festival, unfortunately without much success. Our Association would like BBC TV to undertake the production of a documentary of our 2009 festival. We would appreciate any assistance the committee, or members of the committee, could give in achieving this goal.

16.3. Both the Newsletter and the two local papers have published numerous articles on our events. This has been tremendous help to our Association in raising the profile of our events. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the Belfast Telegraph. After speaking to members of staff in both the News and feature sections, I forwarded draft articles by email for editing and publication. Neither of them was published, and on contacting them their reply was that “it wasn’t published owing to production/editing priorities. Again our Association would appreciate any assistance the committee, or members of the committee, could give in having pre-festival articles published in the Belfast Telegraph.

17. Ulster-Scots Musical/Arts Centre

17.1. It is our Association’s medium term objective to have an Ulster-Scots Musical/Arts Centre established in Cairncastle village. The village is in the centre of East Antrim coast and the Centre could cover the history of Ulster-Scots, Irish American etc people that migrated from and to East Antrim.

17.2. The Centre would be a tremendous boost to Cairncastle village and the Ulster-Scots culture in East Antrim. It would attract tourism to the area and create employment in a rural isolated village, where people feel lonely due to the lack of services etc. Our Association would appreciate if the committee, or members of the committee, could support us in achieving this objective by ensuring adequate funding is provided.

18. Stocktake of Research

18.1. We feel that Part 3 of the terms of reference (ToR) represents a major opportunity to reinforce community cohesion and strengthen intergenerational engagement. A stock take of research, or the lack of it, in our case, would present an opportunity to measure the benefits that could accrue in social and economic terms through investment in the arts in their broadest sense.

19. Allocation of Public Funding to the Arts

19.1. In Part 4 (a) of the ToR we would seek a better balance in funding between the community and professional arts sectors. Presently it is difficult for groups such as ours to be aware of potential arts funding sources. We also find a lack of expertise in completing applications due in no small measure to the format of the forms that require completion. Their relevance to our actual needs is sometimes not readily apparent and may lead to a non-award and subsequent reluctance to enter into future application processes.

19.2. At 4 (b) we would point out that in an area such as ours the concept of TSN is difficult to apply accurately. We have a proportion of retired persons and others with reasonable standards of income interspersed with a scattered rural community in which pockets of deprivation are present. These, however, tend to be submerged when the ward indices are published.

19.3. At 4 (c) we feel that our work over the last nine years has enabled a limited degree of community regeneration to occur but this has been constrained by some of the issues raised above.

19.4. At 4(d) we would identify our community as one that has historically found it difficult to develop a vibrant arts infrastructure and consequently we have not had access to support and funding at a level commensurate to our activities.

20. Adequate Funding of Art Forms

20.1. In part 6 of the ToR. The rural unionist communities generally have been suspicious of the arts establishment and reticent to approach them for help and advice. This perception that we would not be accepted for what we are and what we are attempting to portray is widespread. This feeling is reinforced by a lack of visibility within the wider arts fraternity and an almost total absence from the media.

21. Conclusion

21.1. The Association’s operation has gradually grown to its current level with the support of voluntary administrative labour and at artists own expense when playing on the West Coast of Scotland. Adequate funding is required for the employment of a permanent part time person and artists expense, to permit the Association’s momentum to be raised to the next level.

21.2. The economic spin-off would be enormous for communities in both East Antrim and West Coast of Scotland, as increased travel will take place between the communities, thus increasing tourism and boosting the local economies.

21.3. If funding is not forthcoming, then the Association’s development will have to be curtailed and in some instances current events may have to be restricted, disappointing many enthusiastic members of the Ulster-Scots community.

21.4. Finally we feel that the work that we have engaged in for some time now has paid dividends in terms of our community. It has strengthened our confidence, included participants of all ages in reflecting via music, dance and written expressions of who we are and how we wish to be viewed. We have already reached out in intra community and inter community manner reinforcing the concept of a “Shared Vision." We are confident that, if properly supported, this process has tremendous potential for both participants and visitors who can explore and appreciate a unique culture. Given our location along the Antrim Coast Road the tourist industry opportunities are obvious and enormous.

22. Appendix 1

Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group Development
of East-West Relationships

22.1. Shortly after the Grouse Beaters Folk Band (band) was formed by Cairncastle LOL 692 Community and Cultural Group (Association), the Association adopted a strategy of developing Ulster-Scots musical and culture relationships with interested communities on the West Coast of Scotland.

22.2. In 2005 the Association explored the feasibility of such a relationship in Stranraer by the band visiting and playing with the community, and had their Scottish country-dance band “Runt of the Litter" participating at the Association’s 2006 festival. Both visits were successful and enjoyed by the artists involved. However, the Association did not observe much enthusiasm by the Stranraer community for establishing a long-term Ulster-Scots relationship.

22.3. In 2006 the Association continued their exploration of the West Coast where the band visited the Ayrshire coast and played with a number of communities. These communities were much more receptive to the idea of establishing an Ulster-Scots relationship. Contact was made with both Cllr Billy Crawford and Mr Billy Irvine, who, in there own way, have been invaluable in developing relationships with the Association over the past two years. They also met Ms Karen Mack of West Sound Radio in Ayr who has supported the relationships and given both the band and Cairncastle festivals airtime.

22.4. Relationships continued to develop in 2007 with both Cllr Billy Crawford and Mr Billy Irvine and their partners visiting Cairncastle festival, and Karen Mack being an artist. The band visited and played at Cummnock and Ardrossan in 2007, where the Ardrossan community were so impressed with the Grouse Beaters that they formed their own folk band “The Whitlees Community Band", who played at the 2008 Cairncastle Ulster-Scots Folk Festival.

22.5. Exploration of the relationship continued up the West Coast where contact was made with Mr Tony Collins of Dunoon in 2005. Tony both played and hosted our festivals since then and THE AULD BORES folk band accompanied him to our 2008 festival.

22.6. Earlier this year the relationship continued to grow when Ardrossan community invited the Grouse Beater’s band to help launch their Festival on the 16th and 17th May 2008, and bring a flavour of our music to the event. The band willingly accepted their invitation and found the visit a most enjoyable experience.

22.7. The exploration and development of this East-West relationship has been performed without central or local Government funding. Band members had to pay for all their expenses incurred for each visit to the West Coast of Scotland.

Cathedral Quarter Steering Group

Cathedral Quarter Steering Group
Belfast City Centre Management
2nd Floor, Sinclair Building
95-101 Royal Avenue
Belfast
BT1 1FE

Patricia Freedman
Cathedral Quarter Development Manager
p.freedman@belfastcentre.com
028 9024 2111

Background

The Cathedral Quarter Steering Group was established in 2008 to develop a five-year Strategic Vision and Development Plan for the Cathedral Quarter area of Belfast. Building on earlier Laganside initiatives, the Department of Social Development in partnership with Belfast City Council, key arts organisations in the area and Belfast City Centre Management set up the steering group to create consensus around the future of the oldest part of Belfast as a thriving mixed-use cultural quarter.

With broad participation of arts, business, leisure and other stakeholders, the Cathedral Quarter Steering Group is making significant progress towards mapping out a credible strategy that will not only revitalise and safeguard the area as a unique cultural quarter and tourist destination, but serve as a blueprint for collaborative culture-led regeneration.

Membership

Paul Mc Erlean CHAIR Managing Director MCE Public Relations Limited	Mark Finlay Chief Executive Officer Barnabas Ventures
Anne Mc Reynolds Project Director Old Museum Arts Centre	Paula Mc Fetridge Artisitic Director Kabosh Theatre Productions
Carol Ramsey Belfast City Centre Regeneration Directorate Department of Social Development	Rita Harkin Research Officer Ulster Architectural Heritage Society
Carolyn Mathers Culture & Tourism Officer Development Department, Belfast City Council	Sorcha Wolsey Director The Merchant Hotel
Conor Shields Programme Director New Belfast Community Arts Initiative	Will Chamberlain Director Belfast Community Circus
Heather Floyd Director Community Arts Forum	Andrew Irvine Advisory City Centre Manager Belfast City Centre Management
Ken Patterson Board Member St Anne’s Cathedral	Patricia Freedman Staffing Cathedral Quarter Development Manager Belfast City Centre Management

1. Per Capita Spend on the Arts in Northern Ireland

Despite an increase to the arts budget within the current Programme for Government, priorities and budget 2008-2111 Northern Ireland still lags far behind other regions of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Arts spending per capita in the UK and Republic of Ireland for 2008/091:

Scotland £14.04

Wales £10.10

England £ 8.47

Ireland €17.92

Northern Ireland £ 7.58

REF.: Figures from www.artscouncil-ni.org

The per capita spend urgently needs to be increased to allow arts organisations to programme long-term, improve practice and flourish.

1a The rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts

In the current economic climate, increases in arts spending are being linked to economic benefits:

UK

Liverpool has taken the lead in recent years in recasting the role of arts organizations as core contributors to regeneration as evidenced by the renaming of funding categories from the more traditional regularly funded, annually funded and small grants categories to ‘Cultural Drivers, Cultural Contributors and Grass Root Innovators’

On 2 February 2009 Liverpool city council’s Executive Board has approved an £8.45m arts budget which will maintain capital of culture funding levels in the city for the next two years. “From this year the emphasis is on better for value for money for council tax payers, with the bids scrutinised on how arts organisations can support the city’s vision for culture and regeneration in return for the Council sponsoring individual and organisational creative genius."

REF.: http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/News/newsdetail_2904.asp

France

In January 2009 the French ministry of culture received an official allocation of 100 million Euro to be spent on arts and museums. The supplementary funding, which complements the 2009 culture budget of 2.9 billion, came as part of a plan to help revive the ailing economy. “The funds would be used to preserve 150 historic monuments and speed up major cultural projects, such as the planned Museum of European and Mediterranean civilisations." the ministry said in a statement last week. The museum is scheduled to open in Marseilles in 2012.

REF.: http://www.ifacca.org/national_agency_news/2009/02/02/culture-heart-stimulus-plan/

US

In February, arts groups in the US succeeded in preserving $50ml for the arts in President Obama’s recently approved American Recovery and Reinvestment bill. Bill Ivey, director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University and a former N.E.A. chairman recently said in an interview. “There has never been an administration that looked at the cultural agencies as a partner in advancing big, overarching policy objectives," Arts groups worked hard to “drive home the idea that culture is an economic engine" and “improve the understanding of the value of creativity in the 21st-century economy."

The challenge..."was to convince a House-Senate conference committee that the arts provide jobs as other industries do, while also encouraging tourism and spending in general. It’s a great opportunity for the cultural work force to be dignified as part of the American work force,"

In arguing for the $50 million in arts money on the House floor on Friday, David R. Obey (D-WI) made the point when arguing on the House floor that arts workers have 12.5 percent unemployment: “Are you suggesting that somehow if you work in that field, it isn’t real when you lose your job, your mortgage or your health insurance? We’re trying to treat people who work in the arts the same way as anybody else."

REF.: Saving Federal Arts Funds: Selling Culture as an Economic Force, Robin Pogrebin, February 15, 2009, The New York Times

3. Innovative Approaches to Arts Funding

Cathedral Quarter is home to over 50 arts and cultural organisations and creative businesses, the Belfast Cathedral, University of Ulster, signature Belfast nightlife - and will soon welcome the MAC. The Cathedral Quarter Steering Group itself represents an innovative approach to the development of a cultural quarter, building on a unique synergy between arts organizations, businesses, educational and religious institutions.

The Department for Social Development owns three Managed Workspaces in Cathedral Quarter which are currently under review and which house a variety of arts and community organizations and small creative businesses. The Steering Group has made suggestions to DSD regarding the management of the workspaces that it believes will help secure the future of arts organizations in Cathedral Quarter. Included is a request to explore new ways to be supportive of non-profit tenants by, for example, quantifying the rent subsidy so it can be used towards match funding for Lottery income and as in- kind support.

US

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (www.ddcf.org) has partnered with Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) a national leader in nonprofit, philanthropic and social enterprise

Finance to launch Leading for the Future: Innovative Support for Artistic Excellence a landmark, $15.125 million initiative designed to explore new business and funding models for the sector. Founded in 1980, NFF (www.nonprofitfinancefund.org) provides loan financing, access to capital and direct advisory services that build the capacity and the financial health of nonprofits. Funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, NFF’s 5-year program will allow each nonprofit to tackle sector-wide challenges such as shifting audiences, decreased funding sources, and new technologies.

The new grant scheme offers grant recipients significant funding, technical assistance, and NFF advisory services as they implement their promising programmatic, financial and operating innovations to strengthen their business models. The initiative allows participants to test new ways for the performing arts field to bolster organizational capacity, mitigate financial risk, and increase the ability to offer top-notch relevant programming.

Ben Cameron, Director for the Arts for the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, said, “‘Business as usual’ is no longer an option for many nonprofit arts organizations, and standard funding practices give them little room to invest in bold and experimental solutions to economic challenges."

Clara Miller, president and CEO of NFF said, “Leading for the Future participants have already proven themselves adept at artistic innovation; now, they will lead the way for arts organizations to reinvent their business platforms so the artistic side will be reliably supported," said. “At a time when restricted gifts and carefully predicted outcomes are the status quo, this program offers these organizations the latitude and support that is required for true experimentation and change."

3. Research on the Benefits of Investing in the Arts

The Cathedral Quarter is one of Belfast and Northern Ireland’s leading tourism attractions, regularly offering music, film, dance, theatre, history and heritage, craft, gallery and festival events.

In 2007 Tourism contributed £313 million to Belfast’s economy, supported the equivalent of 17,230 full-time jobs and has triggered over 300 million investment with additional hotels, accommodation facilities, restaurants and venues.

Cultural Tourism is the fastest growing and most sustainable aspect of the tourism industry. Defined as the movement of people for essentially cultural motivations, cultural tourists will travel extensively to see a broad range of attractions, including museums and galleries, performing arts, cultural tours, festivals, study tours, historic sites and monuments. The cultural tourist is looking for things which are specifically indigenous and mark a destination out from others. They spend more than regular tourists and now account for 40% of all world travel. Cultural tourism has the potential to become a significant economic generator for Northern Ireland.

Music tourism is one of the newest typology of tourism. Recent Visit Britain’s research shows that 21% of potential visitors are inspired to choose a destination because of the music or bands of that country and 49% of visitors are very likely to go to live music concerts or events. Music and musicians, solo artists and bands are often someone’s first introduction to the unique appeals of this country.

4. Allocation of Public Funding to the Arts in Northern Ireland

taking into account the need to:

a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors;

b) target social need;

c) encourage community regeneration; and

d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

When Belfast failed to be shortlisted in its bid for European Capital of Culture 2008, reason cited included sectarian violence and ‘after six doughnut effect - fun around the edge but with a big emptiness in the middle after the shops close and office workers head home. Today, most of the arts organizations in Cathedral Quarter deliver programmes to and in local communities ranked in the top 10 on the Noble index of social and economic deprivation in Northern Ireland through their outreach initiatives. And many affordable and easily accessible public events are offered in the area, helping to bring these communities in to reclaim and re-animate the city-centre.

7. Recommendations

The Cathedral Quarter Steering Group makes the following recommendations to the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee:

• Lobby the Northern Ireland Assembly to commit to significantly increasing the per capita spend to enable Northern Ireland arts groups to deliver comprehensive, long term, quality arts provision.
• Support DCAL to work with local councils to increase council funding to the arts.
• Support DCAL and ACNI to develop and implement a long term funding strategy In consultation with the arts sector and introduce appropriate five to ten year fundingprogrammes to support sector stability and sustainability.
• In consultation with the arts sector, DCAL and ACNI develop and implement transparent policy and procedures for reviewing ACNI decisions.
• Acknowledge the role of arts organisations as drivers of social and economic development ad partner with arts organisations to deliver shared social and economic benefits.
• Develop interdepartmental arts policies and strategies and promote joint working between departments.
• Promote the development of interdepartmental arts policies to help deliver the maximum benefit of funding
• members of the CAL committee become active advocates of the arts across the region. Practical recommendations to enable committee members to do this would include:
• increasing attendance at arts events (particularly in their constituencies)
• promoting the arts at full executive and presenting on behalf of the arts to other government departments

Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival
and Out to Lunch Arts Festival

Sean Kelly, Director, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival & Out to Lunch Arts Festival

Background to Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival

Founded in 1999, the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival has quickly established itself as one of the most vibrant and dynamic arts festivals on these islands with a broad-ranging programme that focuses on younger, less mainstream, less traditional arts attenders.

Based in the city’s emergent Cathedral Quarter, the Festival uses centrally located, accessible and often unorthodox venues to present arts activity in a way that is social, celebratory and enjoyable. The Festival has a strong commitment to providing a platform for local artists and arts organisations.

Creative approaches to programming and marketing together with an extremely affordable pricing policy means the festival is both cutting-edge and enjoys a wide degree of community ownership.

Submission Overview

The many benefits of investment in the arts will be well documented by others nonetheless we endorse the now commonplace view that those societies which invest heavily in the arts see massive returns in terms of health, education, social cohesion and economic development.

Despite the irrefutable evidence which exists, current spending on the arts in Northern Ireland falls far short of the needs of the sector and is currently failing to release the full potential of the arts to transform individuals and society.

Quite apart from the direct benefits of the arts in themselves, this underinvestment is leaving our young people without the skills to negotiate a new, knowledge-based economy where creative thinking is essential and it is failing to exploit one of our greatest strengths, the rich cultural life of Northern Ireland and its potential appeal Internationally.

In this submission we wish to restate the case for a much greater investment in the arts than is currently the case. We reaffirm the need for an arms length body from government to disperse these funds. We call for greater cohesion among the statutory agencies who provide public funding and we ask the Committee to be cognisant of the evidence that every dynamic economy in the world is embracing the arts as a ……

Submission

That the per capita spend on the arts still lags significantly behind our counterparts in the rest of the UK should be a source of great concern to the Committee. In our view it is unacceptable that Scotland, for example, is willing to spend £ for every citizen while in Northern Ireland that spend is……. Scotland has seen this investment repaid many times. Many arts organisations in Scotland are the envy of the world and millions travel to Scotland every year to enjoy its festivals and its cultural offer.

The Arts Sector in Northern Ireland does not lack innovative approaches to arts funding indeed we have struggled in adverse circumstances for many years to present programmes of the highest professional quality.

Most organisation do so through a mixture of public sector funding (ACNI, BCC etc.), private sector funding (sponsorship) and self generated funds (Box Office income, programme sales etc.)…..

It would certainly be useful to have a current audit of the social and economic benefits of investing in the arts. For our part we…..

Although dissatisfied with the level of funding which ACNI has to disperse throughout the sector, we are generally satisfied with the proportion of funding allocated to each artform however we would submit the following observations

We reject the implied opposition between ‘community’ arts and the ‘professional’ arts sector……….

Most if not all arts organisations are hugely aware of their responsibilities in respect of targeting social need and have made great……to be as inclusive as possible ….In respect of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, the recently commissioned ‘Barriers to Access report found ………..

The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival was founded ……………….

Arts Council urges sector to respond to Funding Inquiry

19/02/2009

The Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure (CAL) at Stormont, which scrutinises the work of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), is conducting an inquiry into ‘The Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland’.

The Arts Council would encourage artists and arts organisations in Northern Ireland to respond to this welcome invitation to contribute to the evidence being gathered by the CAL Committee. It would be helpful if ‘umbrella organisations’ would submit responses on behalf of their sectors.

It is not necessary to respond to each of the points in the Terms of Reference; our advice is to restrict your responses to those areas in which you have relevant experience and can substantiate your observations.

Written submissions can be sent by email to committee.cal@niassembly.gov.uk or by post to: The CAL Committee Clerk, Room 424, Parliament Buildings, Belfast BT4 3XX (Tel: 028 90521 841). Please also send a hard copy in the post if original submission is emailed.

The closing date for written submissions is Friday 27th February 2009.

There will also be an opportunity for some groups to make oral presentations, at the discretion of the Committee. Oral evidence will start on Thursday 5th March and will continue until April 2009. It is hoped to conclude the inquiry by July and publish in September 2009.

Further information on: http://archive.niassembly.gov.uk/culture/2007mandate/inquiry/tor_arts.htm

Cal Inquiry Terms Of Reference

The terms of reference for the inquiry are:

• To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.
• To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.
• To carry out a stock take of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.
• To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors;

b) target social need;

c) encourage community regeneration; and

d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

• To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.
• To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

Committee for Finance and Personnel

Committee for Finance and Personnel
Room 419
Parliament Buildings
Tel: 028 9052 1843

From: Shane McAteer, Clerk, Committee for Finance and Personnel

Date: 5 February 2009

To: Kathryn Bell, Clerk, Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure

Inquiry into the funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland

At its meeting on 4 February 2009, the Committee for Finance and Personnel considered your correspondence of 30 January 2009 in relation to the above Inquiry. The Committee agreed to pass your request to the Minister of Finance and Personnel as requested.

Whilst considering the terms of reference for your Inquiry, the Committee discussed the issue of funding allocated to arts development in Northern Ireland being used in other countries (eg film making in Eastern European countries).

It was agreed that I should write to raise this issue as an area which your Committee may wish to examine.

Shane McAteer

Tel: 21843

Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety

Iris Robinson MP MLA, Chairperson
Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety

Room 412
Parliament Buildings
BELFAST
BT4 3XX
E-mail: committee.hssps@niassembly.gov.uk

Tel: 028 9052 1920
Fax: 028 9052 1667
26 February 2009

Barry McElduff MLA
Chairperson
Committee for Culture Arts & Leisure

Inquiry into the funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland

The Committee for Health, Social services and Public Safety welcomes the Committee for Culture Arts and Leisure’s Inquiry into the Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland. The Committee recognises that a high-quality patient environment can have significant benefits on the healing process and patient outcomes and that art makes a significant contribution to the healing environment. Studies have shown that patients in this type of environment spend 20% less time recovering after an operation and can require up to 15% fewer pain killing drugs during this period.

The Committee is also aware that people with mental health needs receive significant benefits from taking part in arts activities and a recent study found that participants experienced decreased mental distress after participating in art projects. Committee Members saw the benefits of an art therapy project when they visited the Berryburn Centre in Londonderry.

Given the ongoing pressure on public funding the Committee however do not believe it is the role of the health service to commission works of art for public spaces in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. While the Department for Health, Social services and Public Safety’s current policy allows for 1% of the total capital budget for improving the inpatient environment, and this can include some artwork, the Committee would support the use of artwork produced by patients to improve public spaces.

I hope this is helpful.

Iris Robinson MP MLA
Chairperson

Committee for Social Development

Room 412
Parliament Buildings
BELFAST
BT4 3XX
Email: david.simpson@niassembly.gov.uk
Tel: 028 9041 8375
Fax: 028 9052 1108

19 February 2009

Our Ref: CSD/014/2007/SM

Barry McElduff MLA
Chairperson
Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure
Room 424
Parliament Buildings
Belfast
BT4 3XX

Dear Mr McElduff

Inquiry into the Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland

At its meeting on 12 February 2009 the Committee for Social Development agreed to forward your letter to the Minister for Social Development for response to the above inquiry.

The Committee also considered the terms of reference for the inquiry and agreed to write to the Chair of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure to formally express its support for funding of community arts projects and the significant role which such funding plays in urban regeneration.

Yours sincerely

David Simpson MP MLA
Chairperson

Community Arts Forum

15 Church Street
Belfast
BT1 1PG
028 9024 2910
www.caf.ie
hfloyd@caf.ie

About the Community Arts Forum

The Community Arts Forum (CAF) is the umbrella and networking organisation for community arts in Northern Ireland. CAF aims to develop the community arts sector through a programme of: information, publications, training, conferences, seminars, advocacy, lobbying and networking.

CAF aims to support people and groups who do not normally have the opportunity to access and participate in the arts and to help them develop access.

This response will address each of the terms of reference for the inquiry in order.

1. The per capita arts spend

Despite an increase to the arts budget within the current Programme for Government, priorities and budget 2008-2111 Northern Ireland still lags far behind other regions of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Arts spending per capita in the UK and Republic of Ireland for 2008/09[1]:

Scotland	£14.04
Wales	£10.10
England	£ 8.47
Ireland	€17.92
Northern Ireland	£ 7.58

The per capita spend urgently needs to be increased to allow arts organisations to programme long-term, improve practice and flourish.

2. Additional funding sources for the arts

As the global economic crisis deepens, alternative sources of funding for the arts such as business sponsorship are becoming increasingly difficult to access.

It has always been more difficult for community arts groups to access sponsorship and financial support from the private sector. Businesses are more likely to support high profile arts events with corporate packages rather than small, community based events.

In addition, recent research from the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) indicates that income within the voluntary and community sector has fallen by 7.2% since 2003/4. This will make community arts groups more reliant than ever on Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) funding.[2]

3. Research on the benefits of the arts

3.1 Vital Signs[3], a crucial piece of research mapping community arts in Belfast was published in 1998.

Although now dated, this research made a clear case for the long term benefits of arts participation across a number of areas including community development and regeneration, cultural understanding, attending an arts event, and personal development (93% of respondents reported improved confidence).

3.2 The Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) carried out an extensive piece of research on community arts during 2002 and 2003. Unfortunately, this research was never published.

3.3 In 2007 the Community Development and Health Network (CDHN) published the results of a study looking at the impact of arts participation on six section 75 groups over a three period[4]. The resulting research report reinforced and supported the findings of the Vital Signs study. 98% of participants had increased self-esteem after being involved in arts activities[5]. The impact on participants’ health was multiplied by the combined outcomes of improved self-confidence, increased social confidence, friendship formation and increased social networks.

This is an impressive list of outcomes for participants. These findings illustrate the potential for participants’ personal development and growth when they produce their own art work in a supportive, collaborative creative space.

3.4 Arts are a useful tool in addressing the legacy of the conflict. Research carried out for CAF by Paula Guzzanti[6] found that:

“Oppositional identities are at the base of the legacy left behind by the conflict in Northern Ireland and, as such, conflict transformation strategies need to address them. The artistic transformative experience involves building up skills that allow participants to be more sensitive to other’s identities and help them to go beyond strong stereotypes by generating empathy rather than aiming for direct change."

3.5 CAF recognises that a current and robust piece of research is needed to provide evidence of the social and economic benefits of investing and participating in the arts. CAF is in the early stages of a longitudinal research project.

Over the coming year CAF will explore models of practice including working with Vital Communities[7] a 15 year arts research project currently underway in England.

4. Public funding allocation

4.1A The balance between the community and professional sectors

4.1.1 Community arts operates within a different framework to other forms of arts delivery and is a defined way of working with groups which can be transformative for communities and individuals.

4.1.2 Participants in community arts programmes often progress to other arts providers across the region, as such community arts enhances and compliments other forms of arts delivery and vice versa. Increasingly, artists’ work is diversifying with many working in both community and non community contexts and reporting that working collaboratively with groups helps inform their artistic practice.

4.2B Targeting social need

4.2.1 Community arts is particularly effective at working with disadvantaged groups and has been used successfully to engage with a diverse range of communities. Through collective arts projects groups can be enable to address serious community issues.

One recent CAF project used the arts to explore the legacy of the conflict over a two and half year period. The ARTiculate[8] project worked with 16 groups across Northern Ireland offering 160 participants the opportunity to take part in arts projects exploring conflict related issues. The diverse range of participant groups included young people, community groups and victim/survivor groups.

4.3C Encouraging community regeneration

Community arts offers proven benefits in terms of community regeneration.

4.3.1 The Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast is an example of how community arts can be used to create space for dialogue and support community development. A locally driven forum worked with both community arts facilitators and residents to develop a positive vision and strategy for the estate through collective arts projects. In 2005 CAF coordinated an international conference entitled ‘Arts towards an inclusive society’ which used the Mount Vernon project as a case study.[9]

4.3.2 A recent high profile case of culturally led community regeneration was the effect of the European Capital of Culture title on Liverpool. Comprehensive research carried out by the University of Liverpool demonstrated clear social and economic benefits to the city and the Merseyside area of investment.[10]

4.4D Engaging with communities

4.4.1 Throughout the past 30 years community arts have engaged with disadvantaged communities with a poor or non-existent arts infrastructure, encouraging participation and access in the arts. Community arts and CAF has been a driving force in establishing support networks for groups who do not have access to mainstream structures.

4.4.2 One recent example of how CAF has contributed to and helped found a new network is the Ethnic Arts Forum, formed in 2008 to support to artists from incoming communities.

5. Comparing public bodies

ACNI is best placed to address this question.

6. Consideration of funding for specific artforms

During the current financial year, community arts received £841,664 from the ACNI total revenue budget of £9,625,035[11]. This means that less than 9% of total revenue funding was allocated to community arts groups.

This represents serious under funding considering how community arts assists ACNI and other relevant public bodies to achieve TSN targets. During 2006/07 ACNI figures recorded a total of 19,276 participants in 373 community arts projects. This demonstrates clearly how even with a small percentage of the overall budget, community arts projects deliver meaningful access to large numbers of participants. With increased funding greater numbers of people in the most disadvantaged communities could also be impacted.

7. Recommendations

CAF makes the following recommendations to the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee:

7.1 That the CAL committee lobbies the Northern Ireland Assembly to commit to significantly increasing the per capita spend to enable Northern Ireland arts groups to deliver comprehensive, long term, quality arts provision.

7.3 That DCAL work with local councils to increase council funding to the arts. That ACNI increase the budget allocation to community arts.

7.4 That interdepartmental arts policies and strategies and the promotion of joint working between departments is developed. This is particularly relevant to community arts projects which frequently contribute to the aims and objectives of multiple departments but can have difficulty accessing financial support.

7.5 In consultation with the arts sector, DCAL and ACNI develop and implement a long term funding strategy and introduce appropriate five to ten year funding programmes to support sector stability and sustainability.

7.6 In consultation with the arts sector, DCAL and ACNI develop and implement a transparent policy and procedures for reviewing ACNI decisions.

7.7 CAF also recommends that members of the CAL committee become active advocates of the arts across the region. Practical recommendations to enable committee members to do this would include:

• Increase attendance at arts events (particularly in their constituencies)
• promoting the arts at full executive and presenting on behalf of the arts to other government departments

  [1] Figures from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland website, see www.artscouncil-ni.org

  [2] State of the Sector V; Northern Ireland voluntary and community sector Almanac 2009 published by Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action 2009

  [3] Vital Signs: Mapping Community Arts in Belfast by François Matarasso (with Chell, John). Published by Comedia, 1998.

  [4] Arts and Health: A Community Development and Action Research Project. By Dr Katrina Collins, published by the Community Health Development Network, 2007. Available for download from www.cdhn.org

  [5] Page 3, Arts and Health: A Community Development and Action Plan.

  [6] Articulate case study: addressing the legacy of conflict through arts by Paula Guzzanti, 2008.

  [7] The Vital Communities project is currently working with children, their families and wider communities in nine identified locations across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Further information on the study, and interim reports is available from http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/arts/vitalcommunities.htm

  [8] More information on the ARTiculate project including an evaluation of the Peace II programme can be found at www.caf.ie/articulate.asp

  [9] Further details on the conference can be found at www.caf.ie/ConferenceReport/index.asp

  [10] Impacts 08 – The Liverpool Model, was a joint research initiative of the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University, which evaluated the social, cultural, economic and environmental effects of Liverpool’s hosting the European Capital of Culture title in 2008. Further information is available from http://www.liv.ac.uk/impacts08/

  [11] Figures from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland website, see www.artscouncil-ni.org

Consultancy Centre for
Cultural European Programmes, Romania

From: Vladimir Simon [mailto:simon@eurocult.ro]
Sent: 10 February 2009 11:49
To: Bell, Dr. Kathryn
Subject: Inquiry

Dear Ms Kathryn Bell,

Thank your for your letter of 30 January 2009 inviting us to take part in your inquiry into “The Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland". I have chosen to reply to you by e-mail in order to make sure that my answer reaches you by the set deadline of 27 February.

To begin with, I would like to point out the fact that our institution focuses on assisting Romanian cultural operators access EU funds for the cultural and audiovisual sectors. Our Consultancy Centre hosts the Romanian Cultural Contact Point for the Culture (2007-2013) Programme of the EU and, in this capacity, provides cultural operators interested in applying to this Programme with information and technical consultancy. Consequently, what we can offer you is quantitative and qualitative information on the Romanian participation to this Community programme, but, by the mission and profile of our institution, we do not have data on the issues specified in the terms of reference you outline in your letter. For those issues you might address the Centre for Research in Culture, www.culturanet.ro. In particular, for points 4 and 5 in the terms of reference, I recommend that you contact directly the public institutions providing funds to the arts in Romania, namely the Administration of the National Cultural Fund (www.afcn.ro) and the Romanian Cultural Institute (www.icr.ro).

Please find attached our study “Culture 2000 – Platform for Intercultural Dialogue" highlighting the European cooperation projects financed by the Culture 2000 Programme, projects in which we had Romanian organisations involved (quantitative and qualitative analysis).

In the hope that this information is of help, I wish you the best of luck with your inquiry.

Sincerely,

Vladimir Simon,

director
Consultancy Centre for Cultural European Programmes
57, Barbu Delavrancea, 011353 Bucharest ROMANIA
tel/fax: +40.21.3166060/+40.21.3166061
www.eurocult.ro; www.media-desk.ro; www.cultura2007.ro

Cookstown District Council,
Burnavon Arts and Cultural Centre

Committee for Culture Arts & Leisure
Room 424
Parliament Buildings
Stormont
Belfast
BT4 3XX

RE: Response to Northern Ireland Assembly’s Committee for Culture Arts and Leisure inquiry into ‘The Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland’

Much of the information sought by the committee will be provided by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Our response predominantly relates to the fourth term of reference:

To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

a) Find a balance between the community and professional arts sector

b) Target social need

c) Encourage community regeneration; and

d) Engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding

Cookstown District Council has a strong historical background in supporting the Arts and Cultural sector within the Mid-Ulster region of Northern Ireland. This culminated in 1999 with the opening of The Burnavon Arts & Cultural Centre which was co-funded by Cookstown District Council and The Arts Council Lottery Fund.

The Burnavon Arts and Cultural Centre acts as a catalyst for Arts and Cultural activity within the Cookstown District and greater Mid-Ulster region, with a specific focus and remit to develop and support arts involvement and arts participation throughout the district and wider region. In the ten years it has been in operation, the facility has rapidly established itself as:

“A community focused arts and cultural resource, catering to the arts and cultural needs and aspirations of the people of the Cookstown District and the greater Mid-Ulster region".

As an arts theatre venue, The Burnavon provides arts access to, a catchment area population in excess of 100,000 inhabitants, operating as the only dedicated regional arts venue within the Mid Ulster Region of Northern Ireland . The venue includes a 351-seat auditorium, exhibition space and onsite catering facilities.

Arts Council of Northern Ireland Funding

Historically, funding for the arts in Northern Ireland, on a per capita basis has been well behind that of other areas within the UK and in the Republic of Ireland. Indeed, in comparison to other areas of the UK, Northern Ireland’s spending on the arts is almost half of other regions.

Arts spending per capita in the UK and RoI for 2008/09:

Scotland	£14.04
Wales	£10.10
England	£ 8.47
Ireland	€17.92
Northern Ireland	£ 7.58

From Arts Council of Northern Ireland Website

We believe that this inequity of governmental support for the arts is hugely damaging to the ongoing development of arts and cultural activity within Northern Ireland.

In the financial year 2007/2008, the exchequer funding distributed by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland was approximately £16.6m of which a small proportion (£1.4m) was distributed outside Belfast and Derry district council areas.[1] This equates to just over 8.5% of the overall annual Arts Council exchequer funding allocation being directed to what is commonly termed as the regions of Northern Ireland. With the recent withdrawal of Multi Annual Programme funding to the regional venues (see below), it is expected that this ratio will reduce even further. With this in mind we believe that notwithstanding the inequity of per capita funding in comparison to GB and RoI, there is further disproportion in the allocation of current funding within the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s exchequer allocation. Even taking into account the population make-up of the region, the disparity between regional[2] and metropolitan funding is staggering.

Within the Cookstown District Council area, there are many areas of high social deprivation and areas of social need whose inhabitants entitlements to access to the arts are not being met through the current distribution of exchequer funding allocated by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Although The Burnavon has a strong community focus, we believe that the Arts Council of Northern Ireland should be assisting us in addressing these needs, rather than leaving this burden of responsibility (and the financial implications that go with it) solely with Cookstown District Council.

In 1999 Cookstown District Council reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to the Arts and Cultural Sector with the creation of the Burnavon Arts & Cultural Centre. Although Cookstown District Council is the sixth smallest local Authority of all twenty six current local authorities, it is in the top six local authorities (of twenty six) in terms of its annual financial contribution to the Arts. And yet, as of April 2009, it will no longer receive annual arts funding to support its arts programming from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (exchequer funding of lottery funding).

Arts Council of Northern Ireland Funding to The Burnavon Arts and Cultural Centre

From 2000 until 2006 The Burnavon Arts and Cultural Centre received between £18,000 and £20,000 per annum from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (exchequer funding) to support our extensive annual arts programme, and which was required to be heavily subsidised by Cookstown District Council on an annual basis. In 2006, along with all other local authority and university controlled arts venues, the access to Arts Council exchequer funding was terminated and we were all redirected to apply for Arts Council lottery funding. This in turn was then terminated, effective from April 2009. As such, all of the major regional venues in Northern Ireland that were historically supported by the Arts Council will receive no Arts Council of Northern Ireland exchequer funding from April 2009 to support their annual arts programme which ironically has been painstakingly developed over the last ten years with the financial support of the Arts Council[3] .

The impact of these cuts has been and will continue to be extensive. Although The Burnavon has continued to offer the best in quality arts provision, the lack of funding from the Arts Council has necessitate cuts to specific areas of arts provision. We feel that it is totally unacceptable that the Arts Council’s funding has such a profound concentration within the metropolitan areas at the expense of the regions of Northern Ireland. For its funding to have the greatest impact upon all the citizens of Northern Ireland a much more balanced geographical approach to funding must be identified and implemented.

In 1995, the Arts Council had the foresight to envisage a dedicated arts facility within 20 miles of everyone in Northern Ireland. According to their 07/08 annual report, this was achieved in 2008. However, this must be seen as the initial step on the route to comprehensive arts provision for Northern Ireland. The regional venues established over the last 13 years, coupled with those that were in existence prior to 1995, are arguably the collective life blood of the entire arts sector acting as the catalyst for arts involvement and arts development within the regions of Northern Ireland. Adequate annual exchequer funding must be made available and equally distributed throughout Northern Ireland to ensure that the regional theatres and the inhabitants they cater to are able to realise their full potential and that the arts and cultural sector can continue to grow and develop throughout the entire province.

[1] Figures from Arts Council of Northern Ireland Annual Review 07/08

[2] Regional refers to areas outside Belfast and Derry

[3]Recently, a meeting took place at which it was suggested that these venues (along with all other local authorities) would be permitted to apply for project funding through the national lottery programme for initiatives focussing on the arts council’s key priority areas of drama and dance.

Coors Light Open House Festival

Introduction.

1. This paper has been submitted by the Coors Light Open House Festival, a traditional music and arts festival which has been running for 10 years in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter. The festival is run on a not-for-profit basis and is a member of NICVA (Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action). It is managed by a voluntary committee of six people plus two paid officers. The festival takes place each year, during the last weekend of September, and features approximately 50 events including concerts, masterclasses, free music sessions and walking tours. It features traditional and folk roots music mainly from Ireland, UK and North America, and attracts some 10,000 people annually.

2. We believe that there needs to be a greater per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland, to take us in line with the levels in Scotland. Purely in terms of positive economic impact, this would be repaid many times over.

For example, a major folk festival in Scotland is Celtic Connections, which takes place in Glasgow in the month of January. In 2008 it attracted 120,000 people. Festival fans generated a total of £6.8 million of new output to the Glasgow City Council area, and a total of £7.9 million to Scotland. For every £1 of funding Celtic Connections received from Glasgow City Council, it created £37 for the city.

We believe that, with the right investment, arts organizations here could do the same for Northern Ireland. Our festival, like many others, raises considerable income from ticket sales and private sector sponsorship to bolster the public funding we receive. Around 75% of our total festival expenditure goes directly back into the local economy. This means that for every £1 of public investment in our festival, we spend £1.50 on the local economy.

In addition, the 10,000 people who attend our festival spend considerable amounts of money that benefit local businesses while they attend festival events. 13% of Open House Festival audiences come from outside of Northern Ireland – largely from the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain, but also from Europe and North America. 60% of out-of-state visitors to our festival book accommodation while they are here, and most stay for 2 days or more.

3. The arts have a significant role to play in developing the identity of Northern Ireland as a place to go for positive and authentic cultural experiences.

People who are prepared to travel to take part in specialist cultural events, such as music festivals, often return year after year, bringing like- minded friends with them. An international community of interest, such as folk music, can act as a powerful networking tool and a magnet for attracting visitors, creating for these people a strong emotional bond with the host city.

Here are just a few unsolicited testimonials from Open House Festival attendees:

I flew all the way from the US to attend the festival this year (everyone I met thought I was crazy), and though I somehow lost all my pictures, the memories will live on... Can’t wait until next year!

Chris Forsberg

We have just returned home, and cannot stop talking about our weekend. The music and venues particularly your people on the ground were fantastic… We are already structuring our holiday plans to include a visit next year and look forward to viewing what’s taking place.

Brian Goldie, Scotland - Winner of Mail on Sunday competition

Just a little note to say how much I enjoyed the time spent in the Chili Tent at the Open House Festival on Sat 29th Sept. About 11 of us came from London solely to see Steve Riley and The Mamou Playboys, my favourite band in the world. The whole day was fantastic and surpassed all expectations due to the incredible hospitality and friendliness of everyone we encountered at the festival…

Maggie Casey, London

Hi to everyone at the festival. Great job! That was the most fun I’ve ever had. I hope it happens again next year, because if so I’m there. Belfast is one of the friendliest places I’ve ever visited.

Christine Lovelace, Washington DC

I would just like to thank you and the organisers of the Open House Festival for providing myself and two friends a great weekend of music and craic! We travelled up from Dublin for the event based on the recommendation of one who attended the event the previous two years. I am ashamed to admit that this was the first time I ‘stayed over’ in Belfast and I have to say that I was bowled over by the hospitality and kindness shown by all the people I met in the city over the weekend, festival goers and non-festival goers alike. Both my friends and I are looking forward to next year’s event and expect that we will have a few more friends with us next year.

Des O’Brien, Dublin

3. The current nature of funding for most arts organisations is ad hoc, and allocated on a year by year basis. This makes planning for more than the current financial year almost impossible, and greatly inhibits growth and development. Longer term investment would make it realistic for arts organisations to set more ambitious targets and have some chance of meeting them.

4. The positive impact of the arts on the regeneration of Belfast can be seen starkly in the renaissance that is currently taking place in the Cathedral Quarter area. Without the input of arts festivals and organisations, the redevelopment of an ‘arts and cultural flavoured Cathedral Quarter’ would not have become a reality. Developers can create buildings, but the arts can help create a community and a human identity.

For any queries about this document please contact Alison Gordon, Festival Manager, Coors Light Open House Festival, PO Box 272, BT20 5WX Tel: 028 91 454 754

Craft Northern Ireland

Introduction

Established in 2005, Craft Northern Ireland is the regional agency for the promotion and development of the design-led contemporary craft and applied arts sector in Northern Ireland.

The organisation aims to strengthen, develop and champion the practice and awareness of contemporary craft and support and promote the sector as an integral, entrepreneurial and vibrant part of the region’s cultural and economic infrastructure.

Craft NI’s core areas of activity are:

• Arts and culture
• Business and the economy
• Skills and training

Craft NI’s core functions in developing the sector are:

• Advocacy
• Partnerships and regional infrastructure
• Raising quality awareness

Craft NI’s key programmes are:

making it	a business incubation programme that has supported the establishment of 22 new craft businesses since 2005
August Craft Month	an annual festival of craft in Northern Ireland
craftnidirectory.org	a web site Directory of craft makers and businesses in NI

Responses

1. To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

Per capita spend

We believe that Northern Ireland’s position towards the bottom of the UK / ROI league table in per capita government arts spend has had a negative impact on Craft NI’s resources to support craft makers and designers, audiences and participants in craft activity.

In 2007 the Crafts Council of Ireland received €3,250,000 in funding from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment via Enterprise Ireland. In 2007-08 Craft NI received c. £250,000 in funding. On a direct per capita comparison Craft NI is disadvantaged by over 400% in funding terms.

Rationale

Craft NI targets its funds to create an Opportunity Environment for craft makers, their practice and businesses and to develop and improve access to craft products and creative activity for audiences and participants.

Our resources support progress towards raising quality awareness among practitioners, audiences, participants and markets. High levels of quality in both product and engagement are unique selling points for the craft sector and represent part of the value-added dimension of its work in economic, as well as cultural and social terms.

The craft sector represents both traditional and contemporary practice and is a showcase for cultural and social life in our region. It is part of the tourism product for Northern Ireland and contributes beyond this into the wider economy where the sector’s current value is estimated at £8M. Over 25,000 people visited events in August Craft Month in 2008.

Although centred in arts & culture, the socio-economic profile (see A Future in the Making – a socio-economic survey of the craft sector in NI, 2006 (Craft NI)) of the craft sector indicates significant overlap with other government priorities, e.g. economy, tourism, rural development, enterprise, education & skills and exports. The sector has strong credentials in environmentally sustainable and local production.

57% of craft practitioners run their business full-time;

68% live and work in rural areas;

68% of businesses are run by women;

69% are aged 25-49 years;

56% have a 3rd level qualification in Art & Design.

2 To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models o f best practice that exist elsewhere.

In addition to its primary funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Craft NI seeks funding from Invest NI, EU funds, charitable trusts, commercial business sponsorship and others. Craft NI also sells its services as an additional income stream.

Even with a strong economy it is difficult to secure sufficient funding and it is a given that success in obtaining resources from secondary and tertiary funders is dependent on the support of a primary funder. An adequate level of primary funding is the lever through which additional sources are accessed and secured.

3 To carry out a stock take of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

Craft NI was established in 2005. In 2006 we carried out a socio-economic survey into the craft sector in Northern Ireland and the value of the sector’s annual contribution to the NI economy was calculated to be c. £8M. Per capita comparisons with research undertaken in ROI and GB indicated that the value of the NI sector should be between £23-24M. Without the support of a regional development agency, such as in GB and ROI, the sector had been significantly disadvantaged to c.33% of its potential. The national investment in craft through the Craft Councils in GB and ROI would appear to have tripled the value of their respective sectors.

4 To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern

Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

(a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors;

(b) target social need;

(c) encourage community regeneration; and

(d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

Craft NI strongly supports the leadership given by the Arts Council as the lead strategist and main funder of the arts in Northern Ireland. To maximise the quality and benefit offered to culture and society by the arts, Craft NI believes it is vital to invest in the sector through the expertise and strategic leadership of a sectoral body. The Arts Council’s funding programmes of recent years have targeted social need, community regeneration, access and inclusion through a strong capital infrastructure and funding stream:

• from 2003-08 56% of all funding went to the 20 most deprived areas in Northern Ireland;
• the Re-imaging Communities and Art of Regeneration Programmes targeted community development across Northern Ireland in urban and rural areas;
• £2M was dedicated to the purchase of musical instruments from communities which have historically not accessed arts funding.
• The capital investment led by the Arts Council has provided a physical arts infrastructure across Northern Ireland that provides a backbone for arts provision and access to communities previously isolated from arts and cultural activities. This capital infrastructure is the envy of our colleagues in GB and ROI.

While the Arts Council has taken a strong and very positive lead as a sectoral champion for the arts increased levels of partnership and revenue/project funding are required from local stakeholders across Northern Ireland to enable wider provision and access to craft and the arts. For craft to impact positively on all our communities, and to maximise the consequent cultural, economic and social benefits, it is vital to nurture artists and arts organisations of high professional standards. Ensuring the support and development of the professional sector will enable high quality community access to, and engagement in, the arts.

5 To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern

Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

In 2007 the Crafts Council of Ireland received €3,250,000 in funding from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment via Enterprise Ireland. In 2007-08 Craft NI received c. £250,000 in funding. On a direct per capita comparison Craft NI is disadvantaged by over 400% in funding terms.

Conclusion

Craft NI believes that the arts in Northern Ireland are best served through the leadership of a strong sectoral body, the Arts Council. The arts would undoubtedly be better served by a more appropriately resourced Arts Council to provide and implement strategic leadership for the sector, to engage the partnership of other public bodies and to assist in leveraging private sponsorship. Craft NI believes that to engage all our communities in high quality experiences of craft and the arts it is essential to firstly ensure that there is ongoing investment in the excellence of our professional craft makers, artists and craft and arts organisations. Access and inclusion is made much more possible with high quality, well-resourced hard and soft arts infrastructure.

In addressing community issues such as regeneration, targeting social need, developing access and inclusion to previously un-engaged communities the Arts Council has given clear leadership to other bodies in using the arts in ways that address other social, cultural and economic priorities. Craft NI would hope to see this strengthened in the future.

Craft Northern Ireland welcomes the opportunity to present this submission to the inquiry and hopes the Committee finds these comments helpful. Craft NI is happy to provide further written and/or oral evidence, if required.

Contact:
Joe Kelly,
Director Craft NI,
42 Waring Street,
Belfast
BT1 2ED

e: joe@craftni.org t: 9032 3059

Creative Youth Partnerships

Creative Youth Partnerships
Western Education & Library Board
Technology Education Centre
2 Spillars Place
Omagh
BT78 1FA

Tel: 028 8224 0809
Fax: 028 8224 0797
Email: www.cypni.org
Ref: NMcA/AK

Dear Mr Mc Elduff

As Chair of Creative Youth Partnerships I write on behalf of all Creative and Expressive Advisers from all five Education and Library Boards and our five designated Creative Youth Partnerships Development Officers and our Steering Group for Creative Youth Partnerships. (DCAL, DE. all ELB’s, ACNI.)More importantly, I write on behalf of all children and young people and stakeholders across N Ireland requesting sustainable support for Arts and Creative and Cultural activity. Creative Youth Partnerships. Creative Youth Partnerships commenced in March 2004, aimed at creating, developing and sustaining creative arts programmes for children and young people up to the age of 25. It has been developed in the true spirit of Unlocking Creativity and in partnership with the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure, Department of Education, all five Education and Library Boards and the Arts Council Northern Ireland.

CYP aims to encourage, engage, enthuse and empower children and young people across Northern Ireland through active participation in the Arts and to date it has been extremely successful. We have celebrated our collective CYP achievements at our Creativity INSIDE OUT CONFERENCE at the Waterfront Hall on 7 June 2006 and continue to do so through showcasing events across the province, our website and subsequent publications. We have exhibited and participated in the recent ETI Conference at W5 at the launch of the Chief Inspectors Report. I have previously forwarded one of our recent publications *Thinking around Corners" which promotes creativity across a range of contexts, explores creative ways of connecting learning and collaborative working. Our publication “Inspiring Creativity" is due to be launched in Stormont in March 25th. We recognize the pivotal roles of all our stakeholders in particular the vision of DCAL and DE ACNI ,ELB’s to continue to support CYP .However Sustainable funding is crucial to build capacity, support Creative Industries, Creative and Cultural Education and Vocational Courses and CPD of Artist s, Arts organizations,Educationalists,youth and community sector.

To date the Creative Youth Partnerships Team have been proactive in expanding the scale, nature and scope of creative and educationally rich programmes, across the nursery, school, youth, community and voluntary sectors. We are very proud of the work of CYP to date. We recognise the wealth of stimulating and challenging projects that have played a significant role in promoting excellent practice across all sectors, engaging over 60,000 children and young people in meaningful educational and cultural experiences. We have worked across a range of contexts, with children and young people within and outside the formal education sector. Across communities and cultural traditions supporting Education, Economic Growth in The Creative Industries, Supporting Audience Development and use of our Arts Centres and other public venues across the province. This has proved to be rewarding as well as challenging.

As Chair of CYP I am eager to impress the invaluable contribution Creativity, Culture and the Arts can make to the education , health, physical, mental and emotional well being of not just our children and young people but Adults, Educators, Artists, Educators and others that work with and alongside them. Supporting School Improvement, Connected Learning and Collaborative working, while encouraging pupil engagement, raising standards in literacy and numeracy and supporting the implementation of the Northern Ireland Curriculum.

We want to build on the great work that has been achieved to date. The five CYP development officers who have been instrumental to this success are now unsure of what the future holds for them after March 2009. The Creative and Expressive Officers from the Education and Library Boards have invested in developing their expertise as CYP has progressed and we do not want to loose this momentum. We feel this is a crucial time for Arts Funding that supports innovative and programmes like Creative Youth Partnerships advice and support in relation to securing further funding beyond one year .We have requested meetings with many of our stakeholders to clarify a way forward and funding is high on our agenda.

The CYP Steering group is currently proactive in supporting the continuation of CYP. We have collectively worked hard to develop partnerships across a range of sectors and identify opportunities to be more strategic. We have addressed areas identified in both our Interim and final inspection report on CYP. In reflecting on and evaluating our own practice, we have identified great many challenges and opportunities. We have collated some of this more strategic work in a Business Plan, submitted before Christmas to DE and DCAL for approval. We have highlighted the nature, scale and scope of our work and considered its future potential within ESA among these exploring ways in which the Educational, Arts and Cultural activity can help equip young people in identifying the resources and skills they need for learning, life and work.

We believe CYP is an excellent model of partnership in practice, working across all Education and Library Boards and potentially across all government departments. We believe CYP has a valuable contribution to make to the lives of children and young people, now more than ever, particularly in light of Government legislation, the Revised Curriculum, the abolishment of the transfer test, the evolving economic, social and political landscape. It has already supported the Implementation of the N. Ireland Curriculum and continues to do so in disseminating good practice, supporting connected Learning and collaborative working across a range of contexts. This work for us has proved to be invaluable.

The increased interest in the Education, Health and well being of every child, where no child is left out and where every child matters are collective priorities. There is a need to build on and disseminate our good practice, while the nature and evolving structure of ESA is unclear we feel further discussion and engagement with all our stakeholders is required to unlock the resources needed. We welcome your support.

Yours sincerely

Noelle McAlinden
07813958183
Chairperson of Creative Youth Partnerships, Development Officers and Creative and Expressive ELB Advisors
Creative and Expressive Officer Western Education and Library Board
Email: noelle_mcalinden@welbni.org

Inquiry by DCAL into the funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland

Background to Creative Youth Partnerships

Creative Youth Partnerships was established under the Inter departmental – government strategy ‘Unlocking Creativity’, aimed at developing arts activity for children and young people, aged 3-25. The central aim was the further development of youth arts by increasing access to, and participation in, the arts by young people throughout Northern Ireland.

CYP is a professional and intersectoral collaborative initiative between the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI), the five Education and Library Boards (ELBs), Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) and Department of Education (DE).

CYP provides opportunities for children and young people to participate in the arts within the formal education sector, the non-formal sector and in the context of community and voluntary groups and organisations. The objectives of CYP are:

• To increase the participation of children and young people in arts activities;
• To develop a creative arts infrastructure at local and regional level;
• To develop the contribution of artists and arts organisations in supporting the Northern Ireland Creative Curriculum;
• To develop the contribution of artists and arts organisations in supporting Youth Work practice;
• To increase intersectoral collaboration between government departments and a range of public sector agencies to further the development of collaborative practice;
• To enhance the perception and value of the arts and how they contribute to learning and the personal and social development of children and young people; and
• To contribute to the future development of youth arts in Northern Ireland.

The work within WELB (and all ELBs) has been developed by the CYP Development Officer in consultation with the schools, youth service teams and other partners to fit the area’s specific needs and contexts. CYP involves three types of programme namely, Individual artists, touring and action zone programmes respectively

• Individual artists programme consisting of a maximum of three days of tailored work per school. Over four years, this strand engaged with 5,420 young people in community group settings and 25,414 young people in school settings across NI.
• Touring programme in which projects were set up through collaboration between ELBs and then delivered across the region. Over four years this strand engaged with 2,267 young people in youth and community group settings and 11,727 young people in school settings across NI.
• Action Zone programme in which local areas of particular need were identified and an advisory panel of local educationalists, artists and key community partners were set up to guide the development of a more intensive programme of activity across that local area. Over four years this has engaged with 3,237 young people in youth and community settings and 12,203 young people in schools.

Table 1: Summary of Action Zone Programme Activity

Action Zone Programme
	2004-2005	2005-2006	2006-2007	2007-2008
Number of programmes:	66	56	77	32
Youth & Community groups	27	34	76	46
Youth & Community participants	875	503	1,287	572
School groups	57	68	147	58
School participants	4,557	2,183	3,450	2,013

Table 2: Summary of Touring Programme Activity

Touring Programme
	2004-2005	2005-2006	2006-2007	2007-2008
Number of programmes:	98	48	118	98
Youth & Community groups	10	13	14	34
Youth & Community participants	280	702	740	545
School groups	84	35	99	67
School participants	4,894	1,534	3,241	2,058

Note: in 2005-2006 a smaller number of more extensive touring programmes were undertaken

Table 3: Summary of Individual Artists Programme

Individual artists Programme
	2004-2005	2005-2006	2006-2007	2007-2008
Youth & Community groups	25	63	84	66
Youth & Community participants	553	1,427	2,035	1,405
School groups	131	140	195	134
School participants	5,073	7,028	8,523	4,790

The extent of activity by programme type is illustrated in figure 1 and demonstrates a focus on Primary and Post Primary engagement.

Figure 1: Number of programmes by type of educational establishment 2004/5 to 2007/8

Strengths of CReative Youth Partnerships.

CYP is unique and distinct in that:

• It is a programme that works across Northern Ireland, is regional in strategy and local in delivery.
• It utilises existing resources and expertise of Creative and Expressive Advisers who manage, mentor and support CYP Development Officers
• It Is relevant across the whole curriculum supporting cross curricular and collaborative working
• It has initiated, facilitated and disseminated good practice both regionally and locally
• It supports school Improvement, raising standards in both numeracy and literacy
• It offers a co-ordinated and integrated approach to teaching and learning
• It has supported the implementation of the Northern Ireland Curriculum and is recognised by PMB as contributing to Dissemination of Good Practice
• It supports the Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities Framework. The ability to think both critically and creatively and to develop personal and inter-personal skills and dispositions is essential for functioning effectively in a changing world.
• It is recognised by head teachers as an effective way of supporting School improvement
• It encourages and engages successfully with schools and youth organisations not previously participating in quality Arts activity
• It has impacted positively on the quality of teaching and Learning by exploring a range of teaching and learning strategies
• It has supported the CPD of teachers, youth leaders, classroom assistants as well as Artists.
• It supports the need for strategic planning across the curriculum and opportunities for partnerships and collaborative working.
• It supports a coherent and strategic response to the use of resources, expertise in addressing Scholl Development Planning Priorities.
• CYP’s work outside schools has been particularly effective in engaging disaffected young people. CYP can increased the volume of activity focused on NEET young people through partnership working with Youth Service and voluntary organisations
• It has contributed to sustainable cultural change across local areas engaging with youth, school and community sectors
• It has been seen as exemplary in strategically planning collaborative Arts and Culturally Rich programmes.
• It has shown its effectiveness in impacting on young people’s quality of life
• It is Income generating offers value for money, benchmarked against other programmes across the UK.

Department of
Culture, Arts and Leisure Response

Introduction:

The Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee has advised that it is undertaking an inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland and has asked for a written response from the Department as part of its evidence gathering exercise.

A copy of the Terms of Reference for the Inquiry has been provided. The Department’s response, outlined below, addresses each element of the Terms of Reference in turn.

Issue:

1. To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

DCAL Response:

At present the Department does not have a commonly accepted “off the shelf" indicator of the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland and is not aware of any benchmark data available for public expenditure in the arts sector which is sufficiently robust to ensure a like for like comparison between jurisdictions.

However, the CAL Committee will be aware that the Arts Council (ACNI) has previously collected and presented figures on the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland in comparison to other regions of the United Kingdom (UK) and the Republic of Ireland (RoI). The Arts Council used this information to support its bid for additional funding for the arts in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

The Department is of the view that further analytical work is required to ensure that any financial indicator of arts funding per capita is an accurate reflection of funding for the arts in Northern Ireland (ideally from both public and private sources) and, in particular, is capable of being used to draw comparisons with other regions of the United Kingdom (UK), the Republic of Ireland (RoI) and beyond. Previously figures have been too narrow in coverage to allow comparison between regions A robust study to establish per capita comparative spend data would be valuable and welcome.

However, there are many difficulties in compiling financial indicators on a per capita basis as set out below:

(a) There is a lack of an accepted and agreed definition of expenditure on the arts. For example, such a figure might be based on central government funding only or might also include funding from local government sources and from philanthropic donations.

(b) At present there is no single figure available covering all potential sources of funding to the arts. In many countries the role of philanthropic giving to the arts has played an increasingly important role in raising funding for the arts. There is clearly a strong rationale for encouraging such activity. The development of any indicator should therefore reflect the important contribution which philanthropic donations can make to per capita funding/spend on the arts.

(c) Each region/country will fund a variety of programmes/projects/initiatives which may/may not be classified by that country as an arts activity. For example, funding for a programme such as the Re-Imaging Communities programme might be viewed and recorded as primarily an urban regeneration programme in one jurisdiction but as an arts programme elsewhere. This presents difficulties in terms of ensuring that statistics are compiled on a like-for-like basis and that the per capita figures subsequently derived genuinely reflect actual expenditure on the arts across regions/countries.

(d) It is likely to take considerable time/resource to map out and capture all public funding for the arts in Northern Ireland and other regions.

(e) Ideally, any official definition or statistics used for such a purpose should be based on statistics either collected or quality assured by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

To have real value the definition of per capita spend on the arts must be one which can be used to accurately compare performance/progress between Northern Ireland and a range of selected comparator regions/countries in this regard.

Recommendation: The Department recognize that it is important to understand expenditure on the arts in Northern Ireland in comparison to other regions, however, further research (which will require time and resources) is required to establish the nature of such an indicator and ensure that it can be used to compare spend across regions/countries.

Issue:

2. To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

DCAL Response:

DCAL agree that there is merit in considering the approach used in other regions/countries to source additional funding for the arts. However, in the current economic slowdown, it is highly likely that the levels of funding made available in the next few years from corporate, charitable and private donations will be much lower than that achieved in recent years - this will clearly impact on the growth and sustainability of many arts organisations. For example, during the recession of the early 1990’s corporate donations to the arts within the UK fell by 40% within one year of the recession taking effect.

Funding for the Creative Sector/Industries:

Whilst the inquiry is focusing on funding for the arts it is particularly important to recognise that such funding directly helps to support the development of the creative industries in Northern Ireland

The creative industries account for around 4.7% of employment (34,600) in Northern Ireland[1] and have grown rapidly in recent years. It has been recognised for some time that the most prosperous economies are characterised by a strong creative sector. Richard Florida, a leading international expert on this subject, describes the creative class as “a fast-growing, highly educated, and well-paid segment of the workforce on whose efforts corporate profits and economic growth increasingly depend….The distinguishing characteristic of the creative class is that its members engage in work whose function is to “create meaningful new forms." The super- creative core of this new class includes scientists and engineers, university professors, poets and novelists, artists, entertainers, actors, designers, and architects, as well as the “thought leadership" of modern society: nonfiction writers, editors, cultural figures, think-tank researchers, analysts, and other opinion-makers. Members of this super-creative core produce new forms or designs that are readily transferable and broadly useful---such as designing a product that can be widely made, sold and used; coming up with a theorem or strategy that can be applied in many cases; or composing music that can be performed again and again."

He concludes that “The key to economic growth lies not just in the ability to attract the creative class, but to translate that underlying advantage into creative economic outcomes in the form of new ideas, new high-tech businesses and regional growth."

The Programme for Government, which sets growing the economy as the top priority, also recognises the economic importance of the creative industries and sets a key goal of growing the creative industries by up to 15% by 2011. Funding provided by the Arts Council to the creative sector (including the funding available through the Creative Industries Innovation Fund) will clearly contribute to this goal. Given the economic significance of the creative industries it is also important to consider how other regions/countries provide funding to the creative sector and compare the levels of funding made available to the sector.

Recommendation: DCAL are of the view that it is particularly important that the CAL Committee, in considering funding for the Arts, recognize that such funding also directly supports the creative sector – a sector of considerable significance to the current and future prosperity of the Northern Ireland economy – and consider whether funding towards the sector is adequate.

Private Investment in the Arts:

In its “Private Investment in Culture Survey 2007-2008" Arts & Business Northern Ireland[2], (the leading advocate for the benefits of partnership between business and the arts at both corporate and individual level) note that private sector investment in Northern Ireland at £8.53 million in 2007-08 is a record high and has climbed 3% from 2006-07.

However, within the overall private sector investment total, investment from business has suffered an 8.9% decrease from 2006-07. Whilst the investment figures can fluctuate year on year (as they can be linked to a particular and short term fundraising campaign) it is reasonable to expect a further reduction in business investment due to the economic downturn. Should this happen it is likely to prove difficult for many arts organizations to continue with current levels of activity.

Arts & Business, recently published its report “Philanthropy and the Arts.[3]" The report considers useful examples of the approach used in other countries to raise funds for the arts. It also highlights the experience and activity of the United States of America where there is a strong history of philanthropic giving not just to the arts but also to, for example, universities many of which receive a high proportion of their overall funding from philanthropic sources The report includes a number of key conclusions which may be of interest to the committee. A copy of the report can be provided if required.

Recommendation: The Department agree that it is important to consider innovative approaches to sourcing funding for the arts and in particular to the creative sector – however, it is likely that funding from non-public sources will decline in coming years. The potential impact of this on the development of the sector should be given careful consideration.

Issue:

3. To carry out a stocktake of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

DCAL Response:

In December 2007, the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure (at that time) wrote to the CAL Committee enclosing a copy of the report “Research into the Social and Economic Value of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland." This report contained a detailed stock take of available research and data in DCAL’s main business areas, including Arts and should help to address this element of the Terms of Reference.

Whilst a number of studies have been carried out seeking to measure the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts there is no commonly agreed approach to this nor is there an accepted multiplier which can easily be applied to capture both direct and indirect employment and productivity effects.

The lack of a commonly agreed approach has been widely recognised and a number of studies have been undertaken to consider the approaches undertaken in various countries and to draw together the range of research which has been undertaken for this purpose.

Of particular relevance is the OECD’s useful paper of 2006 “International Measurement of the Economic and Social Impact of Culture," and the Scottish Executive’s Report of February 2004 entitled “A Literature Review of the Evidence Base for Culture, The Arts & Sports Policy." The Centre for Public Policy for the Regions (CPPR) has also a dedicated section on its website which seeks to collate relevant research on this subject. A number of relevant studies have also been undertaken by/for the Arts Council (England) and the Arts Council (Northern Ireland).

A key issue, however, is the lack of sufficient data to carry out a meaningful assessment of the economic and social benefit of investing in the arts in Northern Ireland.

Recommendation:

DCAL is of the view that there is merit in undertaking a literature review to identify new or emerging research on the economic and social benefit of investing in the arts. However, to assess the actual impact at a Northern Ireland level requires a bank of relevant data to be collected/built up/quality assured – this in turn will take time to construct and will require additional resources.

Issue:

4. To examine how those organizations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

(a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors

(b) target social need

(c) encourage community regeneration

(d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding

DCAL Response:

The Arts Council is currently seeking to appoint consultants to undertake a review of its grant making process which will include consideration of some of the issues listed.

The Department has provided the CAL Committee with a detailed breakdown of the funding provided by the Arts Council to its funded organizations which may be of assistance in this regard.

The Arts Council and Northern Ireland Screen are required to ensure that, in the development and implementation of public policy, they fulfill all statutory duties. Programmes and initiatives currently being taken forward by Arts Council and NI Screen can contribute to a range of government objectives including Lifetime Opportunities and the implementation of A Shared Future.

Issue:

5. To compare those organizations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organizations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

DCAL Response:

The Department agree that it is important to understand and where appropriate learn from the funding allocation process used by other organizations which provide public funding to the arts. It may also be worth considering the organizational structures which have been established in other regions/countries to providing funding across arts forms.

However, it is worth noting that each region will have its own unique cultural, demographic and social characteristics hence the priorities of one region in terms of funding may be quite different from those of another region. In turn this is likely to be reflected in the allocation of funding to various art forms.

Issue:

6. To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

DCAL Response:

DCAL believe that the arts can play a key role in addressing issues of social exclusion and in contributing to the economic, physical and social regeneration of deprived communities (evidenced also through many research studies). The Re-Imaging Communities programme, for example, has played an important and effective role in this regard.

The Department agrees that it is important to ensure that funding is allocated to those arts activities where there is a clear need/demand for funding (ie additionality) and where the greatest impact (cultural, social and economic), against a range of indicators, can be achieved.

However, it must be recognised that at present the Arts Council is not able to meet the very high levels of demand for funding through its various funding streams. In the current public expenditure environment there does not appear to be potential to secure additional funding to meet the level of demand.

Issue:

7. To report to the Assembly making recommendations to the Department and/or others.

DCAL Response:

The Department welcomes the inquiry into funding for the Arts. Research indicates that investment in the arts can generate significant economic, cultural and social benefits in terms of its impact on employment, education, cultural tourism, health, social inclusion and regeneration. The Department looks forward to the conclusions and recommendations of the Inquiry and will consider carefully once received.

[1] Source: Research & Statistics Branch, DCAL

[2] Arts & Business (A&B) is a UK wide organisation with 12 regional offices. It is a registered charity with headquarters in London. Its president is HRH The Prince of Wales. A&B deliver a range of services and programmes including professional development programmes which promote the exchange and development of skills between business and the arts community. A&B in Northern Ireland is almost fully dependent on Government funding. The Department provides grant aid of £455k per annum which goes towards both programmes and administration. In 2008/09 the Department ceased direct funding of Arts & Business NI and funding is now administered through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

[3] “Philanthropy and the Arts," Venture Philanthropy Ireland for Arts & Business Autumn 2008

Department of Education

Department for Employment and Learning

Department of Enterprise,
Trade and Investment

Department of Health, Social Services
and Public Safety

Department of Social Development

Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company

Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company
Waterside Theatre
Glendermott Road
Derry – Londonderry
Northern Ireland BT47 6BG

+44 (0) 28 71 342266
info@echoechodance.com
www.echoechodance.com

1.0 About Echo Echo

1.1 Mission

Echo Echo exists to produce professional dance theatre productions and to promote interest, participation and education in dance and movement at all levels.

1.2 What we do

Echo Echo wishes to inspire and support people to value dance as an art form, as a fundamental and natural form of expression, not a luxury.

Based in Derry since 1998, Echo Echo plays a key role in the development of contemporary dance in Northern Ireland.

The company is committed to providing the best possible opportunities for professional dance artists to produce new work, and to perform and teach locally, nationally and internationally.

Echo Echo continues to develop an outstanding reputation for quality arts provision among service users, venues, critics, funders and the general public.

The Echo Echo Dance Studio in Derry allows the company to support professional artists, emerging artists and students by providing studio space and support for new work development, rehearsal and regular performances.

1.3 Projects and partners

Echo Echo delivers an extensive artistic programme of performance and education projects at its independent dance studio and in collaboration with local and national partner organisations.

Internationally, the company presents work at arts festivals throughout Europe, Russia and the Middle East. The company regularly brings internationally acclaimed artists to work in Northern Ireland.

More detailed information on Echo Echo projects is available on request.

1.4 Funding

Echo Echo is the main dance client and a Regularly Funded Organisation of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

The company receives project funding from a wide range of funders including The National Lottery, Legacy Trust UK, Derry City Council, Culture Ireland, BBC Children in Need, Arts Council of Ireland, Clore Duffield Foundation and others.

Echo Echo is a not-for-profit organisation and a recognised charity.

2.0 Specific facts in response to the Terms of Reference

The following facts are relevant to Terms of Reference 1, 4, 5, and 6:

2.1 Per capita arts investment

Clearly, per capita spend of £7.58 on the arts in Northern Ireland in 2008/09 is significantly lower than in the Republic of Ireland and other parts of the UK (Source: www.artscouncil-ni.org).

This fact is magnified when it comes to per capita spend on dance.

2.2 Per capita investment in dance

The amount of Arts Council money spent on dance related activities, as a per capita figure, is lower in Northern Ireland at £0.18 per person than the rest of the UK and ROI. The next lowest is Wales at £0.48 per person and Scotland £1.18 per person. (Source: ACNI Dance Strategy, November 2008)

2.3 Public spending on dance activities in NI and ROI in 2008

The total spend on dance by the Arts Council of Ireland in 2008/09 was €3,592,765 (Source: www.artscouncil.ie). At an exchange rate of €1 = £0.90, this is an investment of over £3.2 million in 2008/09.

The total spend on dance by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in 2008/09 was £224,456 (Source: www.artscouncil-ni.org).

This is not a criticism of the ACNI’s distribution of funds, but the statistic highlights the massive gulf in public funding for dance activities by the respective Arts Councils in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

3.0 Statement to the Inquiry

3.1 Echo Echo welcomes this Inquiry into funding for the Arts and the opportunity to submit to it.

Given the limited resources in our organisation, we have been unable to make a detailed submission given the timeframe involved.

3.2 The company submits annual audience and participation statistics to ACNI and assumes that these will be included in ACNI’s submission to the Inquiry.

Standalone statistics on Echo Echo’s audience and participation numbers serve little purpose without putting them into context e.g. the wider context of dance participation throughout Northern Ireland, or in comparison to other regions, however Echo Echo has no access these comparative figures.

For information purposes, annual statistics for Echo Echo performance activities show that audiences for company events rose from 8,698 in 2006/07 to 16,063 in 2007/08, an 85% increase.

Annual statistics for Echo Echo workshop activities show that participation in company events rose from 1,459 in 2006/07 to 1,867 in 2007/08, a 27% increase.

(Source: Echo Echo RFO statistics)

3.3 As stated at 1.4, Echo Echo receives core funding from ACNI and project funding from a wide range of project funders and partners. The core funding is a crucial income stream as this underpins core overheads and core staff costs.

In 2006/07, company turnover was £111,232 of which less than 30% was core cost funding from ACNI’s Annual Support for Organisations Programme.

In 2007/08, company turnover increased to £167,840 of which 28% was core cost funding from ACNI’s Annual Support for Organisations Programme.

(Source: Echo Echo Annual Accounts)

3.4 In comparison to similar sized dance companies in Republic of Ireland, Echo Echo remains severely underfunded.

For example, in 2007/08, Echo Echo received £47,830 of Annual Support funding.

While similar sized and profiled dance companies in ROI, with similar or arguably smaller programmes of work, received Annual Support funding in 2008 as follows:

• Coisceim Dance Theatre €480,810
• Dance Theatre of Ireland €341,220
• Irish Modern Dance Theatre €299,860
• Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre €299,860

(Source: www.artscouncil.ie)

3.5 Echo Echo has consistently demonstrated over the last 10 years how relatively small increases in public subsidy can positively impact on:

• Organisational development and stability
• Artistic development of the company
• Echo Echo’s capabilities as an employer
• Echo Echo’s ability to lever other funds and generate income
• Range of quality dance activities Echo Echo can offer
• Audience and participation levels for Echo Echo’s programme
• Echo Echo’s ability to present work internationally

Significantly increased funding, to bring Echo Echo even partly in line with ROI dance companies, would offer significant opportunities for every aspect of the company’s artistic and organisational development.

3.6 The arts, and particularly dance, can have tremendous positive impact on people of all ages and abilities, including but not limited to:

• Creative and artistic outlet
• Many physical health and functional benefits
• Mental health benefits including improved wellbeing, self-esteem and self-confidence
• Personal development
• Social and communication skills development
• Educational benefits
• Therapeutic benefits

Demonstrating evidence for this is outside the scope of Echo Echo’s submission however these are generally accepted assertions.

(Source: Dance and Health paper, DCMS/NHS, August 2006)

3.7 Echo Echo fully supported the recent ‘Invest in Inspiration’ Campaign that highlighted the massive gulf in spending on the arts in these regions.

The company calls on this Inquiry to:

• Recognise the positive benefits of the arts, and particularly dance, have to offer all the people of Northern Ireland
• Recommend that funding for the arts in Northern Ireland be at least brought in line with the UK/ROI average per capita spend

4.0 Contact

Echo Echo is happy to contribute any further information that is requested by the Inquiry, particularly in relation to the development of dance and funding for dance in Northern Ireland.

For further information on any aspect of this submission please contact:

Mr Ailbe Beirne
Company Manager

Equity

From: Drew McFarlane [mailto:dmcfarlane@glasgow.equity.org.uk]
Sent: 27 February 2009 14:27
To: Bell, Dr. Kathryn
Subject:

Dear Dr Bell

I am writing to you in respect of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure inquiry into funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland. As the Trade Union that represents professional Actors, Stage Managers , Directors, Designers, Dancers and Singers who live and work in Northern Ireland we believe that we have a right to address what we believe is a serious chronic and endemic underfunding of the Professional Arts in Northern Ireland. I say this in that we have witnessed a year on decline in real terms to the jobs and pay to our members. This is in stark contrast to what has happened elsewhere in these Islands that constitute the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Whilst within Northern Ireland we have a devolved Assembly it has not moved at the same pace as its counterparts elsewhere. In evidence I would cite the Boyden Report into Regional Theatre in England which resulted in an extra influx of £26 million pounds into the professional theatre infrastructure and the relatively recent imaginative initiatives which brought about both the National Theatre for Scotland and The National Theatre for Wales in those respective Countries. Indeed the Scottish Parliament now directly funds Scottish Opera, The Scottish National Theatre, The Scottish Ballet and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra as well as the Royal Scottish National Orchestra with over 25 million pounds in 2009/10. At the same time the budget of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen stand at 55.1 million. In the Republic of Ireland we know that in per head of population terms they are at the top of the league in comparison to our own devolved governments funding of the Industry. Northern Ireland is at the bottom. I say this not to castigate the elected members because I do understand that the Devolved Assembly has not always been able to sit since its inception. However it is to that body which we pin most of our hopes in that our members are suffering due to underfunding and the paucity of jobs which are a result of that underfunding. That in turn affects the rest of the population within Northern Ireland who are not exposed to nor enjoy the same cultural entitlement that others experience in the UK and Ireland. In this respect I would want to thank the Committee for endeavouring to address the issue.

In the above two documents we flesh out our arguments on a more broader base and whilst we acknowledge they may contain figures that have changed slightly we believe the main points still prevail. The first document is one we presented to the Minister Gregory Campbell in October last year under the umbrella of ICTU. The second is a paper we put forward to the Committee and you will know of the debate surrounding it. I would be happy to answer or discuss any issue arising from the above and I would ask that you keep me informed of any outcomes. As a Union I don’t believe we were written to and in that respect I apologise for the last minute presentation.

Yours Sincerely

Drew McFarlane
Northern Ireland Secretary

Drew McFarlane
National Organiser
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Equity
114 Union Street
Glasgow
G1 3QQ

tel 0141 248 2472
Mb 07798750251

The Northern Ireland Theatre Initiative

The Northern Ireland Theatre Initiative is a concept that was borne out of discussions within the Northern Ireland Committee of Equity that culminated in a motion to the Annual Representative Conference of Equity in 2007. That motion was unanimously passed by the conference which was a representation of the entire membership within the United Kingdom. It reflected the sentiment that within Northern Ireland there is a dearth of opportunity and employment within professional theatre and that there is a real need to buttress and support the indigenous but fragile professional theatre infrastructure.

It was surprising to many of the delegates that the situation in Northern Ireland was so fragile given the rich cultural heritage that exists within Northern Ireland and indeed within the whole of Ireland and the part that theatre has played in that tradition.

However the current situation has in part to be seen against the background of division within the NI community, particularly over the last 40 years, which has been euphemistically called “the troubles". Whilst it would be true to say that the tensions that existed has not been resolved entirely, there is a growing optimism that Northern Ireland is moving away from division to having a more rounded society that can and will punch above its weight both economically and culturally.

The devolved Assembly at Stormont is part of that process, and like the other devolved Institutions in Scotland and Wales, will endeavour to ensure that the people of Northern Ireland and its economy develop to their full potential. Equity believes that part of this process is to ensure that the cultural industries are part of that process.

The recognition by the devolved Governments in Scotland and Wales of the part that a National Theatre can play in this process gives an indication that professional theatre is not just about added cultural value it is also about added economic value. It also makes a bold statement to a wider audience outside of these islands that cannot be underestimated. The impact of the National Theatre of Scotland is a case in point. Since its inaugural 2006 launch it has not only rejuvenated the Scottish theatre scene it has also taken world class productions to the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. A case in point the production of “Black Watch" has been an unmitigated international success that has put Scotland into sharper focus and brought about a sea change in how theatre can be delivered. By December of 2007 NTS has been involved in creating 30 productions in over 70 different locations and has performed in Theatres, ferries, high rise flats, forests, village halls, airports and schools. It even performed Black Watch as the opening ceremony to the 2007 Scottish Parliament in the parliament itself. In that period well over 100,000 people attended performances and over 30,000 people attended learn activities.

It produced shows for children and teenagers as well as adults. It did all of this having no theatre building of its own but working alongside all of the other theatre venues and at the same time creating co-productions with some of them. It has quite literally reinvigorated the whole of the Scottish theatre community and has created a new generation of theatre goers. It is funded directly by the Scottish Government and has greatly added to the employment of Actors, Stage technicians, Writers and others involved in the creative team. It has also had a multiplier effect within the economy as other industries benefit in servicing theatre and has undoubtedly added value to inward investment through tourism and inward migration.

This is what we as a Union would want to see mirrored in Northern Ireland. A rejuvenation of the professional theatre scene which would produce theatre in all of its forms using indigenous talent whilst working alongside the existing theatre infrastructure. It would not only give added value to Northern Ireland in terms of tourism and quality of life. It would also create its own dynamism within the local economy. Education would be part of its remit and working with young people will also bring its own benefits. It would also produce work in the Irish Language, Ulster Scots and English.

However the caveat is that its creation should not be at the expense of any existing theatre company and in no way should be funded out of the existing budget for the Arts in Northern Ireland. It has to be additional new funding which will enhance the whole of the theatre infrastructure. As to what to call it we have no predilection, hence the use of the Northern Ireland Theatre Initiative as a working title. It is a bold initiative which if brought about will put Northern Ireland in a new light. A signal that we are a mature and imaginative economy that wants to develop in new and imaginative ways.

Drew McFarlane
Northern Ireland Secretary

February 2008

Investment in the Arts and Culture in Northern Ireland

1. The arts and cultural industries are a vibrant part of any modern economy and generate wealth and wellbeing that surpasses any initial investment. It is also a high-tech, highly skilled industry that offers careers and employment well into the 21st Century.

2. Within Northern Ireland, particularly over the past ten years we have seen the stagnation of the cultural sector as investment and funding has been cut back or at best been put on standstill. This has led to fewer work opportunities for actors, musicians, writers, visual artists as well as the myriad of support staff and businesses. This has had a cumulative effect of driving the talent base out of Northern Ireland whilst at the same time dulling the aspirations of young people who want to work within the industry.

3. Arts funding in Northern Ireland has always traditionally lagged behind England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland invests £6.13 per head of population in stark comparison to Scotland (£11.93) and the Republic of Ireland (£12.61)[1].

4. It was not that long ago that a report into subsidised theatre within England, under the auspices of the Boyden Report, led to an increase of £26m of additional monies which the Government, in recognition that the talent base needs support, intimated had to be spent at the production end.

5. In 2007 the Scottish Executive has invested an extra £2.1m to support the stabilisation and future development of Scotland’s National Companies.[2] Currently it gives the Scottish National Theatre 4.5 million and Scottish Opera over * million. Collectively all of the National Companies receive over 22 million pounds in direct funding from the Scottish Executive.

6. In comparison, the Ulster Orchestra finds its funding reduced in real terms year on year, and remains close to the bottom of the orchestral pay league when compared with orchestras across the UK.

7. Whilst other regions have enjoyed substantial increases in their arts spending, Northern Ireland is investing less and less each year in percentage terms in its arts and cultural industries.

8. This not only happens at a macro level through the direct funding from the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Assembly through the Department of Culture and Leisure (DCAL), but also at Local Authority level. Local Authorities have no statutory commitment to the arts and funding is administered in a piecemeal fashion. Belfast City Council is still well behind London, Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow, Coventry and Sheffield as well as Dublin in its investment levels.

9. Belfast failed to get the final nomination as European City of Culture 2008 and many within the arts and cultural industries were astounded that the City axed its arts budget by £100,000 in the same year whilst seeking that nomination.

10. The Westminster Parliament now plans to cut the overall arts budget by a further £800,000 by 2008 in a move that will do irreparable damage to Northern Ireland’s already beleaguered arts sector. In total government spending on the arts will have been slashed by 10.4%[3] between 2004 and 2008 if the proposed cuts go ahead. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) has already appealed to the Westminster Parliament in January 2007 and has asked for a sizeable increase under the auspices of the Government Comprehensive Spending Review.

11. The situation will be exacerbated further as a predicted fall in Lottery monies will result in resources for the arts becoming even scarcer. Lottery income for the arts in Northern Ireland has been in steady decline and the shortage of money is now being felt directly by arts and community projects, with the situation likely to become worse. Annual income from the Lottery for arts in Northern Ireland has fallen from £10.3 million in 1997/98 to £7.96 million in 2006/07[4]. Lottery income for the arts in Northern Ireland will fall even further due to the London 2012 Olympic Games. Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, announced that the ACNI is being expected to contribute £2.5m to the costs of the Games[5].

12. This chronic lack of investment puts Northern Ireland at a distinct disadvantage in comparison the rest of UK and Republic of Ireland particularly at a time when Northern Ireland is repositioning itself on the world stage after the recent Assembly elections and is looking forward to a brighter future whilst attracting inward investment.

13. All indicators of a vibrant attractive community point to a healthy cultural infrastructure. The effect of low levels of support for artistic organisations and businesses is debilitating as struggle, compromise and survival dominate board level discussions. Annual funding and planning cycles don’t permit long term stability and planning with the inevitable collapse of the very infrastructure that lures both people and investment.

14. The Assembly and the Minister should not shy away from matters that are reserved to Westminster and not devolved to the Assembly. The Broadcasting industry is a case in point and again should be an economic generator in a much more meaningful way than it is at the moment. Ulster Television is a cash rich organisation yet produces very little and therefore does not nurture the talent base. The BBC in Northern Ireland is little better in that for years it has made and produced much of its drama in the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere in the UK. This results in a net drain of Northern Ireland license payer’s money to other parts instead of pump priming the local economy.

15. The recently much publicised four part drama series “Fairy Tales" which was filmed in Northern Ireland was produced by a London based company who cast it with actors from England and brought over its own camera crews. Hardly nourishing and investing in the local talent base.

16. Radio is also suffering and there seems little regulation to stop companies such as EMAP from taking over local radio stations and paying off presenters and journalists whilst bringing in little benefit. The arts means jobs and the Assembly should be seeking the broadcaster’s commitment to play their part despite the issue of reserved matters.

17. We need bold thinking as well as a reorientation of how the cultural industries are perceived. It is not just about spiritual well being it is about investment, economic regeneration and the multiplier effect that a vibrant industry can bring to the community.

18. The new Assembly and the Minister have the opportunity to face the challenges and set the agenda to ensure that the cultural industries are at the heart of devolved Government thinking. Look for instance at how the Scottish Parliament in founding the National Theatre of Scotland has revitalised the Scottish theatre community, providing new jobs for actors, musicians, and technicians as well as the creative talent. This model has also been adopted by the Welsh Assembly.

19. Instead of presiding over an impoverished industry which almost saw the demise of the Belfast Festival due to lack of investment, the Festival should be seen for what it is, the largest festival of its kind in Ireland, bringing the best of international art to Belfast and bringing international attention to the city’s dynamic arts practitioners. The Festival covers all art forms including theatre, dance, classical music, literature, jazz, comedy, visual arts, folk music and popular music and attracts over 50,000 visitors from overseas. We need to save it not stand by as it implodes due to lack of investment.

20. The aim of the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme, which culminated in the Smithsonian Institution’s Folk Life festival (27 June-8 July) was to highlight Northern Ireland’s “thriving economy, revitalised cities, unique and fascinating culture". There seems little point in DCAL spending millions to showcase arts and culture in Northern Ireland to attract investment and business when arts organisations are struggling to survive.

21. The benefits of funding and investing in the arts and culture is made explicit by the ACNI,

• Every £1 invested by the Arts Council returns over £3.60 into the local economy
• Arts funding as it stands maintains over 2,000 jobs as well as indirectly keeping many other jobs within the support industries
• Two thirds of arts activity supports cross-community participation
• 88% of people surveyed at the Mater Hospital said arts activity benefited their health
• Visitors say our cultural assets are one of the main reasons for coming to NI
• Nine new arts centres have been built in the last 10 years. These have transformed our towns and cities.
• There’s overwhelming public support for arts funding (78%)

22. The Northern Ireland Assembly needs to recognise the essential role of the arts and cultural industries in building a healthy economy, society and democracy and support the development of a home-grown infrastructure, putting an emphasis on indigenous skills retention for the region’s theatres, music venues, festivals, and creative businesses as well as providing for the aspirations of its young people who want to work in the industry.

23. The Assembly should also ensure that companies who receive public investment employ people on best practice and on industry standard contracts.

24. The ACNI’s request to Government is to raise the per capita spend on the arts from £6.13 to £11.55, per head of population, which is an increase of approximately £26m for the 2008 to 2011 funding horizon. This is an achievable aim and should be supported wholeheartedly by the Assembly.

[1] ACNI 2007

[2] The National Theatre of Scotland, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

[3] Community Arts Forum 2007

[4] ACNI 2007

[5] Tessa Jowell in response to written question from Lady Hermon May 2007

Fermanagh District Council

Our Ref: RG/JW
26 February 2009
Dr Kathryn Bell
Clerk
Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure
Room 424
Parliament Buildings
Stormont
Belfast
BT4 3XX

Dear Dr Bell

Re: Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure – Inquiry into ‘The Funding of The Arts in Northern Ireland’

1. I am in receipt of your letter dated 30 January 2009 regarding the inquiry as above. I respond on behalf of Fermanagh District Council. The Council invests approximately £527,000 annually, in the Arts, through the operation of the Ardhowen Theatre, the Higher Bridges Art Gallery, the Art of Regeneration Programme (a 4-year community arts project supported by the Arts Council also) through the employment of a dedicated Arts Officer, through the funding of Festivals and through small grants support for the Arts.

2. We understand that the Arts play an important part in the Northern Ireland economy and that the Arts Council will be making a submission to identify the contribution that the Arts make including the £30 million per annum benefit and the return on public investment.

3. We see the benefits in supporting the Arts not only for the economic benefit they bring but also for

• the tourism benefit,
• the cultural identity they reinforce,
• the local regeneration benefit,
• social cohesion and community regeneration,
• cross community participation and
• regenerating the night-time economy etc.

4. The Council is disappointed that Arts Council funding for the regional theatres has now been withdrawn. The Council supports the Ardhowen Theatre to provide a mixed programme of Entertainment and Arts. Arts Council funding had previously been available to enable the programme to include Arts activities and performances which would not necessarily attract a large audience in this rural area. We understand all regional theatres have also had their Arts Council funding withdrawn.

5. The Council believes that we have some examples of good practice which are worthy of future support:

• Art of Regeneration Programme – a four year programme working in five disciplines with 40 community groups which is raising the profile of music, dance, sculpture, carnival arts and literature in the rural area and leaving an arts legacy (supported by the Arts Council).
• Festival funding (including the Enniskillen Arts Festival).
• Arts Advisory Committee – small grants scheme.
• Art Gallery Exhibition support.
• The County Museum Exhibition support.

6. There are projects in Fermanagh that we believe are examples of good practice including the Creative Youth Partnership Scheme, operated by the Western Education & Library Board, aimed at youth.

7. There should be support for Public Art to be included in Public Realm Schemes to regenerate our towns and villages.

8. We believe that the Arts play a vital role in the life and identity of Northern Ireland and should receive sufficient financial support to enable them to do so. Local Authorities are available to work and to provide funding in partnership but should not be left to bear the cost alone, as per the regional theatre situation.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Robert Gibson
Director of Leisure, Tourism and Arts
COPY - Mr Eamonn Bradley, Ardhowen Theatre

Forum for Local Government & The Arts

27 February 2009

Dear Chair

I write on behalf of the Forum for Local Government and The Arts. We recognise these are challenging times for the Arts. The FLGA is unique in its membership the contributions of our Arts Managers, Arts Activists and our elected representatives cannot be undervalued or ignored. Working together we believe there is now more than ever a need to be creative, strategic and resourceful in our delivery of our services across N Ireland’s CAL has played a significant part in supporting Arts and Cultural Development that has contributed successfully to a number of Government targets across Arts, Education, Health and Well Being and indeed our Economy as a whole. This cannot be underestimated. Through real partnership working our collective agendas can be achieved. There are many examples across the province where Creative and Cultural Arts activity has been significant in transforming communities, building confidence and self-esteem, harnessing creative and intellectual skills creating a vibrance and synergy that needs to be sustained.

Funding needs to be sustainable and opportunities to support our Artists, Arts Activists, Local District Arts Managers including Creative Professionals working across the voluntary, Community and Arts and Education Sectors. Partnership is pivotal in securing a positive and creative future for all our people and all our generations.

We welcome an opportunity to meet with the DCAL committee to expand further of future funding and resourcing needs.

Regards

Noelle McAlinden
Chair Forum For Local Government and The Arts

Frankie McCafferty

Gemma Mae Halligan

To whom it may concern,

1. I have been working as a Stage Manager in theatre and film for the past seven years. I studied at the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education and then went to England to finish my studies and gained a first class BA (Hons) Theatre Arts. I have worked with companies such as Tinderbox Theatre Company, Prime Cut Productions, Kabosh, the Lyric Theatre, Once Off Productions, Rough Magic, Flickerpix, Borderline Productions, Spot On Productions, Greenstick Production, the Ulster Theatre Company and Mayfly Entertainment. I have toured through-out Ireland, both north and south of the border and have also been involved in bringing theatre into prisons in Northern Ireland. I have also set up my own company and had to fund it through my own finances as the bureaucracy for one off funding is very difficult to deal with. I am a member of Equity and feel strongly that the Arts need more attention from the Northern Ireland Assembly.

2. Despite an increase to the arts budget within the current Programme for Government, priorities and budget 2008-2111 Northern Ireland still lags far behind the rest of the UK regions and the Republic of Ireland.

Arts spending per capita in the UK and Republic of Ireland for 2008/09:

Scotland £14.04

Wales £10.10

England £ 8.47

Ireland €17.92

Northern Ireland £ 7.58

The per capita spend urgently needs to be increased to allow arts organisations to programme long-term, improve practice, pay industry-standard rates and flourish.

3. I recently worked on a co-production between a company in Northern Ireland and a company in the Republic of Ireland. The company in the north strives to pay Equity minimum which for an actor is £400 per week. The southern company has a policy of paying actors a base rate of €600 which then increases depending on how much experience the actor has and their longevity in the industry. There are some companies who because of their level of funding are unable to pay even the Equity minimum rates and sometimes can’t even pay during rehearsal periods. I am a tax payer and contribute to the economy and feel it is only fair that my pay reflects my work, especially when I have to supplement my income with other work during the financial year.

4. I also feel that the Arts is an industry that is undervalued by the government in a number of ways. The Arts can provide the means for viable business models but it is also an area which can contribute greatly to the population both culturally and socially. I have had the experience of how an audience can be transported by a piece of live theatre and how they can be confronted with difficult situations and be able to recognise similarities with their own lives. This is a very effective way of opening people up to discussing and dealing with serious issues in a safe and unthreatening environment. This came home to me in a very clear way when I was in they play ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ which centred around a young couple who through their relationship and circumstances fall into a life of alcoholism. This was not done as an ‘issue’ play, it was done simply for its own sake and yet after every show we, the cast, had numerous people come to speak to us who were visibly moved by what they had seen. People wanted to tell us of their experiences and share those with us. We even had Alcoholics Anonymous groups come and feel able to approach with their thanks for what they had seen. The reason people felt so connected with this piece is because they felt it was their story being told and that is a very powerful experience.

5. As mentioned above I have also had the privilege of working with the Prison Arts foundation when they brought ‘ A Night in November’ to Hydebank, Maghaberry and Magilligan in conjunction with the Lyric Theatre. It is no doubt that society has to provide suitable punishment for any crime committed but the reality is that most of these people will be released at some point and they need to be treated in a way that can demonstrate to them that they can behave in a civilised manner. It was palpable that most of the prisoners relished the opportunity to take part in a live cultural event and to take part in a so called normal activity. The play deals with a man who makes a journey both literally and figuratively through his support of the Irish Football team during the 1994 World Cup. A story of the difficult road to acceptance and friendship. This led on to the more recent work that the Prison Arts Foundation has done with Dan Gordon with young offenders in Hydebank, resulting in a production of ‘Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme’.

6. My experience of bringing drama whether it be through community outreach or a professional play is that it offers people a means of communication and a language to explore issues and subjects that may be difficult to broach. It is also as a means of recording our changing culture and population as well as offering people a valuable means of entertainment. I understand that detailed and robust research is difficult to record the value of the Arts but it should be attempted. All I can offer you is some of my personal experiences in this industry.

7. Historically the Arts have been under-funded as a sector and in the current round of ACNI funding for the fourth year all local independent theatre companies are on standstill funding with not even inflationary increases. Given changes in economic climate this is nonsensical and grossly unjust. For example in the last tax year I earned £9257.00 through my chosen profession and that was a good year, mainly because I had a long run of part-time work that added to that figure. I have increasingly found that theatre companies just do not have the resources to produce more that one show a year which is insufficient to provide the local talent base with regular work.

8. I would recommend that the CAL committee lobbies the Northern Ireland Assembly to commit to significantly increasing the per capita spend to enable Northern Ireland arts groups to deliver comprehensive, long term, quality arts provision. Also that CAL work with Equity to examine further the economic and artistic success of the Welsh and Scottish National Theatre models – a non-building based producer to increase arts provision and increase artistic employment etc. I feel that members of the CAL committee should become active advocates of the arts across the region by attending arts events, particularly in their constituencies and by promoting the arts to the full executive and presenting on behalf of the arts to other government departments.

Yours sincerely,

Gemma Mae Halligan

Grand Opera House

The Grand Opera House is Northern Ireland’s premier presenting theatre, staging a wide variety of shows from Northern Ireland, the UK and from around the world. Our historic listed main auditorium programme includes West End musicals, drama, dance, opera, amateur musicals, family shows, musical concerts and the annual pantomime. Our new Baby Grand space is used for youth drama, workshops, seminars, film, local drama, concerts and fashion shows.

Our Theatre is on the main touring circuit of UK regional theatres. It is visited by over 300,000 customers each year, has been attended by over half of the population of Northern Ireland[1] in the past and we truly consider ourselves a “Theatre for Everyone". Over 80,000 people from all age groups, regions and socio-economic backgrounds attend our Christmas pantomime each year.

We are pleased to be offered the opportunity to present written evidence to you for your inquiry into the funding of arts in Northern Ireland and respond to each of your terms of reference as follows:

1. To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rational which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

a. The comparative per capita spend on the arts in the regions of the UK and Ireland is well reported and included in table 1 below

Table 1 : Arts spending per capita in the UK and RoI for 2008/09:

Region	Arts spend per capita
Scotland	£14.04
Wales	£10.10
England	£ 8.47
Ireland	£16.00 (€17.92)
Northern Ireland	£ 7.58

The table shows how per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland falls well below the levels of its neighbouring regions.

2. To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

a. The long term under funding of the arts has driven organisations to consider alternative methods of sourcing additional funding.

b. The Grand Opera House is considered to be one of the most “commercial" arts organisations in Northern Ireland and we are very successful at generating income from alternative sources with only 8% of our income sourced from grant funding. Despite our success, we continue to be heavily reliant on public subsidy in order to deliver our programme to as many people as possible.

c. It is our opinion that we are close to achieving the maximum revenue from alternative sources and will therefore always be dependant on some level of public subsidy in order to operate effectively.

d. Given our success at generating alternative sources of income but our continuing dependency on public subsidy, it is our opinion that there is a limit to what can be achieved from these sources and that public subsidy will always be necessary.

3. To carry out a stock take of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

a. We refer the Committee to the Study of the Economic and Social Impact of the Grand Opera House 2005 carried out by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and to the following findings:-

i. Each £1 of revenue subsidy by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland generated £2.58 of direct spend within the local economy.

ii. There was an estimated £2m induced spending from customers and artists visiting the Theatre

iii. The Theatre directly employed 84 individuals (60 FTE’s)

iv. There was a further £2.65 of indirect spend within the NI economy per £1 of ACNI funding.

v. Over half the population of Northern Ireland have visited the Theatre.

vi. Over 1 in 8 adults visited the Theatre within the previous year.

vii. 40% of those visiting in the past came from the lower socio economic grouping.

viii. 62% of the population of Northern Ireland approve of the funding if the Theatre by the Arts Council.

b. It is clear from the study that arts activity is a substantial contributor to the Northern Ireland economy and public funding of the arts is supported by the majority of people in the region.

4. To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocated their funding across the various art forms

a. We have no submission to make within this term of reference

5. To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands.

a. We have no submission to make within this term of reference

6. To consider whether there are any arts forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

a. There are proven benefits of theatre as an educational tool and can have a significant impact on addressing issues of social need and regeneration. We believe that Theatre in Education is an area that requires additional funding if it to achieve its full potential.

7. To report to the Assembly making recommendations to the Department and/or others. We have no submission to make within this term of reference

a. We have no submission to make within this term of reference.

Summary

We believe that in addition to the social and economic benefits reported above, arts activity is making a significant contribution to health, education and urban regeneration in Northern Ireland. We further believe there is a limit to the level of income that can be secured from alternative sources and that public funding of the arts is essential if the arts sector is to continue to provide the benefits referred to above.

It is our opinion that arts activity has and continues to be significantly under funded and if brought up to parity with other regions of these islands will bring substantial benefits to Northern Ireland.

Grand Opera House
27th February 2009

[1] A Study of the Economic and Social Impact of the Grand Opera House 2005

Greater Shantallow Community Arts

Contents

1. Greater Shantallow Community Arts Background

1.1 GSCA: Location & Catchment Area

1.2 GSCA: Background

2. Evidence Pertinent to Issue 4

2.1 Knowledge & Understanding

2.2 Fit-For-Purpose Centre

2.3 Long-Term Core-Funded Staff

3. Evidence Pertinent to Issue 6

3.1 The Digital Arts / Creative Industries

3.2 The Establishment of a Digital Arts Centre within the Outer North Area

65 Galliagh park, L’Derry, N. Ireland, BT48 8DE
Tel: 71357443 / Email info@gscaderry.com

1. Greater Shantallow Community Arts Background

1.1 GSCA Location & Catchment Area

GSCA is a community arts organisation situated in the Outer North area of Derry, an area which is within the top five most deprived communities in the North of Ireland. The Outer North area has a population of approximately 40,000 people which is one third of the entire population of Derry. GSCA also works with a wide network of other arts, community and statutory organisations throughout the city and the North-West region.

1.2 GSCA Background

GSCA has provided direct access to the arts in the heart of one of the most disadvantaged areas in Northern Ireland for the past ten years. The organisation has used a wide range of art forms to achieve this, including; music, drama, literature, street pageant, festival, digital arts, film and fine arts. GSCA’s aim is to; enrich lives, promote the arts (and artists) in an area of high deprivation, to increase participation and audience for the arts at street level and to deliver quality projects that have a significant impact on the process of community development and regeneration and which involves the participation of tens of thousands of ordinary people of all cultures, ages and backgrounds.

2. Evidence Pertinent to Issue 4:

Targeting social need: Encouragement of community engagement: Engaging with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

2.1 Knowledge and Understanding

As stated above, GSCA has ten years of real experience on the ground. That experience has translated into knowledge. That is an understanding of the area and its people. This knowledge also extends to knowing what elements are realistically required to run an effective community arts organisation. Principally, those elements are twofold; a fit-for-purpose local centre and core-funded, experienced staff.

2.2 Fit-For-purpose Arts centre

The work that GSCA has carried out for the past ten years has been carried out without a fit-for-purpose centre. In order to provide effective value for money and to implement quality projects the provision of proper, facilities sited in the heart of those communities most likely to benefit from them, are vital. Such services have to be established upon strong foundations and be seen as important and permanent aspects of society.

2.3 Long-Term, Core-Funded Staff

Community arts are all about people. Among the most vital to the success of any organisation are those people contained within it. Long-term, core- funded, staff, that develop with the community they serve, are essential to the success of community arts organisations. The arts are important to the development of a healthy society and contribute to good health in general. Investment in effective, experienced core staff is positive investment in society.

3. Evidence pertinent to issue 6

To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

3.1 The Digital Arts / Creative Industries

The digital arts are at the forefront of employment within the creative industries. Whether it’s the games industry or CGI for film or sound recording there is a demand for those with skills and experience in the relevant software. The average PC now comes bundled with sophisticated software that has the potential to empower the average person to create and publish his or her own words, art, designs, music or film or access the world through the internet. The processing power of a PC has also dramatically increased. Computers can now easily process and store vast amounts of data including graphic design, film and recorded sound and the affordability of this technology is within the reach of most. Greater Shantallow Community arts has long identified a centre for the digital arts with training and access to this technology as an ideal vehicle for members of disadvantaged communities to progress to either higher education or into the creative industries. At the very least the ability to create a design, logo, poster, word document, basic sound recording or film edit would be an advantage to anyone looking to enhance life and job skills.

3.2 The Establishment of a Digital Arts Training Centre within the Outer North Area

A centre dedicated to these skills and centred with a deprived area, such as the Outer North, would provide not only relevant and valuable job skills but could also create connections into the local business and the University Of Ulster, Magee. Certain software packages have now become industry-standard. Software such as; Photoshop™ Cubase™ and Final Cut pro™ are sophisticated, complicated software packages that may require applied study and practice to master but which also empower the user to create graphic design, sound recording and film without having to rely on expensive professional expertise and input. It is this fundamental concept that has the potential to effect real change within the community arts and within the arts in general.

Jan Branch

From: Jan Branch
To: committee.cal@niassembly.gov.uk
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 4:39 PM
Subject: Enquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

To the CAL Committee conducting the enquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland-

The comparatively low spend per capita on the arts in Northern Ireland is well documented by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, as is the impact of the arts here.The English , Scottish and Welsh Arts Councils have parallel research to compare with the situation here.

The committee should be aware, when considering the overall provision of the arts here, that many if not most of the arts organisations have a very small staff, and that when projects/ productions/events/

tours /exhibitions are created, it is from the hundreds of freelance arts workers that the work comes.

ACNI has statistics on the numbers of professional freelance arts workers- visual artists, musicians of all kinds, dancers and choreographers, actors, designers, lighting designers, costume makers, carnival workers, circus artists, directors, producers, workshop leaders, schools ‘ arts facilitators- who form the nucleus of the arts here.

In the last few years, many of the more experienced freelances have left Northern Ireland to live in Scotland, England or the South of Ireland , where conditions for freelances are more generous and work more plentiful. And there is now a serious gap in the availability of theatre staff such as company touring managers, technicians, directors, so companies bring in freelances from outside - with subsequent additional costs.

If the underfunding and lack of clear government support for the arts continues, the talent drain will also continue. And standards will fall further. Community arts will also suffer, since these are underpinned by professional directors, workshop leaders, designers.

It has long been accepted that those with real artistic talent will have to move away from Northern Ireland at a certain point of their training and development- Barry Douglas, James Galway, Van Morrison, Liam Neeson, Angela Feeney, Colin Morgan , the list is long and continues to grow. Northern Ireland is too small to provide third-level training facilities , so moving away is inevitable for those seeking an international career.

But for those who want to work here and are qualified to do so, there must be work for them to keep them here.

The brain drain has now been replaced by the arts drain.

Jan Branch
Freelance arts consultant and producer/director

Kabosh

About Kabosh

Established in 1994, Kabosh is an independent theatre company resident in the Cathedral Quarter of Belfast. We are committed to challenging the notion of what theatre is and where it takes place.

We aim to reinvent the ways in which stories are told, commissioning new writing and devising work for site-specific environments and installation. We strive to create the best environment for performance as well as cultivating original work in radical partnerships with other arts practitioners.

• We create exciting theatre in different types of locations
• We create engaging narrative using local stories and histories to create plays that chart the way Northern Ireland is evolving
• We are committed to providing quality stimulating, entertainment for everybody living in and visiting Northern Ireland
• We believe in the politics of theatre to transform lives
• We animate public spaces
• We initiate projects using artists from a wide range of genres
• We are committed to the development of arts & culture within Northern Ireland and promoting its worth both nationally and internationally
• We are committed to producing cultural tourism product

We welcome the opportunity to contribute to the CAL Committee Inquiry into the Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland.

1. Per Capita Spend

1.1 Despite an increase to the arts budget within the current Programme for Government, priorities and budget 2008-2111 Northern Ireland still lags far behind the rest of the UK regions and the Republic of Ireland.

1.2 Arts spending per capita in the UK and Republic of Ireland for 2008/09:

Scotland £14.04

Wales £10.10

England £ 8.47

Ireland €17.92 (£15.87 27.02.09)

Northern Ireland £ 7.58

1.3 The per capita spend urgently needs to be increased to allow arts organisations to programme long-term, improve practice including wage levels and consequently flourish. At present levels both indigenous practitioners and local audiences are suffering.

1.4 A healthy society thrives on self-examination and needs to be engaged in wondering what’s truthful. This examination will challenge pre- conceived prejudices, assist informed debate and nurture citizens with a social and political conscience. In a fragmented society theatre (given its live collective experience) acts as a kind of glue.

2. Sourcing Additional Funding

2.1 Cultural Tourism is the fastest growing and most sustainable aspect of the tourism industry. Defined as the movement of people for essentially cultural motivations, cultural tourists will travel extensively to see a broad range of attractions, including museums and galleries, performing arts, cultural tours, festivals, study tours, historic sites and monuments. The cultural tourist is looking for things which are specifically indigenous and mark a destination out from others. They spend more than regular tourists and now account for 40% of all world travel. In 2007 Cultural Tourism contributed £313 million to Belfast’s economy. This supports nearly 17,230 full-time jobs and has triggered over £300 million investment with additional hotels, accommodation facilities, restaurants and venues. It is the arts – and notably literature, poetry, theatre, music and fine art – that have enabled Belfast to reach the world stage on its own merits. We are unusually rich in the quality and variety of our artists and are home to the finest practitioners who are receiving international awards and acclaim. Belfast is now poised to embark on a new chapter in its short history but quickly expanding position as a tourist destination. However, chronic under funding puts Belfast at a distinct disadvantage in comparison to the rest of UK and Republic of Ireland. Cultural Tourism has the potential to become a crucial economic generator for Belfast. It is Britain’s 5th largest industry and brings £74 billion into the UK economy. It is crucial that the current funding crisis is addressed if we are to raise the profile of Belfast as a Cultural Tourism destination and reap resultant benefits. Over the past twelve months we developed a successful cultural tourism product (Henry & Harriet) in partnership with the NITB, BCC Tourism Unit, BCCM and Belfast Evening Economy. This project provided local employment, local investment and local empowerment whilst offering value-for-money.

2.2 Development of Bespoke Theatre in association with the business community – over the past two years we have commissioned and presented event- specific pieces of interactive theatre to promote conference themes and/or launch products. This is not only a means of generating additional income for our core artistic programme but it provides well-paid freelance employment and forges new partnerships whilst generating new audiences for the arts.

2.3 Development and implementation of interdepartmental art policies – the arts have an integral role to play in the achievement of numerous local government objectives, including those within education, health, urban regeneration and social cohesion.

2.4 Per Cent Art Scheme – a cost-effective means of generating arts investment from developers and businesses which will serve to sustain indigenous practitioners, forge proactive arts & business partnerships, transform public spaces, dramatically increase access to the arts and profile the best of artistic talent. This scheme has been successful elsewhere.

3. Research on the Benefits of the Arts

3.1 Refer to Arts Council of England inquiry Public Value and the Arts in England: Discussions and Conclusions of the Arts Debate (November 2007). In summary it explains how the debate has provided a new framework for understanding the public value of the arts: The arts are seen as part of our fundamental capacity for life - enabling us to interpret, adapt and understand the world around us, helping us to express ourselves, communicate with others and broaden our collective horizons. The arts enrich our experience of life - they bring colour, passion, beauty and intensity to our lives. They are a source of pleasure, entertainment and relaxation and a means of escape from the day to day. The arts offer powerful applications in other contexts - contributing to health and well being, to education and learning, a sense of belonging and community and so to social cohesion and a healthy economy

3.2 Articulate case study: addressing the legacy of conflict through arts by Paula Guzzanti, 2008. “Oppositional identities are at the base of the legacy left behind by the conflict in Northern Ireland and, as such, conflict transformation strategies need to address them. The artistic transformative experience involves building up skills that allow participants to be more sensitive to other’s identities and help them to go beyond strong stereotypes by generating empathy rather than aiming for direct change." Over the past six months we have worked with the Trauma Recovery Network (Kabosh is also a member); Contact Youth NI, Relatives for Justice and Healing Through Remembering in the facilitation and presentation of commissioned drama pieces at member meetings. These were designed to present key controversial issues and so allow informed, proactive debate. We hope to continue this work with the Victim’s Commissioners.

3.3 There have been numerous case studies carried out by Invest NI and the Department of Enterprise amongst others regarding what encourages companies to relocate. It is regularly highlighted that a vibrant cultural scene is a considerable incentive, as skilled employees are more likely to relocate on a permanent basis, particularly those with families. The health of a nation is often measured by the quality and quantity of its indigenous arts.

4. Public Funding Allocation

4.1 In order for the arts to serve its citizens effectively there needs to a balance of provision across the different genres – for example professional arts provide the opportunity for those inspired through community arts to experience peer practitioners and satisfy or develop their interest.

4.2 As well as artistic product that assists with the interrogation of grass-roots social issues there needs to investment is high quality product that educates, inspires and entertains.

5. How Public Bodies Allocate across Art Forms

5.1 The Performance Corporation based in County Kildare is a similar-sized site-specific theatre company to Kabosh yet its core arts council grant is 57% higher

5.2 Volcano, a Swansea-based (Wales) site-specific theatre company receives an annual arts council grant that is 122% higher than that of Kabosh

5.3 The Boyden Report into Regional Theatre in England resulted in an extra influx of £26 million pounds into the professional theatre infrastructure.

6. Underfunded Art Forms

6.1 The arts in Northern Ireland have been historically under-funded for numerous years. The majority of the independent theatre companies have been on standstill revenue funding for the past four years – without even an inflationary increase.

6.2 Regional venues across Northern Ireland from April 2008 received a 100% cut in their programming budgets. Therefore they are unable to host ‘high-risk’ product such as dance, new writing or classical music. Regional audiences are not getting access to a balanced programme of arts activity. In consequence contracts for practitioners are reduced in length due to shorter performance period and value-for-money is reduced.

7. Recommendations

7.1 Increase per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland. This is essential if the Key Goals of the Programme for Local Government are to be realised: a 15% growth in the creative industries sector by 2011; a 2% rise in NI population who attend arts events; a 2% rise in the number of NI people who participate in arts events.

7.2 In association with Equity, CAL should work to establish The Northern Ireland Theatre Initiative along the same lines as the economically and socially successful Welsh National Theatre and Scottish National Theatre models. It would not only give added value to Northern Ireland in terms of tourism and quality of life. It would also create its own dynamism within the local economy - other industries benefit in servicing theatre as well as inward investment through tourism and migration. Education would be part of its remit and working with young people will also bring its own benefits. It would also produce work in the Irish Language, Ulster Scots and English and work in collaboration with existing producers – sustainable value-for- money.

7.3 Invest in indigenous cultural tourism product – this is essential if the PLG target of increasing tourism revenue from out-of-state visitors to £520 million and numbers to 2.5 million by 2011 is to be reached.

7.4 Establish the Per Cent Art Scheme across Northern Ireland – this is a cost-effective means of funding new commissions across the artforms as well as forging important links between developers and the arts community. Support can be sought from the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism in Dublin and it’s newly launched public art advice service www.publicart.ie

7.5 CAL committee members supporting through the arts through attendance at events and personal advocacy.

We hope the committee will find these comments helpful. We are happy to provide further written or oral evidence if required.

Paula McFetridge
Kabosh Artistic Director

artisticdirector@kabosh.net

Let the Arts Blossom

From: Belfast Blert [belfastblert@googlemail.com]
Sent: 27 February 2009 10:02
To: +Comm. CAL Public Email
Subject: DCAL Submission

To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

The evidence of a greater funding per head of population for the arts in every other region in Europe is well documented. The last minister, and ultimately the Assembly, were shamed by the entire arts community into increasing funding. The minister hadn’t even the will to propose adequate funding for his own department. With advocates like that how can you possibly move forward? But why always comparative studies from government departments, why can’t N. Ireland take bold unique decisions especially when faced with this economic downturn?

To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

Any fool can spend money, the challenge is to increase the funding pot. Government departments and councils (including arts council) are uniquely placed to identify and work for additional funding for the arts. They have demonstrated they have neither the will or capacity to do this, losing many opportunities for additional funding from Europe and elsewhere to N. Ireland. The whole Peace Programme had NO arts criteria due to lack of any statutory representation asking for it to be included. For arts groups that did apply for funding through the Peace Programme, it was a contortion and painful experience for them as arts was not a criteria. It ultimately took its toll on arts workers, their organisations and their practice and of course was short term project funding. No sustainability so one is forced to continually reinvent the wheel.

To carry out a stocktake of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

This sort of research has been ongoing by the arts council and many other groups world wide. Let’s hope the assembly commitee will look at the research without wasting everyone’s time and money by commissioning yet more research. However, it should be borne in mind that relying on evidence and the track record from the N. Irish experience is unfair. The arts have been in survival mode since funding began and have rarely have the arts community been given any serious opportunity to make a dynamic difference.

However when opportunity does arise the cultural organisations doesn’t always make the right choices.

I pay top dollars for any ticket event in the Waterfront. Commercial rate. Yet it still receives over £1m of subsidy in taxpayers money when it should be making a profit! It has the potential to find ways of generating serious additional revenue but has failed. For example its cafe/bar area is merely a second thought. It was also built in the wrong place. It could have helped regenerate the entire city centre for there was certainly enough land available in the centre, not, as now, located in a small enclosed area which would no doubt have been regenerated with office blocks anyway. Similarly groups like the Lyric insist on retaining its current out-of-the-way location is shooting itself in the foot when it comes to the potential of generating serious additional revenue. Considering the public money that is going to this project the department should have challenged this situation. This new Mac Centre could also minimise its revenue requirement by generating potential income but it also doesn’t appear to considering this and why is the building of it so our of sync from the development in that area? Government and statutory departments failure to develop any cohesive strategy that’s why. So much for working in partnership with the private developer. The Art College to its credit did have the sense to have commercial units in it. But where is the showcase shop for students and crafts people’s work? Stuck somewhere out of the way. What a shame.

To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

(a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors;

(b) target social need;

(c) encourage community regeneration; and

(d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

A large proportion of the arts council’s current arts funding goes on a few major clients. For example the Ulster Orchestra. This has been the situation for decades. Therefore it makes it very hard for an organisation to develop or indeed the nature of the arts itself to evolve. There are some organisations who have made impact despite this scenario. But reward for success does not feature in arts funding. It is unlikely the Assembly will challenge this situation. So the most the Assembly could aspire to is simply increasing funding for others who have traditionally been marginalised despite their achievements. Current allocation to the community arts sector is barely enough for organisations to exist never mind conduct any serious sustained programme of work. Belfast City Council for all its absurd demands on arts organisations, gives funding to, at best, what amounts to one employee per organisation. Most arts organisation’s energies (including creative) are used to try and find additional funding to have a programme of work. The work attached to this is crippling, time wasting and bureaucratic.

There are some art forms which have little or no relevance to disadvantaged communities and frankly they could not care a damn about them. Similarly communities are not particularly interested in them. So why get hung up on it if there is adequate and fair funding for those who do want to engage with local communities.

To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

To report to the Assembly making recommendations to the Department and/or others.

There is always this aspiration for ‘joined up’ departmental thinking. There is massive potential for the arts, the economy and the well-being of the people to benefit from a cohesive strategy. However there is little evidence of any strategic thinking to date and frankly, is there anyone out there in government or the arts community who believes it is going to happen? The answer is quite clearly NO. It would be better to think of a different strategy rather than labour ones which have failed abysmally.

Yours

‘Let the arts blossom’.

Limavady Borough Council

Response from:

Culture Arts and Tourism Department of Limavady Borough Council, which has responsibility for and experience in providing grants advice and financial support to the Community/Arts sectors for arts events/programmes and of delivering directly a range of arts outreach events and programmes in the Borough.

and by

Roe Valley Arts and Heritage Committee. A constituted voluntary body representative of a range of art forms’ interest /arts and heritage organisations in Limavady Borough. The constituent groups making up this Committee have a vast experience of delivering arts programmes/events with little or no support from external bodies other than the Borough Council.

The responses were formulated through experience of officers in Council, with responsibility for Arts and from consultation with representatives of the constituent groups in Roe Valley Arts and Heritage Committee and from results received through a Borough wide survey of organisations, schools, community groups and arts practitioners.

1. To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

Response:

We agree.

2. To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

Response:

This is really important as it encourages models of best practice to be undertaken across NI and it also promotes beneficial partnership working.

3. To carry out a stocktake of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

Response:

Economic investment is essential to obtain the well documented physical and mental benefits of participation in the arts. Locally, the result of our Borough wide arts survey has confirmed the benefits of arts participation, in particular regarding the increased capacity of community groups to undertake larger and more diverse projects using skills honed during their initial arts project participation. On an individual basis, people living in isolated communities and the elderly have asked to have more arts activity in their area as it improves their sense of wellbeing.

4. To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

(a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors;

Response:

Important as presently our Council resources are needed for support to the community sector to ensure their arts events/ programmes continue due to the lack of central funding.

(b) target social need;

Response:

We agree that this should be a focus of local arts funding, with local factors such as rurality being taken into account as well as the TSN indicators.

(c) encourage community regeneration; and

Response:

The arts play an integral role in facilitating community regeneration and we agree that this should be examined at length.

(d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

Response:

We agree that this should be a priority ( backed up by a recent Borough wide arts survey)

5. To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

Response:

We agree.

6. To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

Response:

We agree that this is important – especially in the field of performing arts. Our Borough wide arts survey has highlighted this gap.

7. To report to the Assembly making recommendations to the Department and/or others.

Response:

We agree.

Lyric Theatre

1. An Introduction to the Lyric Theatre

1.1 Great theatre has the capacity to touch our lives in extraordinary ways and for over forty years the Lyric has been an indispensable part of our cultural life. The Lyric is uniquely positioned as the only full-time producing theatre in Northern Ireland. It is the largest employer of professional theatre practitioners in the region and caters for audiences of over 50,000 a year of which nearly one-third are young people under the age of 25.

1.2 Approximately 50% of the Lyric’s audience comes from the Greater Belfast area and 50% from the wider region. BT code analysis of the Lyric’s audience data demonstrates a real city-wide impact with less than 10% of total bookers from the BT9 neighbourhood in which the theatre is located. A programme of national and international touring productions widens the theatre’s reach even further.

1.3 The Lyric’s turnover is approximately £1.25 million at present, made up from grants, sponsorship and earned income through ticket sales and merchandising. Its public revenue funding is 50% lower than the average amount granted to similar theatres in the UK and Ireland.

1.4 The theatre has supported the development of local talent over many decades and provided a platform for a wide range of local voices, including John Hewitt, Graham Reid, Gary Mitchell, Martin Lynch, Tim Loane, and Marie Jones whose play ‘Stones in His Pockets’ has become one of Northern Ireland’s most successful cultural exports. It has also been instrumental in the career development of many of our finest actors and ambassadors, including Liam Neeson, Ciaran Hinds, Adrian Dunbar, Conleth Hill and Dan Gordon.

1.5 The Lyric’s commitment to widening access to the arts is evident in its proactive engagement with the Social Inclusion Agenda. The Lyric provides professionally-led outreach programmes to help remove barriers to participation in, and enjoyment of, the arts for those in disadvantaged areas of the city. Youth drama classes, festivals, student placements, study guides, and practical workshops are some of the other ways in which thousands of young people get involved with the work of the Lyric each year.

1.6 The Lyric provides a forum in which relevant social and political issues can be debated and examined in a context that is both comfortable and secure. Through a carefully chosen programme of plays and related events, the Lyric makes an important contribution to the healing process of a divided society. An example of this is the popular and critically acclaimed production of Marie Jones’ A Night in November in 2002 which addressed the issue of sectarianism. An extended run to packed houses in Belfast was followed by an international tour and a series of performances in local prisons.

1.7 First opened in 1968, the original venue had to close in January 2008 due to the dilapidated state of the building. The company is currently planning and fundraising to build a new state-of-the-art theatre on its Ridgeway Street site. Its vision is to build upon its established role as a centre of regional excellence and position itself as an international class theatre company based in Northern Ireland.

1.8 The new building will consist of a 370 seat main auditorium, a 150 seat studio theatre, a rehearsal room, extensive riverfront foyers and bar, dressing rooms, technical facilities and office accommodation. The dedicated education spaces in the new theatre will enable the Lyric to provide significantly enhanced opportunities for children from all areas and social backgrounds to have access to the arts within a safe, supportive, and professionally regulated environment.

1.9 Constantly striving for excellence, the Lyric’s programme of work is diverse and imaginative in form and content, providing a broad range of theatrical styles including classical, modern, physical, comic, tragic and musical theatre genres.

2 To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

2.1 Recent research by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland demonstrates that Northern Ireland has the lowest per capita arts spend in the UK and Ireland. There is wide-ranging research available demonstrating the positive impact of investment in the arts on a cultural, economic and social level. A key study, with particular relevance to the performing arts, would be:

2.2 ‘The Boyden Report’ – Published in May 2000, the Boyden Report examined the role and function of English Regional Producing Theatres (ERPTs). The comprehensive study acknowledged the growing financial and artistic crisis caused by twenty years of strategic confusion, increased expectations by multiple stakeholders, standstill funding and financial instability in the sector. It proposed a review of the entire theatre sector and a strategic plan to ensure coherent planning and greater consistency in funding provision. The Boyden Report prompted a Government commitment of £25 million to address the problems in the theatre sector.

2.3 There are also a wide range of individual case studies which demonstrate how cities and regions have benefited economically from increased investment in arts and cultural activities. A key example is the transformation of Glasgow through its year as European Capital of Culture. “The benefits of the experience can be recognised by pointing out their immediate economic impacts in terms of leisure tourism and business growth. Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley Tourism Board quotes an increase of 88% UK and 25% international visitors between 1991 and 1998."[1]

2.4 Glasgow also demonstrated that investing in cultural programming and its promotion can result in major and positive image transformation. Changes in the way that the media refers to the city since then are being analysed by the Centre for Cultural Policy Research at the University of Glasgow. “The analysis reveals the progressive reduction of negative city stereotypes within the UK press and the overwhelming predominance of celebratory approaches by the international press."[2]

5.5 The growth of cultural tourism as an economic force is undeniable and presents Belfast and Northern Ireland with a major business opportunity. Global trends indicate that tourists are seeking cultural experiences particularly in the short break market, which is the main focus in marketing Belfast worldwide. Tourists looking for unique and authentic experiences are increasingly interested in cultural sites and innovative arts programming, and will travel to find these attractions. Tourism centred on arts venues, festivals, museums, art galleries, and heritage attractions is big business. Visitors drawn to a location for a specific cultural activity or event will tend to stay longer to take advantage of other recreational activities and are more likely to make return visits.

2.6 Increased investment in our arts and cultural infrastructure will help to ensure that Belfast and Northern Ireland improves its competitiveness within the cultural tourism market. For example, Belfast was unsuccessful in its bid for the European Capital of Culture, a major cultural tourism and urban regeneration initiative. One of the reasons given by the judges was the gap in cultural infrastructure within the city. Current provision was not regarded as “exceptional". The Panel set out to choose, “a city which possesses a robust cultural infrastructure, and the vision and skills to bring into being a year of attractive events". Once our cultural infrastructure has been developed, there must be sufficient regular investment in the sector to allow key organisations and new venues to flourish and maximise their long-term potential.

2.7 It is vital that Northern Ireland ensures positive first and lasting impressions for visitors with an emphasis on high quality and leading edge visitor servicing. For example, the proposed redevelopment of the Lyric aims to address significant deficiencies in the building with regard to visitor experience. The project places a strong emphasis on improving customer care through provision of state-of-the-art public amenities including cloakrooms, box office, bar and café. The design by award-winning architects O’Donnell & Tuomey will also ensure that the new building makes a striking and memorable contribution to the region’s cultural capital.

2.8 The Scottish Executive and the Scottish Arts Council have carried out a substantial amount of research into the benefits and impact of investing in theatre, including the SAC Review of Theatres (2000). This eventually led to a major investment of additional funding (initially £7.5million for the first two years) to establish a new National Theatre of Scotland.

2.9 The impact of this increased investment in theatre in Scotland has become evident within a very short period of time. For example, ‘Blackwatch’ by Gregory Burke, one of the first plays produced by the nascent National Theatre of Scotland, started out at the Edinburgh festival in 2006 and went on to achieve massive success worldwide and positive profile for Scotland’s creative industries. Its plot focuses on the famous regiment as it goes into battle in Iraq and the consequences for it as the government amalgamates it with others to become a battalion in a new Scottish regiment. It would not have been possible to develop, produce and tour a new work on this scale without the increased investment provided by the Scottish Executive.

2.10 There are also immense social benefits from investment in the arts which have been well researched and reported. Drama is an educational medium that nurtures design, performance, language and technical skills, all of which feed directly into the development of the creative industries. The Lyric, for example, is committed to demonstrating and fostering imagination, creativity and innovative thinking in action. On an annual basis, it provides a wide range of opportunities for young people to engage creatively and critically with the arts through an extended programme of festivals, workshops, training schemes, work placements, and comprehensive study guides. Participation in, and enjoyment of, such activities teaches young people about the importance of team spirit and discipline. It encourages the development of individual creativity and self-confidence, allowing young people to explore key social and personal issues, such as cultural identity and conflict resolution, in a safe and supportive environment through role play and problem solving.

2.11 Crucially, the Lyric provides a creative space that allows young people to interact outside their traditional community boundaries, and nearly one third of the Lyric’s audience is under the age of 25 with participation from across all areas of the city and, indeed, the region. The Lyric enjoys a long established relationship with the formal education sector, designing and delivering programmes and activities that meet the needs of primary, secondary and tertiary level curricula. The Lyric is also one of a small number of theatre companies in the region which provide work for children under the age of 10 outside of the education system.

3. To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

3.1 The Lyric’s success in raising funds for its capital development is a good example of how innovative and successful arts organisations already are in diversifying their funding base. The Lyric has persuaded many local businesses and individual philanthropists to help finance the redevelopment at a very significant level. But it is important to recognise that the development and implementation of successful fundraising strategies needs time, resources and appropriate expertise. The Lyric’s campaign has been running for over five years. The focus when developing new sources of additional funding has to be on planning and implementing long-term strategies rather than expectation of short-term fixes.

3.2 Public funders have a key leadership role to play by providing appropriate levels of revenue and capital support to local arts organisations. This investment is critical in demonstrating the viability and credibility of arts projects and arts organisations to other funders, business and private philanthropists.

3.3 The current global economic climate is undoubtedly having an effect on the philanthropic and corporate sponsorship environment. Funding from these sources is becoming harder to attract. Whilst it is easier to access funding for theatre with an agenda, for example educational theatre which is specifically exploring a social issue, it still remains difficult for non-agenda theatre projects to garner outside support.

3.4 It is also important to note that few funders, outside of public agencies, are prepared to commit resources to revenue funding and core costs. Most corporate sponsors and individual philanthropists tend to make one-off contributions to a specific project. Local trust Lloyds TSB is fairly unique amongst funders in piloting a scheme which guarantees grant aid to a select number of organisations for a period of 6 consecutive years.

3.5 It is also important to find ways of encouraging more high profile and influential players from the private and public sectors to participate on the Boards of major arts organisations. This undoubtedly helps to demonstrate the viability and credibility of an arts organisation and brings invaluable skills, experience and high level contacts into the sector.

4. To carry out a stock take of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

4.1 There has been an immense amount of research over the last decade into the social and economic benefits of investing public funding in the arts. The Arts of Council of Northern Ireland holds a comprehensive list of key research and examples of good practice.

4.2 A key recent study, with particular relevance for the performing arts sector, would be The Shellard Report, commissioned by the University of Sheffield and published in April 2004. The report consists of a comprehensive economic impact study of theatre in the UK and concludes that professional theatre has a huge economic impact in the UK, at a conservative estimate of £2.6bn annually. This figure does not include, for instance, the impact of individual touring theatre companies or non building-based theatre activity. Key components of this economic impact figure were: spending by theatre audiences, in particular food bought outside the theatre, transport costs to get there and back, and necessary childcare costs; expenditure on staff and freelance artists local goods and services; income generated by theatres, including ticket sales, sponsorship, grants, donations, programme and refreshment sales, merchandise and catering sales and income generated by working overseas.

4.3 Taking Shellard as the only available research in this specific area, it is clear that an organisation like the Lyric Theatre has a substantial economic impact in Northern Ireland. For every £1 of revenue grant invested in the old theatre, £3.25 was generated in economic activity (KPMG, 2005).

4.4 Belfast City Council commissioned internationally renowned competitiveness expert Professor Michael Parkinson to carry out a comparison of competitiveness between Belfast and similar cities in England and Europe. In April 2004 his report Belfast: A Competitive City was published. A key finding of the report is that soft location factors were becoming an increasingly important part of economic decision-making. One of the constant threads of interviews with public and private decision-makers is the significance of attracting and retaining skilled workers to their cities. And, in their calculations, the quality of life for themselves and their families is an increasingly important factor. Cities with the assets of good environment, distinctive architectures, cultural facilities, diverse housing stock and access to natural amenities are attempting to preserve and improve them. Enhancing cultural infrastructure by redeveloping the Lyric will create a more attractive environment for the residents of Belfast.

4.5 Significant local research in this area dates back to 1996 with the publication of the John Myerscough Study – The Arts and the Northern Ireland Economy. It demonstrated through the use of a multiplier that direct spending on the arts led to spending in other sectors of the economy, which in turn enhanced wealth and job creation and made cities appear more attractive to citizens and companies. Myerscough’s first major UK-wide study into the economic impact of the arts was published in 1988.

4.6 Extensive, relevant research by the Arts Council of England includes:

• The Impact of the Arts – Some Research Evidence (ACE, 2004) This document draws together research evidence on the impact of the arts on employment, education, health, criminal justice and regeneration. It presents findings on the impact of the arts on individuals and on communities. The document is work in progress and we plan to update it at regular intervals as new research becomes available.
• Measuring the Economic and Social Impact of the Arts(ACE, 2002) Assesses different models and methods of measuring the economic and social impact of the arts, and the quality and appropriateness of existing research methods. Appendix 1 provides a guide to the vast amount of existing literature in this field.

5. To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

(a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors;

5.1 In debating the balance between funding for community and professional arts, it is important to recognise the enormous contribution which professional arts organisations can and do make to the sustainable development of the amateur and community arts movements. As in all industries, it is vital to have ‘centres of excellence’ which can provide professionally-led programmes of training and development and serve as a model of excellence in terms of their operation andp product development and delivery. When funding is limited, it is vital that resources are focused where they can provide the maximum benefit. In supporting the development and long-term sustainability of the professional arts, funders are also providing a valuable resource for voluntary community and amateur arts groups.

5.2 The professional arts sector is able to maximise the benefits of funding support through not just its own programmes of work but also in supporting the community/amateur sector. Maximum benefit does not simply equate with the largest number of benefactors but the quality of the experience.

5.3 Community theatre is the term used to refer to performance made by and for a community. This is often devised work, facilitated by a professional group. Projects can also be made entirely within a community. This collaborative process is often based on the sharing of skills between a professional organisation and the community members. Community theatre is often seen as adding to the social capital of a community, in that it develops the skills, community spirit and artistic sensibilities of those involved. It can also create a place for debate, self-expression and interactivity that is important for the health of a community. When this involves children, for example, it can disarm problems with delinquency and bring a forum for youth to have a say. None of this however is possible without the intervention of professional expertise.

5.4 By their very nature community and amateur theatre organisations have numerous voluntary and part-time participants. They do not have the considerable and necessary expense of employing professionals to fill the numerous artistic roles required to present top quality theatre. The amateur arts are a recreational activity or a leisure activity that serves to self-actualise a person’s creative potential, thereby permitting a fuller appreciation of life.

5.5 The new Lyric building will give the Lyric a greater opportunity to engage with the communities of Northern Ireland as never before. The vastly improved facilities will enable the Lyric to reach out into the communities and as well as enhance their artistic skills work on dynamic arts projects which explore issues relevant to those communities. The Lyric will give these communities a voice and the opportunity to share with other communities.

(b) target social need;

5.6 The Lyric acknowledges the necessity to target social need through arts funding and appreciates that Government and local authorities are committed to promoting understanding and respect for people of all cultures who live and work in Northern Ireland and seek to support work happening at community level which is building better relations and contributing to a more stable and tolerant city.

5.7 The Lyric is located on Ridgeway Street on the river boundary between BT9 and BT7, in close proximity to the Ballynafeigh, Botanic and Stranmillis wards of South Belfast. South Belfast is often considered to be one of the most affluent parts of Belfast. However, this perception masks another reality with approximately 49.25% of the residents living in designated Targeting Social Needs wards or areas (Robson Index). The area has a diverse mix of cultures, and it is reported that South Belfast has the largest population of ethnic minorities in the whole of the Belfast area.

5.8 The Lyric provides a forum in which relevant social and political issues can be debated and examined in a context that is both comfortable and secure. Through a carefully chosen programme of plays and related events, the Lyric makes an important contribution to the healing process of a divided society. An example of this is the popular and critically acclaimed production of Marie Jones’ A Night in November in 2002 which addressed the issue of sectarianism. An extended run to packed houses in Belfast was followed by an international tour and a series of performances in local prisons.

5.9 The Lyric’s commitment to widening access to the arts is evident in its proactive engagement with the Social Inclusion Agenda and the activities that it has developed with traditionally marginalised groups. The theatre has successfully delivered year-long programmes of development in centres of designated need in the city. The Lyric’s staff and facilities provide an invaluable resource for a wide number of community, amateur and education based groups on a year-round basis. The potential impact of the Lyric’s education and outreach programme was curtailed by the deficiencies of the old building.

5.10 Investment in arts infrastructure has provided new spaces, such as the Studio Theatre at the Lyric, which will serve as a full-time community resource. A dedicated education space in the proposed new building will enable the Lyric to provide significantly enhanced opportunities for children from all areas and social backgrounds to develop socialization and communication skills within a safe, supportive, and professionally regulated environment.

(c) encourage community regeneration;

5.11 2011 will see a major watershed in the history of the Lyric Theatre and the development of professional drama in Northern Ireland. After decades of poor infrastructure and sectoral underdevelopment, the Lyric’s new state of the art producing theatre will open and Belfast will experience the impact of having the quality and scale of facilities long enjoyed by similar-sized cities around the UK.

5.12 As detailed in points 2 and 4 above, there is extensive evidence to demonstrate the positive impact of the arts on community regeneration. This impact is not possible without a substantial investment of public and private funding in the development of infrastructure and an annual programme of cultural projects and events.

(d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

5.13 Improving access to the arts is top of the agenda for professional arts organisations like the Lyric Theatre. As noted above, the company’s new facilities will enable it to radically expand its work with disadvantaged and marginalized communities around Northern Ireland. It will be in a superb position to provide skills and expertise to communities who have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure. Partnership between professional arts organizations and voluntary groups is key to ensuring that barriers to engaging in the arts can be surmounted.

5.14 For example, in the Lyric Connects project, the company worked with disadvantaged community groups in the north, south, east and west of Belfast. Additional local authority funding was vital to the success of this project. The project saw the Lyric working with groups to produce a piece of theatre about something of interest to them. The latter part of the project was to help the groups set in place an arts plan. The sustainability of development for the community groups was crucial here. Using its professional expertise the Lyric helped nurture an interest in the arts and the surrounding community whilst breaking down barriers to arts attendance.

6. To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

6.1 It is interesting to note that all across these islands government arts funding is allotted by arts councils. It is crucial to arts organisations that core revenue funding remains with a statutory body under the arms length principle to enable creativity to remain free from political intervention.

6.2 The arm’s length arts councils use a system of peer evaluation to ensure that their granting decisions are based upon professional assessments that are then approved, or from time ‘to time rejected, by the board of trustees. The peer evaluation system lies at the heart of the arm’s length arts council. Therefore, an artist ought to be judged by his or her peers, and, accordingly, other artists are involved in grant-making decisions.

6.3 A huge dilemma is what is the appropriate balance between arm’s length and accountability? Arm’s length agencies have a special responsibility to be open to public scrutiny, or at least to be “transparent" in the sense of public access to information. Special monitoring mechanisms are required to ensure that autonomy does not result in irresponsibility.

6.4 All the countries’ Arts Councils have struggled to provide long term funding for their clients. Confirmed long term funding of 3 years or more is vital to the planning, development and sustainability of an organisation. Despite the introduction of 3 year funding strands by the Arts Councils it would appear to be in name only with organisations still waiting to hear the level of their annual revenue grant just weeks before the end of the financial year. In the interests of all arts organisations Government needs to address this issue allocating a minimum arts budget so that Arts Councils can properly inform their clients of funding levels.

6.5 It will be interesting to see how the Lloyds TSB Foundation pilot 6 year funding plan evolves as a model for others.

7. To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

7.1 Theatre in Northern Ireland has not received adequate funding given its level of participation and impact (it should be noted when talking of participants that theatre by its very nature encompasses the audience as active participant). Apart from this lack of funding support resulting in less theatre produced it has also led to a drain of local talent away from the province. Some local companies also struggle to pay decent wages and other benefits such as Pensions.

7.2 The Lyric recently carried out a survey of public revenue funding for producing theatres in the UK for the period 2008/09. The average amount of public funding (combined local authority and Arts Council funding) across the 25 producing theatres which participated in the research was £1,272,602. The Lyric received £623,610 in the period - 50% less than the average. The Lyric was ranked in the bottom four in revenue funding terms.

Theatres in receipt of between £900,000 and £2,800,000 in revenue funding in 2008/09 included:

• Birmingham Rep, West Midlands
• Royal Exchange, Manchester
• Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
• Sheffield Theatres
• Chichester Festival Theatre
• Nottingham Playhouse
• The Royal Lyceum, Scotland
• The Citizens, Glasgove
• Northern Stage, Newcastle
• Northampton Theatres Trust, East Midlands
• Sherman Theatre, Cardiff
• New Victoria Theatre, West Midlands
• Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
• Salisbury Playhouse, South West
• New Wolsey Theatre, East Ipswich
• Stephen Joseph Theatre, North Yorkshire
• Tron Theatre, Glasgow

7.3 The average Arts Council revenue grant across 36 producing theatres in the UK for the period 2008/09 was just under £1 million. The Lyric received £600,000 in the same period - 40% less than the average.

7.4 The Abbey Theatre in Dublin received €10 million in revenue funding in 2008 and €8.35 million in 2009. The Abbey’s expansive programme of work and the stature of artists attached to it gives strength to the argument for increased funding for theatre. Greater resources also enable larger scale productions. Writers are frequently restricted to smaller cast plays which means that the spectacle element of theatre, which is one of the ways it draws in new audiences, is lost. It is also crucial to note here that the larger revenue funding the Abbey has enables the company to spend more time in developing work which reflects in its quality and also it allows the company to trial work. The option to experiment and to fail on occasion is extremely healthy for the artistic process.

7.5 Equity also notes that many of the most successful shows are those which come from taking risks. These kinds of risks are more often taken in subsidised theatre, where they would not be supported in a commercial environment given the uncertainty of investment. This is one of the reasons that a number of new West End successes began life in publicly funded theatre. For example, Jerry Springer - The Opera began at the small scale Battersea Arts Centre, transferred to the Royal National Theatre, then the commercial West End and is set to transfer to Broadway. Stones in his Pockets was another example which started at the subsidised Lyric Belfast, before transferring to the Tricycle Kilburn, then the commercial West End and then on to Broadway.

7.6 The average local authority revenue grant across 25 producing theatres in the UK for the period 2008/09 was £330,000. The Lyric received £23,000 in the same period - 93% less than the average.

7.7 The Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s drama strategy, prepared by Scottish Cultural Enterprises reports that, for the period 2005/06:

Per capita expenditure on drama in Northern Ireland is 50% less than in both Scotland and Wales. However, it should be noted that comparable venues to the Grand Opera House and the Millennium Forum would either not be funded in other regions, or would not be funded from the drama budget (although such venues do present drama). As a result, even less is being spent on drama in Northern Ireland, on a per capita basis, than suggested above.

7.8 The report also details that:

ACNI spends a similar proportion of its budget on drama to the Scottish Arts Council, but less than both the arts councils in Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

7.9 The Lyric would fully concur with many of the findings and recommendations detailed in the SCE report, in particular:

Whilst attempting to maintain a similar suite of key elements of vital importance in sustaining a healthy drama scene, compared to both the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the UK, drama in Northern Ireland is significantly under funded at a core level. Based on the evidence of the extensive programme of consultation with the sector, it is SCE’s view that the current range of provision is disproportionately kept afloat by the passion, commitment and sense of vocation of its practitioners. There are real costs arising from this situation, in terms of failure to harness the full potential of the sector and satisfy and stimulate audience demand. In the longer term, it is possible that the human capital so essential to the long- term health of the drama sector will be “run down", as individuals become frustrated or compete for scarce resources. This disparity of funding also makes it very difficult for drama in Northern Ireland to develop truly meaningful relationships, at both strategic and practical levels, with the rest of theUK, the Republic of Ireland or the rest of the world. The cessation of violence and the resumption of devolved government provide Northern Ireland with a new story to tell and a new platform to engage with the world. Given the power of art to create dialogue and to reach out to others, a key voice for Northern Ireland is, as a result of this comparative under-investment, essentially mute.

8. Concluding Comments:

8.1 The Lyric welcomes the chance to contribute to the CAL Inquiry on Arts Funding. We have seen the benefits that the arts can make to people’s lives culturally, socially and economically. They are immense. The arts are no longer an added extra, but are increasingly being seen as an essential ingredient for a creative, informed, tolerant and cohesive society.

8.2 The arts and particularly the mother art form of theatre have been demonstrated to have a social impact on individuals and communities. For individuals, these may include improved physical and mental well-being, broadening of the mind, increased self-confidence, and greater self-expression and self-advocacy. For communities, the benefits may include encouraging recognition of differences and similarities, strengthening identity and breaking down barriers.

8.3 The opportunity for Northern Ireland to reinvent itself as a destination with respect to cultural tourism is enormous. This however requires significant additional investment in culture, both contemporary and heritage. This cannot be just in terms of capital development– revenue is crucial.

8.4 In 1998, after more than 35 years of civil unrest, 71% of Northern Ireland’s 1.7 million population voted for the ‘Good Friday Agreement’ and a peaceful future. Although generally positive, there have been many ups and downs since then and Northern Ireland remains a deeply divided and segregated society. There is a lot of work to be done before we can fully emerge from our troubled past and become a more cohesive, tolerant and genuinely multicultural society. Building dialogue, mutual understanding and trust is a key priority. Creating rewarding employment is another. And the potential for arts organisations like the Lyric Theatre to be linked to the development of good citizenship and the embedding of peace is significant.

8.5 Increased investment in Northern Ireland’s arts sector is key to unlocking this potential, and the CAL Committee and the Northern Ireland Assembly have a vital leadership role to play in this regard.

Appendix 1

Bibliography from the Arts Council of England

This bibliography is intended to provide a guide to existing literature and therefore includes references to publications which are not referred to in the Review.

AEA, Scoping Study for the Economic Impact Assessment of the National Lottery, Adrian Ellis Associates, London, 1996

Allen, K and Shaw, P, Festivals Mean Business: The Shape of Arts Festivals in the UK, British Arts Festivals Association (BAFA), London, 2000

Allin, P, Creative Research, A Modernising Government Review of DCMS’s Statistical and Social Policy Research Needs, Statistics and Social Policy Unit, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, November 2000

Annabel Jackson Associates, Social Impact Study of Millennium Awards, Millennium Commission, London, 2000

Artists’ Round Table, Literature Review of Material on The Impact of the Arts in New Zealand, Creative New Zealand, New Zealand, 2000

Arts Marketing Hampshire, Economic Contribution of Gosport Summer Festival to the Gosport Economy, Hampshire County Council, Hampshire, 1996

Arts Victoria, Arts Victoria Festivals DIY Kit, Do-It-Yourself Economic Impact Kit for Festivals and Events, Arts Victoria, State of Victoria, undated

Barlow, C, Ooooh Baby, What a Brain! The Early Impact of Public Libraries, School Library Journal, 43 (7), pp. 283–304, 1997

Becker, H, Social Impact Assessment, UCL Press, London, 1997

Blake Stevenson Limited, The Role of the Arts in Regeneration, Scottish Executive Central Research Unit, Edinburgh, 2000

Booth, P and White, G, Cheshire Creative Industries Mapping Study: Final report, Cheshire County Council, Chester, 2000

Bovaird et al, 1997, cited in Coalter, F, Cultural Services: Realising the Potential, Research Agenda, Centre for Leisure Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, 2001

Bryan, J, Hill, S, Munday, M, Roberts, A (WERU) and Clarke, D ( DCA Cardiff Limited), The Economic Impact of the Arts and Cultural Industries in Wales, Arts Council of Wales, Welsh Development Agency, S4C, DBRW, Cardiff, 1998

Burns, J (Burns Owen Partnership), The Creative Industries and the Regional Dimension, Paper presented at the Convergence, Creative Industries and Civil Society – The New Cultural Policy Conference held in Nottingham 26–29 September 2001

Cabinet Office, Bringing Britain Together: A National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal, London, 1998

Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge Arts Theatre: Economic impact study: 1998–2000, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge, 2000

Cantell, Timothy, The Total Balalaika Show: Shifting spaces, shifting identities, Comedia, Stroud, 1996

Carpenter, E, The Arts and Inclusion, Evaluation of London Arts Board’s 1998/9 Regional Challenge Programme, London Arts Board, London, 1999

Casey, B, Dunlop, R and Selwood, S, Culture as Community? The Economics of the Arts and Built Heritage in the UK, Policy Studies Institute, London, 1996

CELTS, Social Impact of Lottery Funding, Resume of meeting of NLDBs and CELTS, 13 June 2001

Centre for Employment Research, The Culture Industry: The Economic Importance of the Arts and Cultural Industries in Greater Manchester, Manchester Polytechnic, Centre for Employment Research, 1989

Centre for Local and Regional Economic Analysis, University of Portsmouth, The Chichester Festival Theatre Economic Impact Study, Chichester District Council, Portsmouth, 2000

City of Cardiff, The Economic Importance of the Cultural Industries in Cardiff, A Report to the Economic Development Committee, 1994

Cleveland, W (ed), Art in Other Places: Artists at Work in America’s Community and Social Institutions, Arts Extension Service Press, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2000

Coalter, F, Cultural Services: Realising the Potential, Research Agenda, Centre for Leisure Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, 2001

Coopers and Lybrand, Employment and Economic Significance of the Cultural Industries in Ireland, Coopers and Lybrand, Dublin, 1994

Creative Industries Task Force, Creative industries: 1998 mapping document, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, London, 1998

Creative Media Group, The Creative Industries in Scotland 1998, Scottish Enterprise, Glasgow, 1998

Davis, J, Soep, E, Gonzalez-Pose, Paulina, Maira, S, Putnoi, D, Remba, N and Gardner, H, Safe Havens, Portraits of Educational Effectiveness in Community Art Centers that Focus on Education in Economically Disadvantaged Communities, Project Co-Arts, Harvard Project Zero, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1993

DCAL, Unlocking our Creative Potential: Creating a strategic framework for action in arts and culture in Northern Ireland, Report of the Future Search Conference held in Cookstown 30 May – 1 June 2000, Belfast, 2000

Dean, J, Goodlad, R and Hamilton, C, Toolkit for Evaluating Arts Projects in Social Inclusion Areas, A report to the Scottish Arts Council, The Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, 2001

Delgado, E, Towards Urban and Community Cultural Indicators, Paper presented at the Convergence, Creative Industries and Civil Society – The New Cultural Policy Conference held in Nottingham, 26–29 September 2001

Film Policy Review Group, A Bigger Picture, DCMS, London, 1998

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Policy Action Team 10: Report to the Social Exclusion Unit – Arts and Sport, HMSO, London, 1999

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Building on PAT 10 Progress Report on Social Inclusion, DCMS, 2001a

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Creative Industries Mapping Document 2001, DCMS, London, 2001b

Design Council, The Contribution of Design to the UK Economy, London, 1997

Dewson, S, Eccles, J, Tackey, N D and Jackson, A, Measuring Soft Outcomes and Distance Travelled: A Review of Current Practice, Report Summary, DFEE Research Report No. 219, 2000, available online at www.employment-studies.co.uk/summary/rr219sum.html

DETR, New Deal for Communities, Outcomes and Milestones, 2000, available online at www.detr.gov.uk

Durkan, J, The Economics of the Arts in Ireland, The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaion, Ireland, 1994

EKOS Limited, Creative Industries Baseline Study, Scottish Enterprise, Glasgow, 2000

Emler, N, London School of Economics, The Costs and Causes of Low Self-Esteem, Findings, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2001 available online at www.jrf.org.uk

English Regional Arts Boards, Making a Difference: The role and value of the arts, English Regional Arts Boards, Winchester, 2000

Ernst & Young, 1994 Melbourne International Festival of the Arts: A Report on the Economic and Social Impacts, 1995

ERS, Creative Industries Audit, Government Office for the North East, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1999

Essex County Council, East England Arts and the District, Borough and Unitary Authorities of Essex, Impact of the Arts: A study of the social and economic impact of the arts in Essex 1999/2000, Essex, 2000

EUCLID, Creative Industries on Merseyside: Mapping Research, Merseyside Arts, Culture & Media Enterprise (ACME), Liverpool, 1999

European Economic Development Services Limited, The Economic Impact of the Arts in Tyne and Wear: final report, Tyne and Wear, 1991

Evans, G, The economics of the national performing arts - exploiting consumer surplus and willingness-to-pay: a case of cultural policy failure?, Centre for Leisure and Tourism Studies, University of North London, Leisure Studies 18, 97-118, 1999

Evans, G and White, J, The Economic and Social Impact of the National Lottery – A Literature Review, University of North London, 1996

Feist, A, British Invisibles: Overseas earnings of the music industry, British Invisibles, London, 1995

Fiske, E (ed), Champions of Change, The Impact of the Arts on Learning, Arts Education Partnership, Washington, 1999

Galloway, S, Changing Lives, The Social Impact of the Arts, Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, 1995

Galloway, S, O ’Brien, J and Feist, A, Employment in the Arts and Cultural Industries in Scotland: An analysis of the 1991 Census, Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, 1995

Gillies (1998) cited in Health Development Agency, Art for Health: A review of good practice in community-based arts projects and initiatives which impact on health and well-being, HDA, London, 2000

Gould, H, The Art of Survival: Investigating creativity in humanitarian aid and development, The Social Impact of the Arts, Working Paper 3, Comedia, Stroud, 1996

Government Office for the South West, Creative Industries within the South West Region, Bristol/Plymouth, 1999

Green, A and McKrell, L, Libraries Make a Difference: Case Proven, Community Librarian, Spring 198, pp.16–21, 1998

Hardy, S, Malbon, B and Taverner, C (eds), The Role of Art and Sport in Local and Regional Economic Development, Regional Studies Association, London, 1996

Harland, J et al (1998) cited in Harland, J, Kinder, K, Lord, P, Stott, A, Schagen, I, Haynes, J with Cusworth, C, White, R and Paola, R, The Arts in Secondary Schools: Effects and Effectiveness, NFER, Slough, 2000

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[1] García, B. (2003) “Glasgow lessons can help Liverpool" in: Regeneration & Renewal (4 Jul) (p. 14)

[2] As above

Mencap

About Mencap

Mencap is the leading learning disability organisation. We work alongside and represent the views and interests of people with a learning disability, their families and carers. We support a membership network of local clubs and groups, provide a range of high quality services and campaign for equal rights and opportunities for people with a learning disability of all ages and across the spectrum of learning disability.

Mencap actively promotes the involvement and inclusion of people with a learning disability in the arts by providing guides and resources to encourage our local groups to engage with arts activities; by providing opportunities for people with a learning disability to develop and demonstrate their skills and talent at events and exhibitions; and by forging closer links with the mainstream arts world. Mencap’s learning disability arts website, “Arts Spider" provides resources, gives details of arts events and exhibitions and shows some of the best art from artists with a learning disability. In Northern Ireland our work with the Arts Council, Open Arts, and Belfast Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival have pushed a number of boundaries around inclusion and innovation, creating opportunities for better understanding of learning disability, developing the skills of people with a learning disability and staff and volunteers involved in the arts and the confidence and trust of their families and supporters.

About learning disability

It is estimated that about 2% of the population – over 33,000 people in Northern Ireland – has a learning disability. Learning disability has been defined by the Bamford Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability as the presence of a significantly reduced ability to understand new or complex information or to learn new skills; with a reduced ability to cope independently; which started before adulthood with a lasting effect on development.

Traditionally people with a learning disability have been separated out from the rest of the community, often relying on segregated services to get the support they need throughout their life. Equal Lives, the report from the Bamford Review on learning disability, drew attention to the fact that people with a learning disability do not enjoy equal access to the services or opportunities others in their community take for granted.

For people with a learning disability, assumptions made by others about their ability to participate or the value of their contribution, along with the absence of accessible information, transport or extra support, usually in the form of other people rather than through aids and equipment, means that access to the arts is difficult. Targeted, long term initiatives and programmes are required if the barriers experienced by people with a learning disability are to be addressed.

The Arts and people with learning disabilities

Making sure that people with learning disabilities have the opportunity to take part in the arts is very important for many reasons.

Art is an integral part of the human experience, and it can help people to get involved in their community, find new ways to communicate, and increase their self confidence.

Why the arts are important to people with a learning disability

• Access to the arts is a big part of community inclusion and more work needs to be done on this in terms of people with high support needs as they are frequently denied access to community activity.
• People who express themselves non –verbally can be supported to express emotions and ideas through different art forms. Being able to express emotions and have them acknowledged in some way is a big part of coming to terms with them.
• It is well documented that participation in the arts increases self confidence and this can be particularly useful for those with Profound & Multiple Learning Disabilities who may struggle with a sense of a valuable self. Using art as a way of having an immediate and valuable effect on the space around someone can increase confidence.
• Participation in arts projects may allow people with a learning disability to be more visible in society if they are accessible to the public. It can change the way people see the value of those with high support needs.
• Art is an integral part of the human experience, (in both experiencing it and creating it), and should be made available to everyone regardless of ability.
• Participating in the arts can be seen as a form of play. For adults as well as children play is a big part of how people learn about the world around them and develop new skills. Arts therapists see play at all ages in different forms as healthy psychologically
• The arts often provide an opportunity to work in groups. Valuable and meaningful relationships could thus feasibly be developed. Also useful social skills could be learned such as turn taking, listening and eye contact and other forms of interaction.
• Art has often in history been a trigger for social change. Being involved in a project that tackles issues or that promotes choices/needs therefore provides an opportunity for people with a learning disability to be indirect self advocates.
• Experiencing or participating in the arts can be extremely enjoyable and can be just be seen as a fun way to spend time.

The arts are among the most potent and personal means we have of making sense of ourselves and the world around us. If we share our arts publicly through performance, exhibition or otherwise, then we are sharing our perceptions of the world. This helps everyone to know how we think and feel, It can also help others think about how they feel.

It is possible for someone to cook all your meals for you. You won’t learn how to cook but you won’t go hungry. But no-one can create your art. No- one can make your story or paint your picture for you. Each piece of art is a unique expression of who you are.

Quotes from people with a learning disability about their involvement in the arts.

• “As arts grow so do people"
• “To show I’m alive"
• “What makes you excited? What makes you angry? The more angry I get, the better I work. Getting ignored makes me angry, so I put it in canvas"
• “It makes me feel proud".

Marie Mc Gale
Area Manager
Mencap
17-19 Bishop Street
L’Derry
BT48 6PR

6 March 2009

Moving on Music

Music Theatre 4 Youth

Dr Kathryn Bell
Committee Clerk
Room 424
Parliament Buildings
Stormont
Belfast
BT4 3XX

Music Theatre 4 Youth – Opportunity, Excellence & Professionalism

Music Theatre 4 Youth (MT4Uth) is Northern Irelands premier music theatre organisation for 11 – 25 year olds. MT4Uth was set up in February 2005 with the aim of providing opportunity for young people in Northern Ireland to access top level training in venues that are on their door steps.

MT4Uth targets participation and arts skills development in young people, providing the highest professional standards of arts expertise and performance. MT4Uth is unique in providing a step ladder to success both within and outside Northern Ireland

“When I was younger I had to fly to England constantly in search of training courses, but now that MT4Uth has formed there isn’t a need to leave Northern Ireland at such a young age. MT4Uth is key to a lot more successful performers coming out of Northern Ireland."

Past MT4Uth Member – went on to train at Arts Educational, London & completed the 2008 world tour of Beauty & The Beast

3 Measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts

(i) Economic Benefits

We recognize that the arts bring many social, economic and personal benefits. They are a fundamental part of a confident society, challenging and inspiring us, enriching our lives, entertaining us and forming a crucial part of the creative industries.

MT4Uth is one of over 2,500 creative enterprises employing over 34,000 people in the Arts in Northern Ireland and generating over £900m per year (5% of the economy).

The sector makes a vital contribution to society and is a central part of our economy. Through participation in the arts young people develop essential personal and social skills necessary for the world of work. The challenge for us at MT4Uth is to nurture this talent for the benefit of all.

Local semi-professional artistic staff train, as assistants, under our international team. They bring their training back into arts and community groups, transferring skills, raising the standards and strengthening and supporting the local arts sector. This top quality training and mentoring enhances their employability and future income potential.

“I have gained invaluable skills working with the MT4Uth Artistic Team over the past 2 years. It has been a positive, challenging and enjoyable experience that has benefited my career and will continue to do so in the future."

Local Practitioner (Trained as Assistant Director NI 2005 – 2008)

Our work over the past four years in Northern Ireland has clearly demonstrated the demand for top level training and the need for MT4Uth. Approx 700 young people have taken part in our training programmes seeking to improve their levels of skills in acting, dancing and singing and looking for support and guidance to enable them to progress towards a career in performing arts.

(ii) Social Benefits

Young people who engage with the arts have increased self-esteem and confidence and improved inter-personal and social skills. Through our “Musicals in a Weekend" and outreach projects we have witnessed first hand the benefits of arts participation.

Boy A has been a member of MT4Uth for 4 years. He has Asperger’s syndrome (a disorder on the autism spectrum) and in the beginning had significant difficulties in interacting with people, with coordination and with behaviour. Participating in MT4Uth’s “Musical’s in a Weekend" has proved extremely effective for Boy A in improving the symptoms and functions. Working with groups of young people acting, dancing and singing has helped address his poor communication skills, obsessive and repetitive behaviours and poor coordination. Over the past 4 years, his school, parents, MT4Uth staff, chaperones and other members have noticed a huge improvement over time. His parents have thanked the company for all the support given.

“If I wasn’t part of MT4Uth I can safely say I wouldn’t have the drive or confidence to get up and perform the way I do now. I want to thank MT4Uth for all the opportunities given to me – I look forward to many more to come!"

Bursary Participant 2006 – progressed to Dance Work Placement 2007

4 (d) Engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding

During The Troubles artists from beyond these shores were reluctant to come here, and as a result, people in Northern Ireland had restricted opportunity to see and be inspired by the performing arts. The legacy is that we have the lowest levels of arts participation in the UK. This means that young people here have less chance to benefit from all that taking part in the arts can bring. Those that do realise their talent still have to leave to study as there is so little international standard education here. If they can afford to, young dancers, actors, singers pack and leave to follow their dreams elsewhere, taking their talents and joy with them. Sadly, many families cannot afford to support their dreams.

Music Theatre 4 Youth (MT4Uth) is a charity dedicated to enabling Northern Ireland’s young people to excel by providing affordable access to excellence in music theatre education and training here in Northern Ireland.

We are determined that young people should be able to develop their skills at home and that, even if not destined for a stage career, they should experience the joy of discovering and displaying their talents to their community.

Assembling teams of world class professionals we offer children and young adults (aged 11-25) a range of challenging opportunities to discover and enhance their talent for acting, dancing and singing, develop their confidence, diversify their circle of friends across communities and grow as rounded individuals. For many we offer a real step to employment and a career in the arts:

• Jayne Wisener (Johanna in Tim Burton’s “Sweeney Todd", went on to star in the UK permier of “Parade" in London’s West-End)
• Niamh Perry (BBC 1’s “I’d Do Anything" – Andrew Lloyd Webbers search for Nancy, went on to star in “Only the Brave" in Edinburgh and is currently working with Andrew Lloyd Webber recording “Phantom 2")
• Gareth Borrow (BBC 1’s “I’d Do Anything" – Andrew Lloyd Webbers search for Oliver, Gareth is now in “Oliver" in London’s West-End as one of Fagan’ s’ gang)
• Over 20 members now studying performing arts in the top UK colleges

Boy B, from West Belfast, joined MT4Uth through our Bursary Outreach Scheme in 2005. He was a member of MT4Uth for 3 years and in 2007 took part in a workshop that MT4Uth arranged with Arts Educational London. He was one of 10 awarded a place on their Easter Course (free of charge). Boy B was extremely talented but his family did not have the sufficient funds to pay for his flights and travel to London to take part in the project. Boy B also had never been away from home before and was very nervous. In the end we persuaded Boy B to grab the opportunity with both hands and Jenny Cooke (Founder & voluntary CEO of MT4Uth) paid for his flight and travel expenses to London. From the experience Boy B developed confidence in his abilities, learned how to cope with being in different surroundings and away from home and realised that he wanted a career in performing arts. Boy B was successful at gaining a place in Guildhall School of Acting the following year.

It is not only participants who benefit – performances draw audiences of between 300 – 500 people into their local theatres (depending on theatre capacity). Many in the audience are the family and friends of the young people involved, so by engaging with young people from disadvantaged areas we are able to bring the joy of music theatre and the benefits of the arts to the people they know in those areas.

Music Theatre 4 Youth is a local organisation, with our base in Belfast. We work throughout Northern Ireland offering top level music theatre training from a variety of professional directors, choreographers and musical directors. We work on established pieces of music theatre to engage young people and audiences.

When MT4Uth set up in 2005 Music Theatre was a relatively new art form. There were policies on dance, drama and music but nothing to support this integrated art form. MT4Uth stands out from the rest as it is unique within Northern Ireland. It offers excellence in training and with the rise of music theatre as a popular art form; it fills a niche in the market - offering something completely different from other arts organisations.

After 4 years of learning we have formalised a 4 level training programme which sees young people develop from outreach, through intermediate and advanced level training to career development. This progressive training programme will continue to strengthen and support the arts infrastructure.

New Belfast Community Arts Initiative

New Belfast Community Arts Initiative

New Belfast provides innovative cross-community arts’ projects which bring together communities and individuals on projects

• rooted in the local community, responsive to local needs and interests but have a city-wide dimension
• focus on the most socially and economically marginalised in Belfast,
• contribute to the social, economic and cultural regeneration of Belfast
• promote employment for and the role of local artists in the community

New Belfast provides challenging work for participants, artists, audiences and volunteers. It advocates that projects should be owned by participants and driven by their needs, so that increasingly they gain the self-confidence to plan and control the future shape and direction of their work.

The organisation is committed to encouraging as many of its participants as possible to find their space within the spectrum of community arts, promoting inclusion and accessibility to community arts, regardless of age, gender, or political / religious opinion ethnic background, and sexual orientation.

1. The per capita arts spend

Despite an increase to the arts budget within the current Programme for Government, priorities and budget 2008-2111 Northern Ireland still lags far behind other regions of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Arts spending per capita in the UK and Republic of Ireland for 2008/09[1]:

Scotland	£14.04
Wales	£10.10
England	£ 8.47
Ireland	€17.92
Northern Ireland	£ 7.58

The per capita spend urgently needs to be increased to allow arts organisations to programme long-term, improve practice and flourish.

2. Additional funding sources for the arts

Community arts has never had a profile that readily attracts funding from commercial sponsorship due to the difficult situations and urgent need among socially and economically marginalised communities. Whilst high-gloss “Corporates" may shy away from difficult situations, such as reconciliation, confidence building, health, low educational achievement etc etc, community arts continues to offer a pioneering presence in those sectors and communities.

Lottery continues to provide a funding opportunity, but it is still very difficult:

Although Awards for all and ACNI small grant and Project offer relatively quick and appropriate levels of funds, large Lottery applications through Big Lottery can take 31 months from application to Letter of Offer, which can be very difficult to manage from small to medium sized community organisations.

However, there continue to be funds available but due to the relative need, all these funding streams are under immense pressure of competition from applicants.

In addition, recent research from the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) indicates that income within the voluntary and community sector has fallen by 7.2% since 2003/4. This will make community arts groups more reliant than ever on Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) funding.[2]

3. Research on the benefits of the arts

3.1 Vital Signs[3], a crucial piece of research mapping community arts in Belfast was published in 1998.

Although now dated, this research made a clear case for the long term benefits of arts participation across a number of areas including community development and regeneration, cultural understanding, attending an arts event, and personal development (93% of respondents reported improved confidence).

3.2 The Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) carried out an extensive piece of research on community arts during 2002 and 2003. Unfortunately, this research was never published.

3.3 In 2007 the Community Development and Health Network (CDHN) published the results of a study looking at the impact of arts participation on six section 75 groups over a three period[4]. The resulting research report reinforced and supported the findings of the Vital Signs study. 98% of participants had increased self-esteem after being involved in arts activities[5]. The impact on participants’ health was multiplied by the combined outcomes of improved self-confidence, increased social confidence, friendship formation and increased social networks.

This is an impressive list of outcomes for participants. These findings illustrate the potential for participants’ personal development and growth when they produce their own art work in a supportive, collaborative creative space.

3.4 New Belfast carried out a “Social Return on Investment" study in 2006 wherein we found that for every £1 spent on our community programmes, the social return (in health, employment, levels of cohesion and reductions in inter-community dispute was over £14.

4. Public funding allocation

4.1A. The balance between the community and professional sectors

4.1.1 Community arts operates differently than pure arts, Its work is instrumentalist, ie it aims to develop significant additional effects of art making that have impacts on a range of social areas eg health, well-being, environment, reconciliation etc etc.

Community art is a process of harnessing the transformative power of original artistic expression and producing a range of outcomes: social, cultural and environmental. Looked at politically, socially, culturally and/or economically, community arts aim to establish and maximise inclusive ways of working, providing an opportunity for communities and their participants to continue to find ways to develop their own skills as artists and for artists to explore ways of transferring those skills. Through this process, community arts aim to maximise the access, participation, authorship and ownership in collective arts practice.

4.1.2 Artists working in community arts also have their own practice. By enabling community arts, we share in the burgeoning resource of new and experienced artists from a range of disciplines across the region. This symbiosis allows artists and the arts, from all areas and disciplines to share in the development of the arts. What is good for community arts is good for individual artists. Communities offered first time engagement in the arts, develop new artistic horizons and become new audiences for the future.

For a state emerging from conflict and gross under-investment, harnessing our creativity and artistic opportunity will benefit not only our economy (searching for innovative ways to compete with the world) but our community, to see new ways of finding new avenues for communication, dialogue and development.

4.2B. Targeting social need

4.2.1 Community arts is particularly effective at working with socially and economically marginalised groups and has been used successfully to engage with a diverse range of communities.

84% of all New Belfast activity takes place in areas of the highest deprivation. Over 25% of all work enables members of the most socially marginalised communities to develop (ethnic minorities, persons with a disability, LGBT, etc)

4.3C. Encouraging community regeneration

Community arts offers proven benefits in terms of community regeneration.

4.3.1 Re-Imaging Communities works to reduce the manifestations of sectarianism and racism. This programme has undoubted benefits and fits with a community development/regeneration model. New Belfast has been at the forefront of this activity in Belfast.

4.4D. Engaging with communities

4.4.1 Throughout the past 30 years community arts have engaged with disadvantaged communities with a poor or non-existent arts infrastructure, encouraging participation and access in the arts. Over 134 community groups, with their own separate identities are registered with New Belfast Community Arts Initiative, in Belfast alone. We have come along way from Lord Melchett’s initial offering of £150,000, but we require much more capital and revenue to see all communities, especially those marginalised by circumstance or ability, actively benefit from the arts.

5. Comparing public bodies

ACNI is best placed to address this question, however, on a cursory look at neighbouring countries, one can see that there are various differing mechanisms used to support the arts, not only through funding but international profiling etc.

6. Consideration of funding for specific artforms

During the current financial year, community arts received £841,664 from the ACNI total revenue budget of £9,625,035[6]. This means that less than 9% of total revenue funding was allocated to community arts groups.

The Ulster Orchestra received £2,050,113 last year from revenue funds; two and half times the total for all community arts organisations. Whilst we understand that the arts require a thriving multi-format environment, complementing high arts and applied arts, a better balance is required.

7. Recommendations

New Belfast Community Arts Initiative makes the following recommendations to the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee:

1. That the CAL committee lobbies the Northern Ireland Assembly to commit to significantly increasing the per capita spend to enable Northern Ireland arts groups to deliver comprehensive, long term, quality arts provision.

2. That DCAL work with local councils to increase council funding to the arts.

3. That ACNI increases the budget allocation to community arts.

4. That inter-departmental arts policies and strategies and the promotion of joint working between departments are developed. Community arts often can deliver benefits to departments other than the Department for Culture Arts and Leisure but can have difficulty accessing that funding because policies are not in place in other departments such as DSD, DRD, where there could be real benefits in harnessing arts activity for applied outcomes.

5. In consultation with the arts sector, DCAL and ACNI develop and implement a long term funding strategy and introduce appropriate five to ten year funding programmes to support sector stability and sustainability.

6. In consultation with the arts sector, DCAL and ACNI develop and implement a transparent policy and procedures for reviewing ACNI decisions.

7. We also recommend that members of the CAL committee become active advocates of the arts across the region. Practical recommendations to enable committee members to do this would include:

a. attending arts events (particularly in their constituencies)

b. promoting the arts at full executive and presenting on behalf of the arts to other government departments

c. attending or visiting strategic groups or governance committees of a range of organisations.

Report compiled by Conor Shields, Programme Director with additional information provided by CAF.

[1] Figures from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland website, see www.artscouncil-ni.org

[2] State of the Sector V; Northern Ireland voluntary and community sector Almanac 2009 published by Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action 2009

[3] Vital Signs: Mapping Community Arts in Belfast by François Matarasso (with Chell, John). Published by Comedia, 1998.

[4] Arts and Health: A Community Development and Action Research Project. By Dr Katrina Collins, published by the Community Health Development Network, 2007. Available for download from www.cdhn.org

[5] Page 3, Arts and Health: A Community Development and Action Plan.

[6] Figures from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland website, see www.artscouncil-ni.org

New Lodge Arts

1. About New Lodge Arts

New Lodge Arts provides community-based learning and personal development opportunities for economically and socially disadvantaged children and young people from Greater New Lodge and other disadvantaged communities in North Belfast through their engagement with and participation in a wide range of arts and cultural activities that they would not otherwise have had access to. It works in close collaboration with young people, artists, other arts organisations, community groups, youth providers and youth mentors to ensure that its programme is appealing and appropriate to young people whatever their need. It does this through:

1.1 New Lodge Arts Academy - A consistent and quality programme of arts activities for children and young people aged 3 to 25 years that stretches their imaginations and builds their skills and confidence.

1.2 Group Development - New Lodge Arts also works on an outreach basis in partnership with local youth and community groups to develop arts-based projects specific to the needs of the group.

1.3 Events - The outcomes of the various programme’s activities are showcased at local events produced by New Lodge Arts. Participants also take part in city-wide events and carnivals. In 2008 New Lodge Arts collaborated with Young at Art to bring ‘Belfast Children’s Festival goes to the Park’ to the Waterworks. Over 10,000 people attending the event.

1.5 Volunteer Development - New Lodge Arts’ believes in building the capacity of participants and the wider community through volunteering opportunities and development which also supports the delivery of the organisation’s programmes.

1.7 Limited Resources - New Lodge Arts delivers all the programmes of work listed above with one full-time coordinator, one part-time youth arts worker, a part-time office administrator, several freelance artists and volunteers.

2. Additional Funding Sources For The Arts

2.1 New Lodge Arts’ programmes are funded from a variety of project funding sources including Arts Council Lottery funding, Belfast City Council Good Relations, Belfast City Council Culture and Arts Unit, Lloyds TSB Foundation, Prince’s Trust and Causeway at the British Council. Last year New Lodge Arts received its first Annual funding of £3,000 from Belfast City Council. New Lodge Arts was recently unsuccessful in an application to Arts Council Annual Support for Organisations Programme because of standstill funding at the Arts Council.

2.2 As the global economic crisis deepens, alternative sources of funding for the arts such as business sponsorship are becoming increasingly difficult to access. It has always been more difficult for community arts groups to access sponsorship and financial support from the private sector. Businesses are more likely to support high profile arts events with corporate packages rather than small, community based events.

3 Public Funding Allocation

3.1 The balance between the community and professional sectors

Despite scoring highly in a recent Arts Council NI Annual Support for Organisations Programme application New Lodge Arts was unsuccessful due to standstill funding within the Arts Council. New Lodge Arts makes a real impact on the ground, to the lives of children, young people and their families in some of the most disadvantaged communities in Northern Ireland. There is a real need for local government to address the under funding of the arts in Northern Ireland and in particular community arts which receives only 9% of Arts Council funding at present despite meeting so many of the Council’s priorities around TSN, Education and Young People. There is also a need to look at where the funding goes and how arts organisations receiving significant proportions of the overall spend address priorities, for example, how are they addressing TSN and Neighbourhood Renewal Priorities and how are they removing barriers and attracting new audiences from disadvantaged communities?

3.2 Participants in community arts programmes often progress to other arts providers across the city. Community arts therefore enhances and compliments other forms of arts delivery and vice versa, for example, two young people involved in New Lodge Arts’ Junior Drama Group in 2008 now attend Youth Action’s Rainbow Factory while four young people involved in various New Lodge Arts activities volunteered with Young at Art during their 2008 Children’s Festival. Where possible, and when supported to do so by the outreach programmes of arts venues, New Lodge Arts brings programme participants to performances, exhibitions and events at venues across the city.

3.3 Targeting social need

3.4 New Lodge Arts successfully engages with children, young people and their families across the Greater New Lodge and other communities in North Belfast. At the time of writing this submission 190 children, young people and their parents as volunteers are involved in arts-based projects and programmes with New Lodge Arts. New Lodge Arts is currently delivering a cross-community film project in the Waterworks Park with young people from Holy Family Youth Centre on the Limestone Road and Westland Community Group. This is the first time the young people, some of which have previously been involved in rioting on opposing sides in the Waterworks, have met and worked together. New Lodge Arts brought the groups together initially through an arts-based project and the group leaders plan to continue the working relationship beyond the duration of the arts project.

3.5 Community arts operates within a different framework to other forms of arts delivery and is a defined way of working with groups which can be transformative for communities and individuals. This way of working needs to be long-term and funding needs to reflect that. New Lodge Arts began as a project delivered by Ashton Community Trust in 2003 and has grown into a community-based arts organisation. Over the past six years New Lodge Arts has worked tirelessly to ensure the arts remain central to community development within the area. For example, arts projects within the area have included environmental projects, the design and creation of public art, projects focusing on the regeneration of neglected spaces, intergenerational projects, environmental projects and projects looking at racism, bullying, human rights, drug abuse, the promotion of social inclusion and social cohesion across generations and communities and the impact of the media on young women.

3.6 Encouraging community regeneration

Community arts offers proven benefits in terms of community regeneration. Another project delivered by New Lodge Arts in partnership with Holy Family Youth Centre involved young people from New Lodge and Newington investigating opportunities for the creative regeneration of their area. The project, called ‘Space’ aimed to provide young people with a say on how their area is regenerated. The young people developed innovative concepts which they are now sourcing funding to realise. The group in New Lodge have successfully raised funding through the Princes Trust towards the creation of one of their concepts, ‘sofa benches’; creative seating for North Queen Street Park. The arts provide a real opportunity for people that rarely have a voice within communities to discuss the issues that affect them and provide alternatives. They enable local people to become empowered to take control and make the differences that they want to see made to their area.

3.8 Engaging with communities

3.9 New Lodge Arts’ programmes make a real positive impact on the participants involved. One parent in their evaluation of Xmas Factor 2008 wrote “my son is much more confident and wants to sing and learn more about music. He learned to perform and was more willing to cheer on friends and is more ambitious than ever. I would like to thank all the leaders and say that ‘X’ is a more well rounded young boy. I hope he continues to develop with the arts programme." Another parent wrote of her daughter “she enjoyed all aspects of the Xmas Factor. She gained confidence through the coaching and social skills through the rehearsals. Thanks you and great work!" One participant wrote “it was the best thing I have ever done, everyone should try it." Another wrote “New Lodge Arts Academy is the best!!!"

3.10 Over 430 local people attended Xmas Factor in December 2008 while over 350 attended Celebrate New Lodge in July 2008. Both events are held locally and provided an opportunity for the community to come together in celebration. Events such as these promote community inclusion and social cohesion.

4 Consideration Of Funding For Specific Artforms

During the current financial year, community arts received £841,664 from the ACNI total revenue budget of £9,625,035 . This means that less than 9% of total revenue funding was allocated to community arts groups. This represents serious under funding considering how community arts assists ACNI and other relevant public bodies to achieve TSN targets.

5 Recommendations

New Lodge Arts makes the following recommendations to the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee:

5.1 That the CAL committee lobbies the Northern Ireland Assembly to commit to significantly increasing the per capita spend to enable Northern Ireland arts groups to deliver comprehensive, long term, quality arts provision.

5.2 That DCAL work with local councils to increase council funding to the arts. That ACNI increase the budget allocation to community arts.

5.3 That interdepartmental arts policies and strategies and the promotion of joint working between departments is developed. This is particularly relevant to community arts projects which frequently contribute to the aims and objectives of multiple departments but can have difficulty accessing financial support.

5.4 In consultation with the arts sector, DCAL and ACNI develop and implement a long term funding strategy and introduce appropriate five to ten year funding programmes to support sector stability and sustainability.

5.5 In consultation with the arts sector, DCAL and ACNI develop and implement a transparent policy and procedures for reviewing ACNI decisions.

5.6 New Lodge Arts also recommends that members of the CAL committee become active advocates of the arts across the region. Practical recommendations to enable committee members to do this would include:

• attending arts events (particularly in their constituencies)
• promoting the arts at full executive and presenting on behalf of the arts to other government departments

Newry & Mourne District Council

27 February 2009
From (Person) Aisleain McGill
Assistant Director (Culture, Arts, Irish Language, Ulster Scots)
(Organisation) Newry and Mourne District Council

Summary

The Council through the District Development Department supports the promotion and development of the Newry and Mourne District across a wide range of activities to include Economic Development and Tourism, Sports Recreation and Community Development, Arts, Culture, Museum, Heritage, and Irish Language and Ulster Scots.

There is a Director of District Development who is responsible for the overall operation of the District Development Department. The Director reports to the District Development Committee, which is one of the Council’s three full Council Committees. The Director is also a member of the Management Team, and is supported by three Assistant Directors, one of which has responsibility for Arts, Museum, Irish Language and Ulster Scots.

There is a range of arts and cultural activities throughout the district, including a large section of amateur activity, notably Newry Drama Festival, Feis and various Pantomime groups.

The Council supports the maintenance, management and operation of two town halls and one arts centre, which host performances and activities throughout the year. There is no dedicated arts development officer, with the Assistant Director having responsibility for this brief as well as Museum, Irish Language and Ulster Scots. A full-time technician, caretakers across venues, two part-time receptionists/administration workers and a facilities administrator comprise the staff of the arts section.

Various groups and individuals rent spaces in the arts centre to pursue interests and meet: Newry Art Society, Newry Writers’ Group, Newry Film Club and others. Special hire rates (for Council venues) have been agreed to support groups who have had long associations with the promotion of arts and culture throughout the district.

There is a District Arts Committee, comprised of Councillors and lay members. They meet bimonthly to discuss items brought forward by officers of the Council. Their priority is to agree Council support for:

Touring productions: theatre groups who have requested financial assistance for their productions. If the committee agrees to support them, the company will be paid their asking fee, and Council will retain the proceeds of ticket sales or agree a percentage split. If unsuccessful, companies will rent either of the town hall theatre spaces, or the smaller auditorium in the Arts Centre, and retain the proceeds of ticket sales themselves or on a percentage split.

Voluntary contributions: groups from the district may apply for a grant for up to £500 from a budget of £5,000.

The Sean Hollywood Bursary: individuals and groups may apply for support from a budget of £1,250.

The Tyrone Guthrie Bursary: up to £500 available to successful applicants.

Larger awards are made available to groups which contribute to the cultural landscape of the district through festivals such as The Blues on The Bay or the Fiddlers’ Green. These awards are granted through a larger Voluntary Contributions scheme which the Arts Committee does not administer.

There is a vibrant amateur arts scene in the district which has been self-sufficient in relation to funding and sponsorship for many decades. This has led to a heavy reliance upon the amateur sector to provide sustained programming of the Council’s entertainment venues on an annual basis.

There is also a marked lack of strategic artistic projects in the district, notwithstanding the Sticky Fingers Early Years Arts project and the Drake Music Project. Movements in the district such as the Newry Artists and Musicians Collective which might have developed into more strategic projects, have ceased to exist.

The lack of strategic projects, organisations or direction has resulted in a fragmented, ad-hoc delivery of arts activity.

The district is underrepresented across all funding streams from ACNI; there has been a marked lack of successful applications.

The community arts sector has been underdeveloped; a recent ‘Reimaging’ project is a notable exception. Council supports the local Confederation of Community Groups with a service level agreement; they have recently ceased to employ a community arts officer.

The physical infrastructure of the venues requires investment in order to compete with other, more recently-built cultural venues. The arts centre was the first purpose-built venue of its type; more recent venues have benefited from up-to-date technology and systems unavailable in the 1980s when Newry Arts Centre was built. The proximity of Newry to Dublin and Belfast may explain why the night-time economy potential of the arts and culture have not flourished; people are able and willing to travel to these other hubs to support the arts activity there.

1. Local Authority funding of the arts in Newry and Mourne is largely delivered by the Council through its Voluntary Contributions schemes which fund small projects (up to £500) and various festivals (up to £5,000).

2. A lack of capacity within the arts sector, notwithstanding two strategic projects: Sticky Fingers and The Drake Music Project has led to a situation whereby few applications are made to the Arts Council

3. The cost of staffing, maintaining and operating two town halls and an arts centre is in the region of £544,000 per annum (08/09). In addition, various grants to groups and festivals are supported by Council as above.

4. The combined programming budget for the Council venues is in the region of £20,750.

5. Amateur arts and in particular performing arts predominate. Moving image arts, literature and community arts are particularly underdeveloped.

6. There is no multi-disciplinary arts festival in the district; no research into audience demographics has been undertaken; audience development has been hampered by lack of expertise, funding, and technology.

7. Potential for developing sustainable projects hampered by lack of capacity among sector; inability of Local Authority to access ACNI project funding, or ‘seed funding’, and strong individualistic nature of amateur groups.

8. Visionary investment in the arts by Council in early 1980s has necessarily been diverted into other district-wide priorities in the decades since. Capital investment urgently required in order to compete with other cultural hubs in close proximity.

9. Programming budgets are less than those of similar venues in close proximity; there are fewer staff within the arts and culture section to dedicate to development and capacity-building.

10. Amateur groups deliver a dynamic and significant contribution to the fabric of culture and arts throughout the city and district, but cannot attract funding, nor achieve due acknowledgement for their contribution because of their status.

Newry Drama Festival

Eileen Mooney Hon. Secretary Newry Drama Festival 24 Elmwood Park Newry BT34 1LB

Gerald McNulty Chairman 35 Beechmount Park Newry BT34 1LA

Ms Christine Farrelly 38 Annsville Rathfriland Road Newry BT 34 1AB

1. The aim is to promote, develop and foster drama in Newry and Mourne area.

2. This takes the form of an annual 9 day festival of competitive amateur drama which attracts groups from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. 2009 sees the 57th annual drama festival. There will be nine different plays in competition performed by groups from the island of Ireland. The plays are accessible to the whole area of Newry and Mourne and further afield. The nine visiting groups will generate income to local businesses and tourism.

3. The Festival recognises that this area is disadvantaged due to lack of professional theatre – and the Committee works diligently, in a voluntary capacity, to bring the world of drama to Newry thus allowing all sections of the community to have access to the programme of plays.

4. Newry Drama Festival has a constitution and has operated for the past 57 years when all monies generated by the Festival were secured and spent through good stewardship in order to provide for the Festivals of future years. Newry Drama Festival is affiliated to both the Association of Ulster Drama Festivals and the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland. It is recognised as one of the premier Festivals in Ireland.

5. The turnover is £20,000 and usually breaks even. Money is generated from local sponsorship, the sale of season tickets for the nine nights and the sale of nightly tickets. The main expenses are hire of the venue – Newry Town Hall, payment of fees and expenses to a professional adjudicator, payment to the groups for expenses eg travel and the professional performance licence to the playwright or agent, and suppers for the travelling groups as well as marketing the festival.

6. The festival is open to every section of the community irrespective e of class, creed etc and operates concessionary rates, and a special season ticket rate for students and young people.

7. The festival could become even bigger and better if it could generate more money in the form of grants from government.

Eileen Mooney
Hon. Secretary
Newry Drama Festival

North Down Borough Council

Northern Ireland Committee of the
Irish Congress of Trade Unions

1. The arts and cultural industries are a vibrant part of any modern economy and generate wealth and wellbeing that surpasses any initial investment. It is also a high-tech, highly skilled industry that offers careers and employment well into the 21st Century.

2. Within Northern Ireland, particularly over the past ten years we have seen the stagnation of the cultural sector as investment and funding has been cut back or at best been put on standstill. This has led to fewer work opportunities for actors, musicians, writers, visual artists as well as the myriad of support staff and businesses. This has had a cumulative effect of driving the talent base out of Northern Ireland whilst at the same time dulling the aspirations of young people who want to work within the industry.

3. Arts funding in Northern Ireland has always traditionally lagged behind England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland. This financial year (2008/9) Northern Ireland is investing £7.58 per head of population in stark comparison to Scotland (£14.04) and the Republic of Ireland (€17.92)[1]. See tables below.

4. It was not that long ago that a report into subsidised theatre within England, under the auspices of the Boyden Report, led to an increase of £26m of additional monies which the Government, in recognition that the talent base needs support, intimated had to be spent at the production end.

5. In 2007 the Scottish Executive has invested an extra £2.1m to support the stabilisation and future development of Scotland’s National Companies.[2] Currently it gives the Scottish National Theatre £4 million and Scottish Opera over £8.3 million. Collectively all of the National Companies receive over £22 million in direct funding from the Scottish Executive.

6. In comparison, the Ulster Orchestra finds its funding reduced in real terms year on year, and remains close to the bottom of the orchestral pay league when compared with orchestras across the UK.

7. Whilst other regions have enjoyed substantial increases in their arts spending, Northern Ireland is investing less and less each year in percentage terms in its arts and cultural industries.

8. This not only happens at a macro level through the direct funding from the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Assembly through the Department of Culture and Leisure (DCAL), but also at Local Authority level. Local Authorities have no statutory commitment to the arts and funding is administered in a piecemeal fashion. Belfast City Council is still well behind London, Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow, Coventry and Sheffield as well as Dublin in its investment levels.

9. Belfast failed to get the final nomination as European City of Culture 2008 and many within the arts and cultural industries were astounded that the City axed its arts budget by £100,000 in the same year whilst seeking that nomination.

10. In total, government spending on the arts has been slashed by 10.4%[3] between 2004 and 2008 if the proposed cuts go ahead. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) has already appealed to the Westminster Parliament in January 2007 and has asked for a sizeable increase under the auspices of the Government Comprehensive Spending Review.

11. The situation will be exacerbated further as a predicted fall in Lottery monies will result in resources for the arts becoming even scarcer. Lottery income for the arts in Northern Ireland has been in steady decline and the shortage of money is now being felt directly by arts and community projects, with the situation likely to become worse. Annual income from the Lottery for arts in Northern Ireland has fallen from £10.3 million in 1997/98 to £7.96 million in 2006/07[4]. Lottery income for the arts in Northern Ireland will fall even further due to the London 2012 Olympic Games. Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, announced that the ACNI is being expected to contribute £2.5m to the costs of the Games[5].

12. This chronic lack of investment puts Northern Ireland at a distinct disadvantage in comparison the rest of UK and Republic of Ireland particularly at a time when Northern Ireland is repositioning itself on the world stage after the recent Assembly elections and is looking forward to a brighter future whilst attracting inward investment.

13. All indicators of a vibrant attractive community point to a healthy cultural infrastructure. The effect of low levels of support for artistic organisations and businesses is debilitating as struggle, compromise and survival dominate board level discussions. Annual funding and planning cycles don’t permit long term stability and planning with the inevitable collapse of the very infrastructure that lures both people and investment.

14. The Assembly and the Minister should not shy away from matters that are reserved to Westminster and not devolved to the Assembly. The Broadcasting industry is a case in point and again should be an economic generator in a much more meaningful way than it is at the moment. Ulster Television is a cash rich organisation yet produces very little and therefore does not nurture the talent base, especially after the latest round of cutbacks which has reduced its workforce by 25%. The BBC in Northern Ireland is little better in that for years it has made and produced much of its drama in the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere in the UK. This results in a net drain of Northern Ireland license payer’s money to other parts instead of pump priming the local economy.

15. The recently much publicised four part drama series “Fairy Tales" which was filmed in Northern Ireland was produced by a London based company who cast it with actors from England and brought over its own camera crews. Hardly nourishing and investing in the local talent base. Locally-based AV production companies are under added strain by the downturn in demand for advertising, and some have closed already.

16. Radio is also suffering and there seems little regulation to stop companies such as EMAP from taking over local radio stations and paying off presenters and journalists whilst bringing in little benefit. The arts means jobs and the Assembly should be seeking the broadcaster’s commitment to play their part despite the issue of reserved matters.

17. We need bold thinking as well as a reorientation of how the cultural industries are perceived. It is not just about spiritual well being it is about investment, economic regeneration and the multiplier effect that a vibrant industry can bring to the community.

18. The new Assembly and the Minister have the opportunity to face the challenges and set the agenda to ensure that the cultural industries are at the heart of devolved Government thinking. Look for instance at how the Scottish Parliament in founding the National Theatre of Scotland has revitalised the Scottish theatre community, providing new jobs for actors, musicians, and technicians as well as the creative talent. This model has also been adopted by the Welsh Assembly.

19. Instead of presiding over an impoverished industry which almost saw the demise of the Belfast Festival due to lack of investment, the Festival should be seen for what it is, the largest festival of its kind in Ireland, bringing the best of international art to Belfast and bringing international attention to the city’s dynamic arts practitioners. The Festival covers all art forms including theatre, dance, classical music, literature, jazz, comedy, visual arts, folk music and popular music and attracts over 50,000 visitors from overseas. We need to save it not stand by as it implodes due to lack of investment.

20. The aim of the Rediscover Northern Ireland programme, which culminated in the Smithsonian Institution’s Folk Life festival (27 June-8 July 2007) was to highlight Northern Ireland’s “thriving economy, revitalised cities, unique and fascinating culture". There seems little point in DCAL spending millions to showcase arts and culture in Northern Ireland to attract investment and business when arts organisations are struggling to survive.

21. The benefits of funding and investing in the arts and culture is made explicit by the ACNI,

• Every £1 invested by the Arts Council returns over £3.60 into the local economy
• Arts funding as it stands maintains over 2,000 jobs as well as indirectly keeping many other jobs within the support industries
• Two thirds of arts activity supports cross-community participation
• 88% of people surveyed at the Mater Hospital said arts activity benefited their health
• Visitors say our cultural assets are one of the main reasons for coming to NI
• Nine new arts centres have been built in the last 10 years. These have transformed our towns and cities.
• There’s overwhelming public support for arts funding (78%)

22. The Northern Ireland Assembly needs to recognise the essential role of the arts and cultural industries in building a healthy economy, society and democracy and support the development of a home-grown infrastructure, putting an emphasis on indigenous skills retention for the region’s theatres, music venues, festivals, and creative businesses as well as providing for the aspirations of its young people who want to work in the industry.

23. The Assembly should also ensure that companies who receive public investment employ people on best practice and on industry standard contracts.

24. The ICTU supports the ACNI’s request to Government to raise the per capita spend on the arts from £7.58 to £11.55, per head of population. This is an achievable aim and should be supported wholeheartedly by the Assembly.

Table 1: Arts spending per capita in the UK and the Republic of Ireland for 2008/2009

Area	Arts Spending per Capita
Scotland	£14.04
Wales	£10.10
England	£8.47
Republic	€17.92
Northern Ireland	£7.58*

* This is an adjusted settlement figure which shows an uplift from £6.13 to £7.58 per capita (2008/2009) and includes ring-fenced amounts for: the Creative Industries Initiative Fund (£500,000), Arts & Business (NI) (£455,000), Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s (£125,000), Royal Society for Ulster Architects (£30,000) and the Spectrum Centre (£100,000), which was in addition to the base-line grant.

Table 2: Arts spending per capita over the last three financial years in the UK and the Republic of Ireland

Region	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09
Scotland	£12.01	£9.21	£14.04
Wales	£8.81	£9.60	£10.10
England	£8.09	£8.14	£8.47
Republic	€12.46	€18.87	€17.92
Northern Ireland	£6.09	£6.11	£7.58

The NIC-ICTU Arts and Culture Committee comprises representatives of trade unions affiliated to the Northern Ireland Committee of the ICTU.

1. Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is the single umbrella organisation for trade unions on the island of Ireland. Congress is the largest civil society organisation on the island. It is the apex body representing 832,000 workers affiliated through 64 trade unions in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The organisation is required, through its mission statement, to strive to achieve economic development, social cohesion and justice by upholding the values of solidarity, fairness and equality.

2. The Northern Ireland Committee (NIC) of the ICTU is the representative body for 36 trade unions with 250,948 members across Northern Ireland. In membership terms, it is the largest civil society organisation in Northern Ireland. Information on the NIC is available on www.ictuni.org

[1] ACNI 2008

[2]2 The National Theatre of Scotland, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. See: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/ArtsCultureSport/arts/NationalCompanies

[3] Community Arts Forum 2007

[4] ACNI 2007

[5] Tessa Jowell in response to written question from Lady Hermon May 2007

NICVA

Voluntary and Community Arts Forum

“Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits."
Article 27, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

1 Introduction.

This paper has been submitted by the Voluntary and Community Sector Arts Policy Forum which is jointly chaired by the Community Arts Forum and Voluntary Arts Ireland. The Forum has 45 members (listed at annex A) and is facilitated by NICVA (Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action.

2. Voluntary and community arts are key components of social cohesion, particularly in rural areas; they challenge social exclusion and provide sustainable opportunities for all people to practise the arts and crafts themselves. They deliver on the Arts Council’s aim of putting ‘Art at the Heart’ and government must recognise the dynamism and potential of arts activity within the voluntary and community sector to transform society in Northern Ireland. Community arts is the expression of original artwork created and produced by people linked through neighbourhood or community of interest and combining signifi cant elements of access, participation, authorship and ownership. It is the collaboration between professional artists and communities where the community and artists are equal contributors. It engages with marginalised individuals and communities.

Voluntary arts are those arts and crafts that people undertake for self-improvement, social networking and leisure, but not primarily for payment. In Northern Ireland one in ten adults actively make or do art in art groups led by volunteers. These groups make up 23% of the voluntary sector and the 160,000 volunteers who run them account for a third of all volunteering.

3. Despite an increase to the arts budget within the current Programme for Government, priorities and budget 2008-21[1] Northern Ireland still lags far behind the rest of the UK regions and the Republic of Ireland.

Arts spending per capita in the UK and Republic of Ireland for 2008/091:

Scotland £14.04

Wales £10.10

England £ 8.47

Ireland €17.92

Northern Ireland £ 7.58

The per capita spend urgently needs to be increased to allow arts organisations to programme long-term, improve practice and flourish.

During the current financial year, community arts received £841,664 from the ACNI total revenue budget of £9,625,035[2]. This means that less than 9% of total revenue funding was allocated to community arts groups. This represents serious under funding considering how community arts assists ACNI and other relevant public bodies to achieve TSN targets.

4 In order to ensure adequate and secure support for community and voluntary arts in Northern Ireland the Culture Arts and Leisure Committee should consider recommending that the Minister for Culture Arts and Leisure and the NI Executive:

• Adopt an ‘Arts Proof’ policy across central and local government to include:
• Involve representatives of the arts in social, economic and environmental consultation and planning process.
• Consult on the potential arts use of all new publicly funded building/renovation projects.
• Move the level of arts funding closer to that in Britain and the Republic
• Actively protect and promote un-biased local authority funding for arts in the voluntary and community sector post RPA.
• Provide adequate and secure long-term funding to the voluntary and community arts infrastructure in order to provide networking, training and development.
• Develop interdepartmental arts policies and strategies and the promotion of joint working between departments. This is particularly relevant to community arts projects which frequently contribute to the aims and objectives of multiple departments but can have difficulty accessing financial support.
• Develop and implement a transparent policy and procedures for reviewing ACNI decisions
• Address regional disparities in relation to financial support and capacity building for arts organisations across Northern Ireland
• Make access a key priority by enabling people from new communities, isolated and marginalised groups to participate in and enjoy the arts by providing support to:
• Reduce physical, financial and social barriers.
• Reduce attitudinal barriers, primarily through exposure.
• Develop access points to the sector including individual access.
• Ensure the sector is able to take its place at the table in informing government policy and delivering public services by:
• Ensuring consultation with the sector is proactive, timely and transparent.
• Providing capacity development support and training to enable arts groups to build partnerships with government agencies.

5. For more information contact Lisa McElherron, Policy Development Manager, NICVA, 61 Duncairn Gardens Belfast BT15 2GB, 028 90 877 777 or lisa.mcelherron@nicva.org

[1] Figures from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland website, see www.artscouncil-ni.org

[2] Figures from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland website, see www.artscouncil-ni.org

Northern Ireland Theatre Association

26th February 2009

Introduction

1. The Northern Ireland Theatre Association welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee Inquiry into the funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland.

2. In this document NITA aims to make a case for increased funding to the arts, more specifically for the theatre sector itself and a particular case for its own development as the only umbrella association for the sector in Northern Ireland.

Background

3. The Northern Ireland Theatre Association (NITA) represents professional and semi-professional theatre in Northern Ireland and as an organisation incorporates the Theatre Producers’ Group. NITA provides a collective voice for the theatre sector, undertaking promotion and advocacy on behalf of its members as well as delivering sector-specific training, providing excellent networking opportunities and the dissemination of a wide range of sector- relevant information.

4. NITA currently has a membership of 45, (please see attached list of current members) including production companies, venues, regional theatres, some individual practitioners and representative bodies and agencies such as Audiences NI, the Theatre Forum, The Irish Theatre Institute etc. It represents a wide geographic spread through its membership, from Big Telly in Portstewart and the Millennium Forum in Derry City, the Lyric Theatre, OMAC and the Grand Opera House in Belfast to the Alley Theatre in Strabane and the Burnavon Arts Centre in Cookstown.

5. Previously project-funded by ACNI a new funding arrangement was agreed in 2008 to core fund the association for the first time, in order to ensure its development in directions that would benefit the sector in ways similar to those delivered by for example, the Federation of Scottish Theatres or the Theatre Forum in the Republic of Ireland. In its most recent funding award the ACNI also asked NITA to look at ways that it could develop its relationship with the amateur and voluntary theatre sectors, recognising where interests overlap and where they diverge, and to undertake a sectoral needs audit for training development purposes for theatre practitioners during 2009.

6. Current projects include the delivery of the third year of a specialised, three year, training schedule (Behind the Scenes) in conjunction with the Independent Theatre Council (ITC), project funded by the Arts Council; and the association has just completed the first year of a Captioning project (the first in Northern Ireland) in partnership with London based Stagetext and dedicated to providing training for resident captioners and technicians, together with associated equipment and software for use throughout Northern Ireland’s venues. The first year of the project was funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and forms part of the council’s support for increased access for the deaf and deafened audiences who often miss out on the opportunity to attend the theatre. This mix of audience development and professional development working is characteristic both of NITA itself and of the sector for which it aims to speak.

There follows NITA’s response to a selection of the CAL terms of reference:

7. To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

7.1 The following table obtained from Arts Councils’ documentation gives an indication of per capita spend across art forms in the countries of the United Kingdom and a further comparison with the Republic of Ireland (at current exchange rates)

Arts spending per capita in the UK and RoI for 2008/09:

Scotland	£14.04
Wales	£10.10
England	£ 8.47
Ireland	£16.00 (€17.92)
Northern Ireland	£ 7.58

7.2 The following table, extracted from ACNI’s Summary Report of its Drama Strategy from September 2007 indicates relative per capita spend on drama in the same countries:

	Northern Ireland	Wales	Scotland	Ireland
Drama Budget (£)	1,803,278	6,358,304	11,164,000	12,616,423
Population	1,724,400	2,958,600	5,094,800	3,797,000
Drama Allocation Per Capita (£)	1.05	2.15	2.19	3.32

7.3 Per capita expenditure on drama in Scotland and Wales is therefore 100% more than in Northern Ireland. In addition, as indicated in ACNI’s Drama Strategy Summary, venues such as the Millennium Forum and GOH would not fall within an Arts Council’s Drama budget in other countries so that the per capita spend on drama indicated for Northern Ireland is a significant overestimate in relative terms.

8. To carry out a stock take of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

8.1 The following would be some of the appropriate sources of further comparative research for the Committee’s consideration:

• A study of the social impact of UK theatre was undertaken by Dr W. McDonnell of Sheffield University and published in 2006. Sole Purpose, one of NITA’s member production companies, was chosen as a case study for this research because of the strong social focus of its work, which is typical of many Northern Irish theatre companies as well as the outreach programmes undertaken by venues, regional theatres and arts centres. Ref: Social Impact in UK Theatre, with Dominic Shellard (London: Arts Council England, September 2006).
• The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaion undertook a study of the economic conditions of theatre practitioners which was published in 2006 and confirmed the often anecdotal evidence found in the UK and Ireland for the low earnings of all arts practitioners, but particularly theatre practitioners in this case. The Council is currently also undertaking a study into the economic conditions of all arts practitioners across all funded art forms in the Republic. Study of the socio-economic conditions of theatre practitioners in Ireland www.artscouncil.ie/en/publications
• In 2001 Arts Council England, with the support of the Theatrical Management Association (TMA), Independent Theatre Council (ITC), Society of London Theatres (SOLT), the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, the Arts Council of Wales, the Scottish Arts Council, Equity, the Musicians’ Union, the Writers’ Guild and the European Union Social Fund, commissioned Dominic Shellard of the University of Sheffield conducted economic and social impact studies of UK theatre. The studies were published in 2004. www.artscouncil.org.uk/publications/dominic shellard
• ‘In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland there is a history of funding theatres considerably less generously than in England. Arts Council budgets in Wales and Scotland have been close to static, but most theatre grants have just about kept up with inflation, but in Northern Ireland, spending on theatre has actually fallen’ – this quote from Equity Magazine Autumn 2006

9. To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

9.1 The table below indicates the comparative percentage of art form budgets spent on drama in Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

	Republic of Ireland	Wales	Northern Ireland	Scotland
Allocation Art Form Budget Spent on Drama (%)	34.3	33.6	23.7	23.3

9.2 ACNI spends a similar proportion of its budget on drama to the Scottish Arts Council, but less than both the Arts Councils in Wales and the

Republic of Ireland. Scotland however now has a new national theatre which is funded entirely by the Scottish assembly and not from the Scottish Arts Council’s theatre budget, as does Wales.

9.3 Two comparable advocacy bodies to NITA in these countries are the Theatre Forum in Ireland and the Federation of Scottish Theatres. The difference should be noted between current ACNI core funding to NITA for 2008/9 of £45,000 as compared to annual Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaion funding to the Theatre Forum of 186,000 euro, or current currency equivalent of £166,500. The Federation of Scottish theatres has a full time coordinator and an admin staff. Funding figures for the organisation could not be found on the SAC website at the time of the submission of this report.

10. To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

10.1 It is a characteristic of many of the organisations and venues who are members of NITA that they deliver their artistic programmes either in the context of socially disadvantaged or regenerating communities, or have outreach programmes that seek access to their artistic programmes for new audience

10.2 Theatre re-generates disadvantaged communities. There is widespread acknowledgement of the beneficial social and economic impact of the creative sector, including theatre, and an acknowledgement of the strong emphasis on these criteria for the funding of the arts through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Despite the clear existing commitment within the theatre sector to this area of work there should be further investment to ensure that the region does not lag behind the rest of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

10.3 Investment in the theatre sector generates a considerable return: economically, developmentally and creatively; through social cohesion, health & welfare, regeneration and quality of life.

In the broader economic context and given real threats to the prosperity of Northern Ireland a healthy theatre sector increases Northern Ireland’s attractiveness to all types of external clients from short-break tourists to long-term inward investors and a high quality, economically mobile, workforce. Theatre attracts tourists by offering a combination of high quality global and indigenous cultural product

10.4 Theatre delivers a high economic return on Investment “Research shows that for every £1 of public funding invested in cultural products, such as theatre, more than £8 is generated for the Northern Ireland economy." (Michael Poynor from BANES economic research 2003

10.5 Theatre is a high quality, desirable, and largely unrealised Northern Ireland export to the world.

11. Summary

NITA believes that it is vital, both economically and politically and most particularly at this time, that funding for the arts be substantially increased to bring the arts in Northern Ireland, and in particular theatre funding, up to comparable per capita funding levels in England Scotland, Wales and Ireland in order to:

• continue to support and develop the high standard of work across theatre already in evidence
• enable the many and varied audiences of Northern Ireland to experience and participate in high quality theatre in a way that will foster enjoyment, mutual understanding and personal development for the whole population
• highlight the role of theatre as a key tool in addressing the wide variety of issues of concern in Northern Ireland, including peace & reconciliation, rural development, health, tourism, heritage and cultural diversity
• specifically support the theatre sector to enable it to build on its acknowledged heritage, its current vibrancy despite severe resource restraints, and its emerging younger talents, for the economic benefit of Northern Ireland both in terms of selling its products abroad and providing a welcoming destination for visitors
• make theatre available to the population of Northern Ireland for its own sake and not solely as an instrument for other areas of policy
• specifically increase support to NITA in order to enable the networking, lobbying, information provision, targeted training, access training, audience development and professional sector development functions that such a membership organisation can enable
• substantially increase the opportunities for work for individuals in theatre. Current unemployment within the theatre sector is huge, probably over 50% in Northern Ireland. It would be a valuable contribution to amending this situation for DCAL to resource a Northern Ireland wide study of the economic impact of drama and/or the arts in general.

Northern Ireland Theatre Association (NITA) 26th February 2009

NITA Membership January 2009

Production Companies

Accidental Theatre

Aisling Ghear

Big Telly Theatre Company

Bruiser Theatre Company

Cahoots NI

Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company

Glass Ceiling Theatre Works

Green Shoot Productions

Kabosh

Prime Cut Productions

Ransom Productions

Replay Productions

Sole Purpose Productions

Spanner in the Works

Sunlight Productions

Tinderbox Theatre Company

The Playhouse

Ulster Theatre Company

Theatres and Arts Centres

Alley Theatre

Ardhowen Theatre

Ards Arts Centre

Burnavon Arts & Cultural Centre

Courtyard Theatre

Down Arts Centre

Grand Opera House

Island Arts Centre

Lyric Theatre

Market Place Theatre & Arts Centre

Millennium Forum

Newry & Mourne District Council

Old Museum Arts Centre

Waterside Theatre

Support Organisations

FLGA - Forum for Local Government & The Arts

Irish Theatre Institute greenhat

Audiences NI

Individual Practitioners

Jan Branch

Paul Devlin

Rachael Devenney

Imelda Foley

Andrea Montgomery

J J Murphy

Judith Pillow

Office of the First Minister
and deputy First Minister

Old Museum Arts Centre

Introduction:

The Old Museum Arts Centre warmly welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee inquiry into the funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland.

Background:

The Old Museum Arts Centre (OMAC) is Northern Ireland’s leading contemporary arts venue, presenting a year round programme of live events - including theatre, dance, music and comedy - visual art and community engagement. We are currently developing our capital project, The MAC - an arts centre in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter due to open in May 2011. The MAC will host a wide range of performing arts such as theatre, dance and music as well as a wide-ranging community engagement programme. Ministerial and Department of Finance and Personnel approval have been secured for the centre, which will also have the largest and most important contemporary visual arts space in Northern Ireland. On completion the building will be six storeys high and will house 1000sqm of visual arts galleries, a 350 seat theatre, a 120 seat theatre, various workshop, rehearsal and education rooms, office accommodation for the arts centre’s staff as well as resident companies and requisite front of house and backstage facilities including a bar and café.

It is on the basis of this experience that we offer the following comments for the Committee’s consideration. Our comments are structured around the seven points in the terms of reference for the inquiry:

1. To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of the other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

It is our understanding that the per capita spend on arts is lower in Northern Ireland than it is in the rest of the UK and ROI. It would be very useful for the Committee to gather information on our European counterparts.

2. To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

OMAC has always set and achieved ambitious fundraising targets within current limited resources. We are funded from a number of sources including; ACNI, Belfast City Council, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Esmee Fairbarn Foundation.

However, in the current economic climate achieving the usual cocktail of funding from various grants, foundations, and corporate organisations is proving increasingly difficult. Sponsorship budgets are being cut and trusts and foundations which depend on spending capital are obviously affected by the downturn.

3. To carry out a stocktake of the research, which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

We believe that it would be very useful for the Committee to gather information, which would illustrate the positive social and economic contribution that the arts make to our society.

The MAC project has been subjected to a full Economic Appraisal (EA) process, which demonstrated the need for this development option. It was approved by DFP on 20 April 2007, and is largely funded by DCAL. The project has received full planning permission after the engagement of a design consortium and is now into the first stage of procurement of a contractor. Research carried out in course of the EA process indicates that there is a potential latent audience demand for theatre performances of between 150,000 and 225,000 in Belfast, providing an opportunity for a new centre to develop audiences.

Furthermore, in terms of a economic contribution, the construction of The MAC (due to commence in April 2009) will create 420 construction jobs and when open in 2011 it will directly employ 36 staff and create further full-time equivalent employment for 150 technicians, trainers, arts professionals and performers.

4. To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

(a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors;

OMAC acts as a bridge between the community and professional arts sector. In order to achieve a healthy cultural economy both must co-exist however, it is often difficult to find funding for professional arts practice. There is an enormous diversity within the professional arts sector; from very large organisations employing hundreds of members of staff to the professional arts organisations with only one member of staff and which relies on volunteer support. The professional theatre and dance sectors have a real requirement to develop its skill base through training opportunities that are often practically inaccessible due to the lack of resources. High quality, accredited, job-specific training is essential to grow the creative industries and is virtually unattainable due to chronic lack of funding. The availability of training opportunities for staff is something other sectors place enormous importance on and yet is difficult to deliver within the arts. It is very difficult to compare the resources for the community arts sector and the professional arts sector because the levels of resources required are directly linked to costs and output.

(b) Target social need; and c) encourage community regeneration

Targeting social need and encouraging community regeneration are objectives in virtually every government plan. OMAC has been targeting social need since its inception in 1989 but it is a constant struggle to find resources to do this work, we have one member of staff to deliver a 50-week programme, which in the past year has delivered developmental, arts-based workshops and projects with 64 different groups across Northern Ireland. This level of work from one individual is not sustainable. OMAC’s Community Engagement programme, which is all about targeting social need, could have much more impact if projects have the resources to be developmental, long-term, strategically focused and operated within a joined up framework which brings together all complementary agendas in this area. However, this cannot be achieved within the current piecemeal funding approach that currently exists.

(d) Engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

OMAC’s Community Engagement and Audience Development programmes target the most badly affected and socially disadvantaged communities in Belfast with a view to contributing to the social, economic and cultural regeneration of Belfast. Over the years OMAC has established a solid reputation for developing and delivering high quality education and outreach projects that focus on providing meaningful access and opportunities for participation for marginalised and socially, culturally, and geographically isolated communities. OMAC also develops and delivers audience development projects, which are key to engaging with communities and helping to create different points of access for people from all walks of life.

OMAC has done this type of work for years but when arts funding is limited this is the most resource hungry type of work, which cannot be done in a meaningful way when the funding is provided on a project-by-project basis with one member of staff.

5. To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms

It would be very useful for the Committee to gather information on how other organisations distribute public funding across art forms.

6. To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

Given the fact that OMAC bridges the gap between the community and professional arts sector, we have long since been committed to an equality agenda manifested through community-based practice. We have always been aware of an inherent imbalance, in terms of funding decisions, in relation to our programme. That is to say, that it has not been possible to understand how funders make their decisions in relation to OMAC relative to other more richly funded organisations or if these funders had applied their published funding criteria around TSN and community regeneration.

Conclusion:

We hope that the Committee find these comments useful, and that the Old Museum Arts Centre is happy to provide further written or oral evidence if required.

For further information, in the first instance please contact:

Anne McReynolds

Chief Executive
Old Museum Arts Centre
7 College Square North
Belfast
BT1 6AR

Tel: 028 9023 5053
Email: anne@oldmuseumartscentre.org

Omagh District Council

Open Arts

Open Arts Profile

Open Arts aims to encourage disabled people to participate in the arts as artists, audience and employees, by improving accessibility and creating equal opportunities. Moreover Open arts will promote the disability arts movement.

Activities

• Community arts workshops enable disabled people to take part in drama, dance, visual arts, and music activities.
• Individual music tuition
• Art exhibitions
• Drama performances
• Multi art form performances with Open Arts gamelan.
• A Choir of people with varying disabilities.
• Enabling disabled people to attend drama, dance, musical performances and art exhibitions.
• Enabling disabled people to promote a Charter of their needs to all arts venues in Northern Ireland.
• Performing at conferences and events.
• Employing three people with disabilities (part time) and supporting others to find work in the arts.
• Enabling disability arts professionals to demonstrate their own art.
• Supporting disability organisations to include the arts.

Testamentary evidence which gives a flavour of our work.

The Open Arts Community Choir is the source of great delight to the members, who not only attend once a week, but who also practise avidly at home with the help of CDs which we record for them. It enriches their lives. When I was apologising to one disabled person for the number of practices which took place over the summer as the choir prepared for its television debut she told me that she was thrilled to have such an interest in her life, ‘Otherwise I’d just be staring at four walls all day.’

By providing creative activities for disabled people we also benefit their families, who not only have a respite from constant caring but also have the pleasure of seeing their loved ones engaged in creative activity on equal terms with non-disabled people and excelling at this activity which helps to give a structure to their week. A mother who attended a street theatre performance in which her daughter was involved was full of praise for Open Arts. ‘I don’t know what Mary Louise would do without you. She looks forward to her Mondays so much, and even if she’s feeling under the weather she has to go to the Monday Players.’

As an individual I am also involved in providing audio-descriptions which describe the visual element of dramatic performances, exhibits and art works for blind people. After an audio described performance in the theatre the sister of a blind man was in tears. She said she was utterly moved by the way in which he could now attend the theatre and understand its nuances, just as he had done before he became blind. It was the pleasure he obtained from this art form, which he thought he would never be able to experience again, that made his sister cry.

CAL Inquiry Terms of Reference

The terms of reference for the inquiry are:

• To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

1. Per capita spend with other countries is important. It also has to be born in mind that Northern Ireland has fewer opportunities for major sponsorship than are available on the larger island. This should mean our per capita spend should be higher than it is elsewhere. The fact that we are cut off by sea from many of the best professional arts organisations should also mean our per capita spend is higher since our professional organisations have to have sufficient funds to inspire and delight. By and large they are all we have.

• To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

2. The challenge is to find innovative ways of funding which enable the arts sector to do what they do best. If businesses utilise the arts for training, team building etc and pay for it, that is fine as long as a delegated team does the work. The team would then have to be funded and the money made could all be swallowed up by the additional activity which is not central to the organisation .

• To carry out a stock take of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

3. Research in this field is vital. Any research which is identified should be widely disseminated.

To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to: a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors; b) target social need;

4. It is essential that there is a good strong infrastructure of professional arts activities, otherwise there is no progression for those who become involved in the arts through educational or community arts organisations and projects. The professional arts organisations must actively engage with the community to ensure that this transfer occurs. There is no point in getting accessible venues, training front-of-house staff in disability equality and setting up audio-description and captioning if disabled people do not want to attend. The professional arts organisations have to find a hook to encourage non-attenders, including disabled people. There are plenty of examples of this in organisations elsewhere. E.g the Abbey have lunch clubs once a month for elderly people before the Saturday matinee. The Sage, Gateshead, allowed Help the Aged to have meetings in their space and the result was they came along to other things partly because they became familiar with the venue and partly because they found out what was happening. A fund should be established specifically to finance these innovations. This will help to redress the balance between community and professional arts, encourage individual development and target social need. Although Awards for All could be a way of gaining the necessary money many organisations have other priorities for this fund. Ring fencing money for inclusion will help the organisations to see it as a priority.

5. With particular reference to disability we feel that the Arts Council has been very supportive of our organisation, particularly in recent years. The important thing to bear in mind about the participation of disabled people in arts activities is that it costs more money than the participation of non-disabled people. Costs such as transportation, personal assistance and alternative format have to be covered in order that disabled people, who are in the main unemployed, can attend events regularly. Historically disabled people are under-represented in the arts, partly because, historically, they have not had the same opportunities in arts education as non-disabled people and partly because venues have been neither physically accessible nor attitudinally accessible. Thankfully all these things are changing, but now is the time to sustain the opportunities which are being created for disabled people. Open Arts has a choir which has brought Belfast to the attention of a world audience, through its participation in the prime time BBC show, Last Choir Standing, but unfortunately this choir is dependent on lottery funding which luckily it has been successful in obtaining up to the present. Nevertheless the participants do not know, from year to year, whether money will be available to keep it running. Financial security would lead to greater development as planning could be undertaken on a longer term basis.

c) encourage community regeneration; and

d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

6. I think the re-imaging communities is an excellent scheme which at one stroke encourages regeneration of an area and engages with some communities who have found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure. I imagine that many immigrant communities and travellers are still on the margins of any arts activities. I have seen some excellent projects which celebrate these diverse cultures and would like to see more of them. It would be good if there was some way of training members of these communities to be peer educators. It is important that communication devices such as captioning, sign language interpretation and audio-description become an on-going part of arts events. Money has to be dedicated to making this happen. With these additions disabled people, who are a long way from creating their own arts infrastructure, will at least be able to engage with the mainstream infrastructure.

To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

7. I think a comparison of the spend of the Arts Council of NI with the spend of the other 4 Arts Councils/Regional Arts Boards would be a very valuable exercise. Comparisons of percentage spend on participatory arts, professional arts, any special initiatives, research, administration costs and overheads would be particularly useful. There is a balance between spending which is targeted at our strengths and that used to redress our weaknesses, but our strengths should not be ignored. The comparison between the other bodies in this regard would also be a useful one We may learn from it.

To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

8. The above would be a particularly fertile area for research. All the terms of reference outlined have shown how much research is required in the arts and how little has apparently been done in Northern Ireland. If there has been research it has not been widely disseminated among the arts community.

Opera Theatre Company

Adam Wallace
Director of Outreach & Audience Development
Community Arts Forum
15 Church Street
Belfast
BT1 1PG

+44 28 90 33 2491

Opera Theatre Company (OTC) is the national touring company of Ireland. Based in Dublin & Belfast, the company has toured to more than 100 cities, towns, and villages in Ireland and Northern Ireland since its first tour of Turn of the Screw in 1986. OTC was founded to create high quality opera productions that can be presented anywhere, from a Church, to a community centre, or from a 600-seat Theatre, to a 100-seat arts centre.

Opera Theatre Company has had national and international success with a number of baroque and early classical operas, as well as operas from the 20th century. In addition the company has commissioned and performed nine new operas by Irish composers.

On top of producing three new tours each year, the company has a lively Outreach Programme that impacts people throughout the island of Ireland, as well as the Young Associate Artists Programme, a unique programme for young singers in Ireland, guiding the commencement of their professional careers.

1. To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

1.1 Opera Theatre Company are an all Ireland organisation, supported by Culture Ireland, Arts Council Ireland and Arts Council Northern Ireland. Arts spending per capita in the Republic of Ireland is currently at €17.92 while arts spending in Northern Ireland sits at £7.58 per head. The per capita spend in Northern Ireland urgently needs to be increased to allow arts organisations to programme long-term, improve practice and flourish in Northern Ireland.

1.2 Opera Theatre Company has a clear commitment to deliver an all Ireland programme, although current low levels of arts funding inhibits the ability of companies to fully invest in Irish talents and serving Irish audiences to achieve ACNI identified opera strategic priorities:

A. Increase opportunities for creative participation in the arts;

B. Develop new audiences for the arts and build on existing ones;

C. Extend opportunities for artists to develop their work and practice;

D. Strengthen the capacity of arts organisations to deliver quality experiences of the arts.

4. To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

(a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors;

4.1 Opera Theatre Company are committed to high quality professional practice within both the community and professional arts sectors, recognising that the traditional distinction between professional and community arts have lost much of their significance. OTC’s Outreach programme works in partnership with professional artists and community arts organisations to achieve shared aims. Insufficient funding disables the ability to continue this.

4.2 There is a recognised need for training of artists in facilitation for opera and music projects to enhance the relationship between individuals and organisations within professional and community arts sectors. OTC has facilitated a training event where 17 artists improved their ability and practice in delivering projects in school and community arena. Without this initiative, there would be less opportunity for professional artists to engage in opera and music projects in a community context.

(d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

4.3 Opera Theatre Company’s highly successful outreach programme targets communities who have found it difficult to access funding for creative work. The participatory work carried out is important in developing an understanding of the art form, generating new audiences and assists ACNI and other relevant public bodies achieve TSN targets.

4.4 Opera Theatre Company’s outreach work builds the capacity and confidence of communities within society to experience quality arts practice and build their own infrastructure.

4.5 Opera Theatre Company recognises the need for affordable points of entry for all communities. It is essential that OTC can continue to provide affordable opera experiences for all by receiving support for its policy of accessible ticket prices in Northern Ireland. The company’s ticket prices for opera productions are comparatively well below those in other parts of the UK.

5. To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

5.1 Arts spending per capita in the UK and Republic of Ireland for 2008/091:

Scotland £14.04

Wales £10.10

England £ 8.47

Ireland €17.92

Northern Ireland £ 7.58

The per capita spend urgently needs to be increased to allow arts organisations to programme long-term, improve practice and flourish and bring Northern Ireland into line with rest of the UK and Ireland.

5.2 Arts spending per capita in the Republic of Ireland is currently at €17.92 while arts spending in Northern Ireland sits at £7.58 per head, Opera Theatre Company is an all Ireland touring company and this discrepancy in spend inhibits OTC’s ability to tour and facilitate projects that will reach audiences and participants in Northern Ireland.

6. To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

6.1 Opera is the ultimate art form enriching lives with music, drama, song and storytelling. Opera is a comparatively expensive art form to produce, the core costs of a touring production of opera include, design, performers, musicians, technical support and transport to create a worthy experience. In the Arts Council Northern Ireland funding policy paper, opera has been acknowledged as the most expensive of all art forms and continued support from ACNI and other public bodies is essential in providing access for all communities living in Northern Ireland.

6.2 In 2008, Opera Theatre Company performed 11 shows throughout all 6 counties in Northern Ireland. Developing new audiences is one of the Arts Council’s strategic priorities for opera, and this is only possible through making work accessible to communities who would not otherwise be able to experience live opera by touring.

6.3 Opera Theatre Company’s Education & Outreach programme has been successfully engaging with communities from all backgrounds and of all ages throughout Northern Ireland for 5 years. In 2008 alone there have been 8 events conducted exclusively in Northern Ireland with variety of groups including disability groups (Open Arts Choir) and primary schools, secondary schools and community groups (Greenway Women’s Centre)

6.4 In the Arts Council’s 2007-8 Annual Report, opera as an art form received only 2% of the overall Arts Council budget. In 2009 Opera Theatre Company received £100,000.00 from ACNI, this represents 0.9% of ACNI’s £9,625,035 Budget for 2008-2009. This represents under funding in relation to Opera Theatre Company’s innovative outreach work, touring work and commitment to the artists and people of Northern Ireland. This work is essential in assisting ACNI and other funding bodies impact on targeting social need and regenerating communities.

7. To report to the Assembly making recommendations to the Department and/or others.

7.1 Continue and increase investment in touring opera, audiences in Northern Ireland need continued access to high quality opera provision throughout the country.

7.2 To publish the findings of the opera research paper (conducted in Oct 2008) for the benefit of stakeholders and develop a strategy alongside Arts Council Northern Ireland and participant stakeholders.

7.3 Move the level of arts funding closer to that in Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

7.4 Enable professional arts organisations to tackle the barriers to participating in life affirming arts through continued high quality outreach reach programmes by support and funding.

7.5 Invest in training professional arts practitioners, musicians, composers and singers so to enable artists to work throughout Northern Ireland and better their impact to society.

7.6 To develop the talent of young artists from Northern Ireland with sustained support of professional development programmes.

7.7 Invest in venues and their production budgets so they are able to host touring companies and provide a broad range of high quality operatic performances.

Replay Productions

26 February 2009

Replay Productions welcomes the opportunity to present information in response to the Inquiry into the funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland.

Introduction

Firstly, we welcome this Inquiry and the identification of the need to further investigate the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland.

We hope that this Inquiry will contribute to the growth of the sector and help increase the provision of quality arts for people across Northern Ireland. In particular Replay Productions is committed to working with all stakeholders to increase funding for Youth Arts in Northern Ireland.

Background

Replay provides high quality professional theatre that entertains, educates and stimulates. Our vision is to open the door for children and young people in Northern Ireland to engage with high quality theatre and related activities throughout their development. We aim to ensure equality and accessibility and to promote concepts of shared Cultural Identity and Diversity. We also aim to strive at all times to maintain Replay’s core values of Integrity, Quality, Efficiency and Accessibility.

Replay seeks to tackle relevant and current social issues in an innovative way, ensuring access for children and young people that would otherwise not have an opportunity to experience and participate in the arts. The very nature of the company’s work is outreach. Replay believes that all theatre educates and uses its inspirational strengths as a learning tool to explore personal and social development and to promote valuable life skills as well as supporting an academic or formal curriculum.

Replay is dedicated to providing high quality theatre for children and young people throughout Northern Ireland, and to supporting and inspiring the adults that work with, and care for them. All projects provide unique curriculum support, encourage increased understanding, development and learning (at school level and in life skills). Replay undertakes an extensive programme of touring productions, workshops, residencies and training projects.

In 2007/08 Replay entertained, educated and stimulated 10,475 children and young people in Northern Ireland through live theatre performances and participatory workshops. In addition Replay produced and distributed an interactive resource on rascism to every school in Northern Ireland reaching a potential audience of over 60,000. We strive to build on this- extending the boundaries of the quality of the work we produce and the young people we access.

1. To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/ regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/ regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

We believe that a per capita spend comparison with other European countries would be extremely useful in identifying models that could help improve the current situation in Northern Ireland. If Northern Ireland seeks to become a cultural destination, then we must identify areas where we fall behind other successful European regions. It is already evident that the per capita spend in Northern Ireland falls significantly behind that of UK regions and the Republic of Ireland. In Northern Ireland spending is £7.58 compared to £8.47 in England, £10.10 in Wales, £14.04 in Scotland and €19.10 in the Republic of Ireland (source: Artery, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Winter 2008/09). Extending this to European comparisons would help highlight potential reasons for the high arts infrastructure in European countries such as Italy and Denmark as is evident from the quality and breadth of youth arts provision in these regions.

2. To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

There currently exist within the sector exceptionally professional approaches to levering additional funding for arts projects. This is particularly evident in youth arts, as these projects are heavily subsided to ensure the accessibility of the arts to young people and therefore require a higher level of partnership funding. Replay is tireless in its efforts to increase the levels of private and in-kind sponsorship to ensure sustainability. We would encourage statutory funding to follow the lead of the private sector trusts such as the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Northern Ireland who in 2008 launched a six-year funding programme, Creating Change. The future of the arts and the ability of organisations to strategically fundraise and plan would be significantly improved through longer funding cycles.

3. To carry out a stocktake of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

Replay Productions would support any further research that would help substantiate the claims by the sector of economic and social benefits of investing in the arts. We would urge those bodies responsible for the research to consult directly with those organisations who have delivered and continue to be committed to delivering, such benefits. Replay Productions continues in our commitment to using the inspirational strengths of the arts as a learning tool to explore personal and social development and to promote valuable life skills. In recent years we have worked closely with organisations such as the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and the Health Promotion Agency to directly tackle social and health issues that young people in Northern Ireland face today. The benefits of the Arts to Education, Health, Society and their contribution to the well being of a creative and confident people should not be undermined. Replay would be happy to contribute to any research on the social benefits of the arts and to share real life examples of how our work has made a direct difference to the lives of the young people we seek to impact.

4. To examine how these organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors;

b) target social need

c) encourage community regeneration; and

d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding

Replay welcomes this examination and emphasises the importance of examining the relationship between community and professional arts. A balance should be met between these two sectors ensuring that the merits of both are identified. It is important to recognise that one sector cannot and should not exist in isolation of the other. In particular, as arts organisations committed to improving access, we must look at developing audiences and there are obvious synergies between audience development and the development of relationships between community and professional arts organisations and artists.

5. To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across the islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

In particular Replay would like to draw attention to the example of Scotland and their commitment to ensuring high levels of funding for the provision of arts activities across art forms to children and young people. The levels of funding secured by organisations in Scotland such as Imaginate and Catherine Wheels and the commitment of public funding bodies to building infrastructure through investment, has helped transform the sector into a vibrant model of international best practice. In line with this, Replay would urge the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to develop a comprehensive policy on Youth Arts to complement the delivery of the provision of high quality arts for children and young people. Replay would like to draw attention to the Ten Year Strategy for Children and Young People in Northern Ireland and the role of the arts in helping to achieve the vision “that all children and young people living in Northern Ireland will thrive and look forward with confidence to the future." (Source: Our Children and Young People- Our Pledge: A Ten Year Strategy for Children and Young People in Northern Ireland 2006-2016, Children & Young People’s Unit, OFMDFM)

6. To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities

In any comparison of art form funding allocation Replay would also urge a specific examination of funding allocation to the provision of arts for children and young people. Replay is committed to increasing the accessibility of the arts in Northern Ireland and recognises that social need in one of many access barriers to the arts.

We hope that the Committee might find these comments useful and Replay Productions is happy to provide further information on any of the points raised.

For further information, please contact:

Eimear Henry

Acting Director
Replay Productions
7 College Square North
Belfast
BT1 6AR

Tel: 028 9032 2773
Email: development@replayproductions.org

Sole Purpose Productions

ThDeaFtre

Dr Kathryn Bell
Room 424, Parliament Buildings, Stormont
Belfast
BT4 3XX

27 02 2009

In our team of six Deaf people we have one from Lithuania. She has described the vast amount of opportunities there were in Lithuania through performing arts for Deaf people when she realised the lack of opportunities in Northern Ireland. At present we have 3,000 Deaf sign language users and approximately 100 Deaf foreign nationals from Lithuania, Portugal, Japan, Australia, Niger, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech, Poland and Russia to name but a few, who have moved to live in Northern Ireland. These people have found themselves in an unemployable position due to the nature of their ’hidden disability’. They come across communication barriers on a daily basis and this has a detrimental effect on their mental health. The Deaf Community has the highest rate of depression and mental health issues due to the nature of barriers they come across. The general population fail to realise that Deaf people can do everything only hear and our aim is to set up a charitable organisation that will get this community back into an employable stage and thus in the future reduce the effect of mental health issues within the community and give them back the confidence and self respect within themselves.

The aim of our organisation is to provide opportunities through visual arts, creative arts, signing, poetry, music, practical exercises, workshops and also to organise exchange trips worldwide. We hope to set up performing arts events including Deaf sign language users and hard of hearing people of all ages to encourage the isolated part of the community to become more integrated. One of our themes would be ’inclusion’ as not only are deaf foreign nationals coming to Northern Ireland but also hearing foreign nationals and we all have a barrier with languages. We would focus on events where English is not a focus but the feeling of being part of something special and feeling and feeling ’included’. With a diverse range of people now living in Northern Ireland we feel it is vital to make an impact on local communities about the ’cultural and language’ diversities that are apparent now and this will also include sign language. Our events will be open to all to encourage awareness of the Deaf community and hearing people will feel involved by watching and understanding mimes. We will also campaign for more access to information for the Deaf community including subtitles and in- vision interpreters on television amongst other projects.

As previously mentioned, we are a group of six Deaf people with an eclectic mix of skills including a diploma in performing arts, a graphic designer, youth worker, management skills and media skills. We have realised that our potential seems to be repressed due to lack of opportunities through no fault of our own. The idea of setting up a charitable organisation came from the passion we have for our skills and our own community and wanting to ensure we could express and develop our skills within our community and become role models for those isolated and more vulnerable Deaf people who have been left feeling unappreciated and undervalued. Our vision is to set up a professional organisation ensuring the well-being of the Deaf community who are involved and attend our workshops. We will be people focussed which is why we need to ensure the quality of what we deliver, we will not accept sub-standard delivery as we aim to make a positive impact on the lives of Deaf people. When setting up the organisation we specifically selected people with various skills and abilities to cover all aspects of running an organisation, from the every day running to promoting the organisation and skills to deal with the various people we will deliver to, this was to ensure we are running a professional organisation. Additional funding will be applied for to provide adequate professional interpreters for various sign languages, for example British and Irish Sign Language, International Sign Language and any other sign language that is required. This is to ensure accessibility to all who are either involved within the organisation or attending any of our events.

We will be attending funding fairs and business centres to source additional funding as this area appears to be excluded for Deaf people. This will be the first time a Deaf theatre will have been set up in Northern Ireland and we will call ourselves thDeaFtre. Our constitution has been produced and we have also designed a new logo. Through various research we have realised that arts events appear to be aimed at physical or mental disabilities but there is nothing provided specifically for Deaf people and rarely funding applications or funding fairs are accessible to Deaf people due to language barriers. Through our organisation we will provide the venue, stage, make-up, lighting, costumes and also pay for facilitating the events.

If our organisation gets up and running successfully we aim to employ Deaf staff an d this will benefit the Northern Ireland economic situation by bringing Deaf people off benefits into employment.

There appears to be a communication barrier in Northern Ireland between the Deaf community and society in general, therefore funding has not been accessible unless by a hearing counterpart who informs the Deaf person. We are aiming to do this as a Deaf partnership independently without relying on other sources. Historically funding has not been given to our community and we feel the social need is out there and this can only help to regenerate the Deaf community and help integration and inclusion throughout Northern Ireland.

Yours Faithfully,

ThDeaFtre by Deaf Art Group,
Thdeaftre@gmail.com

Tim Loane

Tim Loane
timloane@live.co.uk
Barry McElduff MLA
Chair
CAL Committee

26th February 2009

Dear Barry,

I note with interest the Committee’s Inquiry and I’d like to make a number of points, concerning the importance of nurturing creative talent in particular.

• I am a playwright and screenwriter based in Belfast and I earn my living through writing drama for network UK television – including Teachers for Channel 4 and most recently the remake of Minder for Channel 5. I firmly believe that I wouldn’t have this career if I hadn’t learned the necessary skills through the training ground of subsidised theatre in Northern Ireland. It’s worth noting that I am only one of many who, while still working in the arts locally from time to time, are plying their trades nationally and internationally with significant success as a direct result of their formative experiences in the subsidised arts sector.
• No one can deny the raw talent, imagination and creativity of the next generation of young people in Northern Ireland – but without this training ground being healthy and robust in the arts in general – and theatre in particular – the developing talents will simply wither on the vine – and the next generation will have even fewer opportunities than I had.
• I remain dismayed and embarrassed that we are at the bottom of the league table in terms of arts funding on these islands. My main concern is that our audiences are being short-changed – that’s an audience that has consistently demonstrated its demand and respect for high quality indigenous art. In addition, it means our young people are being starved of meaningful opportunity and ambition in the arts – and many of our best artists and professional practitioners are forced to leave to find work elsewhere. I have watched Northern Ireland haemorrhaging talent year after year. While it is healthy and necessary in some areas for people to leave, this should not be the norm – and professionals like me need a good reason to stay.
• In my view, the public and indeed political perception of arts funding needs to be challenged and subverted. The arts are not a charity. The arts are an industry – albeit one that cannot be measured with the same criteria as traditional business. However, grants given to the arts do not disappear into a black hole. Employing local professionals means the cash goes straight back into the local economy – and a well-funded, successful professional arts scene will result in a clearly demonstrable multiplier effect – spurring activity in pubs, restaurants, hotels, transport, tourism etc. It’s also worth remembering that our “exports" operate on a global scale like James Ellis, Liam Neeson, James Nesbitt, Marie Jones, Conleth Hill – but without adequate training and funding it’s hard to imagine that the next generation will follow them.
• Storytelling, in all its forms, is a unique selling point for us here. Without investment our stories will not be told and our storytellers will not be heard. In a time of political change and economic downturn this becomes an even greater imperative, with the arts providing meaningful alternatives to many people in many ways.
• Community arts have enormous value in a place that’s emerging from such social and political upheaval – but they cannot exist in a vacuum. Community art cannot replace the professional arts – they can only thrive alongside each other, through a complementary relationship that benefits and inspires both forms.
• After years of streamlining and cutting its cloth to fit the very tightest of budgets, the arts – and particularly theatre – in Northern Ireland are lean and efficient. We who work in the arts know the value of money – there is no room for waste. Even a relatively small investment goes a very long way and can make immeasurable difference to the lives of many – artists and audience.
• Having contributed to many such consultations over the years, I note that despite the findings, speeches and colourful publications, public funding has remained token with the result that the arts as an industry has never been in greater jeopardy than it is now. I eagerly await meaningful action and a radical improvement to this crisis and remain hopeful that some day the administrative bodies will use their own creativity and imagination to give the arts community – and the audience in Northern Ireland – the respect they deserve.

Yours sincerely,
Tim Loane

Ulster Orchestra Society Ltd

This submission to the CAL Inquiry is written by David Byers on behalf of the Ulster Orchestra Society Ltd. of which he is Chief Executive.

The mission statement of the Ulster Orchestra is: Enriching life through music.

It enriches the cultural life of Northern Ireland by being an orchestra of international reputation, delivering world-class performances in all aspects of its work and encouraging and ensuring access across all communities.

This is achieved through the provision of orchestral concerts alongside a developing programme of education and outreach work. Young emerging talent, both in performance and in compositional creativity, is positively and actively encouraged. A major ambassadorial role for Northern Ireland is fulfilled through the Ulster Orchestra’s broadcasts, CD recordings and tours.

David Byers is a composer and writer. 25 years with BBC Northern Ireland, he took early retirement in 2002, having been Chief Producer, Music and Arts. He took up the role of Chief Executive, Ulster Orchestra, in June 2002. He was involved with the negotiations about the 1981 disbandment of the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra and the resultant enlargement of the Ulster Orchestra. He was the BBC representative Board member of the Ulster Orchestra Society Ltd from 1981 to 2002.

Summary

The Ulster Orchestra’s submission follows the numbered items listed in the Terms of Reference.

The responses under Section 1 include some background to the funding of Orchestras elsewhere, but relates this to the Northern Ireland scenario.

Section 2 looks at the current sources of funding, the lack of Local Authority funding in Northern Ireland, the exceptional costs in Northern Ireland, and some other approaches. It ends with a plea not to be frightened of support for large-scale key cultural institutions.

Section 3 lists the research materials available on the Ulster Orchestra.

Section 4 addresses the ways in which the Ulster Orchestra contributes to both the professional and community sectors, how it targets social need, contributes to community regeneration and engages with so many different communities across Northern Ireland. It ends with an appeal from Tessa Jowell for “intelligent public subsidy" which will place the arts at the heart of national life.

Section 5 lists the material included in Appendices 1-5 which provide comparative funding information on venue costs, ticket prices and concessions, levels of public funding for UK orchestras, the Scottish Executive’s funding details for its key organisations and, lastly, a list of salary levels in UK orchestras.

Ulster Orchestra -
Enriching Life through Music

Over 70,000 enjoy the Ulster Orchestra’s concert-giving across Northern Ireland
30,000 are enriched by the Orchestra’s diverse, innovative education and outreach activity

• The Ulster Orchestra is one of Northern Ireland’s finest cultural assets, producing the highest calibre of music-making, enhancing the quality of life and providing opportunities for audiences in Northern Ireland to experience world-class conductors and internationally renowned soloists.
• The Ulster Orchestra is the musical pulse of Northern Ireland, with its weekly concerts in Belfast; performances across the country; participation in the Belfast Festival at Queen’s; its community concerts, and its extensive education and outreach work.
• The Ulster Orchestra is an important cultural partner, collaborating with educational institutions; professional arts organisations; amateur cultural groups; local authorities and broadcasting institutions.
• The Ulster Orchestra plays a significant ambassadorial role for Northern Ireland through its acclaimed commercial recordings, tours of Europe, Asia and the USA and its many BBC broadcasts nationally and internationally through the EBU and NPR networks, and worldwide via online streaming.
• The Ulster Orchestra is a key employer in the arts. The wealth of accessible expertise in its 63 full-time professional resident musicians and 17- strong administrative staff is a vital resource for the enrichment of musical activity and instrumental development across all age groups and geographical locations. It contributes significantly to many schools and to the City of Belfast School of Music.
• People of all ages are stimulated by the Ulster Orchestra to appreciate and to participate in classical music. This important educational role gives expression to people’s musical talents, creativity, achievements, development and potential. The Pied Piper cross-community project for March 2009 has been awarded the Inspire Mark of the Cultural Olympiad.
• Classical music is accessible to everyone thanks to the Ulster Orchestra and its widespread concert and education activities, inclusive pricing for all members of the community, and regular broadcasts on radio, television and the internet.
• The Ulster Orchestra champions the talents of Irish musicians through the new works it commissions and the engaging of young performers.
• Investment in the Ulster Orchestra brings significant economic benefits to Northern Ireland. Money spent on the Orchestra stays mainly within Northern Ireland and generates additional revenue for the venues in which it plays and the companies which provide services to the Orchestra and its audiences.
• The Ulster Orchestra is a key contributor to Northern Ireland’s cultural tourism and civic regeneration. This Orchestra is a key attraction for visitors to the region, for new companies investing here and, importantly, an asset for its people.

Section 1(a)
To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions.

1.1 It is difficult to make direct comparisons with other countries because the published information does not necessarily compare like with like.[1]

1.2 Some surveys include varying capital expenditures, or different lists of ‘arts’ (zoos were included in Australia’s cultural spend, certainly in the 1990s), but there are also other considerations, including the different costs of living and the historic balances between public and private support for the arts. “The governments of Sweden, Germany and Finland spend more on the arts partly because the community expects to manage such matters at a public level, while in the United States, the people prefer to rely on private initiative."[2]

1.3 Interestingly there seems to be no apparent correlation between a country’s per capita GDP (a gauge of its economic output) and its per capita arts spending. The Arts Council of England’s[3] 1998 survey of public arts spending in eleven countries[4] was used by the National Foundation for the Arts in a publication in 2000.[5] It shows that in 1995, the USA (pop. 285m), with one of the highest per capita GDP values, but where there is a huge dependence on individuals’ philanthropic giving, had the lowest per capita government arts spend at $6. That compared to the highest of all expenditures in Finland (pop. 5.1m) with $91. Germany was spending $85, Sweden and France $57, Canada and the Netherlands $46, with the UK at $26 and Australia at $25.

1.4 The figures quoted above were based on a period of change and indeed recession (early 1990s), with Finland reducing its arts expenditure, but Germany and Ireland increasing their expenditure – Germany because of reunification, Ireland because of the realisation of “a growing awareness of the economic value of the cultural sector to the Irish economy; and the availability of European funds for cultural projects through the European Union." Comparative figures for a year or so later were published by the Irish Arts Council / An Chomairle Ealaíon.[6]

1.5 There has been a dramatic increase in Arts Council funding in the Irish Republic over the past number of years, rising from €33.14 million in 1998 to €79.81 in 2006. This has been helped considerably by the publication of the Arts Plan 2002-2006. According to Martin Drury’s fascinating 2006 survey (The Public and the Arts),[7] people have a very positive attitude to investment in the arts and in arts infrastructure, particularly for the importance of the arts in education, but also for their role in society. Approval was high for arts spending for children and young people, followed by local, amateur and community-based arts and programmes aimed at areas of social disadvantage.

1.6 Alarmingly, in the UK, a shortfall in grants from public funding over the past few years has been partially made up by using funds from the National Lottery – money which had been designated originally as ‘additionality’, an additional funding source. That compromise has now been brought into stark relief with the significant reduction of those funds as they are diverted to meet the ever-rising costs of the 2012 Olympics. Accurate year -on-year comparisons are also difficult because the culture categories in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses produced by the UK HM Treasury were changed in 2007 to comply with the United Nations Classifications of Functions of Government (COFOG).[8]

1.7 The per capita measurement should not be the sole criterion for arts funding. Prof. Mark Schuster who carried out a major survey of international arts funding in 1985, states: “Suppose that every country has an identical policy to support one national opera, one national orchestra, one national art museum, one national dance company, etc. and suppose that these cost more or less the same across countries. The result is that countries with smaller populations will have higher per capita expenditures because of their difference in size, not their difference in policy."[9]

1.8 Finland, with a population of just 5 million, supports 12 professional orchestras, one opera orchestra, 10 chamber- and semi-professional orchestras, and many other small orchestras and ensembles.[10] Helsinki with a population of under 600,000 supports five symphony orchestras and at least eight world-class conductors including the Minnesota Orchestra’s Osmo Vanska and the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Esa-Pekka Salonen, were raised and trained in Finland. More than 30 full-time classical composers live and work there. “Outstanding music education is the primary reason. But at its source is a national attitude that music is not dessert, but an essential food group for personal, cultural and civic sustenance, and as deserving of government subsidy as health care and schools."[11]

1.9 The Ulster Orchestra is the only professional full-time symphony orchestra in Northern Ireland. It serves Northern Ireland, but, when funding can be sourced, it also gives concerts in the three ‘border counties’ of the province of Ulster, and in many other centres including Dundalk, Drogheda, Kilkenny, Killarney, Cork and Wexford. It has also established an annual series in Dublin’s National Concert Hall.[12]

1.10 The Ulster Orchestra’s comparable orchestral equivalent in the Irish Republic is the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, fully supported by that broadcasting organisation, currently with some additional sponsorship money from the Anglo-Irish Bank. The Irish Arts Council / An Chomairle Ealaíon does not fund the RTÉ NSO. If the NSO was cut loose from RTÉ (which maintains two orchestras – the NSO and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra – along with a string quartet) there would be a significant additional call on that Arts Council’s resources. The current per capita figures from Ireland, the highest in these islands, would not include the considerable cost of these RTÉ orchestras.

1.11 A survey published in April 2008 by the Fédération Internationale des Musiciens (FIM) details orchestral spend across Europe, North America, etc.[13] It shows that, on average, 54% of the total expenditure of orchestras in the survey went towards the musicians’ salaries and the average cost of a seat to see a performance in Germany and the UK was €28.66 and €33.45 respectively. The Ulster Orchestra spends 49% of its total expenditure on musicians’ salaries and its ticket prices include concessions for senior citizens and the unwaged, and a Student Standby ticket scheme of £3. The Ulster Orchestra also gives around 12 free concerts each year, thanks to its BBC relationship. See Appendix 2 for UK ticket price comparisons.

1.12 The FIM survey also found that orchestral salaries in the UK, France and Germany were much higher than the average annual wage across all the surveyed orchestras. Broadcasting orchestras’ salaries were generally €15,000-€20,000 higher than the average. The Ulster Orchestra’s salary levels are the lowest of all the comparable UK orchestras and this information is regularly published by the Musicians’ Union – and that does not help Northern Ireland’s image! See Appendix 5.

1.13 The Ulster Orchestra maintains a staffing of 63 full-time musicians and an administration team of 17 full-time staff: 80 full-time arts jobs.

Section 1(b)
To establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

1.14 The Ulster Orchestra’s major funding body is the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) which seeks to place the arts at the heart of Northern Ireland’s social, economic and creative life. ACNI endeavours “to develop further our seed bed of talent and innovation by backing artistic entrepreneurs". It wants to “resource our arts organisations to act as catalysts for community development and regeneration as well as helping change the image of Northern Ireland internationally, as a confident and creative place in which to live, work and do business". ACNI also proposes a set of values by which it would choose to be judged:

Excellence – we are committed to excellence in arts and arts practice;

Openness – we will consult, encourage feedback and be open and responsive;

Fairness – we will be fair, trustworthy and transparent in our dealings;

Equity – we will provide equal opportunities for all sections of society.[14]

1.15 ACNI’s support for the Ulster Orchestra matches that of some other orchestral support in GB, but there are other factors in the funding models which, to the Ulster Orchestra’s detriment, are not at all so well matched, viz. local authority support, Government agency support for international touring, sponsorship levels, philanthropic giving and engagement potential in a relatively small population base. These different funding models are addressed in Section 2.

1.16 The Irish Arts Council / An Chomairle Ealaíon, funded by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism (DAST), has a strategy which articulates the role of the arts in the promotion of civil society, through the mobilisation of social change and the renewal of identity, a credo that is said to underwrite the Council’s participation and access policies in general.[15] It honours its individual creative artists through Aosdána, established in 1983. This not only provides recognition, it also gives state support for creative artists. DAST has a major responsibility to enhance the cultural infrastructure through capital projects and it also promotes Irish arts and culture overseas through Culture Ireland, established in 2005. Culture Ireland was given a budget of €3 million in 2006 for “the funding and facilitation of Irish participation at strategic international arts events and the management of emblematic cultural events either in Ireland or abroad."[16]

1.17 Arts Council England “works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives." It is the “national development agency for the arts" and it argues that “Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better." Between 2008 and 2011 it will invest “in excess of £1.6 billion of public money from the government and the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country … The arts are an important part of life in this country – something beyond economic well-being but just as important. When the arts achieve excellence they offer something to each individual that is hard to describe. This might be a challenge, conflict, insight, understanding, amusement, an intellectual or an emotional response/connection. It’s unique for each person. This is what we are about – creating the conditions by which great art can happen, and then making sure as many people as possible can engage and discover what art can do for them."

1.18 ACE has agreed a set of objectives with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport against which the outcome of its programmes could be judged:

Excellence – high quality arts and high-quality arts experience;
Reach – more people attending and taking part in the arts;
Engagement – more people feel that there are opportunities to enjoy and get actively; involved in, arts activities that are personally relevant to them
Diversity – arts that reflect the diversity of contemporary England;
Innovation – artists have the freedom and are challenged to innovate.[17]

1.19 In 2001 the Government announced that all 7-11 year olds in England would have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument. In November 2007, Ed Balls, the Education Secretary announced a £332 million investment in choirs, orchestras, performances, new instruments and free music lessons for England. “Every child from all backgrounds should have the chance to perform, play an instrument or sing and I want every school to become a musical school … Every parent knows how much it means to their child to be involved in a school performance and the pride and inspiration it offers the whole family."

The Government hoped that the additional funding and resources would lead to at least half of all primary children continuing to learn an instrument beyond the early years.

Culture Secretary James Purnell commented: “Learning about the arts is part of a good education. We want all children to have the chance to develop their creativity and today’s announcement on music marks a step change in our ability to do so."[18]

1.20 The Scottish Arts Council serves “the people of Scotland by fostering arts of excellence through funding, development, research and advocacy. We believe the arts to be the foundation of a confident and cultured society. They challenge and inspire us. They bring beauty, excitement and happiness into our lives. They help us to express our identity as individuals, as communities and as a nation. The Scottish Arts Council offers a unique national perspective on the arts and their audiences. Our strategic leadership is underpinned by specialist knowledge and experience in the management and delivery of the arts in a diverse national and international context. The Scottish Arts Council strives for:

Excellence in the arts and in our organisation.
Creativity in the arts and in our work.
Inclusion for everyone in all forms of the arts.
Partnership with those who will help us to promote the arts.
Openness in all our dealings.[19]

1.21 The Scottish Arts Council also supports work with an international dimension, so that “artists will be able to present new work, or new interpretations of existing work, to create new audiences and strengthen Scotland’s cultural identity outwith Scotland." As part of major developmental work in the past few years, Scotland has safeguarded and strengthened the infrastructure supporting the arts, providing significant additional funding to protect the position of core funded organisations. See Section 2.

1.22 One of the important advantages accruing from investing in the arts is the economic benefit gained from the creative industries, one of the UK’s major growth areas. An orchestra is a major bonus/attraction to inward investors who look at the quality of life in a region. Birmingham used the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra very successfully to lift its vision to a higher level and place the city on the world stage. A vibrant arts scene contributes to health, education, employment and the economy.

1.23 Northern Ireland, more than anywhere, needs to invest in the arts for what they can bring to our fractured communities and what they can do for the international perception of the region. Northern Ireland’s international reputation is hugely enhanced by the work of its writers, musicians and artists. Just as communities across Northern Ireland take pride in the sporting achievements of a Northern Ireland team (in whatever sport), so too do they take pride in the achievements of their arts successes. Pride and ambition are two factors that must be brought into play to lift a community’s vision from a local vision to an international one. More young people than ever before are following cultural and media studies at third level institutions. Now is the time to give them aspirational goals.

1.24 PricewaterhouseCoopers demonstrated that 90% of people interviewed in a Northern Ireland street survey of non-attenders had heard of the Ulster Orchestra; 87% thought it was important for Northern Ireland to have its own orchestra; and 78% thought the Ulster Orchestra was a quality orchestra.[20]

1.25 It is vital that the Ulster Orchestra is able to offer access to everyone who wishes to do so, to experience the innovative creations of previous generations, and to help develop the exciting creative aspirations for tomorrow. A range of audience development schemes, including Student Standby tickets at £3 and concession prices, along with up to 12 completely free BBC concerts given by the Ulster Orchestra, considerably extend access to the Orchestra. The PwC survey showed that 69% of the audience was introduced to an orchestral concert before they were 20 years of age; 36% had been taken to a concert when they were 10 years of age or less.[21] All this demonstrates the importance of the Orchestra’s outreach work and supports its wish to identify funding to expand its schools’ concerts, particularly in the Ulster Hall and the Millennium Forum.

1.26 Last year the Ulster Orchestra’s education and outreach programme involved some 30,000 people of all ages, but predominantly young people. Projects included masterclasses, concerts for school children, pre-concert talks, general schools workshops, special ticket schemes, adopt a player schemes, a Come & Play event and a large number of special projects.

1.27 The Ulster Orchestra education team along with its Associate Composer, Brian Irvine, is currently undertaking a large-scale project based around The Pied Piper. The project will include a choir made up of 250 Belfast school children, 60 young dancers and a carnival parade in association with the Beat Initiative and four regional schools. The final event will be held in the Waterfront Hall on Saturday 14 March. This project has been awarded the Inspire Mark of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad – the first to be awarded in Northern Ireland. (The Ulster Orchestra received the first- ever Education Award given by the Royal Philharmonic Society in the 1990s for a project in West Belfast.) The Orchestra also organised a very successful free concert for post-primary children from across Northern Ireland on Tuesday 24 February in the Waterfront Hall, attracting over 1,500 school children.

1.28 The Ulster Orchestra contributes to the creative and cultural industries in Northern Ireland by providing cultural leadership and spearheading development opportunities. The Ulster Orchestra’s employment of musicians is unmatched elsewhere in this region. It provides the goals which encourage young people to develop their creativity and their skills – something to which tomorrow’s young musicians and music educators can aspire.

1.29 The Ulster Orchestra provides its musicians with a stable employment base from which to build and develop their professional skills as musicians, as well as providing them with the opportunity to put these skills to use in other areas. Many of its musicians are involved with private tutoring, performing in small ensembles, instrumental teaching at a variety of schools including the City of Belfast School of Music, and conducting and playing in local bands.[22]

1.30 The Orchestra also contributes to arts administration education and skills through a placement scheme with Queen’s University for two students each year. The Orchestra works in partnership with organisations such as the Ulster Youth Orchestra, the Ulster Youth Choir, Belfast Philharmonic Choir, Derry’s Classical Music Society, many schools across NI, many regional venues, both universities and a range of other community organisations.

1.31 Key areas for assessing the Orchestra’s own development are:

Excellence – in performance, in presentation, in all areas of its work;

Inclusive access and engagement – a pro-active concern to encourage all those who wish to attend, participate or learn more;

Innovation – always open to new ideas, new works, new artists, etc.

1.32 As pointed out in the 2005 study of the Orchestra’s economic and social impact,[23] reserves and cash balances are low for an organisation of the Ulster Orchestra’s size, particularly when viewed against the extent of its monthly fixed costs (mainly wages and salaries). Following recommendations from its auditors, the Orchestra’s Board has resolved to establish a reserves level of at least £500,000 by 2012 – still far short of the ideal position which would be 50% of the Orchestra’s annual turnover!

1.33 An issue impacting upon the Orchestra’s planning and its ongoing development is the level of uncertainty surrounding its income sources: ACNI grants are now awarded on a three year funding cycle, but the actual figure cannot be guaranteed; the BBC contract (currently awaiting the signing of a new three-year deal backdated to April 2008) does not benefit from the ring-fencing which has secured the BBC’s own orchestras and is now on a standstill basis for the next two years, likely to result in a significant erosion of its real value by the end of the current three years. These uncertainties limit the ability of the Ulster Orchestra to plan for the long term.

Section 2.
To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

2.1 When the BBC disbanded its own orchestra in Belfast in 1981 (the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra), it undertook to invest money in the Ulster Orchestra in return for guaranteed programme output. For many years the remarkable funding mix of public and private which had been created by ACNI, BBC, Belfast City Council (BCC) and the private sector (Gallaher Ltd.) was seen as an innovative way forward. In the event, that has not been followed up elsewhere[24] and since then the BBC has made a considerable investment in its own orchestras. The Ulster Orchestra’s BBC work is excellent value for money compared to the investment required for, say, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with all its overheads, including pension costs.

2.2 The Ulster Orchestra appreciates its crucial relationship with the BBC which founded the first professional orchestra in Northern Ireland in 1924. It is hoped that this support for music in Northern Ireland will long continue and that, subject to a maintenance of performing excellence, the BBC’s financial contribution can be sustained at an appropriate level to contribute fairly to the Ulster Orchestra’s continued growth. The BBC funds major orchestras in London (where there are at least four other major orchestras), Manchester (which has the Hallé), Cardiff and Glasgow (which has the RSNO and Scottish Chamber Orchestra). Northern Ireland’s contribution to the broadcasting licence fee, the lack of any other orchestral provision in Northern Ireland, and the BBC’s commitment to share its work across the regions, are further reasons for the continuation of the current relationship.

2.3 One of the real benefits of the BBC relationship, particularly at a time when no funds are forthcoming for international touring, has been the invitations to play at the BBC Proms. This lifts Northern Ireland’s profile every bit as much as the Orchestra’s. It costs much the same to bring the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra to London as it does the Ulster Orchestra – and the Scottish Orchestra appears each year (four Proms concerts in 2008). The CAL Committee might consider joining with the Ulster Orchestra in urging the BBC at least to restore the idea of a concert at the Proms every other year rather than once in three years!

2.4 The major divergence when comparing the income sources of the Ulster Orchestra with other UK regional orchestras is in Local Authority income. Most of the regional British orchestras exist on a mix of Arts Council funding and Local Authority funding. Appendix 1 shows the relevant comparisons with some of the main orchestras. In Northern Ireland there is a lack of significant Local Authority income – not surprising when the population base is considered.

2.5 Major orchestras in cities in Great Britain would give concerts in neighbouring major towns and cities, often earning a substantial income (‘engagement fees’). Many of their home base population centres (Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Bournemouth) have some 8 million people living within an hour’s drive or other nearby cities with their own very sizeable populations and ‘fit for purpose’ performance venues. Outside Belfast, only the Millennium Forum in Derry/Londonderry can accommodate the full Ulster Orchestra and, sadly, it lacks a sympathetic acoustic for orchestral music.

2.6 The Ulster Orchestra’s geographical situation, with a relatively small population base (1.79 million in the whole of Northern Ireland and only 600,000 in the Greater Belfast area) compares unfavourably with those large conurbations in GB. The Ulster Orchestra is thus much more heavily reliant on its ACNI funding and BBC income (which is the Ulster Orchestra’s equivalent of ‘engagement fees’).

2.7 Historically, local government in Northern Ireland has had only limited powers compared with elsewhere in the UK and its statutory duty is stated as a provision of ‘adequate’ cultural activities, so provision varies widely. Comparisons between different areas are also difficult because of the inclusion of so many differing factors. In Scotland there has been a more active movement to encourage Local Authorities to be more active in their support for the arts.[25]

2.8 Whereas Arts Council funding levels for orchestras might be described as broadly similar across the sector, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland or DCAL seem to be the only viable funding sources which might compensate for Northern Ireland’s huge shortfall in Local Authority funding.

2.9 Unfortunately, all of Belfast City Council’s grant aid (currently at £134,000 per year) is returned in hall hire charges. The Waterfront Hall is the most expensive hall in the UK when comparisons are made with our sister UK orchestras. If cultural tourism is to mean something, then Belfast ought to be encouraged to be more supportive of its providers of major arts events!

2.10 The move to the Ulster Hall is a real fillip for the Orchestra – but with the reduction of the hall capacity to just 1,000 seats, balancing the books becomes even less likely, without an investment from the city in the Ulster Orchestra. Birmingham contributes £1.5 million to the CBSO and the hire of Symphony Hall which seats 2,200 was only £2,650 per concert last year (as against at least £6,700 plus additional charges for piano, etc. for the Waterfront Hall). Likewise the RLPO receives £1.4 million from Liverpool City Council and £86,000 from other Merseyside Authorities; while the Hallé receives £333,000 from Manchester City Council and a further £693,400 from the Greater Manchester Authority. The RSNO in Glasgow receives just £303,655 from the city, but is given a special deal for hall hire (and huge funding from the Scottish Executive). As part of Scotland’s investment in its key cultural institutions, the Scottish Executive granted the RSNO £3.78 million last year, plus an additional £2.8 million. See also Appendices 2, 3 and 4.

2.11 The Ulster Orchestra has sought to lift the level of philanthropic donations over the past three years with some success. Individual giving has been pursued through three telephone fund-raising campaigns, and legacy giving is being promoted. An annual gala fundraising dinner has also proved successful. None of these can begin to replace the money received from the public funding bodies, but they do help to sustain the Orchestra’s education and outreach work.

2.12 Is it possible to explore a range of tax based or fiscal measures to provide support for arts and culture? In its 1969 Finance Act, the Irish Government granted all working artists the right to apply for tax exemption on the income from their creative work. That would not help orchestras, but it would certainly assist many artists who currently live on relatively little and it might also encourage some artist émigrés to return to Northern Ireland! “The scheme allows exemption from tax on income from sales or copyright fees in respect of original and creative works of cultural or artistic merit, as well as on Arts Council bursaries, payments of annuities under the Aosdána scheme and foreign earnings."[26]

2.13 Of benefit to funding the Ulster Orchestra and other organisations in Northern Ireland might be (as in the Irish Republic) the enhancement of tax breaks for donations to eligible institutions, or business sponsorships of arts organisations or the provision of certain goods and services such as printing of programmes or tickets, offering airline tickets, etc.

2.14 In the current economic climate, and with a heavy reliance on financial institutions, it is understandable that sponsorship has declined in the past months and is harder than ever to source. The Ulster Orchestra has been fortunate in sourcing some corporate philanthropy to allow it to launch a series of Lunchtime Concerts in the Ulster Hall from March 2009 aimed at a new audience of office workers, senior citizens who prefer to come into town in daylight (using bus and rail passes) and others who simply want to discover something new.

2.15 Last year, the Ulster Orchestra received the overall Arts and Business Award in recognition of its management of business relationships. Sponsorship has been essential to the Ulster Orchestra in undertaking many high-profile events that would have involved too much risk had they been based solely on public funding. As businesses increasingly develop their sponsorship portfolios based on corporate social responsibility strategies, they are more willing to put money into education projects. Others look for the high profile event with a major star. The downside to this is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find sponsors willing to contribute to the core needs of the organisation – its essential bread and butter activity of providing regular concerts of the highest quality.

2.16 Orchestras in the USA rely heavily on generous donors giving large amounts of money to fund specific concerts or series of concerts. Many have large endowment funds. The Minnesota Orchestra for example receives 33% of its funding from its own endowment fund which had been worth over $200 million before Wall Street collapsed last September. The rest of Minnesota’s income is made up from donations, sponsorship and box office income. Donors give because of their love of music, because of a sense of civic pride, and because of tax incentives. Minnesota was also able to attract and retain a world class conductor (rather as Birmingham invested in Simon Rattle) and build its (and its region’s) profile into an internationally renowned one.

2.17 How this American model of funding can be sustained in the coming months remains to be seen. Outside the large key orchestras which attract big money, orchestras in the USA are often precariously funded and many are not full-time, year-round entities. In truth, orchestral funding in Northern Ireland has always had to find its own funding equation. There are no shortcuts. An Orchestra costs what it costs – and more if we want it to be something special. Without any one of our funding partners, the equation collapses. The Ulster Orchestra, unlike say the Hallé, owns none of its buildings, nor does it have an endowment fund. In the current climate of course, those negatives may have become positives!

2.18 The Ulster Orchestra is, in Northern Ireland terms, a medium-sized business enterprise, employing 80 people with a turnover approaching £4 million. It has an international profile, partnerships with many other arts organisations, a substantial portfolio of education and outreach work and gives professional support to, and facilitation of, community music-making.

2.19 The Ulster Orchestra’s administrative/overheads costs offer a high level of value for money. However, many of its costs are either fixed or clearly defined: performance costs are determined by set Union rates for musicians (applicable across the UK), market forces for conductors and soloists (the bigger the name, the higher the cost!); expensive venue costs relative to GB and ROI centres; travel costs determined by Northern Ireland’s geographical location; and increased costs in Northern Ireland because of the relatively smaller population being served when compared to the other UK regional orchestras.

2.20 Artistic quality and adventure are not in question, but the lowest UK orchestral salaries, smallest administration, and uncertain funding levels, do not necessarily equate to genuine value for money and it is more likely to lead, sooner rather than later, to major financial problems if longer term investment and addressing an ongoing structural financial deficit is not addressed.

2.21 In Finland, which supports so many orchestras (see 1.8), the funding model is one of partial state support. The state matches any funding raised by a community to establish and maintain its own orchestra. With the forthcoming Review of Public Administration, might there be the possibility of ten other Local Authorities contributing to Northern Ireland’s orchestra at the level of Belfast’s contribution?

2.22 In Northern Ireland there is a constant wish to divide the same size of cake between more and more people. Belfast City Council recently voted to add two more worthy organisations to its quota of multi-annual funded clients. No additional money was provided. Irish-born Fergus Linehan, the former Director and Chief Executive of the Sydney Festival, has said, “My biggest frustration with Ireland throughout all the prosperity was that … it was always easier to get €50,000 than €500,000. Everyone was always suspicious of the big idea. In Dublin, we could build 10 tiny venues, but we couldn’t rebuild the national theatre … There are a million little jobs in the arts in Ireland, but there are only about five that could put your kids through school and pay your mortgage … There are things you can do with large organisations that you can’t do with small ones … Without large organisations – if you want to be cynical about it – it keeps the arts marginalised."[27]

Section 3.
To carry out a stock-take of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

3.1 Over the past six years or so, considerable research has been undertaken on behalf of the Ulster Orchestra to assess its viability across a number of specified headings. These are:

3.2 The 2003 PricewaterhouseCoopers postal and street survey of concert attendees and non-concert attendees. PwC analysed opinion about the Ulster Orchestra, its repertoire, its audience profile, and tracked the audience’s expenditure habits, looked at people’s other interests and analysed the audience’s socio-economic groupings (33% of season ticket holders belonged to C2DE).

3.3 A Study of the Economic and Social Impact of the Ulster Orchestra, Millward Brown Ulster, 2005, available at http://www.artscouncilni.org/departs/all/report/research/orchestra.pdf. This report identified that the “majority of Ulster Orchestra’s £3 million spend occurs within the NI economy – creating direct employment for 82 individuals (63 full-time musicians, 18 full-time administration staff and 1 part-time employee). This has the overall effect of generating direct spend of £1.90 within NI for every £1 of revenue subsidy provided by ACNI. The Ulster Orchestra has an impact on the wider NI economy through spend incurred by patrons as a result of a visit to an UO event, the employment of external artistes and additional programming costs incurred by orchestral sponsors and funders in staging events …

Further induced spend of £855,659, made up of:

• Induced spending by patrons visiting the Orchestra on food, drinks and transport - £292,409;
• Staff cost incurred by the BBC estimated to be at least £80,000 per annum;
• Additional Programming Costs incurred by the BBC, Belfast City Council and Bank of Ireland - £380,000;
• Hotel accommodation for visiting artistes – estimated at £11,250;
• Employee spend on instruments and clothing – estimated at £92,000;

This results in a further £0.51 being leveraged for each £1 of ACNI subsidy.

The UO provides a corporate sponsorship package which is perceived to aid local businesses in providing high quality entertainment for clients, contributing to the cultural infrastructure of NI and meeting their community investment initiatives through the Education/Outreach programme …"

3.4 Audience Loyalty Healthcheck, September 2008, Katy Raines, Indigo (Audiences Northern Ireland / ACNI).

This report looked at the business management of the organisation, making direct comparisons with similar organisations in GB. It investigated the costs of acquiring new audience members, retaining current ones and a general survey of audience loyalty. It also analysed areas of strength and weakness in (a) leadership and management, (b) product and programming, (c) planning and implementation and (d) Data and IT. In the last category the organisation was marginally down on the NI and UK benchmarks due to a change in systems and the move to the Ulster Hall. In the first three categories the Orchestra was positioned well above the NI and UK benchmarks.

3.5 The Ulster Orchestra also maintains its own analysis of concert-attendees and, across all its education work, a listing of wards, schools, areas covered, and numbers taking part.

Section 4.

To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need:

(a) to find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors;

(b) to target social need;

(c) to encourage community regeneration;

(d) and to engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

4.1 The Ulster Orchestra’s needs are reviewed by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and by Belfast City Council on an annual basis. The work of the Orchestra is analysed, quantified, assessed and reviewed before any monies are allocated. This investment sustains the Orchestra’s operation (80 full-time jobs) and delivers the potential which can be realised (not least with the imminent move to the Ulster Hall). It gives Northern Ireland an international calling card through its over 70 CDs and its broadcasts which are often streamed worldwide.

4.2 The Orchestra maintains a fully professional group of excellent musicians and administrators. They are dedicated people concerned with delivering excellence across a wide range of activities, first of which must be an ability to deliver great and inspiring concerts which often bring major international stars to Northern Ireland. It is for others to assess the balance of available arts funding, but an orchestra has many substantial fixed costs and its variety of repertoire depends on the ability to fund additional players across the season for specific works. Funding the Ulster Orchestra at an appropriate level is an investment in one of Northern Ireland’s flagship cultural institutions.

4.3 The Orchestra’s weekly concerts are a major offering to Northern Ireland’s cultural tourism; its use of venues in Belfast and other centres is a major contribution to urban regeneration.

4.4 The Orchestra believes in the social, creative and economic benefits which the arts bring to Northern Ireland. It provides work for musicians who are resident in Northern Ireland and who contribute so much to the education of young people. It enriches the infrastructure for learning and skills development. Many of its education projects specifically target young people in areas of social need on a cross community basis (Gulliver, A Marvellous Medicine and The Pied Piper). Its outreach work develops creativity and access to new experiences, increases confidence, teaches life skills and creates new social networks: one of the most inspirational areas of the Orchestra’s work is in special needs schools.

4.5 The Orchestra offers affordable – and even free – access to anyone who would like to come to a concert. It provides a platform for young performers and composers. It helps people of all ages to achieve their potential, build self-esteem, articulate their aspirations and maximise their creativity through education workshops and Come and Play. Above all it inspires creativity, provides opportunities and encourages the next generation of James Galways, Heather Harpers and Barry Douglases.

4.6 The Ulster Orchestra has worked closely with ACNI to develop new audiences through audience development programmes and outreach schemes. Its education programme and its Associate Composer Brian Irvine have spearheaded initiatives related to the curriculum, including projects that involve interrelated arts activities such as dance, the visual arts, poetry and film.

4.7 The Orchestra also works with the Ulster Youth Choir, Belfast Philharmonic Choir, the Ulster Youth Orchestra and other community-based music- makers (pre-concert platforms have been given to young musicians and the Open Arts Choir).

4.8 The Ulster Orchestra gives concerts in many venues across Northern Ireland. Those venues fund the ‘above the line’ costs of undertaking such concerts. It is regrettable that such venues now feel that they may no longer be able to fund Ulster Orchestra concerts because the ACNI has reduced funding to council-run regional venues.

4.9 Alongside the Orchestra’s extensive programme of education and outreach work, its student standby scheme (£3 tickets), its free BBC concerts, its regional Christmas Cheer concerts (including Shankill and Andersonstown), it operates a JTI-sponsored free bus scheme from Ballymena and Armagh for elderly people living alone. All these widen cultural participation and help with social cohesion.

4.10 All these reflect the Ulster Orchestra’s concern for targeting social need and engaging with many different communities. None of this should conceal the Orchestra’s need to strive for excellence. Just as sports bodies celebrate the talent of the few, the elite, we need to restore the pride of being among the elite – which does not at all exclude the world at large from access.[28] “Society is served when as many people as possible enjoy access to culture and see their own experiences depicted therein. But that goal is best achieved by supporting inspired artists, not customising projects to a bureaucratic checklist of social criteria."[29]

4.11 Tessa Jowell, then Secretary of State for Culture, has been quoted saying, “ ‘MPs are waking up to the fact that cities such as Birmingham and Liverpool are being brought to life by culture. Labour must lead from the front in advocating arts as a public good in itself’, she said. ‘There is a parody of culture which is prevalent, that these are issues of interest only to a disconnected elite. But it is the enthusiasm and hunger that people have for culture that is driving this.’[30]

4.12 The arts are “at the heart of what it means to be a fully developed human being. Government should be concerned that so few aspire to it, and has a responsibility to do what it reasonably can to raise the quantity and quality of that aspiration … intelligent public subsidy is vital if the arts are to take their place at the heart of national life. Audiences will be developed only through determined policy initiatives."[31]

Section 5.
To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

5.1 The attached appendices give comparisons of different arts councils’ support and different local authorities’ support for other orchestras. They reveal significant differences and they highlight the inherent problems without further explanation.

5.2 Appendix 1 shows the differing costs charged across the UK and Ireland for concert hall hire – with the Waterfront Hall being amongst the most expensive, despite being in a smaller population base.

5.3 A balance has to be achieved between access and Box Office income. Appendix 2 compares orchestras’ ticket prices across the UK.

5.4 Appendix 3 compares the known information on funding sources from other UK orchestras. The RSNO includes two figures under “Arts Council". The first is from the Scottish Government, the second is an additional grant. The RLPO’s three figures include ACE money, a stabilistaion fund and an additional ACE grant. The RSNO has 83 players and 24 administration staff; the RLPO has 70 players and 36 administration staff.

5.5 Appendix 4 sets out the Scottish Executive’s funding awards to its key organisations.

5.6 Appendix 5 is the Musicians’ Union comparisons of orchestral salaries in the UK.

Section 6.
To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

6.1 It will be clear from all that has gone before, that the Ulster Orchestra believes it can do much more by way of schools concerts, education projects and regional concerts if it were adequately funded so to do.

David Byers,
26 February 2009

Appendix 1

Survey of concert hall hire charges in UK and Ireland

Orchestra	Hall (capacity)	Hire cost for concert day £	Additional costs	Notes
Ulster Orchestra	Ulster Hall (1000)	UO special rates		All rehearsal days and lunchtime concerts: £427.50. Medical cover for audiences over 500: £154 for 4-hour call.
		1,450 (Mon-Thur, 2 sess)
		1,800 (Mon-Thur, 3 sess)
		1,600 (Fri-Sun, 2 sess)
		2,000 (Fri-Sun, 3 sess)
	Belfast Waterfront (2245)	+ 10% Box Office commission		Commercial standard rate would be: £8,390 (Mon-Th) and £9,230 (Fri-Sun).
		Charity rate
		6,700 (Mon-Thur)
		7,400 (Fri-Sun)
		+ 10% Box Office commission
BBC NOW	St David’s Hall, Cardiff (2200)	Apr-Mar 08-09		SDH: Piano hire is £110 (08-09 & 09-10), organ hire £143 (08-09 & 09-10). Additional staging, technical support, etc. all extra.
		2,307 (a.m./p.m.)
		4,165 (evening) + 7.5% Box Office commission
		Apr-Mar 09-10
		2,376 (a.m./p.m.)
		4,290 (evening) + 7.5% Box Office commission
	Brangwyn Hall, Swansea (1070)	Apr-Mar 08-09		BHS: piano hire, organ hire, tuning, additional staging, additional technical support, etc., all extra.
		1,120 (Mon-Th)
		1,245 (Fri-Sun)
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra	Lighthouse, Poole (1600)	1,786	All other facilities extra, though BSO has own piano.	Part of a contract with the Lighthouse, as BSO uses hall for 26 concerts and 110 rehearsal days per year – worth c£90k. Also complicated Box Office commission system.
	Exeter (1500)	1,805		12 concerts per year.
	Portsmouth (1500)	1,680		10 concerts per year.
	Bournemouth Pavilion (1515)	free		Bournemouth Council allows free use of any venue within the city as part of its grant provision – gives grant as well.
NCH, Dublin (1200)	Cost to UO	€2,760 (£2,419) + VAT + PL + BO commission	Tickets up to €20	Cost of hire based on ticket prices, as detailed. Plus Box Office commission of 10% of ticket sales + 21.5% VAT + public liability insurance of €275 (no VAT). Includes piano, but stand-by tuner, spots, etc. are extra. Sunday has surcharge of 25% on basic figure (+ 21.5% VAT). Rates cover 4.30 p.m. rehearsal + 8.00 p.m. concert.
	Cost to outside hirer	€2,760 + 21.5% VAT + PL + BO commission	Tickets up to €35
		€3,420 + VAT	Tickets up to €50
		€4,520 + VAT	Tickets over €50
		€6,615 + VAT
BBC Philharmonic	The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (2200)	6,500 Rates will increase in September 2009 – likely to be 6,750		12% Box Office commission. 13.5% commission on programmes; 2.5% commission on credit card bookings. Technical equipment extra (e.g. mikes are £35), but no payment for piano as there is one in the hall, or technical staff, unless extra facilities required. Piano and organ hire £150. Other rooms have to be paid for (not for performers) – between £300-400. No additional payment for bar or catering services to be open or for stewards.
Hallé Orchestra	The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (2200)	5,744 (approx.) – the 2006/07 figure of 5,300 has increased by two lots of RPI (4.2% & 4%)	All other facilities extra, although Hallé owns pianos.	Hallé has a contract which requires them to use the hall for a minimum of 128 days p.a., of which not less than 68 must be concert days. Rates remain the same, even if they use the hall more. BO commission: just over £1 per ticket; credit card commission: 2%; programme/merchandise commission: 12.5%. Mikes, rooms etc. additional – probably an extra c£35k p.a. for all these categories.
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra	Symphony Hall, Birmingham (2200)	2,694 + VAT of 471.45 = 3,165.45 (VAT unrecoverable) 2007 rates quoted here		Rehearsal day is same rate, except when only one session, which is 50%. If hall is booked less than 6 weeks in advance, there is also a reduced rate. Pay for use of organ, but mikes, lighting and extra staff are included, provided they are known about in advance. 10% Box Office commission; 10% on merchandise
Royal Scottish National Orchestra	Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow (2200)	5,800 (This has only increased by £300 over 3 years!)	Pay for technical equipment but have own piano. No charge for reception rooms/bar facilities	10% Box Office commission. PRS charged at c5%. Credit card commission charged at cost. Ticket commission charged on comp tickets drawn in excess of own house seats.
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra	Philharmonic Hall	n/a	n/a	Hall belongs to RLPO.

Appendix 2

Survey of ticket prices in the UK

Orchestra	Standard ticket	Family/Children’s tickets		Notes
Ulster Orchestra	£8-23.50 (8, 14.50, 16.50, 20.50, 23.50). Messiah £10-24; Viennese £10-26	Adults £15.00	Children £8.00	£40 family ticket (2 adults/ 2 children).
Hallé Orchestra	£9-36 (9, 14.50, 20.50, 25, 31, 60) £10-37 (10, 16.50, 22, 26, 32, 37) (Xmas concerts)	Adults £8 £10.50 £13 £15	Children £6.00 £7.00 £8.00 £9.00	Family tickets: £25, £30, £40 (4 people = 1 adult/3 children or 2 adults/2 children)
RLPO	£10-32 (10, 15, 22, 27, 32)	£7.00-12.00 (7, 9, 12)	£5.00
Bournemouth
Poole	£8-28 (8.50, 13.50, 17, 21, 25.50, 28)	For all venues in which BSO plays, children under 18 pay £1 (with exception of Christmas/New Year concerts). Children under 13 must be accompanied by paying adult.		I’ve listed the four venues in which BSO gives most concerts.
Exeter	£9-28 (9, 14, 17, 23, 28)
Portsmouth	£7-18 (7, 13, 16, 18)
Bournemouth	£7-22 (7, 12, 16, 22)
RSNO
Glasgow	£10-32 (10, 13, 17.50, 24, 32)	Under 16s are free, when accompanied by adult.
Edinburgh	£10-28 (10, 12.50, 16.50, 22.50, 28)
Philharmonia	£8-38 (8, 11, 14, 18, 29, 38)	Each adult can buy up to 2 child tickets (16 years and under) for half-price.
LSO	£7-32 (7, 13, 19, 25, 32)	Adults £6	Children £4 (under 16s)
LPO	£9-38 (9, 12, 16, 21, 27, 32, 38)	Adults £8.00 £9.00 £10.00 £12.00 £14.00	Children £4.00 £4.50 £5.00 £6.00 £7.00

Concession details

Orchestra	Concession details (not including family packages)
Ulster Orchestra	Discount for over-60s and unemployed in certain seating areas Student standby £3
Hallé Orchestra	20% discount for students, under 26s and claimants (on production of appropriate ID) Under 26s can also buy tickets for £2.50 for specified concerts 30% discount on day of concert for above categories on any remaining tickets 30% discount from two Mondays prior to concert for senior citizens on remaining tickets Students who join free information service – Hallé Online – are entitled to other discounts in advance
RLPO	£5 tickets for students, under 25s and claimants, subject to availability (on production of appropriate ID) Half-price tickets for senior citizens in person only (no telephone orders) on the day of the concert Standby tickets are limited to 2 per person, with a limited number of seats available for each performance Concessions do not apply to Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Family and Lunchtime concerts and are limited for Carol Concerts Standby tickets do not apply to Lunchtime, Family or Carol Concerts
RSNO	Under-26s/students/unwaged card scheme of £5 per concert – must register for this card 50% discount for disabled, wheelchair users, full-time students and under 16s (on production of appropriate ID) Tickets have to be purchased in person or by phone (not online)
Philharmonia	Half-price ticket allocation for benefit recipients (jobseekers allowance, income support) and under 16s Concessions cannot be combined
Bournemouth SO	Students, unemployed, disabled and carers to disabled – all 50% discount
LSO	No information on concessions available
LPO	No information on concessions available

Appendix 3

Survey of UK orchestral funding sources

Orchestra	Arts Council	Local Authority	Box Office	Sponsorship	Individual giving	Engagements
Bournemouth BSO	£2,669,994	£580,000	£1,700,000	£241,000	?	£380,000
Birmingham CBSO	£2,064,527	£1,534,000	£2,142,000	?	?	?
Manchester Hallé	£2,120,354	£1,026,400	£1,680,000	£240,000	£325,000	?
Glasgow RSNO	£3,775,000 £2,800,000	£303,655	£914,950	£173,000	£534,240	?
Liverpool RLPO	£2,065,000 £200,000 £50,000	£1,473,000	£1,295,000	?	£396,000	?
Ulster Orchestra	£2,050,113	£139,600	£453,140	£142,755	£80,923	£987,025

Appendix 4

Scotland’s funding for key arts organisations

Source: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/ArtsCultureSport/arts/NationalCompanies

Information about the revenue grant funding allocated to each of the five national performing companies is provided in the table below. These figures represent core revenue funding and do not include any one off amounts.

In 2006-07 the companies were funded by the Scottish Arts Council. In April 2007, the companies moved to a direct funding relationship with the Scottish Government which took the opportunity to review the companies’ funding in detail in order to determine allocations for 2008-09 onwards.

The national performing companies are rightly feted for the quality of their work. For 2008-09, the Scottish Government has awarded each of the companies an increase of 2% on their 2007/08 grants in recognition of their significant artistic successes over the last year. This funding is intended to allow the companies to consolidate and build on their achievements to date.

Additional resources have also been made available to some of the companies to allow them to achieve specific operational objectives. These allocations are designed to recognise the particular circumstances of each company and the fact that they are each at different stages in their development.

The funding will enable all the companies to continue to produce artistic activity of the highest quality for audiences at home and abroad.

Company	2006/07 (£m)	2007/08 (£m)	% increase on 06/07	2008/09 (£m)	% increase on 07/08	Planned 2009/10 (£m)	% increase on 08/09	Planned 2010/11 (£m)	% increase on 09/10
Royal Scottish National Orchestra	2,952,000	3,775,000	28	4,190,250	11	4,274,055	2	4,359,536	2
National Theatre of Scotland	4,000,000	4,099,760	2.5	4,377,124	6.77	4,489,668	2.57	4,594,461	2.33
Scottish Chamber Orchestra	1,659,983	2,051,383	24	2,102,667	2.5	2,144,720	2	2,187,614	2
Scottish Ballet	3,598,022	4,530,263	26	4,620,868	2	4,713,285	2	4,807,551	2
Scottish Opera	7,896,293	8,293,227	5	8,459,091	2	8,628,272	2	8,800,838	2
Total	(20.9620) 21	(22.7496) 22.75		23.75		24.25		24.75

Appendix 5

UK Orchestras: Minimum Salaries, August 2008

Table published by the Musicians’ Union.

	Tutti	Sub-Principal	Principal	Section Principal
BBC regional	£26,579	£29,113	£30,924	£32,761
BBC Concert Orch	£30,116	£32,650	£34,461	£36,298
BBC Symphony Orch	£35,035	£36,971	£41,593	£46,109
Bournemouth SO1	£26,076	£27,368	£28,395	negotiable
City of Birmingham SO2	£28,469	£32,028	£34,552	£38,387
Hallé	£27,989	£30,480	£32,965	£38,566
Northern Sinfonia	n/a	£27,930	£29,945	£34,765
Royal Liverpool PO	£25,225	£27,651	£29,712	£35,170
Royal Scottish NO3	£23,344	£24,877	£27,551	£29,132
Ulster4	£23,829	£25,045	£26,437	£33,230

Notes:

1 BSO paid a one-off £1,000 per player in addition to pay rise on 01.04.2008

2 CBSO salary increase from 21s* August 2008

3 April 2007 salaries shown as 2008 pay rise is not yet agreed. There has since been a very large increase in RSNO salaries

4 Ulster settlement anniversary is July 2008: figures shown are for July 2007

[1] Some figures for 2004 may be found in Vital Signs – Culture Funding by Country available online at http://www.giarts.org/usr_doc/VitalSigns.pdf

[2]An International Glimpse of Public Spending on the Arts, Jeffrey D. Mason, 2001, available online at http://webpages.csus.edu/~mason/FoolUO/pdf/international.pdf

[3] The Arts Council of England adopted the title Arts Council England as its trading name in February 2003.

[4]International Data on Public Spending on the Arts in Eleven Countries. Research Report Number 13. March 1998. Arts Council of England, Policy Research and Planning Department.

[5]International Data on Government Spending on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts (USA), January 2000, available online at http://www.nea.gov/research/Notes/74.pdf

[6]A comparative study of levels of arts expenditure in selected countries and regions, The International Arts Bureau, Arts Council / An Chomairle Ealaion, 2000. Available online at http://www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/A_Comparative_study_pf_levels_of_arts_expenditure.pdf

[7]The Public and the Arts, Martin Drury. (Executive Summary) Arts Council / An Chomairle Ealaion, 2006. Available online at http://www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/PublicandtheArts_ExecutiveSummary_English.pdf

[8]Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, Council of Europe/ERICarts, 2009, available online at http://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/unitedkingdom.php?aid=63

[9]Comparisons of Arts Funding in Selected Countries: Preliminary Findings. Prepared by Claire McCaughey, Canada Council for the Arts, 2005 available online at http://www.ronbashford.com/Comparisonsofartsfunding27Oct2005.pdf

[10] http://www.musicfinland.com/classical/orchestras.html

[11]Music Education Permeates Finnish Society, Kristin Tillotson, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 23 April 2004

[12] Many details about the Ulster Orchestra can be found on its website – www.ulster-orchestra.org.uk

[13]FIM International Survey on Orchestras, Kate McBain, 2008, Fédération Internationale des Musiciens available online at http://www.fim- musicians.com/pdf/fim_orch_survey_2008.pdf

[14]Creative Connections – a 5 year plan for developing the arts, 2007-2012, ACNI, available online at http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/news/2007/5YearStrategy2007-2012.pdf

[15]Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, 8th edition, Marian Fitzgibbon, 2006 in Council of Europe/ERICarts, 2007 available online at http://www.culturalpolicies.net/down/ireland.pdf

[16] Ibid.

[17] Arts Council England website at http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/aboutus/index.php

[18] Press release available online at http://www.musicmanifesto.co.uk/assets/x/50978

[19] Information from http://www.scottisharts.org.uk/default.aspx

[20] PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2003/4 street and postal survey, commissioned by UOS with funding from ACNI

[21] Ibid.

[22] One player conducts and arranges for the Ballylone Flute Band which has won the World Championship in 2007 and 2008; another conducts the QUB orchestra; and another directs the QUB Big Band.

[23]A Study of the Economic and Social Impact of the Ulster Orchestra, Millward Brown Ulster, 2005, available online at http://www.artscouncil- ni.org/departs/all/report/research/orchestra.pdf

[24] Though the BBC National Orchestra of Wales receives additional funding from the Arts Council of Wales to allow it to give concerts across Wales.

[25]Public spending on the arts within the UK, a briefing paper for the Centre for Cultural Policy Research, Susan Galloway, University of Glasgow, 2004, available online at http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_21731_en.pdf

[26]Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, 8th edition, Marian Fitzgibbon, 2006 in Council of Europe/ERICarts, 2007 available online at http://www.culturalpolicies.net/ web/ireland.php?aid=539

[27] Interview, The Sunday Times, Culture section, Sunday 22 February 2009

[28]The Case for Elitism, Emer O’Kelly, Arts Council / An Chomairle Ealaíon, 2007, available online at http://www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/EmerOKellyFINAL.pdf

[29]The Observer, Sunday 1 February 2009

[30]Guardian, 3 May 2004, Article by Louise Jury.

[31] Ibid.

Ulster Theatre Company

1. To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

It is quite clear that the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland lags the rest of the UK considerably. In an area struggling to renew itself, after years of community strife, it is essential that investment in the arts, with its proven track record of improving community relations, is increased …. At least to bring it level with the rest of the UK. To level it with the rest of Ireland is unlikely … they have left us at the starting post!

2. To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

This will always be a welcome development …. Should it lead to an actual increase in support.

3. To carry out a stocktake of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

There has been little, or no, research carried out in Northern Ireland regarding the measurement of economic and social benefits of arts investment. Whilst working as Head of Culture and Arts at Queen’s University, I applied the BANES criteria to attempt a measure of the Belfast Festival’s economic and social benefit. The BANES model (Bath and North East Somerset survey) was conducted some years ago, and still provides a reasonable starting point, however, it is region specific and makes it unsafe to import willy-nilly.

I am convinced that proper research into this area would provide an eye opening figure.

Indeed, research into the arts, generally, in Northern Ireland is VERY poor. For instance NO-ONE can tell you how many people attended professional theatre productions in Northern Ireland within the last twelve months (or any period, ever … for that matter). It is shocking that such a basic piece of information is not available. ACNI may quote that they do have a figure …. But it only represents those companies that are ASOP funded by ACNI … it misses out on all the rest!

I would be delighted to head up research in this area, should funding be made available. I have worked widely across the arts and theatre sector in Northern Ireland as well as having an MBA with statistical research as one of the main modules.

4. To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to:

a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors;

b) target social need;

c) encourage community regeneration; and

d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

Long a source of acrimony to many working in the arts …. Though I doubt whether any body can successfully please all! However, such an examination could be useful … dependant upon the methodology employed, and who carried out the examination.

5. To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

Would/Should, necessarily, form part of the criteria for 4.(above).

6. To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

Indeed …. Or art forms within art forms …. For instance, my own company (Ulster Theatre Company) has been told, many times, that funding is not available for companies producing pantomimes. This seems ludicrous on several grounds:

1. More people see the annual pantomime than any other production during any one year.

2. Children usually get their first taste of live theatre via a pantomime.

3. The skill of pantomime is a demanding and physical technique.

4. We rehearse for the same time that any theatre company does for a major production.

5. Pantomime actors have to perform for up to twelve shows a week, compared to the average six for non-pantomime productions …. And for, virtually, the same level of pay.

6. The costs of multiple sets and effects and costumes makes pantomimes much more expensive to create.

7. To report to the Assembly making recommendations to the Department and/or others.

I welcome such a report.

Voluntary Arts Ireland

Voluntary Arts Ireland is pleased that the Committee has chosen to investigate the level and nature of funding of the arts.

Voluntary Arts Ireland represents the interests of the voluntary arts sector, the lead provider of opportunities to take part in art. In Northern Ireland volunteer-led arts groups engage 160,000 adult participants a year and increase access to arts, particularly for people who face financial, cultural and perceptual barriers to engagement.

Voluntary arts groups are sustainable and most run on small budgets, relying on earnings topped up by small grants. The main sources of grant aid for voluntary arts are Local Authority and Awards for All (Lottery) funds rather than Arts Council Treasury funds.

Research (Small Grants:Big Change, lodged with the Committee and at www.vaireland.org ) found that increasing costs have upset the financial balance. In wealthy communities volunteers may be able to absorb these costs, but to maintain access and protect provision in all communities, groups need improved access to small grants to help them adjust and grow. We make recommendations in this regard at the end of this submission.

a. Introduction

i. Voluntary Arts Ireland is a charity and company that operates in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, with sister operations in England, Scotland and Wales. We operated through a voluntary committee from 1993 and engaged our first employee in 2001.

ii. Our mission is to promote practical participation in the arts and crafts. Our strategic aims are: To promote passion for participation: create a supportive policy environment and enable the supply of ample, accessible high quality experiences of arts participation.

iii. We have a core ASOP grant of £60,000 for 2009/10. We hold two ACNI Lottery grants totalling appx the same amount a year, covering the ‘Arts Learning Links’, ‘ On-Line Guide’ and ‘Young Arts Creativity Cooperative’ projects. These grants end in 2009. A recent grant of £50,000 over two years from DSD / DCRAGA supports the ‘Another Way In’ cross border volunteering in the arts project. We engage a mainly part-time, fixed term contract staff.

b. Factual Information about Arts Funding and the Voluntary Arts Sector

i. Voluntary arts groups are the lead provider of opportunities to take part in art. In Northern Ireland over 1,400 groups provide 160,000 adults with 8.1 million chances to participate a year and reach audiences of the same order. Over half of all voluntary arts groups provide either regular or occasional employment for artists. Details in ‘Facts, Figures, Futures’ and ‘Small Grants:Big Change’ lodged with the Committee.

ii. Voluntary arts groups are sustainable, being an average of 35 years in existence.

• 60% run on annual budgets of under £6,000
• 20% have turnovers under £1,000.
• 31% receive no grant aid.
• A further 31% receive grant support from just one funder.
• Most rely on earnings topped up by small grants. (One third of groups gained 80% or more of their income from earnings in 2003.)
• Groups find it hardest to secure grants to cover running costs.

Per Capita Spend

The per capita spend of Treasury funds by the Arts Council in Northern Ireland trails behind that of its neighbours significantly

Public funding of the arts is not limited to ACNI funding. Local Authorities, Education and Library Boards, Health Trusts, the BBC and others make specific contributions.

Local Authority expenditure is essential to the survival of local voluntary arts provision. The spend per head by Local Authority on arts development and support varies widely across Northern Ireland from. The 26 Local Authorities make in the region of 500 small grants a year (under £1,500) to voluntary arts groups. (Small Grants:Big Change). Total spend on arts development and support by Local Authorities in Northern Ireland was just under £7million, (£4.11 per capita) with a further £13m spent on theatres and public entertainment (Local Authority Arts Expenditure Survey, ACNI, 2007.) National Association of Local Government Arts Officers research estimates total Local Authority spend across England and Wales as £2.22 per head. http://www.nalgao.org/page.php?79. The National Campaign for the Arts has just completed research into Local Authority funding to be published in March http://www.artscampaign.org.uk . The discretionary nature of local government funding in England and Wales is cited as a reason for variation. In the Republic of Ireland, Local Authorities are required to make Arts Grants under the Arts Act and An Chomhairle Ealaíon encourages local provision by grant aiding Arts Officers and providing a Local Arts Officer within its own structure.

Lottery funds are not derived from taxes or rates and are not ‘public’ funds, although the original principle of additionality is eroded. Awards for All made 90 grants a year to volunteer-led arts groups (1 in 10 of its arts activity grants). Most were for start-up or project costs rather than revenue.

It is essential that public funding through the Arts Council and Local Authorities is sustained and increased so that the voluntary arts sector does not continue to be squeezed out of Treasury funding into a reliance upon (reducing) Lottery funds.

For information on advocacy arguments for the arts around the world see publications at http://www.ifacca.org/topic/arts-advocacy-arguments

For a current example of how the arts are seen as essential to tourism see http://liveit.visitscotland.com/ and the associated TV advertisements. ‘Arts Council’ per capita spend in Scotland in 2006 was twice that in Northern Ireland. It also has twice as many creative industries per head.

Sourcing Additional Funds

In the volunteer-led arts sector, most groups earn the majority of their funds from fees and sales. They attract cash and in-kind sponsorship from small local businesses. Small grants are their ‘additional funds’. (Facts, Figures, Futures. Small Grants:Big Change)

The research (ibid) found that 31% of voluntary arts groups received no grant aid and that a further 31% had only one grant funder, usually the Local Authority or Awards for All. The number that had secured funding from Departments, European sources or even Trust funds was negligible. The sizeable minimum level of funding from such sources, the group’s capacity to manage larger grants and the funders’ need for ‘new’ projects are barriers to groups who need only very small grants to continue their work.

The economic climate will put downward pressure on small sponsors and sales income. This will also create problems for groups seeking to raise partnership funding to release Lottery grants or otherwise demonstrate cash leverage value against public expenditure (one of the scored criteria for ACNI funding).

Larger voluntary arts groups have attracted Trust funding from a small pool of funders. There are less than a dozen Trusts regularly active in supporting the arts in Northern Ireland.

Voluntary Arts Ireland recently secured funding from the Department of Social Development and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for a cross-border volunteering in the arts project. It took seven years of advocacy (and the support of the GAA and Church of Ireland) to secure funding from the non-arts sector.

The voluntary and community sector have an interdepartmental platform in the Voluntary and Community Unit and Joint Forum. It is now working on a White Paper for the Sector. In Wales and England such agreements and compacts have existed for some time and extend to the arts sector. Unlocking Creativity was the last major initiative that sought to release inter Departmental support for the arts.

The Cultural Olympiad could offer an opportunity to support arts across communities. Unfortunately it has no plans to offer additional grant aid to local arts groups and current rules restrict access to the ‘Inspire Mark’ for any activity that attracts commercial sponsorship.

Research Measuring the Benefits of the Arts

Research archives are listed in Appendix One.

The benefits of arts cannot be measured solely in terms of their instrumental value. It has an intrinsic value that enriches lives. (see Holden, John Capturing Cultural Value.2004. Cultural Value and the Crisis of Legitimacy 2006).

In a recession the contribution of the arts to positive leisure time, the maintenance of social contacts outside of a work setting and quality of life is highlighted.

How Public Funding of the Arts is Allocated

i. Balancing community and professional arts

Community and Professional arts are not diametrically opposed. Good community arts are led by skilled artists, trained in the processes of community arts. Some artists make their living in community arts. Some full time artists volunteer their skills in the community. Many voluntary artists earn their living from non-arts careers. Professional means paid. It is not an art form, nor is it a measure of excellence. We boast superb traditional musician, set designers, choral singers, lace makers, painters etc etc who do not pursue their art for a living. All are part of a complex eco system of arts and as in the natural environment all parts are interlinked and interdependent.

The real issues are around access and excellence, audience and participation. (See Supporting Excellence in the Arts: From Measurement to Judgement , McMaster)

There is a need to support excellence. In sport we instinctively understand the value of having world-class professional sportsmen and women arise from Northern Ireland. They inspire others, they show what can be attained and act as ambassadors drawing world attention to their homeland. We publicly fund the pursuit of sporting excellence and we never discourage the amateur on the grounds they will never be a professional (in fact, our Olympians are all defined as amateur). Participation is seen as positive at whatever level the individual wants to and can engage and is encouraged.

In arts as sports, there are spectators and participants. There are 160,000 adult participants in the volunteer led arts sector in Northern Ireland and many more children and young people. Voluntary arts groups provide 8.1m opportunities for individuals to take part in art each year (an opportunity is one session for one person).

“DCMS and ACE (Arts Council England) recognise that we have a direct impact on only a minority of arts attendance in England and an extremely small proportion of arts participation. Most arts participation in particular is likely to take place in the voluntary and amateur sector." PSA3 Target for the Arts – in Action Plan for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England. DCMS has since commissioned and published its own research into the sector, ‘Our Creative Talent’ and Arts Council England is working with Voluntary Arts England to develop and Action Plan for the sector.

In Northern Ireland, PSA 9 sets a 2% target increase in arts participation. This is not reflected in any planned increased investment in the voluntary arts to harness them to increasing participation.

ii. Targeting social need

In arts funding we have come to equate targeting social need with access. Access is also about having a choice of art form, and where and how and who provides arts.

Funded arts projects delivered in areas of social deprivation can and do make positive impacts. However, support is also needed across a range of postcodes to protect current provision made by communities themselves. This provision (be it the local band, drama club, choir, dance club etc) is part of the social cohesion that helps keep those communities healthy; protecting it is a measure in preventing decline into social need.

The voluntary arts sector is where those who seldom darken an arts centre door do their art - bands engage young men in music, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann teaches young women the discipline of dance, choirs and craft clubs bring the elderly out of isolation, music societies stage performances in rural village halls and sewing clubs see skills passed between generation – this is not the art of the elite – this is arts participation by and for the community that answers a real social need.

We do produce world famous artists and many such as Sir James Galway, Stephen Rea, Liam Neeson, Kenneth Branagh started out in voluntary arts – drama clubs and bands. The voluntary arts are an essential access route into the arts and creative industries, especially for young people who face perceptual barriers to engaging in activities provided in schools or arts venues.

The NESF research (In the Frame out the Picture?) found that the main determinant of likelihood to attend arts events was the level of education attained but that this was not the case in relation to arts participation where involvement in the arts was not determined by education. Voluntary arts provide the majority of opportunity to take part and so are essential to access for all.

iii. Community Regeneration

The role of arts and especially voluntary and community arts in regenerating communities is well documented. A list of a few of the many studies in this regard is given in Appendix One.

Applying increasing proportions of Arts Council income to regeneration, without there being an increase in the arts settlement, is to ask the arts budget to take on responsibilities that should rightly be shared by other Departments. Arts funding for regeneration (or health, or education etc) should ideally be matched by funding from other Departments or Local Authorities. This encourages their interest and attention, which in turn stimulates true co-ordinated approaches. (eg Creative Youth Partnerships (ACNI:ELBS); Art of Regeneration (Lottery:Local Authorities); Community Festivals Fund (DCAL:Local Authorities)

iv. Communities with weak arts infrastructure and low access to arts funding

When the Community Festivals Fund transferred from the NIEC to Local Authorities, the Councils were required to match fund. The number of grants made increased almost tenfold. Evaluation is not yet available but anecdotal evidence suggests that funding as reached deeper into the community. It will be interesting to see if it reached those who had not accessed arts funding before.

Awards for All was effective in delivering Lottery funding to groups that had not accessed other ACNI funding programmes. The Small Grants Scheme will, we trust, continue this trend now it is no longer administered by the Big Lottery Fund. There is some concern that groups may take some time in overcoming the barrier presented by the understanding that ACNI does not fund voluntary arts.

Comparison with other areas across art form

International policy approaches http://www.ifacca.org/links/cultural-policies-around-the-world

6 Art forms not adequately funded

We respectfully propose that the issue is not about art form but about the nature of the providers funded.

In earlier years the Arts Council and its predecessor, CEMA, engaged heavily with the voluntary (amateur) arts sector as a key provider of arts activities. Over the decades, public funding channelled through the Arts Council has increasingly focussed on ‘professional’ arts. This combined with pressure on its budgets has largely restricted the funding relationship between ACNI and the sector to indirect contact through the Lottery administered ‘Awards For All’ scheme. (Now ACNI Small Grants).

Local Authority Arts Offices have become the main source of small arts grants. The RPA, by reducing the number of Councils may result in fewer but bigger grants being made. With a greater distance between Arts Officers and groups, these may become harder for small groups to secure, especially if application processes become more complex. Changes in recent years in how the large Belfast City Council makes grants (no small annual grants to local voluntary arts groups) enhance this fear.

The low level of per capita arts spend, the diversion of Lottery funds to the 2012 Olympics, low Local Authority arts spending in some areas and possible changes arising from the Review of Public Administration, along with the introduction of Service Contracts mean that, without care, there will be even fewer small grants accessible to volunteer-led arts groups– the arts providers already pushed to the funding margins.

Voluntary arts groups can no longer function with minimal expenditure. Increasing compliance costs (eg. insurance), the need to train (eg. In Health & Safety, Child Protection) and cover the rising costs of venue hire as venues (under economic pressure) withdraw free provision combine to increase the need for financial support to protect previously self- sustaining groups, the greatest need being for recurrent help to cover running costs rather than for major new initiatives.

Recommendations

That the funding allocated to the Arts Budget by the Assembly be increased to bring it into line with per capita expenditure in GB and the Republic of Ireland.

That additional funding be dedicated to enabling the voluntary arts sector to survive and develop participation, audiences and so contribute to PSA 9 targets whilst increasing its earned income.

That the transfer of responsibilities and funding from ACNI to Local Authorities under the RPA be set about with conditions and accountability that ensures funds reach local voluntary arts groups and that Local Authorities are actively encouraged to expend a proportion of the Regional and Domestic rate on arts provision.

That the Department take the lead in establishing an inter-departmental forum to increase the engagement of other Departments in the arts and that this forum should meet regularly with representatives of the arts sector.

That the Department commission research into participation and needs in the voluntary arts sector to inform the development of a plan of action to improve financial and other supports flowing into this important area of arts provision.

Appendix 1

Voluntary Arts Ireland - Research Resources

From www.vaireland.org Publications

Small Grants : Big Change A report on the position of small grants in Northern Ireland designed to stimulate discussion and action. (42pgs) Voluntary Arts Ireland. 2007.

Facts, Figures, Futures Research on the nature and needs of the voluntary arts sector in Northern Ireland. (100pgs). 2003. Voluntary Arts Ireland. ISBN: 1 899687 40 8

Foundations Research on the nature and needs of the voluntary arts sector in the Republic of Ireland. (94 pgs) 2006. Voluntary Arts Ireland. ISBN 1 -899687-44-0.

Time To Create Case study research of the impact of arts on older people. (32pgs) 2008, Voluntary Arts Ireland,.

From www.vaireland.org - select ENGLAND top right then Publications

Making The Leap: From Labour of Love to Earning a Living Case study research of the role of voluntary arts involvement in entry to employment in the creative industries. Voluntary Arts England. 2007.

Edutainment: the Benefits of Arts and Crafts in Adult and Community Learning

Case study research of adult learners and tutors into the benefits associated with participating in the arts and crafts through adult and community learning. Voluntary Arts England. 2008

Inform, Include, Inspire Garry Churchill, Marie Brennan and Dr Abigail Diamond - feasibility of a proposed Sector Development Initiative for the voluntary arts in the East Midlands. Commissioned jointly Arts Council England East Midlands, Engage East Midlands and Voluntary Arts England. 2006.

Valuing The Voluntary Arts: The State of the Sector - Somerset and Dorset Scoping the sector, its funding and needs. Voluntary Arts Network. 2004

Doing It Ourselves - Learning to Challenge Social Exclusion through the Voluntary Arts Case studies of 14 voluntary arts projects that contribute to social inclusion.

Other useful sources and research

Local Authority Arts Expenditure Survey 2003/4 – 2004/5, ACNI, 2007.

Our Creative Talent: the voluntary and amateur arts in England. DCMS & ACE. 2008 http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/5234.aspx

In the Frame out the Picture? A Statistical Analysis of Public Involvement in the Arts Research Series Report 5. NESF. 2008. www.nesf.ie Republic of Ireland

‘Supporting Excellence in the Arts: From Measurement to Judgement’ B McMaster. 2008

DCMSwww.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/supportingexcellenceinthearts.pdf

Arts, Cultural Inclusion and Social Cohesion NESF Report 35. 2007 www.nesf.ie R of I

Capturing Cultural Value. John Holden. 2004 Demos

Cultural Value and the Crisis of Legitimacy. John Holden 2006. Demos

International policy approaches http://www.ifacca.org/links/cultural-policies-around-the-world

For information on advocacy for the arts around the world see publications at http://www.ifacca.org/topic/arts-advocacy-arguments

For archives of published research internationally see:

Arts Research Digest - http://www.arts-research-digest.com

International Foundation for Art Research - http://www.ifar.org

International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies - http://www.ifacca.org

Studies of arts and community regeneration

Tony Newman, Katherine Curtis, and Jo Stephens

Do community-based arts projects result in social gains? A review of the literature

Community Dev. J., Oct 2003; 38: 310 - 322. http://cdj.oxfordjournals.org/archive/

Alan Kay

Art and community development: the role the arts have in regenerating communities

Community Dev. J., Oct 2000; 35: 414 - 424. http://cdj.oxfordjournals.org/archive/

Phil Carey and Sue Sutton

Community development through participatory arts: Lessons learned from a community arts and regeneration project in South Liverpool

Community Dev. J., Apr 2004; 39: 123 - 134. http://cdj.oxfordjournals.org/archive/

Decade 1990-2000

Ten years of art and regeneration in Cardiff . ISBN 09527802 4 0.

Published by Cardiff Bay Arts Trust, 123 Bute Street, Cardiff CF10 5AE.

Tel: 029 2048 8772 E-mail: books@cbat.co.uk www.cbat.co.uk

The Arts in Urban Renaissance (2003)

Outlines the role of the arts within urban renewal and development in the South East of England.

ISBN 07287 09422.

Published by Arts Council England, South East, Sovereign House, Church Street, Brighton BN1 1RA.

Tel: 0845 300 6200.

Free download from www.artscouncil.org.uk

Creative Neighbourhoods: The Role of the Arts in Building Sustainable Communities (2005)
A practical guide which provides advice on planning suitable arts projects, engaging the community, selecting artists and accessing funding. Presents case studies from successful projects demonstrating how the arts can be used to regenerate declining communities by developing residents’ skills, improving communications and creating a stronger sense of community.

By Graeme Beedham and Alvin Wade, Aston Housing Consultancy.

ISBN: 0 9550110 0 0.

Published by Aston Housing Consultancy. Tel: 0208 960 1632 / 0208 248 3267.

Email: astonhc@hotmail.com

If you always do what you have always done .. The value of the arts in regeneration practice (2003)
Six regional case studies, researched by Jayne Murray, showing art engaging with people to contribute positively to place. With a critical essay by Katherine Shonfield. Commissioned by Public Art West Midlands, Public Art Forum (now ixia) and MADE.

Free download from www.ixia-info.com

What’s art got to do with it? (2003) Briefing paper on he role of the arts in neighbourhood renewal

By Phyllida Shaw

ISBN 0-7287-0974-0

Published by Arts Council England and available as a free download from their site:

http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publications

Appendix 2

Voluntary Arts Ireland - Committee Members, 2001 - 2009

Eileen	Bell	NI Visual Arts Forum	Belfast	p
Phil	macGiollaBhain	The Guerilla Theatre Group	Letterkenny	c
Elaine	Bradley	Volunteering Ireland	Dublin 2	c
Jan	Branch	Consultant - Clown Doctors, NI Theatre Assoc	Belfast	p
Stephen	Brown	Saint George`s Singers (Belfast) Ltd	Antrim	c
Sam	Burnside	Verbal Arts Centre	Derry/Londonderry	p
Mary	Butler	Kilkenny County Council	Kilkenny	p
Karen	Carleton	Drama League of Ireland	Dublin 7	p
Jane	Clare	Cross-Border Music Projects	Lucan	p
Stephen	Clements	Association of Irish Musical Societies	Portrush	p
William	Clements	North of Ireland Bands` Association	Carrickfergus	c
Tara	Connaghan	Clare County Council	Ennis	c
Naomi	Conway	Ulster Association of Youth Drama	Lisburn	p
Jenny	Cooke	Musical Theatre 4 Youth	Ballyclare	c
Leah	Coyne	Waterford Healing Arts Trust	Waterford	p
Colm	Croffy	Association of Irish Festival Events	Ballinasloe	c
Maire	Davey	Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council	Dun Laoghaire	c
Bryony	Flanagan	Consultant, Fermanagh Concert Band, NI Theatre Assoc	Lisnaskea	p
Anna	Galligan	National Association of Youth Drama	Dublin 1	p
Marilyn	Gaughan	Galway County Council	Galway	p
Edith	Geraghty	Phoenix Theatre Works	Belmullet	c
Lorna	Hastings	Arts Care	Belfast	p
Diane	Henshaw	Fermanagh District Council	Enniskillen	p
Kenneth	Irvine	Aspects Literary Festival, Ulster Assoc of Drama Festivals	Bangor	p
Winston	Johnston	Association of Irish Musical Societies	Bangor	p
Rachel	Kennedy	Down District Council	Downpatrick	c
Marie	McGrath	Omagh Arts Committee	Omagh	p
Nicole	Mulholland	Association of Irish Festival Events	Carrickfergus	p
Katrina	Newell	New Lodge Arts	Belfast	p
David	Nixon	Fermanagh Choral Society	Enniskillen	c
Billy	Nott	Amateur Drama Council of Ireland	Athlone	p
Michael	O`Donnell	Cross-Border Music Projects	Holywood	c
Conor	O`Leary	Consultant, Rural Arts Networks	Kiltegan	c
Geraldine	O`Reilly	WELB, Creative Youth Partnership	Omagh	p
Margaret	O`Sullivan	Association of Irish Choirs	Cork	p
Leonard	Pugh	School of Music	Belfast	p
Martin	Reading	Ballinaglera Boho Partnership	Ballinaglera	p
Mary	Riddell	British Federation of Festivals, NI	Portrush	p
Simeon	Smith	maSamba Samba School	Dublin 8	c
Linda	Steele	Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster	Coleraine	P

c – current committee p – past member
www.vaireland.org

Appendix 3

Voluntary Arts Ireland – Examples of Work 2009

We work in some depth with 100 groups a year and offer advice and guidance to a similar number of enquirers. A few examples of our work in pursuit of our aims :

v. Passion for participation

i. ‘On line Guide’ A project listing opportunities to participate in arts.

ii. Enquiry service matching people to arts opportunities.

iii. Information and advice to enable providers to develop their marketing and PR to attract new participants.

iv. The ‘Young Arts Creativity Cooperatives’ project across five council areas in the North East of NI to engage young people in voluntary arts.

v. A cross border project promoting participation in local arts groups in Fermanagh/Sligo/South Donegal.

vi. Enabling environment

i. Providing information on policy and practice to the sector.

ii. Undertaking research to inform good policy making. (List of research materials in Appendix Two)

iii. Representing the needs and views of the sector to policy makers at all levels.

vii. Ensuring supply

i. Extensive publications and guides on all aspects of running an arts group, especially tailored to small groups and volunteers. (From Fundraising to Increasing Disability Access, Audience Development to Health & Safety etc etc).

ii. A website containing all the above, plus new, funding advice, events etc.

iii. A telephone and email advice service for arts groups.

iv. An Arts Learning Links project providing free development support to groups across Northern Ireland.

v. A cross-border project ‘Another Way In’ encouraging volunteering in the arts.

Western Education and Library Board

Young at Art

1 Young at Art welcomes this inquiry and asks the committee to consider this submission as part of an ongoing and constructive dialogue between those working within the arts and cultural industry in all its forms, and the CAL committee, in the furtherance of real cultural, social and economic benefits to people in Northern Ireland.

2 Young at Art is a limited company, recognized as a charity by the HMRC. It is a key provider of arts for children and young people and a significant cultural event within the Northern Irish cultural calendar. It has played a key role in drawing together elements of the youth arts sector to support its ongoing growth and development while, through its festival and other activities, it contributes significantly to the programme for government, to the support of the NI curriculum, to the youth work strategy, and to the cultural tourism and cultural export agenda.

3 Young at Art was first formed in 1998 by a consortium of Belfast Festival at Queen’s, the Old Museum Arts Centre and Wheelworks in response to a feasibility study on the establishment of an international children and young people’s cultural festival. While not the first children’s festival in Northern Ireland, it quickly grew to attract an annual attendance of 8 – 10,000 children, young people and adults, while the organisation, constituted as a company in 2000, established a year-round programme of touring events and workshops throughout Northern Ireland, engaging in the commission and production of work by new artists in a range of artforms and developing international links with artists and partners throughout the world. In 2002, the organisation convened the first international conference on children and creativity ever to be held in Northern Ireland.

4 The festival is now one of the largest children’s festivals in the UK and Ireland and the first in Northern Ireland to be awarded international festival status by ASSITEJ (the worldwide association of theatre for young audiences established by the UN in 1950).

In response to the terms of reference for the inquiry, we offer the following information:

Response to terms of reference of the inquiry

Appendix 1: Models of infrastructure and activity support

Appendix 2: Departments & Agencies that could or should be strategic partners and/or funders of the arts

Appendix 3: Research sources

5 To compare the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland with that of other European countries/regions, and to establish the rationale which other countries/regions have used in order to increase their spend on the arts.

5.1 The per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland is the lowest regardless of whether it is compared against the Republic of Ireland or across the UK regions. Not only is it the lowest but it has been the lowest for over a decade, creating a steady contraction of the industry here.

Scotland	£14.04
Wales	£10.10
England	£ 8.47
Ireland	€17.92
Northern Ireland	£ 7.58

Source: Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 2009

5.2 Young at Art is a member and supporter of the Invest in Inspiration campaign. The belief of this campaign was that the case for supporting the arts has been made repeatedly in recent years and the evidence of its contribution to society, to the lives of Northern Ireland’s residents, as a form of expression of our identity, its intrinsic role within education, youth work, tourism, community development, industry and regeneration, have been demonstrated, through submissions from ACNI, and evidence drawn during the programme for government consultation. Young at Art also believes passionately that these benefits are unsustainable within the current funding environment. The increases awarded across the current period of the Programme for Government do not fill the gap left by persistent under-resourcing over a decade nor the ongoing reduction in Lottery funds. The low levels of increase are translating into virtually standstill or reduced support delivering effectively cuts to the arts budget and provision across Northern Ireland. The ecology and dynamic of the industry is in a precarious state.

5.3 In addition to the low level of per capita spend, the historic interruption of regular and sustained provision of a cultural infrastructure and services during the troubles has meant that the need for investment is greater not lesser than the UK and Ireland. If DCAL as the lead department in the delivery of support mechanisms for the arts in Northern Ireland does not take a lead in investing in the industry, other departments and agencies will not follow suit, diminishing further the investment in our cultural infrastructure.

5.4 In addition to the gap in the per capita spend, the industry is suffering from an under-investment by other departments and public bodies for work that delivers a cross-government agenda or works within a specific field, supporting activities with social as well as artistic priorities, eg health, youth work, education. The models for this kind of shared responsibility, recognition of the contribution of cultural activity and shared investment exist in other regions and have resulted in benefits for society and the economy as well as the arts industry. See Appendix 1 for a brief outline of examples of shared approaches. See Appendix 2 for a list of departments and agencies that might engage in more significant and coherent investment in the arts to deliver their own priorities.

5.5 The level of commitment by other departmental and local government budgets in other parts of the UK and Ireland to support the arts where it is delivering a cross-government agenda offer additional support for special interest work. Where this has occurred in Northern Ireland, and in the main these have been short term initiatives, the scale of budget committed has been insufficient to deliver the results that could be achieved.

5.6 Under the current structures and levels of funding, something has to give somewhere. With short-term inadequate and unsustained funding, the industry is compromised in realising its full potential in terms of quality, equality and accessibility. There is no point having equal access to something that cannot realise its potential or demonstrate the quality Northern Irish and international visiting artists can deliver. While there is still scope to grow access to the arts, there has been significant movement in widening participation over the last fifteen years while this growth is frequently hampered by lack of adequate and longterm resourcing of this activity. Artistic product that is starved of adequate support to achieve a national or international standard will not deliver the cultural tourism benefits (for both “stay-cationers" and visitors) or grow the creative industries nor will it inspire our children in the way needed to deliver the programme for government and have a real effect on the economy today and in the future. In addition, investment in the seedbed that is the not-for-profit creative industries, delivers the right environment in which commercial creative industries can flourish.

5.7 The primary rationale in identifying and increasing the per capita spend on the arts must be to support and develop the arts to the highest quality and to provide genuine and sustained support to achieve longterm goals and equality of provision for our residents to a degree not only comparable to the UK and Ireland, but sets Northern Ireland forward as a leading example of unique cultural enterprise within Europe and the wider world.

5.8 By adopting a rationale that places quality foremost, all other extrinsic benefits – social, economic and developmental – will be delivered. By adopting a longterm view to funding the arts (such as committing to 3 and 5 year planned investment, breaking the annual cycle of funding rounds and reducing short-term initiatives in favour of sustained development), the full impact of the arts in Northern Ireland will be felt across all parts of our communities.

6 To explore innovative approaches of sourcing additional funding across the arts sector, including reviewing models of best practice that exist elsewhere.

6.1 In exploring innovative approaches the committee should consider what the proposed sourcing of additional funding is additional to. Is it to deliver a range of new schemes in areas that have previously not been funded or is it to support the existing under-resourcing of a baseline of delivery of arts and culture in Northern Ireland? And is a baseline of activity enough? What about the development of the industry which like any other cannot be sustained if it remains static?

6.2 Given that the funds currently being offered no longer meet the baseline requirements by a long way, nor is it clear after so many years of under-resourcing what that baseline should or could be, it would be a valuable exercise for the CAL committee to engage with the arts industry to establish what the arts actually cost to deliver rather than how it fits its costs around what budget is available.

6.3 See Appendix 1 for models of shared provision in specific areas of arts activity that exist in other regions or rationales established for supporting the arts within other countries.

6.4 Approaches to sourcing additional funding might be:

6.4.1 Identifying innovative uses for Lottery funds in accordance with the legislation for their usage

6.4.2 Identifying interdepartmental initiatives that can lever investment from other budgets into support of the arts

6.4.3 Sponsorship and working with business to deliver the arts

6.4.4 Supporting organisations to increase earned income through increased ticket sales

6.4.5 Supporting organisations and artists to explore alternative social enterprise models such as trading arms, full cost recovery, hire of premises, etc

6.4.6 Increasing the role of local authorities in the support and delivery of the arts

6.5 Identifying innovative uses for Lottery funds in accordance with the legislation for their usage:

6.6 The National Lottery Fund in the legislation around its creation stated that its use should be additional to the core support provided through exchequer funds and it should enhance rather than replace government support in the good causes. The overall level of funds available to good causes has dropped. Substantial sums have and continue to be ringfenced to pay for the ever-growing Olympics budget.

6.7 In the meantime the overall exchequer funds available to the arts in Northern Ireland since the introduction of the National Lottery have not kept pace with rising costs, the pace of inflation over the last 11 years or the growth in new art forms and methods of engagement – eg increased knowledge and awareness of youth arts, arts in health, digital arts, the growth of a network of venues and galleries, etc. As a consequence the National Lottery funds available to the arts, while vital in bringing about valuable infrastructural development, have increasingly filled in the gaps left by exchequer funds to the point that the industry is now dependent on this resourcing to deliver its core business.

6.8 To remain true to the principle of “additionality" posed at the establishment of the National Lottery and avoid the void that will be created when the income from Lottery trickles away into a capital development in London, it is vital that much of what is currently supported be brought back into the realm of public exchequer funding.

6.9 Identifying interdepartmental initiatives that can lever investment from other budgets into support of the arts:

6.10 The Interdepartmental strategy on creativity was an innovative programme that raised significant awareness of the range and scope of creativity across a range of departments. Of disappointment was the lack of onward motion across those departments when the strategy and the associated finance initiatives came to an end. The more recent introduction of support for the growth of the creative industries is also a welcome initiative which, it is hoped will trigger lasting growth within the industry.

6.11 There is scope for DCAL to work with many other departments, specifically those involved in the original strategy on creativity. Lasting partnerships that meet other departmental priorities could and should be brokered – in health, in education and youth services, in tourism and economic development and in social development. However, it is vital that initiatives are given time and resources to develop. A 3 year-initiative that translates into short term grants of capped funds offered in a cycle that dos not fit the nature of the activity, is realsied and is delivered without consultation with the industry will not deliver the longterm targets any department is looking for.

6.12 There is also scope for DCAL to work with the industry to be an advocate for the role of the arts within other departmental agenda – to lobby for recognition of the arts and an effective infrastructure to support it within the new Education & Skills Authority; to work with DENI to establish what is needed following the curriculum review and how best to work together to deliver it. The Arts is now one of five learning areas across the primary curriculum while the delivery of artforms at second level has been under review. As yet no clear mechanism exists for how the new centrality of the Arts to the primary curriculum will be supported outside of the existing teaching body nor how the standard of teaching support will be increased, particularly in drama. The role of independent arts organisations and artists in supporting teacher development, in-school activities, arts through extended schools, the engagement of school children in our cultural infrastructure and a whole range of other areas should be examined. So too should the role the arts should be given within third-level education, particularly in relation to the training of new and existing teachers and to artists, and into research into the benefits of arts engagement.

6.13 Sponsorship and working with business to deliver the arts:

6.14 While relationships with the private sector are a valuable part of the resourcing of arts activity, there are considerations about whether this should become a dominant source of income. Few countries aside from the US demonstrate very high dependency on commercial sponsorship while individual giving is a small but growing aspect of the funding framework. In addition, some of the biggest investors – banks and drinks companies – have either been most hit by the credit crunch or cannot be accessed by many arts organisations due to restrictions on sponsorship (Young at Art cannot by law receive sponsorship from Diageo.)

6.15 Arts & Business’ most recent survey of the Investment Landscape showed that in 2007 – 08, overall business investment had dropped by 7% while 53% of all business investment in the arts went to just 50 organisations throughout the UK. In a separate and more recent survey of business and arts representatives on the impact of the credit crunch, Arts & Business identified the outcome as follows, “the long-term view is that an economic downturn is likely to have a negative impact on arts spending [by business]. This was higher than the predicted impact on the other sectors, namely broadcasting, sports and other charities." When responses were analysed by region, Northern Ireland predicted one of the largest downturns in sponsorship.

6.16 The CAL committee must consider the pricetag of sponsorship, for the government, for the artists and for the people taking part. Can the branding of our cultural identity in all its variety be bought? Can an arts organisation with a moral or ethical code have to sell its activities on to ensure they keep going regardless of the moral compromise? Can businesses veto artistic content if it does not translate into their objectives or if they simply don’t like it? What happens when our arts organisations get stuck between the demands of a private business and the demands of its public funders? If, in the interests of putting our events on, arts organisations engage in commercial partnerships, is DCAL prepared to accept that children’s cultural events might include free samples of soft drinks and fast food – does it fit with the priorities for health? Should all our music events include promotional offers on alcoholic drinks or take place in licensed premises? If the purpose of our events becomes also to sell commercial goods and services, does that impose something undesired or beyond the reach of our marginalized audiences? Do those participating have a choice to engage in something that is not about the commercial world but about the capacity to imagine or the ability to simply enjoy?

6.17 Supporting organisations to increase earned income through increased ticket sales

6.18 In 2008, Young at Art reviewed the ticket sales for its festival as the ongoing funding climate presented it with ever greater challenges to break even. Based on the number attending who had purchased tickets (excluding the additional people who attended free activities) the organisation could deliver its entire festival, outreach programme, resources and cover its overheads with a tight but adequate budget if every customer paid £28.

6.19 At the time of writing, tickets for events at the Belfast Children’s Festival cost between £3 and £7 while tickets for the Belfast Giants were selling for between £22.50 - £33.00 (excl fees and charges through Ticketmaster). However, the price of admission charges are governed not only by what it costs to put it on, but by what people consider a reasonable price and what the intention of the arts activity is in the first place. With average ticket prices for cultural events in Northern Ireland already considerably lower than the rest of the UK and with the interruption of attendance patterns over the last 35 years in comparison to the UK and Ireland, the Northern Irish population have a different view of what things should cost and the work of bringing about changes requires time and planning, the resourcing of which is currently unavailable.

6.20 If the vision of an activity is to widen access and give people ownership of cultural life, is the subsidizing of tickets then a critical part of what we do? And is the funding of the arts about subsidizing the price for people to attend or is it about the development of the arts as an industry, supporting innovation? If it is both, and we believe it should be, then the scale of resources available to deliver this is insufficient without (a) the increase of exchequer funds and/or (b) the introduction of lasting partnerships to achieve some of the broader principles.

6.21 Supporting organisations and artists to explore alternative social enterprise models such as trading arms, full cost recovery, hire of premises, etc

6.22 The arts is a part of the social economy and a significant portion of voluntary sector. Arts organisations are well-placed to deliver on the government’s agenda for business development through original and practical ways of selling and delivering their services. Barriers to this are similar to those that exist across the voluntary sector:

6.22.1 Lack of access to investment capital

6.22.2 Limited staffing to explore and develop coherent business planning

6.22.3 Pressure on organisations to deliver constant flow of activities, making it difficult to set aside time to plan a new business idea

6.22.4 Limited skills base within the resident workforce in Northern Ireland

6.22.5 Little or no assets or reserves against which to achieve loans or invest in business start-up

6.22.6 Risk averse funding bodies, leading to rigorous risk management among boards and executive staff

6.22.7 Barriers to introducing a full-cost recovery model of service in a marketplace dominated by subsidized services

6.23 Particular to the arts is the difficulty in getting enterprise agencies, banks and other investment bodies to take the arts industry seriously as a business, when it is originated in the not-for-profit sector rater than the commercial creative industries.

6.24 Increasing the role of local authorities in the support and delivery of the arts

6.25 The devolution of key areas of arts spending within local areas under the new council structure is to be welcomed, created greater links between councils and the activities that take place in their areas. The process by which this new structure is established must consider the NI-wide nature of much provision, for example that provided by touring companies, specialist training, arts in education or arts in health and our flagship organisations that benefit Northern Ireland as a whole..

6.26 In addition, the scale of budget made available by local authorities must be reviewed and established. Currently, most local authorities with arts facilities, with the exception of Belfast City Council, invest primarily in the running costs of those buildings while the budget to programme activities or deliver wider ranges of projects is comparatively small. This is possible because most of the work offered to local authorities is already being subsidized by various grants – Arts Council, Lottery, etc. Unless steps are taken to increase the budget available to continue that subsidy, or local authorities receive adequate briefing on the changing costs, there is a very real risk that the provision of the arts will become both a postcode lottery rather than even provision, and the superb facilities made possible over the last years by partnership investment from local authorities, the National Lottery and a range of departments, will not be in a position to offer a rounded programme or even remain open throughout the year.

6.27 A healthy sector will benefit from a diversity of funding bases and a lack of over-dependency in any one public pot, however this is on the premises that the level of support from all the sources is adequate for its priorities and appropriate to the activity arts organisations offer. As the amount of funds available dwindles, arts organisations are not able to generate a healthy and varied funding base but increasingly must drive the specialist work they do to fit into the pigeonholes of funding bodies for ever smaller grants scheme. An arts organisation supporting the strategic and administrative requirements of 20 or 30 different agencies will not be in a position to plan its work effectively and, with limited staffing, will find its executive staff more heavily involved in fundraising and funds management than the delivery of the work.

7 To carry out a stock take of the research which has been carried out to date, regarding the measurement of the economic and social benefits of investing in the arts.

7.1 There has been a body of research undertaken within Northern Ireland and Europe-wide exploring the benefits of the arts. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has invested significant time in gathering regular and consistent monitoring information and reviewing activities across Northern Ireland. In addition, DCAL has undertaken at various stages its own reviews. The role of research in this context is to inform decisions and establish a context for future policy based on information rather than conjecture, however we raise concerns that much of the research carried out has not been used in this way.

7.2 We would refer in particular to some of the benefits outlined arising from festival activity contained in the Report by Colin Stutt Consulting in 2004, the recommendations of which led to the creation of the Community Festivals Fund. Few other recommendations arising from this report have been implemented. To refer to the review, in its summary of key findings, the report states:“It is clear from this brief review of the literature that elsewhere in the UK and Ireland festivals can and do contribute substantially to the achievement of public policy aims. … Continued public funding of festivals is widespread and is necessary if the benefits of a festival are to accrue year after year. Even the largest and most successful festivals receive significant, recurrent public funding."

7.3 Of frustration in citing this key finding of the Department’s own research is that five years later, the recommendations arising from this have not been implemented while the schemes that exist to support festivals have been delivered on a timescale that does not suit the industry, in a way that did not consult with the industry and with criteria that are not only unachievable by many festival organisations but directly contradictory to the Department’s own piece of research. Furthermore, the control of festivals funding is about to be passed over to an agency that has had little or no engagement with the arts industry and this handover as yet has not involved those in the industry most directly affected by it – festivals.

7.4 Other documents and sources of research of possible interest and benefit are listed in Appendix 3.

8 To examine how those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland allocate their funding across the various art forms, and to consider whether the method of allocation sufficiently takes into account the need to: ?a) find a balance between the community and professional arts sectors; ?b) target social need; ?c) encourage community regeneration; and ?d) engage with communities which have historically found it difficult to develop an arts infrastructure and therefore access arts funding.

8.1 With reference to the scope and principles accepted by this enquiry, the CAL committee must consider what the difference between the community and professional arts sector is, if there is one? The arts is an industry made up not of large organisations with permanent staff but mainly of small companies with fewer than five staff and dependent on freelance artists, technicians, facilitators and other personnel. For every member of the Ulster Orchestra, there is a freelance music teacher. Many theatre productions are conceived through some form of collaborative approach. Artists exhibiting professionally in the Millennium Court Arts Centre will be the same people working on a mural project with Wheelworks with disadvantaged and excluded young people in Antrim or Ballymena, or undertaking residencies with Open Arts and the Share Centre with adults with disabilities in Fermanagh. For many artists, the relationship between engaging with others and the creation of their own work is intrinsic, as it is for many arts organisations.

8.2 Young at Art works exclusively with children and young people, works in communities with schools and groups as well as local residents, delivers education and teaching support, offers extensive volunteering opportunities, engages, develops and commissions professional artists, hosts international standard events and offers the largest children’s cultural event in Northern Ireland in a range of professional venues and using a variety of artforms. We consider ourselves to be a professional arts organisation because we operate on a professional basis to a standard we feel the children and young people taking part deserve and in a manner that respects communities, artists and volunteers equally.

8.3 The delicate ecology of the industry is such that while not every organisation does everything to deliver on the key priorities to target social need, encourage regeneration (nor can it nor should it), it is critical that a sufficient scale of industry is sustained to retain sufficient numbers of skilled personnel within Northern Ireland to carry out the important role the arts has to play in the rebuilding of our society and create a cultural voice for Northern Ireland in the international marketplace.

8.4 It is vital that gap analysis is carried out on an ongoing basis to establish where provision and development is lacking or at a low level. It is however, also important to note that if, in doing so, the CAL committee advocates that resources are redistributed to achieve this, it will see gaps emerging somewhere else within a few short years.

8.5 In examining the methods used by funding bodies, Young at Art advocates the need for the arms-length principle and the retention of an independent public body with specialist skills and knowledge to assess levels of need across artforms. However, in so doing, Young at Art also advocates that the overall system is adequately meeting the needs of the arts industry as a whole, not only in the level of funding available, but also the timebound cycle by which grants are offered, the levels of monitoring, the length of time between application and assessment and the short time left between grant award and delivery of work. The system is not conducive to effective long term planning or sustained development.

9 To compare those organisations which provide public funding to the arts in Northern Ireland with similar organisations across these islands, in terms of how they allocate funding across the various art forms.

9.1 The engagement with other public bodies across these islands will be an important and valuable exercise but must consider that each region has its own artistic personality, a factor which will over time steer the public bodies towards investment in particular artforms over others. In addition, some artforms not only cost different amounts to create (involving different numbers of people or more costly materials) but vary in their capacity to generate alternate sources of income. The nature of engagement must be considered too – drama as a live event is not the same as drama projects that engage on an interactive level, while supporting playwrights is not the same as supporting the creation of a theatre production.

9.2 The organisations in the UK and Ireland that deliver public funding to the arts are also set within a different framework of support. In certain instances, Arts Councils share or devolve responsibility to other bodies and work in partnership. For example, the bulk of Arts in Education work in Scotland is delivered through local authorities as they still have responsibility for education, a situation that does not exist in Northern Ireland.

9.3 It is also not necessarily possible to establish a target level of provision or funding for an artform if the body of artists does not exist to deliver it. The arts industry is primarily driven by ideas derived from individuals and its content shouldn’t be defined by government priority. A musician will not be supported to be a musician if they are only supported to write one kind of song, or compose but only if the theme addresses a relevant social topic. A writer will not be supported to be a writer if they are only allowed to use the support to write a book about what a public body has decided. The best art, the things that spread worldwide or affect people here, are borne out of the imagination of the artist and drawn from their engagement with society – grass roots up, rather than top down.

10 To consider whether there are any art forms which are currently not receiving adequate funding, given their levels of participation and/or impact with regards to targeting social need and regenerating communities.

10.1 To propose that there are artforms that receive inadequate funding requires the CAL committee to establish first what adequate funding arrangements might look like. If it means an adequate number of organisations resourced to operate on a year-round basis to deliver artistic activities in Northern Ireland with companion resourcing of an adequate number of individual artists, what artform is already in receipt of this in Northern Ireland?

10.2 The terminology used by many public bodies, departments and local authorities, describes “core funded" or “regularly" or “revenue" funded organisations implying that the basic needs of the organisation to carry out its core activities have been met. However, it has been some time since the bulk of “regularly funded" organisations financed through the arts budget have had their core activity supported, regardless of whether it is delivering on government priorities regarding social need and regeneration or another agenda or is delivering high quality arts to people across Northern Ireland.

10.3 The CAL committee must also examine whether measurement of a level of participation is an adequate or the only valuable measure of impact or what importance should be given to the nature of the participation and its quality, outcome, follow-up and appropriateness. Is something better or more deserving of support if 10,000 people see it or 3,000? Does this consider the differing needs of both the target group and the nature of the activity?

10.4 Recently, the devolution of the community festivals fund was cited as a successful model of widening access because in its first year being administered by local authorities it had supported significantly more festivals than under its administration by the Northern Ireland Events Company.

If the budget being delivered had not changed significantly, then did this not mean that more festivals got significantly less money and if so, what burden of fundraising was put on these organisations to deliver a high standard of artistic engagement, or what compromises had to be made to achieve the event?

10.5 It is reasonable to state, given the evidence available:

10.5.1 The per capita spend on the arts is inadequate and cannot deliver equality of service for the people of Northern Ireland or a creative industry from which we can benefit

10.5.2 The level of local authority spend on the arts is currently inadequate to deliver an adequate level of high quality region-wide provision

10.5.3 The ongoing plundering of the Lottery funds for the Olympics has already and will continue to worsen the situation as most organisations, even established ones like Young at Art, now depend on these funds for delivery of their core programme of work

10.5.4 Alternate sources of income such as sponsorship and earned income will not plug the gap in core subsidy

10.6 One can infer that all artforms are not receiving adequate funding. While the committee may assess that certain artforms require particular pump-priming, to do so must achieve an injection in additional and sustained funds rather than carving up of a budget already stretched beyond capacity.

11 To report to the Assembly making recommendations to the Department and/or others.

11.1 Young at Art offers itself for provision of any further information in support of this inquiry and again reiterates its support of the CAL committee in launching this inquiry.

11.2 It is the responsibility of the CAL committee to continue the role it played during the draft Programme for Government consultation; to support the bid for parity of spend on the arts with other regions in the UK and Ireland, and to recognize the special circumstances arising from Northern Ireland’s history that merit more not less investment in the arts industry.

11.3 It is incumbent on the CAL committee and the Department to establish the role other departments and agencies outside the realm of DCAL have to play in working with the Department to deliver the cross-cutting principles and themes of accessibility, contribution to the economy, education and training.

11.4 It is of critical importance that the CAL committee consider the role it has in recommending the introduction of longer term funding relationships to break the cycle of short-term underfunding and inappropriate funding and monitoring mechanisms that inhibit the growth of the arts industry.

Appendix 1:
Models of infrastructure and activity support

National Arts Education Network – Scotland

Within the Scottish local government structures, not only are dedicated arts officers supplied with dedicated budgets and staffing but in many larger councils, additional staff and budget are committed to arts education work. This has created not only substantial increases in arts provision in schools but increased its standard, the efficacy and financial viability of the delivery of arts in rural areas and encouraged “clustering’ where schools travel to each other’s sites to share resources such as theatre performances, dark rooms, etc. The Scottish Arts Council’s role is to coordinate the National Arts Education Network that draws these officers together with key agencies and arts providers. The SAC has also delivered pump-priming investment into areas of low activity through its lottery funds programme additional to the budget provided by local authorities.

National Youth Arts Programme – Republic of Ireland

In addition to An Chomhairle Ealaion’s support of arts organisationsd working with young people, the National Youth Council of Ireland supports a national programme specifically for youth arts. Some Arts Council support is used to deliver this however, it also levers support from the Department of Education & Science. This specifically recognizes the distinct role of the arts in the youth sector and the needs of young people within the arts sector. There is no such programme in Northern Ireland.

Department of Education & Science: Special Initiatives – Republic of Ireland

Through its “Giving Children an Even Break" and its Disadvantaged Area Schemes, the Department offers direct support to arts organisations developing projects for children and young people to deliver their work in areas of high deprivation or with groups experiencing access and exclusion issues. This support frequently includes annual staffing support as well as the full cost of delivery in addition to the support these organisations receive for the development and creation of artistic work through the arts budget in Ireland.

Danish Children’s Theatre Association

Denmark’s population density is around the same as that of Northern Ireland and it has a similar urban:rural mix. The Danish Arts Council adopted a rationale in the 1970s towards the provision of children’s theatre. In the first instance they reasoned that if 25% of the population were under 18 years of age, work dedicated to them should command 25% of the budget. However, rather than cut the budget of those working for adults, they successfully lobbied for central funds to increase the budget to account for this new need.

In addition they reasoned that every child should attend a professional piece of theatre at least once each school year. Based on an average theatre company presenting 100 performances each year, they reasoned that they must provide core support including production and touring costs for around 120 children’s theatre companies while a further number needed support through a form of substantial touring subsidy. All the companies perform their work for a quality assessment panel made up of peers before they can tour in schools.

(By the same calculation for Northern Ireland, the budget would need to provide for 20 fulltime children’s theatre companies while a further 20 would need to receive significant support for touring work for children in schools. Only 1 company is core funded to tour into schools in Northern Ireland and its touring costs are additional to its core subsidy.)

What was not anticipated at the time was that Danish children’s theatre would grow in its quality and range with this support not only to benefit every Danish child, school and family for over 30 years but also become the single greatest cultural export Denmark can offer, brokering relationships worldwide and across many difficult borders. Today, somewhere in the world, a performance of Danish children’s theatre starts every 30 minutes, while they are the lead in uniting countries through children’s arts, working in the Middle East, Asia and Russia.

Appendix 2
Departments & Agencies that could or should be strategic partners and/or funders of the arts

Office of the First Minister & Deputy First Minister
Children & Young People’s Unit
All Party Assembly Group for Children & Young People
Ni Commissioner for Children & Young People

Department of Education for NI
Youth Council for Northern Ireland
Education & Library Boards
Education & Skills Authority
Council for Curriculum Examinations & Assessments

Department for Employment & Learning
Further & Higher Education Institutes
Arts & Humanities Research Board (and other research partners)
Institutes of Irish Studies

Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
Health Trusts across Northern Ireland
Health Promotion Agency

Department for Social Development
Community & Voluntary Sector Unit
Regeneration Offices
Community Development within local authorities

Department of Enterprise, Trade & Investment
Northern Ireland Tourist Board
Invest NI
Enterprise Agencies
Trade Partners UK
Business Development within local authorities

Departure of Agriculture & Rural Development
Department of Foreign Affairs
British Council
Culture Ireland
Visiting Arts
Embassies & Consulates
International trade associations
International research networks

Appendix 3
Research sources

(sources either provide general information through websites or offer documents for download as PDFs. DCAL’s report on government funding of festivals is no longer available through the DCAL website)

* indicates a document held by Young at Art in hard copy, which can be supplied on request.

National Youth Arts Programme, National Youth Council of Ireland
www.youtharts.ie

Investment Landscape 2007 – 08, Arts & Business 2009
www.aandb.org.uk

Business Investment in Culture – Trends 2008, Arts & Business 2008
www.aandb.org.uk

Impressions – an overview of issues affecting children’s theatre in Denmark, Teatercentrum/Danish Children’s Theatre Association
www.teatercentrum.de

Government Funding of Festivals in Northern Ireland - Report of a Review
DCAL, 2004

Colin Stutt Consulting in assoc with Burns Owens Partnership, Colin Buchanan & Partners & Econconsult

A number of reports exist on the Young at Art website, exploring the impact of projects undertaken over the last 4 years as well as annual seminar reports detailing discussions between artists and practitioners.
www.youngatart.co.uk

* Image and Imagination, writing from the Making Space Conference 2002
Young at Art & Stranmillis University Press, Ed Janice Hoadley, 2003

* She Danced…and We Danced, Artists, Creativity & Education
By Dr Hamish Fyfe, Young at Art & Stranmillis University Press, 2002

Appendix 5

List of Witnesses who gave Evidence to the Committee

List of Witnesses who gave
Evidence to the Committee

Arts and Business Northern Ireland		Ms Mary Trainor Ms Lesley Wake Ms Joanne South
Arts Council of Ireland		Ms Mary Cloake Mr Martin Drury
Arts Council of Northern Ireland		Ms Roisín McDonough Mr Nick Livingston Ms Lorraine McDowell Ms Nóirín McKinney Mr Damian Smyth Ms Joan Dempster
ArtsEkta		Ms Heather Floyd Mr Mukesh Sharma Ms Nisha Tandon
Belfast City Council		Ms Deirdre Robb Ms Heather Bulfin
Belfast Community Circus School		Mr Will Chamberlain
Cairncastle LOL 692 Community & Cultural Group		Mr Bobby Acheson Mr Adrian Rolston
Community Arts Forum		Ms Heather Floyd Ms Caragh O’Donnell Mr Conor Shields
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure		Mr Nelson McCausland MLA, Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure Ms Anne Tohill Ms Michelle Scott Dr Michael Willis Ms Linda Wilson
Féile an Phobail		Mr Sean Paul O’Hare Ms Jenny Gillespie Ms Elsie McLaughlin
Forum for Local Government and the Arts		Ms Noelle McAlinden Mr Mac Pollock Mr Malcolm Murchison
Greater Shantallow Community Arts		Mr Oliver Green Mr Joe Campbell
Lyric Theatre		Mr Ciaran McAuley Mr Richard Croxford Mr Dan Gordon
Mid Armagh Community Network		Mr Conrad Clarke Ms Hilary Singleton
New Lodge Arts		Ms Katrina Newell Ms Danielle Fields Mr John Paul McBride
PriceWaterhouse Coopers		Mr Phillip McDonagh
Ulster Orchestra		Mr David Byers Mr Colm Crummey Mr Colin Stark
Ulster-Scots Community Network		Mr William Humphrey Mr Iain Carlisle
Voluntary Arts Ireland		Ms Brenda Kent Mr Robin Simpson Mr Stephen Brown
Young at Art		Ms Ali FitzGibbon Mr Joe Kelly

Appendix 6

List of Research Papers

Research Paper 1 Economic and Social Impacts Arising from Sports, Arts, Museums and Libraries

Research Paper 2 Economic Modelling of Value Impacts of DCAL Investment

Research Paper 3 Business in the Arts

Research Paper 4 Per Capita Spend on the Arts in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland

Research Paper 5 The Impact of the Arts on Social Need

Research Paper 6 Europen Funding of the Arts and Culture

Research Paper 7 Per Capita Presentation Questions

Research Paper 8 Response from the Arts Council

Research Paper 9 Social Impact of the Arts Presentation Questions

Appendix 7

Research Papers

Research Paper January 2008

Research Paper 1

Economic and Social Impacts Arising From Sports, Arts, Museums and Libraries

Meadhbh Mc Cann
Research Officer

This paper examines the economic and social benefits that can be derived from sport, arts, museums and libraries in both the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

Research Papers are compiled for the benefit of Members of The Assembly and their personal staff. Authors are available to discuss the contents of these papers with Members and their staff but cannot advise members of the general public.

Summary of Key Points

Non-profit arts organisations in the United States of America generate some $134 billion through its total economic activity per year; supporting some 4.9 million full-time equivalent jobs.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis details that consumers spent $9.4 billion on admissions to performing arts events in 1998 - $2.6 billion more than admissions to motion pictures and $1.8 billion more than total spending on spectator sports.

In Canada sport spending per annum totals almost $16 billion and supports 2% of the jobs in the country. Estimates of health-care spending due to physical inactivity range from $2.1 billion to $5.3 billion annually, representing as much as 4.8% of total health care costs.

The public libraries in the United States of America currently have four strategies operating in relation to workforce development, including creating job information centres, expanding access to technology and tech training, providing targeted employment outreach and adult literacy training and community support centres.

Sport related employment in England was estimated at 434,000 in 2005, accounting for 1.8% of all employment in England. In England, sport-related economic activity has increased from 1985 to 2000, representing an increase from £3,358 million to £10,373 million.

There are over 42 million visits each year to major museums and galleries in Britain with 43 per cent of the population attending a museum or gallery at least once during the past year.

Impacts such as education, social inclusion, community cohesion and reduction in crime are complicated to quantify. Many of the benefits of these activities can not be measured initially in financial terms. Any benefits derived, are likely to be seen at a local and community level rather than at a regional level.

Contents

Introduction

Socio-Economic Impacts of Sports, Arts, Museums and Libraries in United States of America

The Economic Impact of Non-profit Arts Organisations

The Socio-Economic benefits of sport participation in Canada

Economic Impacts of Sport in Canada

Public Library contributions to Economic and Social development

Socio-Economic Impacts of Sports, Arts, Museums and Libraries in the United Kingdom

The Economic Importance of Sport in England, 1985-2005

Economic and Social Impacts of the British Library

Museums and Galleries in Britain

Difficulties with Construction of a Quantifiable Economic Model

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview for the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure to identify the potential benefits that arise from sport, arts, museums and libraries within the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The paper details the economic and social benefits that are derived from participation in sport and the arts in general. Also included is reference to the ability to quantify in financial terms the benefits of expenditure on such activities.

Economic and social benefits and impacts of sport, arts, museums and libraries have been documented in the United States and the United Kingdom. These impacts can be seen in both financial terms and in relation to community benefits such as increased inclusion and community cohesion. Both the United Kingdom and the United States have experienced many benefits generated from sport and cultural activities; these can be seen in savings in health care due to increased physical activity, employment, promotion of education, community support and tourism.

Socio-Economic Impacts of Sports, Arts, Museums and Libraries in United States of America

The Economic Impact of Non-profit Arts Organisations

A paper on the ‘Economic impact of non-profit arts organisations’ in the United States of America stated that the industry generates some $134 billion through its total economic activity per year; this revenue is created by its arts organisations and audiences. This spending supported 4.9 million full-time equivalent jobs, which is a larger percentage of the United States’ workforce than that of accountants, lawyers, physicians or computer programmers. Some $24.4 billion is generated in federal, state and local revenues; however spending on the arts by local, state and federal government is less than $3 billion annually, resulting in a financial return of more than 8-to-1 on an annual basis[1].

From 1992 to 2000, total spending by America’s non-profit arts organisations grew from $36.8 billion to $53.2 billion1. This spending generated an estimated $80.8 billion of valuable revenue for local merchants and their communities in 2000, which is an average of $22.87 per person, per event1.

In an earlier document entitled ‘The Role of the Arts and Economic Development’ states that nationally, the non-profit arts industry in America supported 1.3 million full-time jobs in 2001. Governments also gain economic benefits, for example $790 million in revenue is generated at the local level, $1.2 billion at state level and $3.4 billion at federal level[2].

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, consumers spent $9.4 billion on admissions to performing arts events in 1998: $2.6 billion more than admissions to motion pictures and $1.8 billion more than total spending on spectator sports2.

The Socio-Economic benefits of sport participation in Canada

The Canadian report, ‘Strengthening Canada: The Socio-Economic benefits of Sport Participation in Canada’ highlights the economic costs of physical inactivity to the health service. Estimates of health-care spending due to physical inactivity range from $2.1 billion to $5.3 billion annually, representing as much as 4.8% of total health care costs [3]; relating to a range of between $62.9 dollars and $158.7 dollars per capita.

Economic Impacts of Sport in Canada

The report goes on to state that sport spending per annum totals almost $16 billion and supports 2% of the jobs in Canada3. The total amount of household spending on sport in Canada was approximately $15.8 billion in 2004. For the same year, on average each Canadian household that participated in sport spent $1, 963 per year on sport related activities, indeed every Canadian adult and child spent on average $495 on sport in 20043. However, the report also indicates that when household income drops due to unemployment, the level of sport spending in a household often decreases and rapidly3.

Public Library contributions to Economic and Social development

‘Making Cities Stronger: Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development’ states that public libraries have an important role to play in the area of economic transformation, arguing that local economic development initiatives and public libraries are logical partners[4]. This report highlights the specific ways local governments, agencies, and libraries are working together to achieve benefits for individuals, agencies and the community at large4.

From 2000 to 2005 local library construction doubled from $948 million dollars to $2 billion dollars; providing short –term local and economic spin -off benefits from construction alone. Positive economic impacts are also evident at the city level. A recent study conducted by the Carnegie Mellan University’s (CMU) Centre for Economic Development for the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh found the library to be the most visited regional asset, attracting 500 thousand more visitors than the Carnegie Science Centre and the Pittsburgh Steelers combined. CMU researchers estimate that the library generates a return of more than $91 million in combined economic output and sustains more than 700 jobs4. The Seattle Public Library found substantial economic returns to the city and local business immediately following the development of the new library. The net new contribution to the local economy was approximately $16 million dollars during the first full year of operation alone[5].

Programming in public libraries such as the ‘Early literacy’ programme contributes to increasing young children’s level of literacy and engagement in learning4. Evidence linking early literacy to long-term education and economic success states that introducing children to books and reading before they enter school, greatly improves their chances of academic success4. Public library literacy programs also reduce the cost for area agencies by providing free staff development opportunities. Community child care is supported by public libraries due to the expanding learning resources and improving the quality of child care through literacy training4.

The public libraries currently have four strategies in relation to workforce development. They include the following;4

(1) Creating job information centres,

(2) Expanding access to technology and Tech Training,

(3) Providing Targeted Employment Outreach

(4) Adult Literacy Training and community support centres

(1) Creating job information centres: Career resource materials are being collated into user-friendly career information. Many centres have special staff available to provide one-on-one assistance and career development workshops4.

(2) Expanding access to technology and Tech Training: A survey conducted stated that 70% of those using computers in libraries did so as it was their only access to computer facilities4.

(3) Targeted Employment Outreach: Libraries that do have adequate resources are providing services in areas of high unemployment, working in conjunction with local employment service agencies4.

(4) Adult literacy training and community support: Public libraries are an important entry point to community services for new citizens. Programmes provided by public libraries include a wide range of community resources that impact an individual’s economic self-sufficiency. Thus, services often include English language classes and other basis skills training4.

Socio-Economic Impacts of Sports, Arts, Museums and Libraries in the United Kingdom

The Economic Importance of Sport in England, 1985-2005

Sport-related economic activity has increased from 1985 to 2000, representing an increase from £3,358 million to £10,373 million. This amount of sport-related economic activity increased again in 2005 to £15,471 million5. From 2000 to 2005, employment in sport increased by 19%5. Sport related employment in England was estimated at 434,000 in 2005, accounting for 1.8% of all employment in England.

Consumer expenditure on sport in England was £16,580 million in 2005, an increase from £3,536 million in 1985; representing a per capita spend of £0.03.

Economic and Social Impacts of the British Library

On an annual basis, for every £1 of public funding that is received by the British Library, £4.40 is generated for the UK economy. Indeed, if the British Library did not operate the UK economy would lose some £280 million of economic value per year[6].

The British Library has developed a corporate action plan which examines the role and impact of diversity within the library. This has been conducted in relation to the Library’s collection/content, access to services, corporate training schemes that promote diversity awareness, workforce development, and communication to reach new and more diverse audiences. The British Library’s annual report states that the library has designed and delivered a Disability Equality Scheme and did so with the involvement of people with disabilities, employees, key stakeholders and those who provide support services[7].

Museums and Galleries in Britain

According to ‘Museums and Galleries in Britain: Economic, social and creative impacts’ there are over 42 million visits each year to major museums and galleries in Britain, with 43 per cent of the population attending a museum or gallery at least once during the past year. The Report states that the self-generated income of museums and galleries within Britain can be as high as £200 million a year, including over £100 million in donations and sponsorship, over £100 million in trading income and some £20 million in ticket sales[8]. In relation to regional museums and galleries, there are over 500,000 visitors to the Bristol’s Museums, Galleries & Archives. Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery and Sheffield Museums and Galleries Trust had over 1.5 million visitors in total8. According to research by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, seven out of the top ten visitor attractions in the UK are national museums8. Museums Libraries and Archives Council policy of ‘Renaissance in the Regions’, which has focused on increasing and developing wider audiences to regional museums has had a number of beneficial effects. Indeed, between 2002-03 and 2003-04 participation by black and minority ethnic groups increased by 15.2 per cent and 60 per cent respectively8.

In ‘Valuing Museums’, an earlier report on major museums and galleries, it was estimated that the full economic impact of the museums and galleries was between £1.83 billion and £2.07 billion8. The Report states that the National Museums Liverpool has experienced an increase of international visitors from 49,000 to 112,000 from 1997 to 20048. The Valuing Museums report, estimated that approximately £320 million per year was spent in the UK by overseas visitors in relation to museum and gallery visits8.

Construction of a Quantifiable Economic Model

Impacts such as education, social inclusion, community cohesion and reduction in crime are more complicated to quantify. The difficulty in relation to these impacts is their nebulous nature; indeed with many of these impacts, the benefits cannot be measured initially or in financial terms. Any benefits derived, are likely to be seen at a local and community level rather than providing an overarching regional benefit[9]. Output data from numerous projects would need to be assessed in order to see if it is possible to build up a picture of what can and cannot be quantified.

Rather it is more appropriate to provide benefits ratios for types of project/initiatives. It is not appropriate to estimate the benefit ratios of funding at the individual, community and regional levels, the data is not available or does not lend itself to be analysed at these levels. Focusing on individual projects that were funded in 2005/06 would not be practical as these would change from year to year9.

The difficulties in modelling impacts in a quantifiable way are seen in relation to the public library programmes in the United States of America. For example, context factors, such as family, economic, race, school and other social aspects do not lend themselves to traditional evaluation methodologies. Returns on investment studies alone do not identify the ways in which library services are benefiting a range of user, for example students, job seekers, employers, small businesses and entrepreneurs9.

[1] Arts and Economic Prosperity: The economic impact of Non-profit Arts Organization and their audiences, http://www.americansforthearts.org/informationresources/economic_impact/

[2] The Role of the Arts in Economic Development, http://www.nga.org/files/pdf/062501artsdev.pdf

[3] Strengthening Canada: The socio-economic Benefits of Sport Participation in Canada, http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/sc/pubs/socio-eco/sports_participation_e.pdf

[4] Making Cities Stronger: Public Library contributions to local economic development,
http://www.urbanlibraries.org/files/making_cities_stronger.pdf

[5] Making Cities Stronger: Public Library contributions to local economic development,
http://www.urbanlibraries.org/files/making_cities_stronger.pdf

[6] British Library: Measuring our value, http://www.bl.uk/pdf/measuring.pdf

[7] Annual Report and Accounts 2006/07, My Library: The way we share knowledge is driven by our users,
http://www.bl.uk/about/annual/2006to2007/fullreport.pdf

[8] Museums and Galleries in Britain: Economic, Social and Creative Impacts,
http://www.mla.gov.uk/resources/assests//m/museumsgalleriesinbritain10528.pdf

[9] Making Cities Stronger: Public Library contributions to local economic development,
http://www.urbanlibraries.org/files/making_cities_stronger.pdf

Research Paper
February 2008

Research Paper 2

Economic Modelling of Value
Impacts of DCAL Investment

Meadhbh Mc Cann
Research Officer

This paper outlines the decision of the Project Steering Group in relation
to the PWC study and the abandonment of Phase 2 of the research into
the economic modelling of quantifiable benefits of DCAL activity.

Research Papers are compiled for the benefit of Members of The Assembly and
their personal staff. Authors are available to discuss the contents of these papers
with Members and their staff but cannot advise members of the general public.

Summary of Key Points

• Phase 2 of the PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) study, ‘Research into the Social and Economic value of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland (ValCAL) was intended to test whether the available data could be used to build an economic model of DCAL activities. The requirement of the economic model was that it be robust and capable of being expressed in monetary terms.
• Evaluations are often uncertain and subjective evaluation itself can prove to be a costly undertaking. Indirect costs and benefits can prove more difficult to value, particularly if they have no market prices.
• An alternative approach to valuation is required in order to quantify potential social, health or environmental impacts. It is often difficult to assess the reliability of estimates emerging from a single study using a single method.
• Areas that the project steering group has identified as problematic in relation to progressing to Phase 2 of the PWC report;

(1) The available data for the 4 DCAL business areas is not sufficient for the more stringent demands of economic modelling;

(2) The areas of Museums and Libraries are more straightforward in relation to DCAL intervention. However, Arts and Sport are more complex;

(3) Where data limitations were identified, assumptions from specialist literature would inform the economic model;

(4) Due to such data limitations, the economic model would be based on a high frequency of assumptions; and

(5) Only one of the 4 DCAL business areas, that of Libraries, would be suitable for economic modelling.

• The construction of a model inclusive of social benefits will rely heavily on assumption, which in turn undermines the robustness of the economic modelling itself. The PWC report states that this is due to the nebulous nature of social benefits.
• Libraries had the largest amount of available data for modelling; however this data varied in its ability to be quantified to the specifics of the economic model.
• The study states that a series of approaches could be taken in order to produce quantifiable benefits of DCAL activity. These include focusing on historical data, benefit ratios, the regional level and general themes rather than individual projects.

Contents

Introduction

Phase 2: PriceWaterHouseCoopers Study

Background on Economic Impact Analysis

Concerns with Phase 2 and Economic Model development

Health Economic Model

Social Benefits of DCAL Activities

Potential quantifiable benefits of DCAL activity

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview for the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure into the abandonment of Phase 2 of the PriceWaterhouseCoopers, (PWC) study into Social and Economic Value of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland (ValCAL). The paper details the background to economic modelling and valuing non-market impacts. Also included is reference to the availability of robust data to construct an economic model and a proposed change of focus in terms of producing potential quantifiable benefits of DCAL activity.

Phase 2 of the PWC study was to produce an economic model from available data of DCAL activities, expressed in monetary terms. However, progress to this phase of the project was rejected by the project steering group due mainly to concerns of data availability and the complex nature of intervention in the Arts and Sport business areas. The nebulous nature of social benefits makes the construction of any economic model rely heavily on assumptions; resulting in the robustness of the model itself being undermined. A number of different approaches are suggested in order to produce quantifiable benefits of DCAL activity, such as focusing on historical data, benefit ratios, concentration on the regional level and a focus on general themes rather than individual projects.

Phase 2: PriceWaterHouseCoopers Study

Progress to Phase 2 of the PWC study, ‘Research into the Social and Economic value of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland’ (ValCAL) was intended to test whether the available data could be used to build an economic model of DCAL activities. Indeed, the purpose of Phase 2 was to design an economic model to quantify the net direct and indirect social and economic impacts for each DCAL business area and to consider whether synergies between DCAL business areas are present and how this would impact the model[1].

The requirement of the economic model was that it be robust and capable of being expressed in monetary terms. The project steering group decided to abandon Phase 2 concluding that it would not represent value for money given that the work to develop the economic models alone would have cost DCAL at least a further £61,905 with no guarantee of the robustness of output; the model would likely have been open to criticism and challenge[2].

Background on Economic Impact Analysis

Economic impact analysis is concerned with identifying and measuring the changes that occurred, or be likely to occur, in an economy as a direct or indirect result of a new public and private sector initiative.

Indirect costs and benefits can prove more difficult to evaluate, particularly if they have no market prices. Evaluations are not purely scientific studies, although they may make use of scientific tools. Evaluations are often uncertain and subjective; by focusing attention on quantitative measures evaluations may limit consideration of other issues central to the idea of economic development; evaluation itself can prove to be a costly undertaking.

A cost-benefit analysis attempts to determine the value of an activity to society as a whole. This economic methodology sees the social value of an activity as based on individual valuations of that activity, with a focus on economic efficiency.

The criticisms of cost-benefit analysis are concerned with identifying appropriate measures of the cost and benefits associated with an activity in situations where market prices do not provide a reliable guide. These situations include;

(1) Market prices do not reflect social costs and benefits

(2) Public activities themselves affect market prices

(3) Outputs from an activity are not sold in markets, so that prices are unavailable

(4) Substantial public goods or externalities associated with the activity

Valuing Non-Market Impacts: The Green Book

When valuing non-market impacts, the report entitled ‘Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government “The Green Book" highlights that an alternative approach to valuation is required in order to quantify potential social, health or environmental impacts. It is often difficult to assess the reliability of estimates emerging from a single study using a single method[3]. When the value of a benefit or cost is uncertain then reference can be made to the costs of preventing the loss, or replacing, a non-market good (such as a recreational facility)[4].

The Green Book states that in the absence of a reliable and accurate monetary valuation of an impact, a decision must be made to commission a study. Key considerations that may impact on a decision to commission a piece of research would include the following[5]:

(1) Whether research is likely to produce a robust valuation

(2) Range of application of results of a study to future appraisals

(3) How much the accuracy of the valuation impacts any decision making process

(4) Scale of impact of the decision. Thus, a decision must be taken in relation to the allocation of resources to ensure that valuations of non- market benefits and costs are accurate.

Concerns with Phase 2 and Economic Model development

Below is a list of the areas that the project steering group has identified as problematic in relation to progressing to Phase 2 of the PWC report;

(1) The available data for the 4 DCAL business areas (Sport, Art, Museums and Libraries) is not sufficient for the more stringent demands of economic modelling.

(2) The areas of Museums and Libraries are more straightforward in relation to DCAL intervention however, Arts and Sport are more complex due to the impact of private and public sector intervention.

(3) Where data limitations were identified, assumptions from specialist literature would inform the economic model.

(4) Due to such data limitations, the economic model would be based on a high frequency of assumptions.

(5) Only one of the 4 DCAL business areas, that of Libraries would be suitable for economic modelling.

The reasons for the abandonment of Phase 2 appear to relate especially to two areas;

(1) data availability

(2) complex nature of intervention in Arts and Sports

Health Economic Model

‘A Health Economic Model: The cost benefits of the physical activity strategy for Northern Ireland – a summary of key findings’, this report is referred to in relation to health-economic benefits of investment in physical activity. The modelling of the economic benefits of physical activity in this report is based on data from the Northern Ireland Health and Activity Survey 1994. It was estimated in the latter report that 20% of the adult population in Northern Ireland could be classified as physically inactive. The study selected three diseases most closely associated with a lack of physical inactivity; the diseases selected were coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke and colon cancer.

However, the data used in this particular economic model is based on an up-rated 1997 Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) estimate and focuses on only one issue, that of physical activity. Much more complex modelling is required if DCAL wishes to comprise a model covering multiple issues[6].

Focusing on only one issue, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) model is very simplistic in terms of use of economic data. Thus, this approach to modelling would not be appropriate or useful to DCAL in relation to measuring the economic benefits of the four business areas of, Sport, Art, Museums and Libraries.

Social Benefits of DCAL Activities

The Executive Summary contained within the PWC report highlights the difficulties that are experienced when attempting to quantify the social benefits from DCAL activities. The report states that this is due to the nebulous nature of social benefits. The construction of a model inclusive of social benefits will rely heavily on assumption, which in turn undermines the robustness of the economic modelling itself[7].

This section of the report highlights 7 categories of social benefit in relation to DCAL activities. The seven categories were as follows;

(1) Employment

(2) Tourism

(3) Health

(4) Education/knowledge economy

(5) Crime

(6) Community cohesion/integration

(7) Environment

The table, included in the PWC (ValCAL) report (page 72), shows that none of the 4 business areas (Sport, Art, Libraries and Museums) had sufficient available data across all 7 categories. Overall, Libraries had the largest amount of available data for modelling; however this data varied in its ability to be quantified to the specifics of the economic model. Indeed, two of the four business areas recorded no available data in relation to the environment; with employment and tourism having the best quantifiable data across the 4 business areas.

Potential quantifiable benefits of DCAL activity

The PWC report highlights a number of suggestions in relation to the modelling of DCAL activities. The study states that a series of approach could be taken in order to produce quantifiable benefits of DCAL activity, the information below details a number of focuses that could be employed to achieve potential quantifiable benefits[8].

Firstly, a focus on data from 2005/06 funding year: use of historical funding data, for example 2005/06 funding period; instead of the use of projected funding or current funding activity. The outcomes of historical funding have been observed and recorded.

Secondly, a focus on benefit ratios rather than overall value of benefits: it is more appropriate to estimate the likely benefit ratios with respect to different types of project; it is more appropriate to provide benefit ratios (i.e. for each £1 spent in a certain type of project, DCAL can expect £x of benefit) for types of project/initiatives[9] .

Thirdly, focusing at the regional level: any attempt to estimate the value of DCAL activity, would need to be carried out at a regional level. It is not appropriate to estimate the benefit ratios of funding at the individual, community and regional levels. To do so would generate issues of double counting and in most cases the data is not available or does not lend itself to be analysed at these levels.

Finally, a focus on general themes rather than individual projects: to ensure that a model is useful across time, it is beneficial to look at general types of projects. Consequently, the model can be updated on an annual basis and an average can be estimated.

[1] PriceWaterHouseCoopers, Social and Economic Value of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland, 2007

[2] PriceWaterHouseCoopers, Social and Economic Value of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland, 2007

[3] The Green Book: Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government, http://www.greenbook.treasury.gov.uk/annex02.htm

[4] The Green Book: Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government, http://www.greenbook.treasury.gov.uk/annex02.htm

[5] The Green Book: Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government, http://www.greenbook.treasury.gov.uk/annex02.htm

[6] A health economic model: The cost benefits of the physical activity strategy for Northern Ireland – a summary of key findings, http://www.healthpromotionagency.org.uk/Resources/physicalactivity/pdfs/paeconomreport.pdf

[7] PriceWaterHouseCoopers, Social and Economic Value of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland, 2007

[8] PriceWaterHouseCoopers, Social and Economic Value of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland, 2007

[9] PriceWaterHouseCoopers, Social and Economic Value of Culture, Arts and Leisure in Northern Ireland, 2007

Research Paper 3

Business In The Arts

Meadhbh Mc Cann
Research Officer

This paper details the funding relationship between the arts and the business sector throughout the regions of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The paper highlights the initiatives that have been implemented in order to encourage the private sector to invest in the arts.

The European Committee for Business, Arts and Culture (CEREC)[1]

The European Commission published in May 2007 a communication on Globalisation, Culture and the Lisbon Agenda. The Commission wishes to promote culture as a catalyst for creativity and innovation in the context of the Lisbon Strategy for jobs and growth.

The Tax treatment of private support can have a significant influence on the type and level of support that is given. A favourable fiscal environment for private support to culture, the arts and heritage is the essential to a significant private.

Tax regulation usually refers to “donation". A donation involves the payment of money or the provision of in-kind assistance to a not-for-profit cultural, social, environmental or sporting organisation without any benefit expected in return. It should be stressed that a donation must be viewed as a gift, whereas a sponsorship is a contract for specific and valuable benefits in return.

In the majority of countries, donations are encouraged through a variety of different income tax deductions. The framework varies widely depending on the country. Nevertheless, in almost all countries there are two criteria which are crucial to the availability of any such deduction:

(1) Donations can only give rise to a tax deduction if they are made to “recognized organisations". This restriction makes it impossible at present to deduct a donation made to an organisation in another EU Member State as no country has yet recognized any foreign organisations (with the exception of the Netherlands).

(2) Donations are generally deductible “up to a certain amount". Once this amount is exceeded, any donations made no longer give rise to tax deductions. Donations never fall under the scope of the VAT whereas sponsorship expenses usually do, as sponsorship is considered to be a standard commercial exchange.

Ireland Profile

Tax treatment of sponsorship: Expenses linked to sponsorship are deductible from corporate tax as long as they “fully and exclusively" correspond to the company’s advertising needs. The expenditure must be reasonable. Expenses linked to the entertainment of clients are not deductible, whereas expenses linked to entertainment of personnel are deductible.

Tax treatment of corporate giving: Donations, in kind or in cash, made to not-for-profit organisations recognized by the tax authorities are fully deductible. There is no maximum limit.

United Kingdom Profile

Corporate giving and sponsorship: The introduction of the Charities Act 2006, not-for-profit cultural activity has become one of the thirteen recognised “public benefit" activities. It has less impact on the tax treatment of not-for-profit cultural activity, which was unchanged by the Act.

Tax treatment of sponsorship: Sponsorship expenses are fully deductible where such expenses are wholly and exclusively for the purpose of trade. Capital expenses are not allowed.

Tax treatment of corporate giving: Donations are deductible if the beneficiary is an authorized recipient (e.g. registered charity). Cash donations made by businesses are treated through a system called Gift Aid. Businesses which donate shares, other than their own, to a registered charity can reduce their tax basis by the amount of the donation. The donor is exempted from payment of capital gains tax.

Republic of Ireland

The Business Expansion Scheme (BES) – Relief for Investment in Corporate Trades[2]

The Business Expansion Scheme (BES) came into effect from the 1st January 2007.

In order to qualify, investments must be made by companies engaged in the following activities;

• manufacturing;
• service;
• tourism;
• R&D;
• plant cultivation activities;
• in the construction and
• leasing of advance factories; or,
• certain music recording activities.

The Scheme allows an individual investor to obtain income tax relief on investments up to a maximum of €150,000 per annum in each tax year up to 2013. An investor who cannot obtain relief on all their investment in a year of assessment, either because their investment exceeds the maximum of €150,000 or their income in that year is sufficient to absorb all of it, can carry forward the unrelieved amount to following years up to and including 2013, subject to the normal limit of €150,000 on the amount of investment that can be relieved in any one year.

A qualifying investor is an individual who;

(1) is a resident in the State for the tax year in respect of which they make the claim (2) subscribes on their own behalf for eligible shares in a qualifying company and (3) is not for the relevant period, as defined, connected with the company.

Tax Relief for Heritage donations

Under Section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 in the Republic of Ireland, tax relief is available in respect of the donation of important national heritage items to the Irish national collections.

The relief consists of a tax credit equal to the value of the heritage item (any kind of cultural item[3]) donated.

National Collections

The national collections are described as Approved Bodies under the legislation, they include[4];

(1) National Archives

(2) National Gallery of Ireland

(3) National Library of Ireland

(4) National Museum of Ireland

(5) Irish Museum of Ireland

(6) The Crawford Art Gallery Cork Limited

The Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, in conjunction with the Minister of Finance with the consent of the funding bodies can award the tax relief to an applicant.

Arts and Business

Arts and Business is an organisation within the United Kingdom, with regional offices in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Their aim is to promote and support the relationship between the arts and the business sector.

Corporate Support[5]

Arts and Business state that sponsoring the arts can be a cost effective way for a business to market, develop brand image and strengthen client and strategic relationships. Businesses in the arts can help to ensure that a community retains a distinctive identity and enabling the next generation to use the arts.

Sponsorships

Arts and Business classifies sponsorship as a payment of money made to an “arts organisation for a series of expected benefits in return that will enable the development of trade" (REF).When sponsorship is linked to the furthering of trade, a business can deduct the cost of that sponsorship from their income.

Sponsorship vs. donations

Arts and Business state that sponsorships are just as tax efficient as donations. The difference is that with a sponsorship, negotiation can take place with the arts organisation for a series of benefits that will help a business. With a donation, you can only have a very limited series of benefits in return.

Northern Ireland

Creative Industries Innovation Fund (Arts Council Northern Ireland)

The Creative Industries Fund was launched in October 2008 and is a £35 million, three-year funding programme aimed at supporting innovation in creative businesses across Northern Ireland.

All creative businesses in Northern Ireland can make applications to this funding programme. Indeed, a sole trader, partnership or an incorporated company can apply to the fund.

The Creative Industries Innovation Fund supports:

• businesses providing services by selling their time and creative expertise for money
• businesses providing experiences in events and activities (such as theatre and live music)
• businesses producing original artefacts, valued for their individuality, creativity and rarity

Project grants available

There are three types of grants available;

(1) 100% grants are available to projects needing up to £10,000

(2) Those businesses who wish to become InvestNi client companies[6] can receive a grant of up to 75%, to a maximum of £75,000

(3) In cases other than the two described above, the maximum grant available is 75% up to a maximum of £50,000

The Arts Council Northern Ireland is the administrator for the Creative Industries Innovation Fund; additional support and guidance is available to businesses from the below organisations;

(1) Northern Ireland Screen

(2) Craft Northern Ireland

(3) Northern Ireland Music Industry Commission

Arts and Business

Following a pilot in 06/07 Arts and Business has updated its programme to aid its ambition of increasing private sector support for the arts. From 1st April 2007 the programme will no longer be called New Partners, but will consist of two separate strands of investment, Reach and Invest.

Arts and Business aims to promote mutually beneficial relationships between business, the arts and the public sector in order to increase private sector investment into the arts. The two strands of our Investment Programme are designed to enable us to support and encourage such partnerships. The two strands of the programme are as follows;

(1) Reach

Reach is an open application scheme designed to support business to try something new with the arts, or to broaden and deepen an existing partnership.

(2) Invest

Projects supported under the Invest scheme are by invitation only. This scheme enables Arts and Business to initiate transformative business/arts partnerships.

The aim is to encourage new investment into the arts; to stimulate the sponsorship market; and to grow and sustain business engagement with the arts.

Professional Development Programmes

The Professional Development Programmes are divided into two distinct programmes; Skills Bank and Board bank. Each programme is designed to develop and enhance professional skills on both sides. The programmes provide a dynamic and cost effective way to develop and motivate employees, enabling them to acquire new skills and assume extra responsibilities.

Venture Philanthropy: Philanthropy and the Arts

This Report was prepared for Arts and Business Northern Ireland by the Venture Philanthropy Ireland Limited in 2008.

Summary of some of the conclusions from the Report:

• People are willing to fund the arts and culture sector from a philanthropic perspective, but currently do not to the same extent as they fund other sectors (health, education and the environment). It was the only sector that on occasion provoked a very strong negative response in terms of philanthropic funding
• Philanthropy is a very personal private issue particularly in Northern Ireland.
• It is up to the world of the arts and culture and those representing it to create a strong artistic business case in order to attract inward philanthropic funding
• How you ask and whom you ask is critical and philanthropy is primarily a relationship building exercise between the donor and recipient
• Government were overwhelmingly considered to have a role to play in encouraging and supporting philanthropic activity
• There is a need for primary and local statistical evidence to support the value that arts and culture contribute to society and the economy

Scotland

Arts and business – Scotland

The Scottish Government is providing Arts and Business with £300,000 in 2008/9. In 2009/10 £300,000 will be made available to encourage new business sponsorship for the arts on a £1 for £1 matching basis. This scheme will be building on a previous programme that has to date brought an additional £1.8 million to the arts in Scotland.[7]

Arts Council Scotland[8]

The Scottish Executive ‘New Arts Sponsorship Award (SEASA) scheme was launched in April 2006. The scheme has available some £80,000 over two years. Arts and Business Scotland has awarded £319,937 to 28 projects since the scheme was launched. These awards have attracted £509,429 of new investment from private businesses. The Awards provide match funding for new arts sponsors.

The objectives for the new awards include[9];

• Increase the number of businesses sponsoring the arts in Scotland
• Support cultural organisations in their business development by helping to attract new businesses to the sector
• Entice non-Scottish based companies to sponsor activities in Scotland

The SEASA has attracted some 28 private companies in Scotland that have never sponsored the arts in Scotland before. £830,000 in sponsorship has been generated in Scotland through the new scheme. The scheme is funded through the Arts Council Scotland and managed by the Arts and Business Scotland organisation.

Eligible arts/business partnerships can apply for £1 for £1 match funding based on a minimum sponsorship of £1,000 (cash or kind) up to a maximum of £50,000. Businesses must be sponsoring the arts in Scotland for the first time, or must not have sponsored the arts in Scotland since 31 March 2003[10].

Wales

Arts and Business Welsh (Cymru) Investment Programmes[11]

A new investment programme for business in the arts was launched by the Welsh Government and Arts and Business in May 2008. The programme consists of two parts – (1) CultureStep and (2) CultureScope.

CultureStep

The aim of this programme is to attract businesses who are investing in the arts for the first time or who have not invested in the arts in Wales for over 5 years. Also being pursued are businesses that wish to develop their existing relationship with the arts -either through a new development or additional money.

All applications to CultureStep must address at least one of the following priorities;

• Engaging young people who would otherwise not have an opportunity to experience the arts
• Providing training and development opportunities for adults and/or young people in the community
• Social inclusion, access and outreach
• Enabling activity in priority areas of Welsh Language
• Using the arts to motivate, develop and train business’ staff
• Promoting Individual Giving
• Encouraging business investment into the arts from outside Wales

In order to access CultureStep, the minimum business investment required is £1000. Arts and Business Wales will consider making an investment of £1 for every £2 the business partner provides. This investment will only take place if the following criteria are met;

• Business partner is investing in the arts for the first time or has not invested in the arts in Wales for at least 5 years
• Business partner has made a written 3 year commitment to the arts partner which does not decrease year on year
• Business partner has less than 50 employees

If none of the above requirements are meet by the lead business partner then the leverage must be at least £3 from business for every £1 Arts and Business Wales invest.

Publicly funded organisations excluded from applying as business partners include the following;

• Universities (and other educational establishments)
• Housing Associations
• Local Authorities
• Government Departments
• Police Service
• Prison Service
• General Practitioners
• Embassies
• Hospitals

CultureScope

Applications for this fund are by invitation only. This scheme enables Arts and Business to initiate transformative business/arts partnership, often involving other public sector bodies. CultureScope involves larger scale projects.[12]

The maximum Arts and Business investment in CultureScope is £30,0000 per project, the minimum is £10,000. The minimum leverage required from business for CultureScope is £4:£1 but this can involve a number of businesses collaborating. Where business collaborate to achieve the required project leverage the minimum investment per business is £5,000 per project[13]. Arts and Business Wales aim to lever business resources into the arts with a minimum national average leverage across the Investment Programmes of £7:£1. The minimum leverage required per CultureScope project is £4:£1[14].

All CultureScope projects must address at least one of the following priorities[15];

• Engaging young people who would otherwise not have an opportunity to experience the arts
• Providing training & development opportunities for adults and / or young people in the community
• Social inclusion, access and outreach
• Enabling activity in priority areas of Wales (Community First Area)
• Supporting diversity
• Contributing to environmental regeneration
• Promoting equal status for the Welsh Language
• Using the arts to motivate, develop and train business’ staff
• Promoting Individual Giving
• Encouraging business investment into arts from outside Wales

Arts and Business Wales

With 20 years experience, Arts and Business Cymru (Wales) has 20 years experience in partnering the arts and business across Wales. It currently works with over 300 businesses, as well as almost 400 arts organisations.[16]

The Professional Development Programmes that aim to bring business skills and experience to the arts are supported by the Welsh Assembly Government’s Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning & Skills (DCELLS).

January 2009

Research Paper 4

Per Capita Spend on the Arts in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland

Meadhbh Mc Cann
Research Officer

This paper provides information in relation to the per capita spend on the arts for the regions in the United Kingdom (Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and the Republic of Ireland.

United Kingdom – Financing of Culture

The Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2007 (PESA 2007)[17], produced by the UK HM Treasury, brought about changes to the function and programme of public expenditure in order to comply with the United Nations Classifications of Functions of Government (COFOG)[18].

The data in the tables that follow are consistent with the ‘Country and Regional Analyses’ which is published by HM Treasury in Chapter 9 of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA) 2007. The regional distribution figures were completed in January and February 2007[19].

The tables show the central government and public corporation elements of Total Expenditure on Services (TES); TES is a near-cash measure of public spending. The tables include current and capital spending by the Department and its Non-Departmental Public Bodies, and public corporations capital expenditure. The tables do not include capital finance to public corporations, payments to local authorities or local authorities’ own expenditure[20].

Regional Departmental spend includes the following;

(1) Grant to the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority;

(2) Funding of eight regional Cultural Consortia; and

(3) Grant to the Greater London Authority

The data are based on identified expenditure on services that is also capable of being analysed for the benefit of individual countries and regions.

Expenditure that is incurred for the benefit of the UK as a whole is excluded. Tourism allocation is classified as identifiable expenditure. The PESA states that, “the analyses show the regional outcome of spending decisions that on the whole have not been made primarily on a regional basis"[21].

The table below shows the Government spend on culture via Arts Councils per head of population in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2006/2007 was as follows;

Grant Aid for four Arts Councils in the United Kingdom regions in 2005-2007

Arts Council	Grant in aid 2005-06	Grant in aid 2006-07	Per capita spend 2006-07
Arts Council England	£409,178,000	£422,361,000	£8.19
Scottish Arts Council	£55,298,000	£62,474,000	£11.93
Arts Council of Wales	£26,930,000	£26,808,000	£8.80
Arts Council of Northern Ireland	£11,534,522	£10,274,852	£6.13

Data for the table above has been gathered from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport Annual report 2007, Scottish Arts Council Annual report 2007, Arts Council of Wales Annual report 2007, Arts Council of Northern Ireland Annual report 2007 and Arts Council Northern Ireland position paper for Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.

Department of Culture, Media and Sport, total spending per head by country and region, in GBP, 2004-2006

Spending per head	2004/05 Outturn	2005/06 Outturn
Total England	£46.2	£46.4
Scotland	£43.1	£46.8
Wales	£80.1	£75.3
Northern Ireland	£37.1	£55.6
Total UK identifiable expenditure	£47.3	£48.1

Department of Culture, Media and Sport, spending by function or programme by country, in millions GBP, 2005/2006

Function	England	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland
Heritage, arts, libraries and Films	£880.0	£11.2	£12.4	£5.1
National Lottery	£1235.1	£218.3	£112.4	£88.6

Arts Council Northern Ireland

Per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland is the lowest across the UK and the Republic Ireland. Northern Ireland received £6.13 per head of population compared with Scotland which received £11.93 and the Republic of Ireland equivalent of £12.61[22]. The Arts Council Northern Ireland states that in the last three years arts organisations in Northern Ireland have had a shortfall of £5.6 million. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland are seeking an increase in funding for the arts of £26 million for the 2008-2011 Comprehensive spending Review[23].

Per Capita Spend on the Arts in UK Regions and the Republic of Ireland[24]

Arts spending per capita in the UK and the Republic of Ireland for 2008/2009

Area	Arts Spending per Capita
Scotland	£14.04
Wales	£10.10
England	£8.47
Republic	€17.92
Northern Ireland	£7.58

 

Region	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09
Scotland	£12.01	£9.21	£14.04
Wales	£8.81	£9.60	£10.10
England	£8.09	£8.14	£8.47
Republic	€12.46	€18.87	€17.92
Northern Ireland	£6.09	£6.11	£7.58

International Data on Government Spending on the Arts[25]

The Arts Council of England (ACE) 1998 report entitled ‘International data on Government Spending on the arts in ten countries’[26]. This Report analysed the direct public arts spending in the following selected OECD countries;

• Australia;
• Canada;
• Finland;
• France;
• Germany;
• Ireland;
• Netherlands;
• Sweden;
• United Kingdom; and
• United States of America

Comparison of Public Arts Spending

The ACE Report states that comparing the public arts spending across countries is a complicated task, partly because various countries have a variety of methods of defining and accounting for arts expenditures. Due to this difficulty a technique of ‘ring-fencing’ is used to measure arts spending by various countries on a consistent basis [27].

The ACE Report excluded the following types of expenditure[28];

(1) spending on libraries and the built heritage

(2) spending on professional training in the arts

(3) spending on mainstream arts education in schools

(4) spending on capital expenditure (e.g. building a new theatre)

(5) central government spending on administration of culture and public service broadcasting; and

(6) indirect spending through tax forgone

The ACE Report states that among the 10 OECD countries, the three countries with the highest per capita GDP values are;

• United States $28,158;
• Germany $23,565; and
• Canada $22,321

The OECD countries with the lowest per capita GDP were as follows;

• United Kingdom $18,918;
• Australia $17,181; and
• Ireland $13,428

The Report highlights that high economic output, (GDP), does not necessarily correlate with high public spending on the arts. For example the countries with the highest per capita GDP, the United States also had the lowest per capita government arts spending at 0.13 per cent of all final United States government expenditures. Whereas Germany, spent approximately 1.79 per cent of all its final government expenditure on the arts.

March 2009

[1] CEREC, http://195.167.181.214/asp/uploadedFiles/file/CERECEuropeanTaxationBrochure.pdf

[2] The Business Expansion Scheme (BES) Relief for Investment in Corporate Trades, http://www.arts-sport-tourism.gov.ie/pdfs/BusinessExpansionScheme.pdf

[3] Cultural item includes any archaeological item, archive, book, estate record, manuscript and painting.

[4] The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, http://www.arts-sport-tourism.gov.ie/culture/schemes/tax-relief.html

[5] Arts and Business, http://www.aandb.org.uk/render.aspx/siteID=5&navIDs=1066,1074

[6] Invest Ni Client companies - refers to businesses that have sales of £100,000 per year and sales outside Northern Ireland greater than 25% of turnover or greater than £250,000

[7] Arts and Business, http://www.aandb.org.uk/render.aspx?siteID=1&navIDs=1,4,24,891

[8] Scottish Arts Council, http://www.sac.org.uk/1/latenews/1003807.aspx

[9] Scottish Arts Council, http://www.scottisharts.org.uk/1/latestnews/1003271.aspx

[10] Scottish Arts Council, http://www.scottisharts.org.uk/1/latestnews/1003271.aspx

[11] Arts and Business, http://www.aandb.org.uk/wales/

[12] Arts and Business, http://www.aandb.org.uk/render.aspx?siteID=1&navID=1,4,32,137

[13] Arts and Business, http://www.aandb.org.uk/wales

[14] Arts and Business, http://www.aandb.org.uk/wales

[15] Arts and Business, http://www.aandb.org.uk/wales

[16] Arts and Business, http://www.aandb.org.uk/render.aspx?siteID=1&navID=1,4,32,137

[17] Public Cultural expenditure per capita, http://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/unitedkingdom.php?aid=62

[18] United Nations Classifications of Function of Government (COFOG), http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/18/0/2666146.pdf

[19] Public Cultural expenditure per capita, http://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/unitedkingdom.php?aid=62

[20] Public Cultural expenditure per capita, http://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/unitedkingdom.php?aid=62

[21] Public Cultural expenditure per capita, http://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/unitedkingdom.php?aid=62

[22] Arts Council Northern Ireland, http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/campaign/csr.htm

[23] Arts Council Northern Ireland, http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/campaign/csr.htm

[24] Arts Council Northern Ireland, http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/news/2009/Files/CALInquiry.pdf

[25] This is an adjusted settlement figure which shows an uplift from £6.13 to £7.58 per capita (208/2009) and includes ring-fenced amounts for : the Creative Industries Initiative fund (£500,000), Arts & Business (NI) (£455,000), Ulster Bank Festival at Queen’s (£125,000), Royal society for Ulster Architects (£30,000) and the Spectrum Centre (£100,000), which addition to the base-line grant.

[26] International Data on Government Spending on the Arts, http://www.arts.gov/research/Notes/74.pdf

[27] International Data on Government Spending on the Arts, http://www.arts.gov/research/Notes/74.pdf

[28] International Data on Government Spending on the Arts, http://www.arts.gov/research/Notes/74.pdf

Research Paper 5

The Impact of the Arts on Social Need

Background

This paper highlights the social impacts that the Arts Sector has and
how these impacts address aspects of social need in society.

Measuring the Economic and Social Impacts of the Arts: A Review[1]

The Report entitled, ‘Measuring the Economic and Social Impacts of the Arts: A Review refers to the following definition of a social impact[2],

“ those effects that go beyond the artefacts and the enactment of the event or performance itself and have a continuing influence upon, and directly touch, people’s lives"

The Review highlights the difficulty encountered when putting definitions of social and economic impact of the arts into practice. Indeed, the Review refers to the use of ‘value judgements’ in relation to the worth of arts activity and about what will and will not be measured. It has been stressed that the evaluation methodologies in the not-for-profit sector are in their infancy. There is also the view within the arts sector that the emphasis on social and economic rationales for the arts will devalue arts for its own sake.

The Review states that ‘The European Task Force on Culture and Development’ in 1997 identified the social contribution of arts and culture as both direct and indirect.

Direct impacts are described as the following;

• Arts and culture provide ‘socially valuable’ leisure activities;
• ‘Elevate’ people’s thinking and contribute positively to their psychological and social well-being; and
• Enhance their sensitivity.

Indirect social impacts include;

• The arts enriching the social environment with stimulating or pleasing public amenities;
• Artistic activity, by stimulating creativity and a disregard for established models of thinking, enhances innovation;
• Works of art and cultural products are a collective ‘memory’ for a community and serve as a reservoir of creative and intellectual ideas for the future generations; and
• Arts and cultural institutions improve the quality of life and so in urban areas enhance personal security and reduce the incidence of street crime and hooliganism.

Measurement of arts impacts

The Review refers to the need for the arts sector to change in relation to its approach to win more resources. Indeed, with changing public policy priorities there is pressure on the arts to justify its value. The Review highlights the use of accurate measurement of the impact of arts organisations’ interventions to provide a source of competitive advantage.

Suggestions have been made that there is a need for longitudinal research and monitoring to be carried out in order to evaluate the contribution of the arts to neighbourhood renewal, health improvement and crime reduction. The Review suggests that this could provide evidence of the long-term effects of arts participation and the work of arts organisations.

The Contribution of Culture to Regeneration in the UK: A Review of Evidence[3]

This review was commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The indicators of regeneration used in this report are those that are commonly used by the Government in the context of neighbourhood renewal, social inclusion and community cohesion, reduced levels of crime, increased health and well-being, increased educational attainment, reduced unemployment, greater community cohesion, greater environmental quality and quality of life.

Different types of impact measurement

The term ‘impact study’ is now widely used in relation to the contribution or role of cultural activity. Much of the literature on the contribution of culture to society now uses impacts, examples of which are included below;

Environmental (physical) – Land values and occupancy, design quality, environmental/quality of life, e.g. air/water pollution, noise, liveability, open space, diversity, sustainable development.

Economic – Multipliers (jobs, income/expenditure – direct, indirect, induced), cost benefit analysis, contingent valuation (i.e. willingness to pay for ‘free’ activities such as parks, museums, libraries), inward investment and leverage, distributive effects.

Social – cohesion, inclusion, capacity, health and well-being, identity,

Culture’s contribution

The Review states that much of the literature on cultural contribution falls into the category of advocacy and promotion. It has been stated that social impacts are ‘intangible’; indeed A. Jackson in 2000 warns that social impacts are;

1. Not directly verifiable;

2. Personal, so the degree of progress will depend on the need of the individual;

3. It is not possible to define equivalent units of progress that apply across stages of development or different people or communities;

4. Subjective;

5. Open to interpretation.

Social Capital

The potential contribution of cultural activity to the social capital of a community is a relatively new area of enquiry in the UK. Four characteristics of potential measures of the contribution of culture to social regeneration are as follows[4];

1. Reciprocity, trust and cooperation between community members and accepted rules governing the functioning of networks;

2. Community networks which make the civic community;

3. Civic engagement or participation in the process of sustaining and/or using voluntary, state and interpersonal networks;

4. Civic identity referring to people’s sense of belonging together with a sense of solidarity and equality with other community members.

Reasons for the gaps in evidence

The Review states internal barriers to the gathering of evidence of impact also exist within the cultural sector and the public funding system.

The most common barriers have been identified as the following[5]:

1. A lack of interest on the part of the cultural sector in developing evaluative systems;

2. Existence of the view that evaluation is unnecessary and bureaucratic;

3. The view that evaluation is an additional and unaffordable burden;

4. The failure of funding bodies to insist that provision for evaluation is made;

5. The perception of data collection not being seen as a tool to help organisations improve their own practice;

6. A failure to recognise evaluation as an essential part of the process of learning about culture’s contribution to regeneration;

7. A tendency, in the design and implementation of an evaluation exercise, to give too great a priority to funders’ objectives;

8. A lack of experience of undertaking formally structured evaluations;

9. In relation to the arts, the absence of planning norms for arts facilities, against which to measure the quality and quantity of provision.

Social Impact of Heritage Lottery Funded Projects 2006-2007[6]

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Report on Social Impacts of their funded projects was carried out during 2007. The research examines the ways that individuals participate in heritage projects and highlights the outcomes for individuals and their communities.

The following are the key findings of the research Report, as identified by the Heritage Lottery Fund;

Created opportunities for the achievement of a variety of positive outcomes – 99% are increasing knowledge and understanding of heritage; 97% of projects increase the enjoyment of participants in, and visitors to heritage projects;

Are generally inclusive and target diverse audiences successfully and where project activities are targeted at specific groups or communities – 61% of projects are targeting children and 21% are targeting black and minority ethnic communities and groups;

Provide various opportunities for volunteering; and

Involve participation and learning - 59% of projects provide opportunities and activities for formal learners such as school children; and 56% engage with informal learners. A review of projects suggests that all projects involve some degree of learning

The table below highlights the number of successful Heritage funded projects in terms of benefits to individuals and communities in 2006 and 2007.

Number of case studies projects with top ranking on social benefits	2006 research Number of case study projects (out of 30)	2007 research Number of case study projects (out of 30)
Benefits to individuals
Increasing knowledge and understanding of heritage	21	29
Providing enjoyment/inspiration & creativity	19	27
Developing personal skills & capabilities	18	21
Influencing attitudes & values	11	19
Leading to changes in activity/behaviour/progression	7	13
Health	2	8
Benefits to communities
Providing community focus	10	19
Social cohesion	12	13
Social inclusion	9	11
Strengthened organisations	13	18

The Heritage Lottery Fund state that some volunteers and participants have, following involvement with a project funded by the HLF, gone onto further training, higher education and employment in a career related to the heritage activity they had taken part in. The HLF also report improvements to direct and indirect health benefits and well-being, both through participation in physical exercise as a result of outdoor activities such as walks or volunteer conservation work and through improved self esteem, reduced isolation and becoming part of a team. Project participation was reported to contribute to improved mental health and a general sense of well-being.

In Northern Ireland, the Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £61.7 million to 205 projects under the main grant programmes that can contribute to regeneration.[7]

Grant Programme	Total number of projects	Total Funding £m	% of funding in deprived areas
Heritage Grants	177	£49.0	58%
Townscapes	16	£9.7	41%
Parks	6	£3.0	2%
Places of Worship	6	£0.02	85%
Total (programmes listed above)	205	£61.7	52%

ValCAL Study

The ValCAL study carried out by PriceWaterHouseCoopers in 2007, states that the Arts in Northern Ireland make an important contribution to the creative industries sector. Indeed, in 2003, it is estimated that over 33,500 people were employed in creative industries or creative occupations in Northern Ireland, representing 4.6% of the Northern Ireland workforce[8].

The ValCAL study highlights the impacts of the Arts sector in Northern Ireland under the following headings[9];

Education

The ‘Creative Youth Partnerships’ have involved over 13,000 children and young people and 130 artists in Northern Ireland. The ValCAL study states that this initiative has helped to strengthen links to the curriculum and provide high quality education experiences.

Health

The Arts sector can be seen to have health impacts in relation to aiding patient recovery and improvements in health and well-being in Northern Ireland. These impacts can lead to cost savings in health expenditure. Arts can also aid in the reduction of anxiety and depression levels. In a survey carried out at the Mater Hospital in Belfast, for example, 88% of patients described arts activities as beneficial.

Regeneration

ValCAL states that the arts sector can act as a driver for local regeneration in both urban and rural areas. Indeed, over the past ten years funding to the arts has helped to establish nine new cultural buildings in towns and cities across Northern Ireland.

Social Inclusion

The arts sector has high levels of participation across a range of social groups and ages in Northern Ireland and contributes towards addressing issues related to social inclusion. In regard to participation, statistics show that between March 2005 and March 2006 47% of residents aged 16+ had participated in or attended an arts event. The arts sector has high levels of participation among persons with disabilities: 82% of the population with disabilities have expressed interest in one or more art forms[10].

March 2009

[1] Measuring the economic and social impacts of the arts: a review, http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/documents/publications/340.pdf

[2] Measuring the economic and social impacts of the arts: a review, http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/documents/publications/340.pdf

[3] The Contribution of Culture to Regeneration in the UK: A Review of Evidence, http://www.liv.ac.uk/impacts08/Dissemination/280108_Seminar/NWCO(2008) Reviewing_the_Contribution_of_Culture_in_Regenerat.pdf

[4] The Contribution of Culture to Regeneration in the UK: A Review of Evidence, http://www.liv.ac.uk/impacts08/Dissemination/280108_Seminar/NWCO(2008) Reviewing_the_Contribution_of_Culture_in_Regenerat.pdf

[5] The Contribution of Culture to Regeneration in the UK: A Review of Evidence, http://www.liv.ac.uk/impacts08/Dissemination/280108_Seminar/NWCO(2008) Reviewing_the_Contribution_of_Culture_in_Regenerat.pdf

[6] Social Impact of Heritage Lottery Funded Projects 2006-2007, http://www.hlf.org.uk/HLF/Docs/ResearchAndConsultation/SocialImpactYR3FINALreport.pdf

[7] New life: Heritage and Regeneration, http://www.hlf.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/C2B421FF-DDB6-41B5-BEB9-3D5D5378948D/0/New_Life_2004.pdf

[8] PriceWaterHouseCoopers, ValCAL Study, 2007

[9] PriceWaterHouseCoopers, ValCAL Study, 2007

[10] PriceWaterHouseCoopers, ValCAL Study, 2007

Research Paper 6

European Funding of the Arts and Culture

Meadhbh Mc Cann
Research Officer

This paper provides details on the levels of funding provided for the arts and culture in various European countries. The paper highlights individual countries approaches to funding and the mechanisms they use to contribute to the arts and culture.

Financing the Arts and Culture in the EU[1]

Data Collection of EU public expenditure on the arts

Data collected on public expenditure for culture from secondary sources suffer from the following limitations[2];

1. A lack of coherent definitions of culture on national and local levels; and

2. Differences in research methodologies often lead to reporting inconsistencies; gaps in information are frequent and sometimes extensive, especially at the lower levels of government.

The report entitled ‘Financing the Arts and Culture in the EU’ refers to administrative changes that have occurred in some countries and have impacted greatly on the way information is collected. In most cases, “state spending on culture" refers only to figures of the Ministries of Culture and ignores data from other Ministries. The Report states that information is, more often than not, presented out of context, omitting constituents that would aid in the understanding of how culture and the arts are financed[3].

Studies have indicated that governments tend to spend more on culture when the national income grows. However, according to figures based on Eurostat’s definition of culture (Eurostat in 2001 suggest that culture includes creative arts, museums and archives, the performing arts, libraries, and film and video, without broadcasting and art education)[4], the EU 27 countries’ average national spending on culture, as a percentage of GDP, for the period 2000 to 2005 varies from 0.3% to 1.2%[5].

EU country examples of public expenditure rates

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD 2006) considers a broader concept of culture and recreation, and suggests that the variation is between 0.4% and 2.0% or more, with Luxembourg and Denmark at the high end and Greece at the low end. The report concludes that public spending on culture and recreation has grown in Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg and Portugal and has declined in Germany and Sweden. This data is primarily based on Ministry of Culture reports and budgets.

If the support from other ministries were included, the shares of central and regional governments might change. In countries like Austria, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, Italy and the United Kingdom, local government expenditure remains higher than central. This is not the case for the Central and Eastern European countries, where the central government budget is the greatest financial source to culture; its share varies between 65-70%.

Malta (up to 90%) and Cyprus are the most financially dependent on state support. A considerable rise in state spending on culture is seen in Malta (up to 2 times) and Cyprus (up to 2.3 times), where the level of development investment in culture has been high in recent years. The growth in central government expenditure on culture is between 20-70% in most Eastern European countries; in Lativa, it is by 1.10%.

Public support allocated to different cultural sectors

The allocations of public spending on culture show different preferences among the countries.

Expenditures for cultural heritage and museums are highly prioritised in the following countries[6];

• Greece;
• Italy;
• Malta;
• Cyprus;
• Germany;
• Hungary;
• Latvia;
• Lithuania;
• Poland;
• The Netherlands;
• Portugal;
• Spain;
• Sweden and;
• The United Kingdom

The performing arts (including music, theatre and dance) are primarily subsided in the following European countries[7];

• Austria;
• Germany (music and orchestras);
• Bulgaria (theatre);
• Estonia;
• Finland;
• Denmark;
• Hungary;
• Malta;
• The Netherlands;
• Poland and;
• Sweden

Libraries are heavily subsidised by government in Finland, Denmark (especially at the local level) and Lithuania.

High financial support is given to literature, especially library development in the following countries[8];

• Estonia;
• Portugal; and
• Germany.

Sports receive a high percentage of support from Local governments in Belgium (up to 12% in the Flemish Community); in Denmark (up to 36%); and in Portugal (up to 48%).

National broadcasting services are highly funded from state cultural budgets in the French and German Speaking Communities in Belgium (up to 35%), Bulgaria (up to 44%), Estonia (up to 20%) and the Netherlands (up to 29%). Public cultural budget includes expenditure for arts education in Austria (up to 22% of total expenditure for culture), the French Speaking Community in Belgium (up to 22% of the total expenditure for culture), Denmark (at the state level, up to 13%, in total public expenditure for culture up to 6%), Sweden (in the total expenditure for culture up to 17%), and Estonia[9].

Financing Culture with Lottery Funds

Lottery funds provide additional sources of financial support to culture. The EU Report states that the stability of lottery funds for culture is not ensured by any measures. However, exceptions to this are the Netherlands, Sweden and Slovakia. The Finnish model could possibly provide a solution to this as the Finnish government compensated for lottery shortcomings. Only Italy distributes a fixed amount for heritage annually. The lack of impact or evaluation studies on lottery funds for culture allows only for general observations to be made[10].

Breakdown by type of expenditure and sectors

In accordance with the decision-making priorities of the distributing agent, lottery funds can be grouped into project funds, capital funds and operational costs.

Percentages of lottery funds to culture by type of funding (2000)[11]

	Project-based Funding	Ongoing Operational Costs	Funding for Capital Projects
Estonia	80	0	20
Finland	0	80	0
Italy	0	0	100
Slovakia	0	50	50
United Kingdom	16	0	84

The above table shows the type and range of lottery support funding across European countries. Highlighting the form of support from the lottery takes in individual countries.

Lottery Sector Spend

In the United Kingdom (2004-2005), 33.4% of the total lottery revenues are devoted to arts and heritage. These funds are distributed by regional arts councils, the UK Film Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Millennium Commission.

The Estonia national lottery revenues dedicated to culture are distributed through the Estonian Cultural Endowment and Gambling Tax Council, and predominantly support cultural projects.

In Poland (2004), lottery money was given to cultural enterprises and cultural investments, representing 46% and 19% of the total lottery fund respectively.

Dutch private lotteries support culture, allocating their revenues to foundations, for example the European Cultural Foundation, the Prince Bernhard Culture Fund, Stichting DOEN, East-Europe Foundation. Contributions are made primarily to cultural heritage and multicultural projects.

In Belgium (the Flanders Community), lottery funds to arts and culture primarily support the performing arts (72%), followed by social cultural work (12.5%), and museums (9%).

German priorities (on the regional level) are the visual arts (50.6%) and music (22%).

The Slovakian lottery funding is divided among the performing arts (32%), museums (24%), interdisciplinary activities (15%), and libraries (10%).

Swedish lottery funds are directed to interdisciplinary projects.

Recent trends in support from foundations to arts and culture

Art and culture are supported by private foundation support in the following EU countries[12]; Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, Italy and Spain. The European Foundation Centre (EFC) defines a foundation or trust as the following [13],

“an independent, separately constituted, no-profit body with its own governing board and with its own source of income, whether or not exclusively from an endowment"

The Report ‘Financing the arts and culture in the European Union’ states that in the United Kingdom, arts and culture is supported by grant-making trusts; representing 9% of their total budget in 2002. From 2001-2004, funding increased by an average of 30%, and then decreased by almost 15% in 2004-2005 in the UK. London based art organisations received the largest share (up to 78%) of this funding.

Cultural activities are widely supported by private foundations in Germany, especially those operating at local levels. Support to arts and culture represents an average of 11% of the total of foundations’ expenditure.

Cultural activities in Portugal are traditionally supported by private foundations, such as the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation; up to 45% of its budget is spent on culture. In 2000, its contributions represented about 40% of the total national spending on culture. Other important private contributions are the Orient Foundation, the Serralves Foundation, and the Culturgest.

In Belgium, support from foundations amounted to €15-16 million in 2000, representing 13% of the total budget of private foundations.

In the Nertherlands, private associations and foundations support to culture can represent as much as 2% of total cultural expenditure.

In France, 4% of the total expenditures of foundations is spent on arts and culture.

In Austria, there are some 1,679 private organisations that support art and culture. This funding stream is primarily targeted towards audiovisual media, theatres and museums.

In Finland, private foundations contributed an estimated €16-17 million to culture in 2002; the private Finnish Cultural Foundation provided nearly half of this amount (€8 million)[14].

The Economy of Culture in Europe[15]

Economic and Social Dimensions of Culture

The following provides an overview of selected European national studies on the economy of culture[16]. These countries highlight the variety of methodologies that are employed by individual countries to assess the culture sector in economic terms.

1. Denmark

Source	Danish Ministry of Culture
Approach	Culture and experience economy
Definition	Fashion, virtual arts, music books, theatre, radio/TV, printed media, architecture, design, film/video, advertising, edutainment, content production, events, cultural institutions, tourism, toys/amusement, and sport industries
Date	2000-2001
Turnover	€23.4 billion
Value added to national GDP	5.3% of national GDP
Workforce (private sector)	12% of the total fulltime workforce (170,000 full-time employees)
Exports	16% of total exports (€9.11 billion)

2. The Netherlands

Source	Ministry for Economics, Affairs and Ministry for Enterprise, Culture and Science
Approach	Creative economy
Definition	Arts, media and entertainment and creative business services
Date	2004
Turnover	€8.4 billion
Workforce	3.2% of total workforce (240,000)
Exports	0.14% of total

3. The United Kingdom

Source	Department of Culture, Media and Sport
Approach	Creative economy
Definition	Advertising, architecture, the art and antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film and video, interactive leisure software, music, the performing arts, publishing, software and computer games, television and radio
Date	2001
Turnover	€165.43 billion (£112.5 billion)
Value added to national GDP	6.8% of national GDP (€85 billion)
Workforce (private sector)	4.3% of total workforce (1.3 million people)
Exports	4.7% of total exports (approx. €15.1 billion/£10.3 billion)

4. Finland

Source	Ministry of Culture
Date	2004-2005
Turnover	€12.6 billion
Value added to national GDP	3.8% of national GDP (€4.3 billion 2002)
Workforce	3.2% of total workforce (85854 persons 2003)
Number of enterprises	14517 enterprises
Exports	1.06% of total exports (€0.59 billion)

5. Latvia

Source	The economic contributions of copyright-based industries in Latvia
Approach	Copyright industries
Definition	Definition approved by the World Culture Conference
Date	2004
Turnover	€0.83 billion
Value added to national GDP	4% of national GDP (€0.3 billion)
Workforce	4.4% of total workforce (41225 employees)

6. Sweden

Source	Ministry of Culture
Approach	Culture and experience economy
Date	2000-2001
Value added to national GDP	9% of national GDP (€17.1 billion)
Workforce	10% of total workforce (400,000)

7. Lithuania

Source	Academic article
Approach	Creative industries
Definition	Advertising, architecture, the art and antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film and video, interactive leisure software, music, the performing arts, publishing, software and computer games, television and radio
Date	2002
Turnover	€0.60 billion
Value added to national GDP	0.2% of national GDP (€0.04 billion)
Workforce	4% of total workforce (57,000 people)

8. Poland

Source	The national strategy for the development of Culture in 2004-2013
Date	2002
Turnover	€8.7 billion
Value added to national GDP	5.2% of national GDP (€17.3 billion)

April 2009

[1] European Parliament Study: Financing the arts and Culture in the European Union 2006, http://www.helgatruepel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF- Datein/Financing_the_arts_and_culture_in_the_European_Union.pdf

[2] European Parliament Study: Financing the arts and Culture in the European Union 2006, http://www.helgatruepel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF- Datein/Financing_the_arts_and_culture_in_the_European_Union.pdf

[3] European Parliament Study: Financing the arts and Culture in the European Union 2006, http://www.helgatruepel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF- Datein/Financing_the_arts_and_culture_in_the_European_Union.pdf

[4] Eurostat in 2001 suggest that culture includes creative arts, museums and archives, the performing arts, libraries, and film and video, without broadcasting and art education

[5] European Parliament Study: Financing the arts and Culture in the European Union 2006, http://www.helgatruepel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF- Datein/Financing_the_arts_and_culture_in_the_European_Union.pdf

[6] European Parliament Study: Financing the arts and Culture in the European Union 2006, http://www.helgatruepel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF- Datein/Financing_the_arts_and_culture_in_the_European_Union.pdf

[7] European Parliament Study: Financing the arts and Culture in the European Union 2006, http://www.helgatruepel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF- Datein/Financing_the_arts_and_culture_in_the_European_Union.pdf

[8] European Parliament Study: Financing the arts and Culture in the European Union 2006, http://www.helgatruepel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF- Datein/Financing_the_arts_and_culture_in_the_European_Union.pdf

[9] European Parliament Study: Financing the arts and Culture in the European Union 2006, http://www.helgatruepel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF- Datein/Financing_the_arts_and_culture_in_the_European_Union.pdf

[10] European Parliament Study: Financing the arts and Culture in the European Union 2006, http://www.helgatruepel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF- Datein/Financing_the_arts_and_culture_in_the_European_Union.pdf

[11] European Parliament Study: Financing the arts and Culture in the European Union 2006, http://www.helgatruepel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF- Datein/Financing_the_arts_and_culture_in_the_European_Union.pdf

[12] European Parliament Study: Financing the arts and Culture in the European Union 2006, http://www.helgatruepel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF- Datein/Financing_the_arts_and_culture_in_the_European_Union.pdf

[13] European Parliament Study: Financing the arts and Culture in the European Union 2006, http://www.helgatruepel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF- Datein/Financing_the_arts_and_culture_in_the_European_Union.pdf

[14] European Parliament Study: Financing the arts and Culture in the European Union 2006, http://www.helgatruepel.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF- Datein/Financing_the_arts_and_culture_in_the_European_Union.pdf

[15] The Economy of Culture in Europe, http://ec.europa.eu/culture/key-documents/doc873_en.htm

[16] The Economy of Culture in Europe, http://ec.europa.eu/culture/key-documents/doc873_en.htm

Research Paper 7

Presentation Questions

Breakdown of England and Republic of Ireland funding

England

Department of Culture, Media and Sport, total spending by country and region in the United Kingdom in 2004-2006

County and region	2004/05 Outturn	2005/06 Outturn
North East	155.0	141.5
North West	265.9	285.1
Yorkshire and Humberside	203.7	234.8
East Midlands	204.7	152.7
West Midlands	188.6	214.4
Eastern	180.8	175.2
London	508.9	649.9
South East	305.8	272.0
South West	300.3	215.4
Total England	2313.5	2340.9
Scotland	218.8	238.7
Wales	236.4	222.7
Northern Ireland	63.5	95.9
Total UK identifiable expenditure	2832.1	2898.2
Outside UK	142.7	139.9
Total identifiable expenditure	2974.9	3038.1
Non-identifiable expenditure	2647.0	2677.0
Total expenditure on services	5621.9	5715.1

 

Spending per head	2004/05 Outturn	2005/2006 Outturn
North East	60.9	55.3
North West	38.9	41.6
Yorkshire and Humberside	40.4	46.4
East Midlands	47.8	35.5
West Midlands	35.4	40.0
Eastern	32.9	31.6
London	68.5	86.4
South East	37.7	33.3
South West	59.6	42.5
Total England	46.2	46.4
Scotland	43.1	46.8
Wales	80.1	75.3
Northern Ireland	37.1	55.6
Total UK identifiable expenditure	47.3	48.1

Republic of Ireland

Arts and Film funding 2007 and 2008

	2007	2008
Department	206.945m	208.457m
National Gallery	11.765m	12.610m
OPW Vote	4.153m	23.894m
Total	221.963m	244.961m

N.B an increase of 10.36%

Day to Day or current spending on arts, culture and film 2007 and 2008

	2007	2008
Department	126.695m	132.977m
NGI	8.766m	9.611m
Total	135.461m	142.588m

Financial Allocations in 2008

Arts Council	82.102m
Irish Film Board	23.197m
Culture Ireland	4.75m
National Archives of Ireland	2.194m
Irish Museums of Modern Art	8.260m
Chester Beatty Library	3.467m
National Concert Hall	3.903m
National Library	12.002m
National Museum of Ireland	19.058m
ACCESS Programme	40.655m
National Gallery of Ireland	9.611m
Hunt Museum	0.422m
Marshs’ Library	0.400m
Irish Architectural Archive	0.377m
National Print Museum	0.133m
Exploration Station	0.250m
1901/1911 Census Digitization	1.000m
Medieval Manuscripts UCC	0.200m
Historia Translations Project	0.200m
Regional Museums Programme	0.125m
James Joyce Centre	0.167m
Science Gallery	0.100m
Cork Butter Museum	0.030m
Commemorative Programmes, Festivals	2.8m
Irish Manuscripts Commission	0.260m
Genealogy Project	0.305m
Crawford Gallery, Cork	1.991m
Capital Programme for Cultural Institutions	23.894m
Foynes Flying Boat Museum	0.100m
Total	245m

National Development Plan 2006-2013: Arts and Culture Programme

• 81m for ACCESS Programme
• 16m for Theatre Royal
• 7m for Gaiety Theatre
• 26m for National Museum (general capital works)
• 16m for National Spatial Strategy Gateways Infrastructure
• 21m for National Cultural Institutions (Digitisation, outreach, etc.)
• 145m for Film Board/ Infrastructure

Republic of Ireland

Public cultural expenditure per capita, in Euro, 2006 and 2007 by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism.

Year	Public cultural expenditure*	Expenditure per capita	% of GDP
2006	173,395,000	41.02	0.1
2007	222,406,000	52.46	0.12

* Includes Exchequer allocations to the Arts Council, the Cultural Institutions, cultural projects, cultural development, international cultural exchange, and film. Exchequer support for broadcasting support for broadcasting, heritage and funding channelled through the Local Authorities are not included.

Republic of Ireland

The Business Expansion Scheme (BES) – Relief for Investment in Corporate Trades[1]

The Business Expansion Scheme (BES) came into effect from the 1st January 2007.

In order to qualify, investments must be made by companies engaged in the following activities;

• manufacturing;
• service;
• tourism;
• R&D;
• plant cultivation activities;
• in the construction and
• leasing of advance factories; or,
• certain music recording activities.

The Scheme allows an individual investor to obtain income tax relief on investments up to a maximum of €150,000 per annum in each tax year up to 2013. An investor who cannot obtain relief on all their investment in a year of assessment, either because their investment exceeds the maximum of €150,000 or their income in that year is sufficient to absorb all of it, can carry forward the unrelieved amount to following years up to and including 2013, subject to the normal limit of €150,000 on the amount of investment that can be relieved in any one year.

A qualifying investor is an individual who;

(1) is a resident in the State for tax year in respect of which they make the claim (2) subscribes on their own behalf for eligible shares in a qualifying company and (3) is not for the relevant period, as defined, connected with the company.

Tax Relief for Heritage donations

Under Section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 in the Republic of Ireland, tax relief is available in respect of the donation of important national heritage items to the Irish national collections.

The relief consists of a tax credit equal to the value of the heritage item (any kind of cultural item[2]) donated.

National Collections

The national collections are described as Approved Bodies under the legislation, they include[3];

(1) National Archives

(2) National Gallery of Ireland

(3) National Library of Ireland

(4) National Museum of Ireland

(5) Irish Museum of Ireland

(6) The Crawford Art Gallery Cork Limited

The Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, in conjunction with the Minister of Finance with the consent of the funding bodies can award the tax relief to an applicant.

April 2009

[1] The Business Expansion Scheme (BES) Relief for Investment in Corporate Trades, http://www.arts-sport-tourism.gov.ie/pdfs/BusinessExpansionScheme.pdf

[2] Cultural item includes any archaeological item, archive, book, estate record, manuscript and painting.

[3] The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, http://www.arts-sport-tourism.gov.ie/culture/schemes/tax-relief.html

Research Paper 8

Response from Arts Council
re email of 24 April 2009

From: McAdam, Sadie
To: McCann, Meadhbh
Date: 24 April 2009
Subject: research papers from previous meetings

Meadhbh

Please find below the response from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) re your email query of 24 April 2009:

The Arts Council would advise that Auditing and Monitoring Procedures are embedded in all our Grant Management Processes. Once a grant award has been made and throughout the project, monitoring is conducted through a wide range of measures. These include: issuing of a Grant Offer under Standard and Specific Conditions; monitoring of quality of arts activity and reporting; attendance at performances/ exhibitions; monitoring financial procedures and expenditure of grant; monitoring of organisational governance structures and promoting best practice; monitoring of recruitment; twice yearly reporting through the survey of Regularly Funded Organisations; meetings and continuous contact with clients; verification of project income and expenditure through sampling process and visits and obtaining copies of audited accounts at year end. These and other auditing and monitoring measures are carried out to a level which is proportionate to the level of grant and size of the organisation. We hold information relating to individual organisations. In addition, awards made to capital projects (construction projects) are managed using the ‘Achieving Excellence’ Model, in line with government policy. This involves monitoring through project steering groups and project boards, which have set protocols for communication and responsibility within the project delivery model.

However, overall we cannot provide an exact figure of how much the Arts Council as an organisation spends on auditing and monitoring of grants, suffice to say that much of the work of our Arts Development Officers is routinely taken-up in this work. It could probably be obtained by carrying out a ‘time in motion’ study but at the present moment it is impossible to disaggregate the information in the form you have requested.

ACNI has confirmed that they do not hold figures relating to arts organisations.

Hope this is of assistance.

Regards

Sadie

DCAL Private Office
Extn 75153
Email: sadie.mcadam@dcalni.gov.uk

All e-mails and attachments sent by a Private Secretary, or member of the Private Office, to an official on behalf of a Minister relating to a decision, request or comment made by a Minister or FM/dFM, or a note of a Ministerial Meeting, must be filed appropriately by the main recipient. The Private Offices do not keep official records of such e-mails or attachments.

Research Paper 9

Social Impacts of the Arts Presentation Questions

This paper provides information on the following three topics following an oral presentation on the social impacts of the arts in Northern Ireland;

1. Health benefits re Mater hospital

2. Disabled population interest/participation in arts events

3. Distribution of Heritage Lottery Funding

Health Benefits

In 2006, The Dreams Project was undertaken at the Mater Hospital; highlighting that 88% of patients state that arts activity was beneficial to their health and 90% cited an improvement in their mood.[1]

Background: Dreams Project[2]

The Dreams Art and Health Project was developed by ‘Arts Care’ at the Mater Hospital as a three year project. The Project has a two-fold purpose[3];

1. Set up as a participatory visual arts project involving patients, staff and community groups associated with the hospital; and

2. Provide a strong research-based component aimed at assessing the value of participation in visual arts projects by patients, staff and community members associated with the Mater Hospital Trust.

Participants were asked their views about whether arts activities in hospitals were beneficial for patients and about their overall enjoyment of the arts project; 87.7% stated that art activity in hospitals is beneficial for patients and 95.8% commented that it was “very enjoyable" or “fairly enjoyable"[4].

Arts Care[5]

Arts Care, founded in 1991, is an Arts in Health Charity based in Northern Ireland. In partnership with Health Trusts throughout Northern Ireland, Arts Care engages 21 Artists-in-Residence and 7 ClownDoctors as well as many project artists, who facilitate and co-ordinate participatory workshops and performances.

Arts Care’s mission is to promote and co-ordinate the development of the arts provision in Health and Social Care settings throughout Northern Ireland for the well-being of patients, clients, residents, staff and visitors.[6]

According to Arts Care, research has shown that Art in Healthcare can provide the following benefits[7];

• Develop self-confidence and self-esteem
• Positively affect the culture of hospitals
• Improve staff and patient relationships and morale
• Improve social skills
• Help communication on many levels
• Strengthen hospital communities
• Decrease social isolation
• Enhance mental and physical health and well-being
• Develop creativity in the work place
• Improve sensory awareness and physical dexterity
• Transform a challenging period in hospital into an enjoyable experience
• Provide opportunities to develop new skills
• Enhance the environment of healthcare locations

Disabled Population participation in Arts[8]

The Arts Council Northern Ireland, in association with the Arts and Disability Forum commissioned MORI Ireland to undertake a programme of research to establish the current level and nature of disabled people’s involvement in the arts. The Report produced was entitled, ‘Barriers to disabled peoples participation and access to the arts in Northern Ireland’.[9]

Current level of interest and involvement

The Report stated that 82% of the disabled population expressed interest in one or more art forms. The art forms of film and music were most popular. Disabled people were less likely to be interested in Dance, Visual Arts and Crafts. Dissatisfaction was most likely to be expressed in relation to parking; comfort and location of seating; cost and ease of getting to and from the venue; and the cost of the event.[10]

Just under half of those interviewed had attended an arts event in the last 12 months (2007)[11]. This is proportionally less than the result for the population as a whole (73%). The Report states that it should be noted that the population of people with disabilities tends to be older and previous research shows that older people are less likely to attend arts events.

Highlighting the 16 to 34 age group of this study reveals that 66% have attended an arts event in the last 12 months, compared to 29% of those aged 65+. However, in the General Population Survey (Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 2004), the rate of attendance is higher, with 89% of 16 to 34 year olds attending some form of arts event and 42% for the 65+ age group.[12]

Research with disabled people involved in participatory arts

The Report states that levels of active participation in the arts in Northern Ireland were low, with 85% not taking part in any arts activity over the last 12 months. 38% of respondents expressed interest in participating more frequently in the arts (indeed, 10% were very interested)[13]. The Report states that those who were already participating in arts activity were more likely to say that they were interested in participating more frequently. A further 17% said that the lack of availability of support to meet their access requirements was a deterrent to increased participation.

Heritage Lottery Fund[14]

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) was set up by Parliament in 1994 to give grants to a wide range of projects involving the local, regional and national heritage of the United Kingdom; HLF distribute a share of the money raised by the National Lottery for Good Causes. This year, approximately £200 million will be allocated to projects in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. HLF is officially a ‘non-departmental public body’; however the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport issues financial and policy directions to the HLF and they report to Parliament through the department. Decisions in relation to individual applications and policies are entirely independent.[15]

The HLF Chair and 14 Trustees are appointed by the Prime Minister to run the Fund. The board makes decisions on applications over £2 million and on a the UK-wide targeted programmes, Townscape Heritage Initiative, Parks for People, Repair Grants for Places of Worship and Landscape Partnerships. Their decisions about individual applications and matters of policy are made entirely independently.[16]

The Board delegates decision-making to 12 regional and country committees made up of local people recruited through open advertisement. They make decisions on awards of £50,000 -£2 million and are supported by teams based on the nine English regions and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The 12 teams work with local communities and organisations to support applications and to assess them once submitted. The country and regional offices oversee the processing of applications in their particular area. They are also responsible for outreach and other activities in their country or region, and the heads of region or country take delegated decisions on small grants up to £50,000.[17]

May 2009

[1] Dreams Project 2006, http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/departs/all/docs/Dreams_brochure_2.pdf

[2] Dreams Project 2006, http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/departs/all/docs/Dreams_brochure_2.pdf

[3] Dreams Project 2006, http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/departs/all/docs/Dreams_brochure_2.pdf

[4] Dreams Project 2006, http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/departs/all/docs/Dreams_brochure_2.pdf

[5] Arts Care, http://www.artscare.co.uk

[6] Arts Care, http://www.artscare.co.uk

[7] Arts Care, http://www.artscare.co.uk

[8] Arts Council Northern Ireland, ‘Barriers to disabled people’s participation in and access to the arts in Northern Ireland’, http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/news/2007/new17122007.htm

[9] Arts Council Northern Ireland, ‘Barriers to disabled people’s participation in and access to the arts in Northern Ireland’, http://www.artscouncil- ni.org/news/2007/new17122007.htm

[10] Arts Council Northern Ireland, ‘Barriers to disabled people’s participation in and access to the arts in Northern Ireland’, http://www.artscouncil- ni.org/news/2007/new17122007.htm

[11] Arts Council Northern Ireland, ‘Barriers to disabled people’s participation in and access to the arts in Northern Ireland’, http://www.artscouncil- ni.org/news/2007/new17122007.htm

[12] Arts Council Northern Ireland, ‘Barriers to disabled people’s participation in and access to the arts in Northern Ireland’, http://www.artscouncil- ni.org/news/2007/new17122007.htm

[13] Arts Council Northern Ireland, ‘Barriers to disabled people’s participation in and access to the arts in Northern Ireland’, http://www.artscouncil- ni.org/news/2007/new17122007.htm

[14] Heritage Lottery Fund, http://www.hlf.org.uk/english/aboutus/ourbackground/howwework.htm

[15] Heritage Lottery Fund, http://www.hlf.org.uk/english/aboutus/ourbackground/howwework.htm

[16] Heritage Lottery Fund, http://www.hlf.org.uk/english/aboutus/ourbackground/howwework.htm

[17] Heritage Lottery Fund, http://www.hlf.org.uk/english/aboutus/ourbackground/howwework.htm

Appendix 8

List of Additional Information considered by the Committee

Arts Council Northern Ireland

Arts Council administration costs 2007 - 2008
Breakdown of spend (over £10,000)
Breakdown of spend (over £100,000)
Local Authority arts expenditure survey
Organisation chart March 2009
Arts Council programmes work plan

Correspondence dated 12/03/09
27/03/09
06/04/09
16/04/09
20/07/09
04/08/09
22/09/09

Arts and Business

Membership list

Correspondence dated 16/04/09

Belfast Community Circus School

Correspondence dated 27/03/09
31/03/09

FLGA

Background information

Ulster Orchestra

Correspondence dated 13/04/09

DCAL

Correspondence dated 23/04/09
08/05/09
12/05/09
28/07/09

Mid Armagh Community Network

Briefing Paper

Ulster-Scots Community Network

Briefing Paper

Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure

Report on the visit to Liverpool – June 2009

Appendix 9

Additional Information considered by the Committee

Arts Council administration costs
2007-2008

Income
DCAL Exchequer	12,488,812	Revenue
	6,543,544	Capital
Lottery	6,185,480
Department of Education	225,000
Total	25,442,836
Administrative costs
Wages & salaries	1,140,830
Other operating costs	778,317
	1,919,147
% of total income spent on administration	7.50%

Arts Council breakdown of spend
(over £10,000)

From: Lorraine McDowell [lmcdow@artscouncil-ni.org]
Sent: 24 March 2009 11:31
To: Bell, Dr. Kathryn
Cc: Nick Livingston
Subject: Arts Council Awards

Attachments: Book2.xls

Dear Kathryn

As requested please find attached a workbook containing 3 sheets detailing Arts Council awards £10,000 and over for the 3 years 2008/09, 2007/08 and 2006/07.

This list excludes capital expenditure and all ring-fenced amounts, eg specific amounts allocated by DCAL for specific projects which could not be used for any other purpose.

Key to acronyms where they appear in the grant type column:

ASOP – Annual Support for Organisations Programme

ADF – Arts Development Funds

MAP – Multi-Annual Programme

SIAP – Support for the Individual Artist

If you need any further information please contact me on 028 90385215.

Regards

Lorraine McDowell

2008 - 2009
Name	Type	Request	Award	Artform	Fund	Term -Months
Creative and Cultural Skills	ADF	50,000	50,000	Combined	Exchequer	15
Lyric Theatre (NI)	ADF	50,000	50,000	Drama	Exchequer	12
Northern Ireland Theatre Association	ADF	45,000	45,000	Drama	Exchequer	12
The Black Box Trust	ADF	25,000	25,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
POBAL	ADF	25,000	25,000	Literature	Exchequer	12
Ulster-Scots Heritage Council	ADF	24,750	24,750	Literature	Exchequer	12
Craft Northern Ireland	ADF	20,000	20,000	Craft	Exchequer	12
Ambassador Publications	ADF	18,000	18,000	Literature	Exchequer	12
Belfast City Council	ADF	15,500	15,500	Music	Exchequer	12
North West Play Resource Centre (The Playhouse)	ADF	73,616	12,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Network Ltd	ADF	10,000	10,000	Combined	Exchequer	8
Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra Association	ADF	10,000	10,000	Traditional Arts	Exchequer	12
The Nerve Centre	ASOP	311,867	198,911	Music	Exchequer	12
Culturlann McAdam O’Fiaich	ASOP	161,290	161,290	Traditional Arts	Exchequer	12
Golden Thread Gallery	ASOP	143,400	107,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Belfast Print Workshop	ASOP	90,000	89,019	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Kabosh Theatre Ltd	ASOP	89,056	81,890	Drama	Exchequer	12
Blackstaff Press Limited	ASOP	79,300	79,300	Literature	Exchequer	12
Prison Arts Foundation	ASOP	79,932	71,280	Combined	Exchequer	12
Maydown Youth Training Project Ltd - Waterside Theatre	ASOP	135,881	70,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Aisling Ghear	ASOP	75,000	67,320	Drama	Exchequer	12
The Armagh Rhymers Workers Co-operative Ltd	ASOP	70,000	67,000	Traditional Arts	Exchequer	12
Sticky Fingers Early Years Arts	ASOP	80,000	63,487	Combined	Exchequer	12
Creative Writers Network	ASOP	84,828	60,000	Literature	Exchequer	12
Open House Traditional Arts Festival Ltd	ASOP	65,000	60,000	Traditional Arts	Exchequer	12
Northern Ireland Piping & Drumming School	ASOP	67,850	56,510	Traditional Arts	Exchequer	12
Millennium Court Arts Centre ( Portadown 2000 )	ASOP	51,000	51,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Seacourt Print Workshop Limited	ASOP	56,662	50,550	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Andersonstown Traditional & Contemporary Music School	ASOP	50,000	50,000	Traditional Arts	Exchequer	12
Lagan Press Ltd	ASOP	54,000	49,600	Literature	Exchequer	12
Bruiser Theatre Company	ASOP	63,344	45,000	Drama	Exchequer	12
Drake Music Project Northern Ireland	ASOP	48,500	42,000	Music	Exchequer	12
Context Gallery	ASOP	73,164	39,600	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Flaxart Studios	ASOP	38,680	38,680	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
New Belfast Community Arts Initiative	ASOP	38,000	38,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Guildhall Press	ASOP	52,250	35,000	Literature	Exchequer	12
Linen Hall Library	ASOP	35,000	35,000	Literature	Exchequer	12
Queen Street Studios	ASOP	31,032	31,032	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Eden Place Arts Centre	ASOP	39,253	30,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Kids in Control	ASOP	38,000	30,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Irish Pages Ltd.	ASOP	34,000	30,000	Literature	Exchequer	12
Visual Artists Ireland (Sculptor’s Society Ireland)	ASOP	27,465	27,465	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Youth Action Northern Ireland	ASOP	65,000	25,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
All Set Cross Cultural Project	ASOP	49,900	25,000	Traditional Arts	Exchequer	12
The Jigtime Programme of Irish Music	ASOP	41,700	25,000	Traditional Arts	Exchequer	12
Paragon Studios	ASOP	25,450	24,350	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Dance United Northern Ireland	ASOP	24,250	24,250	Dance	Exchequer	12
Photo Works North/Source	ASOP	24,000	24,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Mid Armagh Community Network	ASOP	23,000	23,000	Traditional Arts	Exchequer	12
Ulster Youth Choir	ASOP	57,071	20,100	Music	Exchequer	12
Discovery 80 Ltd. Share Centre	ASOP	25,300	20,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS)	ASOP	26,053	20,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Maiden Voyage (NI) Ltd	ASOP	20,000	20,000	Dance	Exchequer	12
Partisan Productions	ASOP	25,280	20,000	Drama	Exchequer	12
Ransom Productions Ltd	ASOP	33,280	20,000	Drama	Exchequer	12
Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music	ASOP	22,000	20,000	Music	Exchequer	12
The Contemporary Music Centre Ltd	ASOP	30,000	20,000	Music	Exchequer	12
The National Chamber Choir Ltd	ASOP	21,600	20,000	Music	Exchequer	12
Northern Ireland Music Industry Commission	ASOP	35,000	20,000	Music	Exchequer	12
Irish Traditional Music Archive	ASOP	25,000	20,000	Traditional Arts	Exchequer	12
Belfast & District Set Dancing and Traditional Music Society	ASOP	20,000	20,000	Traditional Arts	Exchequer	12
Catalyst Arts	ASOP	20,845	20,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Best Cellars Music Collective Ltd	ASOP	34,180	19,000	Music	Exchequer	12
Factotum	ASOP	18,000	17,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Circa Art Magazine	ASOP	15,000	15,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Orchid Studios Association	ASOP	14,523	14,523	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Spanner in the Works	ASOP	14,460	14,460	Drama	Exchequer	12
Ulster Orchestra Society Ltd	ASOP	2,198,300	2,050,113	Music	Exchequer	12
Lyric Theatre (NI)	ASOP	606,722	606,722	Drama	Exchequer	12
The Grand Opera House Trust	ASOP	520,000	492,921	Combined	Exchequer	12
Old Museum Arts Centre	ASOP	272,650	242,650	Combined	Exchequer	12
Verbal Arts Centre	ASOP	225,657	175,657	Literature	Exchequer	12
Derry Theatre Trust	ASOP	175,000	165,132	Combined	Exchequer	12
Castleward Opera	ASOP	182,114	159,000	Opera	Exchequer	12
Belfast Community Circus School	ASOP	194,000	147,500	Combined	Exchequer	12
Crescent Arts Centre	ASOP	217,000	147,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
North West Play Resource Centre (The Playhouse)	ASOP	300,000	127,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Feile an Phobail	ASOP	177,804	123,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Replay Productions Ltd.	ASOP	121,996	115,635	Drama	Exchequer	12
Community Arts Forum	ASOP	118,437	115,196	Combined	Exchequer	12
Moving on Music	ASOP	109,150	109,150	Music	Exchequer	12
Big Telly Theatre Company	ASOP	125,150	105,000	Drama	Exchequer	12
Tinderbox Theatre Company	ASOP	104,000	104,000	Drama	Exchequer	12
Prime Cut Productions Ltd	ASOP	100,950	100,950	Drama	Exchequer	12
The Beat Initiative	ASOP	100,000	100,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Belfast Festival at Queen’s	ASOP	227,500	100,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival	ASOP	100,000	100,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Opera Theatre Company	ASOP	100,030	100,000	Opera	Exchequer	12
Belfast Exposed Photography	ASOP	135,000	100,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Young at Art	ASOP	85,350	85,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Cahoots NI Ltd	ASOP	80,000	79,450	Drama	Exchequer	12
Arts and Disability Forum	ASOP	76,271	76,271	Combined	Exchequer	12
Open Arts	ASOP	77,625	70,081	Combined	Exchequer	12
Play Resource Warehouse	ASOP	65,000	64,450	Combined	Exchequer	12
Wheelworks	ASOP	60,000	60,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Voluntary Arts Network	ASOP	70,200	60,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company	ASOP	62,868	55,000	Dance	Exchequer	12
ArtsCare	ASOP	45,292	45,292	Combined	Exchequer	12
Streetwise Community Circus Workshops	ASOP	33,531	33,531	Combined	Exchequer	12
Ormeau Avenue Gallery Ltd	ASOP	310,000	300,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Audiences Northern Ireland	ASOP	212,800	212,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Craft Northern Ireland	ASOP	183,884	130,000	Craft	Exchequer	12
The Void Art Centre	ASOP	165,731	85,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
An Gaelaras Ltd	ASOP	85,400	84,867	Combined	Exchequer	12
Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig	ASOP	90,279	84,200	Combined	Exchequer	12
ADAPT NI	ASOP	78,000	70,000	Combined	Exchequer	12
Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA)	ASOP	55,401	45,000	Architecture	Exchequer	12
Ulster Association of Youth Drama	ASOP	49,846	34,650	Drama	Exchequer	12
Belfast Festival at Queen’s	Project Funding	120,000	100,000	Combined	Lottery	12
Young at Art	Project Funding	95,000	87,605	Combined	Lottery	12
Ulster Orchestra Society Ltd	Project Funding	86,860	86,860	Music	Lottery	12
Sticky Fingers Early Years Arts	Project Funding	90,000	78,500	Combined	Lottery	12
New Lodge Arts	Project Funding	81,192	76,583	Combined	Lottery	12
Tinderbox Theatre Company	Project Funding	100,000	75,000	Drama	Lottery	12
North West Play Resource Centre (The Playhouse)	Project Funding	89,974	61,954	Combined	Lottery	12
Digital Arts Studios	Project Funding	57,387	57,387	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Festival of Fools	Project Funding	69,000	50,000	Combined	Lottery	12
Verbal Arts Centre	Project Funding	100,000	50,000	Literature	Lottery	12
Mid Ulster Community & Arts Trust Limited	Project Funding	75,185	48,000	Combined	Lottery	12
Prime Cut Productions Ltd	Project Funding	65,000	47,695	Drama	Lottery	12
Open Arts	Project Funding	54,616	45,837	Combined	Lottery	12
The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival	Project Funding	45,000	45,000	Combined	Lottery	12
Lyric Theatre (NI)	Project Funding	55,553	45,000	Drama	Lottery	12
Ransom Productions Ltd	Project Funding	70,480	45,000	Drama	Lottery	12
Old Museum Arts Centre	Project Funding	56,072	45,000	Drama	Lottery	12
Kabosh Theatre Ltd	Project Funding	49,000	45,000	Drama	Lottery	12
New Belfast Community Arts Initiative	Project Funding	44,587	44,267	Combined	Lottery	12
Maiden Voyage (NI) Ltd	Project Funding	48,000	43,500	Dance	Lottery	12
North West Carnival Initiative	Project Funding	49,600	43,350	Combined	Lottery	12
Ransom Productions Ltd	Project Funding	60,146	43,000	Drama	Lottery	12
Border Arts	Project Funding	42,200	42,200	Combined	Lottery	12
Dumbworld Ltd	Project Funding	56,020	41,750	Opera	Lottery	12
ArtsEkta	Project Funding	56,790	40,000	Combined	Lottery	12
Arts for All	Project Funding	68,850	40,000	Combined	Lottery	12
Sliabh Beagh Development Association	Project Funding	68,655	40,000	Combined	Lottery	12
An Droichead	Project Funding	57,105	40,000	Traditional Arts	Lottery	12
Replay Productions Ltd.	Project Funding	60,000	39,500	Combined	Lottery	12
Cresco Trust	Project Funding	45,162	38,000	Combined	Lottery	12
Big Telly Theatre Company	Project Funding	68,382	38,000	Drama	Lottery	12
Greater Shantallow Community Arts	Project Funding	49,500	37,000	Combined	Lottery	12
Headliners	Project Funding	36,918	36,918	Literature	Lottery	12
Donaghcloney Rural Needs Development Group	Project Funding	36,763	36,763	Combined	Lottery	12
In Your Space (NI) Ltd	Project Funding	42,370	36,670	Combined	Lottery	12
Context Gallery	Project Funding	40,590	35,690	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
The Void Art Centre	Project Funding	35,500	35,500	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Voluntary Arts Network	Project Funding	67,940	34,740	Combined	Lottery	12
Golden Thread Gallery	Project Funding	34,540	34,540	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Yes Publications	Project Funding	48,383	34,433	Literature	Lottery	12
Music Theatre 4 Youth Ltd	Project Funding	49,775	34,200	Music	Lottery	12
Opera Theatre Company	Project Funding	49,245	33,792	Opera	Lottery	12
Creggan Education & Research Services	Project Funding	40,000	33,000	Combined	Lottery	12
The Void Art Centre	Project Funding	32,550	32,550	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Cahoots NI Ltd	Project Funding	35,770	32,533	Drama	Lottery	12
Youth Action Northern Ireland	Project Funding	56,790	32,500	Drama	Lottery	12
Verbal Arts Centre	Project Funding	44,000	32,000	Literature	Lottery	12
Maydown Youth Training Project Ltd - Waterside Theatre	Project Funding	57,430	30,520	Combined	Lottery	12
CRAIC (Community Recreational Arts in Coalisland)	Project Funding	39,000	30,000	Combined	Lottery	12
Dance Resource Base (NI) Ltd	Project Funding	32,000	30,000	Dance	Lottery	12
Glasgowbury Music Group	Project Funding	35,903	30,000	Music	Lottery	12
Bruiser Theatre Company	Project Funding	31,100	29,890	Drama	Lottery	12
Ireland Literature Exchange	Project Funding	38,340	29,500	Literature	Lottery	12
Down Community Arts Ltd	Project Funding	41,982	28,385	Combined	Lottery	12
Dance United Northern Ireland	Project Funding	47,915	28,230	Dance	Lottery	12
The Summer Palace Press	Project Funding	30,000	25,000	Literature	Lottery	12
Glasgowbury Music Group	Project Funding	45,000	25,000	Music	Lottery	12
In Your Space (NI) Ltd	Project Funding	45,370	25,000	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Kids in Control	Project Funding	28,358	24,898	Combined	Lottery	12
CLE - Irish Book Publishers’ Association	Project Funding	24,700	24,700	Literature	Lottery	12
New Belfast Community Arts Initiative	Project Funding	25,610	24,610	Combined	Lottery	12
ADAPT NI	Project Funding	24,000	24,000	Combined	Lottery	12
Prime Cut Productions Ltd	Project Funding	27,000	23,870	Drama	Lottery	12
Moving on Music	Project Funding	26,532	23,532	Music	Lottery	12
Bruiser Theatre Company	Project Funding	23,500	23,500	Drama	Lottery	12
Streetwise Community Circus Workshops	Project Funding	22,500	22,500	Combined	Lottery	12
Dun Uladh Ltd	Project Funding	35,000	22,350	Traditional Arts	Lottery	12
Patrician Youth Centre	Project Funding	45,015	21,975	Combined	Lottery	12
Belfast Music Society	Project Funding	21,865	21,865	Music	Lottery	12
Rawlife Theatre Company	Project Funding	24,490	21,400	Drama	Lottery	12
Green Shoot Productions	Project Funding	30,600	21,000	Drama	Lottery	12
Bbeyond	Project Funding	32,355	21,000	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Ballycastle Creative Writers’ Group	Project Funding	20,260	20,260	Literature	Lottery	12
North Down Borough Council	Project Funding	36,475	20,000	Literature	Lottery	12
Fringe Performances Ltd	Project Funding	30,000	20,000	Opera	Lottery	12
Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association	Project Funding	24,080	20,000	Traditional Arts	Lottery	12
Ulster Association of Youth Drama	Project Funding	19,968	19,968	Drama	Lottery	12
Youth Music Theatre	Project Funding	34,445	19,956	Combined	Lottery	12
Royal Ulster Academy	Project Funding	19,600	19,600	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Spanner in the Works	Project Funding	20,000	19,000	Drama	Lottery	12
East Belfast Arts Collective	Project Funding	25,000	18,751	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Catalyst Arts	Project Funding	18,695	18,695	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership	Project Funding	27,500	18,510	Combined	Lottery	12
Feile an Phobail	Project Funding	42,125	17,875	Combined	Lottery	12
McCracken Cultural Society	Project Funding	34,841	17,140	Combined	Lottery	12
The Beat Initiative	Project Funding	120,000	17,000	Combined	Lottery	12
Dungannon Arts & Disability Stakeholders Group	Project Funding	21,440	17,000	Combined	Lottery	12
Educational Shakespeare Company	Project Funding	20,000	17,000	Drama	Lottery	12
Books Review Ireland Limited	Project Funding	17,000	17,000	Literature	Lottery	12
Island Youth Theatre	Project Funding	22,575	16,914	Dance	Lottery	12
Belfast Philharmonic Society	Project Funding	16,103	16,103	Music	Lottery	12
Old Museum Arts Centre	Project Funding	35,500	16,000	Combined	Lottery	12
Seacourt Print Workshop Limited	Project Funding	15,840	15,840	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Belfast Exposed Photography	Project Funding	35,640	15,150	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
MADD Enterprises Ltd	Project Funding	26,000	15,000	Music	Lottery	12
Ben Madigan	Project Funding	14,690	14,690	Literature	Lottery	12
Panarts	Project Funding	24,000	14,500	Music	Lottery	12
Derry Theatre Trust	Project Funding	26,536	14,430	Combined	Lottery	12
Association of Ulster Drama Festivals (A.U.D.F)	Project Funding	10,850	10,100	Drama	Lottery	12
Ards Guitar Limited	Project Funding	15,400	10,001	Music	Lottery	12
Mourne Heritage Trust	Public Art	176,200	101,200	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Omagh District Council	Public Art	50,000	50,000	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Craigavon Borough Council	Public Art	75,000	50,000	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Holywood Arts Trust	Public Art	50,000	40,000	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Southern Health and Social Care Trust	Public Art	70,000	35,130	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Newry & Mourne District Council	Public Art	25,250	24,240	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
The Intra-Community Cohesion Project	Re-Imaging	78,898	48,354	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Shantallow Community Residents Association	Re-Imaging	47,800	47,800	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Lincoln Courts Youth and Community Association	Re-Imaging	48,000	44,450	Visual Arts	Lottery	8
Knockmore Community Association	Re-Imaging	40,497	40,247	Visual Arts	Exchequer	7
Ardoyne Association	Re-Imaging	36,620	30,520	Visual Arts	Exchequer	4
Waterside Area Partnership	Re-Imaging	43,500	30,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	9
Taughmonagh Residents Association	Re-Imaging	42,612	30,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	6
Larne Borough Council	Re-Imaging	28,531	27,406	Visual Arts	Lottery	51
An Munia Tober	Re-Imaging	23,800	21,460	Visual Arts	Exchequer	4
Monkstown Boxing and Community Sports Facility and Holy Trinity Boxing Club	Re-Imaging	25,000	18,600	Visual Arts	Exchequer	9
New Mossley Community Group	Re-Imaging	16,590	16,590	Visual Arts	Exchequer	6
Drumbeg North and South Residents Association	Re-Imaging	50,000	15,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	10
Markets Development Association	Re-Imaging	23,938	14,381	Visual Arts	Exchequer	3
Craigavon Borough Council	Re-Imaging	95,250	95,250	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Tigers Bay Concerned Residents Association	Re-Imaging	96,350	90,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	14
Belfast City Council	Re-Imaging	62,775	56,475	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Craigavon Borough Council	Re-Imaging	50,000	50,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Charter For Northern Ireland	Re-Imaging	46,140	46,140	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Upper Springfield Development Company Ltd	Re-Imaging	42,930	30,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Charter For Northern Ireland	Re-Imaging	35,924	29,624	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Upper Springfield Development Company Ltd	Re-Imaging	32,340	22,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	8
Tigers Bay Concerned Residents Association	Re-Imaging	30,000	20,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	7
Craigavon Borough Council	Re-Imaging	19,500	17,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	11
Belfast City Council	Re-Imaging	15,000	15,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Tigers Bay Concerned Residents Association	Re-Imaging	25,540	15,000	Visual Arts	Exchequer	1
Dervock and District Community Association	Re-Imaging	14,936	14,936	Visual Arts	Lottery	12
Randalstown Cultural Awareness Association	Re-Imaging	14,850	14,850	Visual Arts	Exchequer	5
Inter Estate Partnership	Re-Imaging	13,693	12,293	Visual Arts	Exchequer	8
Steeple Cultural and Heritage Association	Re-Imaging	13,915	12,165	Visual Arts	Exchequer	9
Factotum	SIAP	15,345	15,345	Visual Arts	Exchequer	12
Cara Murphy	SIAP	15,000	15,000	Craft	Exchequer	12
Leontia Flynn	SIAP	15,000	15,000	Literature	Exchequer	12
Camerata Ireland	SIAP	15,000	15,000	Music	Exchequer	12
Ms Patricia Daly	SIAP	15,000	15,000	Traditional Arts	Exchequer	12
Ulster Youth Orchestra	SIAP	12,000	12,000	Music	Exchequer	12

Arts Council breakdown of spend
(over £100,000)

2008 - 2009
Rank	Name	Award	Artform
1	Ulster Orchestra Society Ltd	2,050,113	Music
2	Lyric Theatre (NI)	606,722	Drama
3	The Grand Opera House Trust	492,921	Combined
4	Ormeau Avenue Gallery Ltd	300,000	Visual Arts
5	Old Museum Arts Centre	242,650	Combined
6	Audiences Northern Ireland	212,000	Combined
7	The Nerve Centre	198,911	Music
8	Verbal Arts Centre	175,657	Literature
9	Derry Theatre Trust	165,132	Combined
10	Culturlann McAdam O’Fiaich	161,290	Traditional Arts
11	Castleward Opera	159,000	Opera
12	Belfast Community Circus School	147,500	Combined
13	Crescent Arts Centre	147,000	Combined
14	Craft Northern Ireland	130,000	Craft
15	North West Play Resource Centre (The Playhouse)	127,000	Combined
16	Feile an Phobail	123,000	Combined
17	Replay Productions Ltd.	115,635	Drama
18	Community Arts Forum	115,196	Combined
19	Moving on Music	109,150	Music
20	Golden Thread Gallery	107,000	Visual Arts
21	Big Telly Theatre Company	105,000	Drama
22	Tinderbox Theatre Company	104,000	Drama
23	Mourne Heritage Trust	101,200	Visual Arts
24	Prime Cut Productions Ltd	100,950	Drama
25	The Beat Initiative	100,000	Combined
26	Belfast Festival at Queen’s	100,000	Combined
27	The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival	100,000	Combined
28	Opera Theatre Company	100,000	Opera
29	Belfast Exposed Photography	100,000	Visual Arts

Local Authority Arts Expenditure Survey

Organisation chart - March 2009

Arts Council programmes
workplan 2009-2010

Support for Organisations

Exchequer	Annual Support for Organisations Programme
Exchequer	Creative Industries Innovation Fund
Exchequer	Musical Instruments for Bands
Exchequer	Equipment
Exchequer	Building - Design Development and Construction
Lottery	Organisation Project Funding
Lottery	Public Art
Lottery	Small Grants Programme
Lottery	Building - feasibility studies

Support for Individual Artists

Lottery	General Art Awards
Exchequer	Self arranged international residencies
Exchequer	New York residency
Exchequer	St James Cavalier, Malta residency
Exchequer	Winnipeg residency
Exchequer	Banff residency
Exchequer	Skidmore residency
Exchequer	British School at Rome
Exchequer	Young Musicians’ Platform (offered biannually)
Exchequer	Milton Violin (holder retains violin for 3 years)
Exchequer	Professional Arts Abroad
Exchequer	Major Individual Award

Arts Council correspondence
12 March 2009

From: Nick Livingston [nlivingston@artscouncil-ni.org]
Sent: 12 March 2009 11:36
To: Bell, Dr. Kathryn
Subject: CAL Inquiry Request

Kathryn,

In response to the Committee’s request I would advise that when the Arts Council launched its 5-year plan for the arts in Northern Ireland, it was driven by a bold vision to place the arts at the heart of Northern Ireland’s social, economic and creative life. It established a framework that enabled artists and arts organisations to keep pace with the artistic and cultural expectations of a modern society and contribute fully to the regeneration of Northern Ireland. However, there are funding pressures of increasing severity that may structurally weaken the cultural infrastructure and impede the delivery of the plan. These are as follows:

• The Regional Gap in Arts Funding: Over the last decade Northern Ireland has moved from a position of near parity of funding compared to other UK regions or Ireland to having a significant lag in funding. For a prolonged period from 2004/05, funding to the Arts Council was frozen, which effectively meant a decrease in real terms. We have achieved much with the funds available but we cannot achieve the successes of other regions without comparable resources. While the CSR settlement for the 2008-2011 period is to be welcomed, there remains a significant regional variance (see table on page 3 of our submission) which is not justifiable and requires to be addressed in order to realize significant associated benefits. Further, the increase in the Arts allocation signaled over the CSR period is back-loaded: the largest increase occurs in the third year of the CSR term. At this stage, the 2010/11 figure is regarded as indicative and given the current pressures on public finances we are concerned that the increase may not be fully implemented as proposed. If this occurs it will have a direct effect on programmes and service delivery.
• The Reduction in Lottery Funds: Over the course of 2006/07, a number of announcements nationally impacted on the level of lottery funding available to the arts sector in Northern Ireland. These can be summarised as follows:
• December 2006, Tessa Jowell, the Minister for the Department of Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) announced that £410m of current Lottery funding to good causes would be diverted to help fund the 2012 London Olympics, over the four year period 2008/09 through to 2011/12. This has resulted in a reduction in Arts Council of Northern Ireland Lottery Funding of £480k for each of these years, a total reduction of £1.44m over the three year CSR period;
• It is projected that there will be a decrease in annual sales of all lottery products by 2% going forward. Additionally, with the introduction of Olympic Lottery Products, forward estimates of the diverted income to these products away from the standard ones is 77% of £750m for each year from 2006 to 2012. This results in a reduction in Arts Council Lottery Funding of £2.7m for this period, approximately £450k per annum. Over the full CSR three year period, this represents is a reduction of £1.35m;
• March 2007, Tessa Jowell announced a further £675m of current Lottery funding to be diverted directly to the 2012 Olympics as a result of overruns in the building programme for the London Games, £250m of which related to Arts, Heritage and Sport. This announcement will result in a further reduction in Arts Council Lottery funding by £2.33m over the four year period 2008-2012, being an average of £583k per year. Across the full three year CSR period, this is a total reduction of £1.75m.

In total these have a combined impact of reducing available funding to the arts in Northern Ireland by £1,513k each year, and by approximately £4.5m across the full CSR period.

• The Pressures on Partnership Funding: The review by the Department of Education of its Community Relations Policy (currently ongoing) will potentially have a damaging impact on funding for the 8 arts organizations that meet Criterion 4 of the Cultural Traditions Programme: “Contribution to Cross-Cultural Understanding". The Arts Council has been advised of an impeding cut in funding to the programme which if implemented would have direct consequences for these organisations, the young people who benefit from the programmes they run, their families and the communities they live in. As it currently operates the Cultural Traditions programme ensures that children and young people have an opportunity to actively participate in arts led cultural development activity that has the capacity to promote good relations between the shared traditions in our communities. This ability of the programme ties in strongly with the government’s core objective of achieving a ‘shared and better future for all’ by embracing the principles of equality, fairness, inclusion and the promotion of good relations. Currently the funding is applied to Traditional Arts Clients who meet the criteria. They are: All Set Cross Cultural Project; Andersonstown Traditional and Contemporary Music; Belfast District Set Dancing; Mid Armagh Community Network; NI Piping & Drumming; Open House; Armagh Rhymers and Jigtime. The are similar pressures on funding for other partnership projects which must now be considered to be at risk. The Department of Social Development has been a major funder of the Re-Imaging Communities Programme: £1m. over a four-year period. The Re-imaging Communities Programme places artists in the heart of communities to work with local people to tackle visible signs of sectarianism and racism to create a more welcoming environment for everyone. Re-imaging Communities is rooted in the building of a shared future, helping communities to work together to create a public realm free from threat, displays of sectarian aggression and intimidation, while allowing for legitimate expression of cultural celebration. However, the current DSD funding commitment runs until December 2009 and beyond that uncertainty hangs over its continued future. On a separate note, in Derry/Londonderry, arts organizations such as greater Shantallow Community Arts may lose vital financial support as a consequence of the current review of the DSD’s Neighbourhood Action Plan.
• The Pressures on Local Government Funding: Local government has been experiencing unprecedented financial pressures and constraints due to loss of revenue income, the rise in estimated debt and escalation in the cost of waste management all of which may result in a reduction of services, including arts provision. Such pressures may mean that a major arts event hosted by Belfast City Council is likely to be cancelled in 2009.

I hope this helps to clarify the question but please do not hesitate to contact me if you require further information.

Regards,

Nick

Arts Council correspondence
27 March 2009

27 March 2009

Mr David McNarry C94/09
Deputy Chairperson
Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure
Room 424 / Parliament Buildings
Stormont Estate
BELFAST
BT4 3XX

Dear Mr. McNarry

Arts Inquiry

Further to your request for additional information relating to the per capita expenditure on the arts I would respond as follows:

• The per capita expenditure figure shown for Northern Ireland is the adjusted settlement figure communicated by DCAL in its letter of offer which includes ring-fenced amounts for: the Creative Industries Initiative Fund (£500,000), Arts & Business (NI) (£455,000), Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s (£125,000), Royal Society for Ulster Architects (£30,000) and the Spectrum Centre (£100,000). Each of these ring-fenced sums is in addition to the base-line grant. Population figures for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are mid-year 2007 estimates: estimated resident population by single year of age and sex (www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk= 15106), released 21st August 2008. Population figures for Republic of Ireland based on 2006 estimates sourced from Central Statistics Office Ireland (www.cso.ie/statistics/popnbyage2006.htm). The figures shown for Scotland are the sum of the communicated settlement figure for the Scottish Arts Council and the funding allocations to the National Companies, formerly clients of the Scottish Arts Council, but since April 2007 have been directly allocated by the Scottish Executive. They are: Royal Scottish National Orchestra (£4.19m.); National Theatre of Scotland (£4.38m.); Scottish Chamber Orchestra (£2.10m.); Scottish Ballet (£4.62m.) and Scottish Opera (£8.46m.) The figures shown in parenthesis relate to current year, 2008/09 and are included in the figures to facilitate a true like-for-like comparison.
• The method used to calculate per capita expenditure was agreed by the research departments of each the UK Arts Councils some time ago with results validated once finalised. Whilst the other Councils participate in this statistical exercise there is not the same necessity to benchmark in this way. We use this method of fair comparison since the actual figures in cash terms cannot otherwise be meaningfully compared. For instance the settlement figure for England in 2008/09 was £432,765,000, versus £13,333,000 for Northern Ireland (this is the adjusted Settlement Figure showing ring fenced amounts for the Creative Industries Innovation Fund; International; Arts and Business; Ulster Bank Festival at Queen’s).
• The per capita figure shows the recurrent expenditure of the Arts Council. It does not include funding for expenditure awarded through North/South Language Body, NI Screen and the Irish Language Broadcasting Funding. The same method has been used across each of the other jurisdictions.
• The calculation only includes recurrent exchequer funding; it does not include Lottery Funding administered through the UK Department of Culture Media & Sport.
• The calculation does not include spend by Northern Ireland district councils.
• The Arts Council conducts a survey of district council cultural expenditure every two years. It is currently collecting data relating to expenditure in the financial years 2005/06 and 2006/07 but preliminary analysis of the headline figures suggests that the total district council for the financial year 2006/07 is £19,200,534; the range, however, is considerable: from £15,668 to £7,738,643 and the average spend per Council is £738,482. The Committee may interested to know that the National Association of Local Government Arts Officers (a membership organisation of comprising 415 local government arts and cultural officers in England and Wales) carried out a similar survey of local authorities in England and Wales and found that of the responding 73 Local Authorities (some 17%), the recorded total was £63,865,460 giving an average spend of £874,870.
• The formula is only applied to funds distributed by the Arts Council and does not include funding awarded directly from DCAL to the arts or arts- related activity.
• The per capita expenditure figure does not include funding for the arts from DE, DSD, NIHE and IFI that data may be available from other Northern Ireland Departments. However, through the survey of Regularly Funded Organisations, the Arts Council captures the aspects of that data as it applies to its portfolio of 93 regularly funded clients.

I trust this is the information you require but please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

Yours sincerely

ROISÍN MCDONOUGH
Chief Executive

Arts Council correspondence
6 April 2009

FAO: Dr Kathryn Bell,
Committee for Culture, Arts & Leisure,
Room 424,
Parliament Buildings,
Stormont,
BELFAST.
BT4 3XX

6th April, 2009

Dear Kathryn,

Reference: Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure – Inquiry into The Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland

With reference to your request regarding the calculation of awards made within the 20% most deprived areas in Northern Ireland, I am pleased to advise that two years ago the Arts Council revised its application forms and scoring criteria to take account of geographic, artform and social disadvantage issues. These elements are now weighted in the scoring process and the chart on page 27 provides a graphical representation of awards under our main grant programmes: Annual Support of Organisations Programme (grants made to organisations for programming costs) and Support for Individual Artists Programme (grants made to artists).

Details of all grants made are recorded on the Council’s grant management system, GIFTS. The data for this query was extracted for the period 2003 to 2008. It includes both grants made to organizations and individuals and was constructed by pairing deprivation data sourced from the Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information System (NINIS) and grid reference data sourced from Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland (OSNI), and the associated programme details held on the grants management system.

The output from this analysis determined the following grant distribution pattern over the five-year period, 2003 to 2008:

Super Output Area (Rank of Deprivation)	Sum of Award
20% most deprived Super Output Areas	£31,706,854
Other areas	£24,493,336
Total	£55,200,190

You ask about the use of postcodes in determining the assessment. In the case of individual artists the applicant’s residential postcode provides the operative data. In the case of organisations, the only realistic way of making a determination is to use the postcode of the organisation’s centre of operations which is verified at the time of application. While we ask organisations to report participation data through the survey of Regularly Funded Organisations by target postcode, it would be impractical for all funded organisations to map audience for individual performances using postcodes. The notable exception being those organisations with a box office system capable of recoding the postcode of the booker at the time of the transaction - this applies to 27 funded clients under the main funding programme (ASOP), data that is collected by Audience Northern Ireland on our behalf. I am aware that Audiences Northern Ireland has carried out detailed mapping exercises on behalf of its members.

I hope this is helpful.

Regards,

Nick Livingston

Arts Council correspondence
6 April 2009

FAO: Dr Kathryn Bell,
Committee for Culture, Arts & Leisure,Room 424,
Parliament Buildings,
Stormont,
BELFAST.
BT4 3XX

6th April, 2009

Dear Kathryn,

Reference: Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure – Inquiry into The Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland

With reference to your request arising from the meeting of the Committee on 26th March, 2009, I am pleased to advise as follows:

1. The Arts Council provides the main support for artists and arts organisations in Northern Ireland, offering a broad range of funding opportunities through its Exchequer and National Lottery funds. The aims and objectives of the Council are outlined in a five year development strategy entitled: Creative Connections. The principal areas of the Art Council’s remit are: Music, Drama, Dance, Visual Arts, Language Arts, Literature, Traditional Arts, Public Art, Community Arts, Festivals, Circus Arts, Carnival Arts, International Arts, Craft, Architecture (the promotion of design quality in the built environment), Arts and Disability, Youth Arts, Voluntary Arts and Arts and Health. The Council funds film and media for purposes of participation/education/outreach and festivals and experimental work by visual artists using film and video, but generally not for production and distribution. The Council is responsible for the distribution of public funding to capital projects in Northern Ireland, supporting projects that employ high design values. A description of each of the Council’s grant programmes is shown in a separate spreadsheet attachment (Workplan). The Council is committed to providing a high level of service to all its clients whether individual artists or arts organisations and it delivers this service though its professional officers. A copy of the organisation chart, dated March 2009, is shown in a separate attachment. You might note that since it was prepared Dr. Hammond has retired and the structure is under review.

2. The Arts Council is the primary source of arts funding in the region, distributing both Exchequer and Lottery funding from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The Council operates a number of funding programmes which are as follows: Annual Support for Organisations Programme (grants for programming costs for organisations running arts programmes throughout the year); Support for the Individual Artist Programme (awards to individual artists); Project Funding (to assist organisations to deliver arts projects which contribute to the growth of arts in the community); Re-imaging Communities Programme (grants to improve public spaces); Equipment grants; Musical Instruments for Bands; Public Art (commissioning art for public spaces) and Awards for All (now re-launched as the Arts Council’s Small Grants Programme). The Council manages applications under the Creative Industries Innovation Fund to support creative businesses in Northern Ireland.

3. An analysis of the Arts Council’s expenditure for 2007/08 shows that 92.5% of funds are applied in direct grant support to the Arts; 7.5% are allocated to programme delivery costs and corporate overheads. A separate spread shows the calculations. In the context of ongoing pressures on funding, the Arts Council is continuously striving to improve efficiency. In recent years we have restructured our operations to focus on client needs; developed our staff; introduced an accredited grants skills training programme; achieved Investors in People recognition; implemented a new grants management system which includes an online application facility and introduced new financial and management information systems.

I hope this is the information you require.

Regards,
Nick Livingston

Arts Council correspondence
16 April 2009

Mr Barry McElduff MLA
Chairperson, Committee for Culture Arts & Leisure
Room 424
Parliament Buildings
Stormont
Belfast
BT4 3XX

Your Ref: C116/09

16 April 2009

Dear Barry / A Chara

Ulster Orchestra

Further to your letter of 30 March in connection with the Ulster Orchestra, the Arts Council does not have a service level agreement with the Orchestra: rather we make a letter of offer based on their annual application and business plan which they submit to our Annual Support for Organisations Programme.

In relation to evaluating the work of the Orchestra, Officers attend and record comments on performances, go to Board meetings (as observers) and meet on a formal quarterly basis with the Chief Executive of the Orchestra. There is a set agenda for these quarterly meetings, which we hold with all ASOP clients, and which covers: Governance; Business Activity, including Finance; Future Artistic Planning; Audience Development; Training; Immediate Issues; Any Other Business.

The Orchestra also submits, twice annually, a quantitative and qualitative report on its work which feeds into the annual Regularly Funded Organisations Report. Comments on each year’s performance are included in the subsequent year’s application assessment.

I trust this answers your query.

With kind regards

Yours sincerely / Is mise le meas

Roisin McDonough
Chief Executive

Arts Council correspondence
20 July 2009

Further questions on arts inquiry

1. Some witnesses have expressed concern at what they perceive as a lack of transparency in how Arts Council funding is allocated. Does the Arts Council currently have a procedure for applicants to appeal decisions?

As detailed in our letter of 6 July the Council operates a Funding Review procedure and a Service Complaints procedure. Copies of both were sent with our letter of 6 July.

To aid the transparency of decision-making the Council includes details of its assessment scoring in the application guidance notes (example copy attached Appendix A). This helps the potential applicant identify what the Council is looking for in terms of how their project meets the programme criteria. In addition, any applicant can see the full assessment of their application on request.

Where a client is rejected, the rejection letter includes details of the reasons for rejection and encourages the applicant to discuss the rejection with the relevant officer with the aim of further explaining the decision and helping the applicant to either make an improved application, if the problem was one of insufficient information, or discussing the difficulties of the project itself and how that might be improved.

2. When the Arts Council allocates funding do they take account of the levels of participation of that project/organisation/art form? Is this weighted in the scoring process?

Each application is assessed and scored against the particular criteria listed in the programme application guidance notes. There is no weighting given for the number of participants/audience as this varies greatly from organisation to organisation and from artform to artform. One of the principal criteria of all Council funding programmes is the artistic quality of the programme. We recognise that innovative/challenging work does not attract huge audiences but should be supported because of its developmental nature. The other principal criterion is that of public benefit which is assessed against the level of interaction with the public. Example of criteria attached (Appendix B).

3. When the Arts Council allocates funding how does it weight the extent to which the project/organisation/art form targets social need? How is it built into the scoring process?

Under all its funding programmes additional scores are given to applications either from an organisation operating in an area of social need or delivering programmes taking place in those areas.

4. One of the witnesses queried the targeting social need figures produced by the Arts Council because they refer to the postcode of the organisation receiving the grant and not the postcodes of those who attend the events. Do you recognise that producing figures according to this system may not be appropriate?

There is an inherent difficulty in producing figures regarding the origin of the participants and audience to any programme as this would require the completion of a questionnaire by every participant or every member of an audience. Such things are obviously sampled from time to time as part of the ongoing audience development activities of organisations. In the case of those organisations with computerised ticketing systems, this data is more readily available and is used to grow audiences and to target specific areas.

The Arts Council’s grant distribution figures are produced on the basis of where the applicant is based. However, under its ASOP programme the Council gathers information through its survey of Regularly Funded Organisations, which demonstrates on a postcode basis where the organisation’s activities took place during the preceding year.

Appendix A

Example of how Scoring is Reflected in Applciation Guidance Notes

Applications will be assessed against the 4 criteria above by an Arts Council Officer.

Each criterion will be scored as follows:

Criterion 1: Public benefit (30 marks)

Criterion 2: Quality of arts activities planned (40 marks)

Criterion 3: Organisational and Project Viability (20 marks)

Criterion 4: Partnership funding (10 marks)

Additional marks will be allocated:

• where projects take place in under-represented local authority areas (5)
• where the activities take place in a socially disadvantaged area (5)
• for innovative, original work by Northern Ireland artists in drama and dance touring outside the company’s administrative base (5)

Under criterion 3, given that the demand for funds is usually extremely high, we will also take into account, during the assessment process, any information available to us regarding the management of previous awards you have may have received

APPENDIX B

EXAMPLE OF PROGRAMME CRITERIA

Criterion 1: Public benefit

Criterion 2: Quality of arts activities planned, including how closely the activity is linked to the Council’s artform policies

Criterion 3: Organisational and Project Viability, including how you have managed previous projects

Criterion 4: Partnership funding

It is very important that you think carefully about how your project satisfies these criteria and use the application form to demonstrate this to us. Your project must meet all the above criteria.

Criterion 1 - Public Benefit: You should show how the public will benefit from your project, in either the short or long-term. You should give details of the people your activity will reach, for example, the audiences or the people taking part, and you should include details of how you will reach those people, including marketing activity. You should also provide any evidence you have that there is a demand for your project, eg letters of support, market research, evaluation of previous projects. You need to give careful consideration to the way in which your project is organised and is presented so that it provides maximum access to people from all sections of society. You need to show that you are committed to principles of equal opportunity in all aspects of the project.

Criterion 2 - Quality of Arts Activity: You will need to demonstrate that the artists or facilitators involved in your project have relevant experience, achievement or ability to deliver the project. This should include the names, skills and experience of artists and the other main people who will be involved in the project; what you will do to achieve high quality work through this activity, or how the activity will help in developing the quality of your work in the future.

Criterion 3 - Organisational and Project Viability: You need to tell us about any plans you have already made and how you will manage and carry out the activity to achieve its aims. You need to show how you will manage the main stages of your project and what each stage contains.

You have to demonstrate that your project represents good value for money. You should tell us about your approach to raising money from other sources and the financial control systems you have in place to make sure that money is spent wisely.

Criterion 4 - Partnership Funding: Government regulations require you to demonstrate support from other sources. This is known as partnership funding. As well as making Lottery money go further, it helps to demonstrate that the local community and other bodies are committed to the project and will help ensure that it succeeds. You must raise at least 10% of the total project costs from other non-Arts council sources and half of this (5% of total project costs) MUST be in cash. Other support can be “in-kind", for example, volunteer time, the loan of equipment, waiving of standard venue hire charges, etc. If you decide to include “in-kind" contributions, you must demonstrate how these have been calculated and you need to make sure that they appear in both the income and expenditure sides of your budget.

Arts Council correspondence
4 August 2009

Arts Council correspondence
22 September 2009

Arts & Business Northern Ireland
membership list

Belfast Community Circus School
correspondence 27 March 2009

From: Barry McElduff [barry.mcelduff@sinn-fein.ie]
Sent: 27 March 2009 10:07
To: Higgins, Mairead; Hoskins, Antonia; Farrell, Elaine
Cc: Bell, Dr. Kathryn
Subject: FW: Arts Council TSN
For your information

Helena

________________________________________

From: Will Chamberlain [Will@belfastcircus.org]
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 12:13 AM
To: jim.shannon1@btopenworld.com
Cc: Barry.McElduff@niassembly.gov.uk

Subject: Arts Council TSN

Dear Jim,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to the CAL committee today. I just wanted to follow up on a question you had regarding the Arts Council TSN commitment. I have to confess that the whole issue of any criticism of the Arts Council is inhibited in a major way through the presence of the Public Affairs Officer from the Arts Council at the CAL evidence sessions. Being a slightly more bolshie character than most in the arts sector, I am slightly less inhibited but nevertheless, the process is not going to throw up too much criticism of the Arts Council due to fears of financial retribution exercised by the Arts Council in the face of criticism. I am conscious that this may appear to be somewhat paranoid, but, having sat on the Arts Council, I am aware that the Arts Council is more than capable of closing ranks and ‘punishing’ opposition. All that having been said, I would like to expand on the doubts I expressed regarding Arts Council’s submission regarding the Arts Council spend in Super Output areas.

Earlier in the week I spoke with the Research Officer from the Arts Council responsible for compiling figures for the submission to the CAL Committee. I was surprised to learn that the Arts Council figures are based on the post code of the organisations in receipt of funding from the Arts Council rather than the post code of audiences or participants. In view of the fact that organisations funded by the Arts Council are required by the Arts Council to supply comprehensive information regarding postcodes of audiences and participants, I feel that the decision of the Arts Council to use this particular way of presenting funding into areas of TSN must be called into question. When I raised this issue with the Research Officer from ACNI, I was told that the monitoring returns from arts organisations were not always perfect and that this justified the Arts Council presenting information about funding in this way. I feel that it is noteworthy that if DCAL applied the same logic to funding, the conclusion would be that all arts funding is devoted to BT9 – the most privileged area of Belfast, which is the base of the Arts Council – the recipient of DCAL funds.

As somebody who spends considerable time filling out more than 200 monitoring forms each year which details the postcodes of audiences and participants, I feel that the Arts Council should represent these returns to the CAL committee however imperfect they may be. The cynical side of me would suggest that the Arts Council has chosen this method of presenting figures because it makes it seem that sufficient resources are being spent on TSN. One statistic I uncovered revealed that the Grand Opera House is in a postcode area covered by the Noble Index, which would suggest that a £26 ticket for the Welsh National Opera somehow meets the government objective of TSN.

Yours Sincerely,

Will Chamberlain

Belfast Community Circus School
correspondence 31 March 2009

From: Will Chamberlain [Will@belfastcircus.org]
Sent: 31 March 2009 21:52
To: Bell, Dr. Kathryn
Subject: RE: Arts Council TSN

Dear Kathryn,

I just wanted to follow up on our conversation regarding an email sent to Jim Shannon after last week’s meeting of the CAL committee. I would like to make clear that the email I sent was meant as a personal one rather than a submission to the CAL Enquiry into funding for the arts and it was probably a naive act to email a member of the CAL committee in such a way.

However, there is one point I would like to elaborate upon, which was touched upon in my evidence given last week. However, given the times restraints, I was unable to explain fully. It concerns figures provided by ACNI relating to total arts spend in the top 20% Super Output areas. The figures indicated that the NI spend on these areas is 56%, which struck me as not reflecting the picture as I perceive it. When I spoke with one of the Arts Council’s research team, I was told that this figure was reached by taking the postcode of organisations in receipt of Arts Council. Given that the Belfast Community Circus School submits regular monitoring, which, in our case requires the completion of around 200 forms including information on the post codes of participants, target audiences and locations of performances, I expressed surprise that this information was not used to calculate arts spend on Super Output areas and was told that the quality f information submitted by some organisations was not robust enough to use.

My concern is that arts organisations are being asked to spend large amounts of administrative time each tear (in our case this would equate to a minimum of 2 weeks staff time each year) and yet this information is not able to be used by the Arts Council. This would suggest that the exercise of gathering data is excessive and could be contributing to much time being wasted by hard stretched arts organisations as well as by overworked researchers. It would further suggest that a considerable burden could be lifted by the reduction in monitoring requirements.

I am happy for this email to be used as part of our submission.

Yours Sincerely,

Will Chamberlain

FLGA background information

The Forum for Local Government and the Arts

Context

The Forum for Local Government and the Arts was established in November 1994. It evolved from the regional committee of the Arts council circa 1980s a mechanism to consult with local councils. The Arts Council NI has a long association with local authorities and recognises the importance of engaging with councils in the development of the arts at both a local and a national level.The FLGA is unique in its composition and united in its committment to raising the profile of Arts and Culture throughout N Ireland.The FLGA recognises the need to be proactive in supporting opportunities for strategic partnership and creative exchange ,working accross the province with key stakeholders.

Focus

The Forum has been recently reconstituted, has a renewed sense of direction and wishes to position itself strategically as an effective advocate for developing the Arts in Northern Ireland. In recent years the FLGA sought to take on a greater role as a co coordinating and lobbying organisation, ensuring that Arts would be a prominent feature in Local Politics. The FLGA has sought to play an increasingly instrumental role in raising awareness of the value of the Arts and Arts provision at local, community and regional level, by building partnerships between local councillors, council officers and Arts representatives (Activists). The context in which FLGA exists continues to evolve, and is diverse and dynamic. Influences include;

• The devolution to NI Assembly and creation of DCAL
• Development of arts Infrastructure in N Ireland largely due to ACNI aim of providing “a dedicated arts facility within a radius of 20miles of every person in N Ireland"(2001-06 ACNI Strategy)
• A growing contribution of the Arts to overall cultural, social and Economic well-being.
• The changing role of local government and more recently the outcomes of the Review of Public Administration.

Membership

Every district council in Northern Ireland nominates three representatives onto the Forum; one elected representative, one arts manager and one arts activist i.e. a representative from the voluntary and community sector from each of the 26 Local Authorities, 72 members. The Forum also elects an Executive Committee, comprising 4 Activists, 4 Councillors, and 4 Arts Managers, which is responsible for providing strategic direction & co- ordinating the activities of the Forum.Their work is supported by an Arts Officer housed in NILGA. The collective knowledge, skills and experience of the membership of the forum has proved to be invaluable in raising the profile of Arts and cultural development. Opportunities for networking and sharing good practice has proved to be hugely beneficial and raised the profile, scale and scope of what Local Councils do for the Arts, the impact on tourism and the economy. It provides a platform between DCAL, ACNI, DOE, NILGA and local government. It has become increasingly clear that links with local government have proved significant and Increasing opportunities to showcase and organise events, highlighting good practice provide key opportunities to inform and influence elected members on arts spend.

Objectives

The FLGA has refined its purpose into five key objectives

1. To encourage advocacy of the arts at a local level

2. To act as a networking body & stimulate the exchange of good practice

3. To help build capacity within the sector

4. To develop resources for the arts

5. Focus on future development of the FLGA

1. Raise profile of the FLGA

Corporate identity & communications strategy

In raising the profile of FLGA a range of marketing tools have been used including a news letter and website. A network of contacts has been established and a calendar of meetings, seminars and conferences have been successfully managed .These have been held across the province high lighting local and regional Arts and cultural activity, many held in new Arts Centres. All have helped to reinforce the identity, build awareness about the forum and inform others as to its relevance and agenda. The FLGA has worked with many partners including ACNI in the" Invest in Inspiration Campaign “It continues to be informed by pertinent issues and key concerns through its members and other stakeholders.

2. Raise Profile of the Arts in Northern Ireland

Marketing and development

There is a real need to communicate the value of the arts to key public bodies and organisations. It is essential that councillors, council chief executive officers and representatives from the statutory, voluntary and community sector are made aware of the vital role the arts play in our communities. The FLGA are pressing forward the message the arts are vital to the health, education, culture, social and economic development of Northern Ireland. This is reflected in the membership. Excellent case studies exist across the province where Creative, cultural Arts activity has been significant in transforming communities, building confidence and self esteem, harnessing creative and intellectual skills, creating a vibrancy and synergy that needs to be sustained economically, politically and socially. The benefits of participating in the arts have been well documented. However the FLGA are aware that they are trying to promote the importance of the arts to policy makers and decision makers who may have never had any involvement with or interest in the arts. It is vital that they gain a sense of ownership and are fully informed about the arts and their importance in Northern Ireland on a social, cultural and economic level.

3. Improve relationship between local government, Arts Council NI and the arts sector

Partnership building and developing relationships

The arts thrive on collaboration and partnership and local government is the FLGA’s most important strategic partner. There is recognition that stronger links between local government authorities would be beneficial for all. There is a very real need to strengthen links and build networks and partnerships with key stakeholders. Only when key stakeholders understand the importance of developing the arts in Northern Ireland can the FLGA successfully utilise networks and partnerships to drive forward a strategy to develop and strengthen the sector. Showcasing events, Conferences and seminars highlighting achievements with Key speakers from a range of contexts, local, regional and international have proved to be informative and are well received, by providing valuable insights in to the impact Arts activity has on individuals, communities and economies. Our recent Conference Growing Creative Communities held in Braid Arts Centre proved to be inspiring to all who attended. High lighting the role of the Artist and Creative professionals.

The FLGA will not succeed as a pro-active organisation if it can not gain the support of key stakeholders and work closely in partnership with them to develop the arts on a local and national level.

4. Review of Public Administration

Information sharing and leading the way

RPA provides challenges and opportunities for all of us; this is a pivotal time for the arts and local government. This is an opportune time for the FLGA to drive forward the message that the arts play a crucial role in Northern Ireland policy making. The issues of the arts have been discussed under the community planning work stream in the Modernisation Task Force. This provides the FLGA with a structure within with they can act as an advocate for the arts through this new emphasis on community planning. The FLGA is now more focused towards both its short & long term objectives and will need to utilise the support of the 26 councils to drive forward the collective agenda.

A shared Vision

The Forum recognises that now more than ever we all need to be creative, resourceful and strategic in the management and delivery of our services.. The Forum recognises the need to gain an active commitment from key stakeholders and recognises the benefits of working with and alongside Local goverment is essential. There needs to be consensus how we can access the necessary resources and expertise. Current Funding for the Arts is totally inadequate. Central Government Funding through the Arts council remains the lowest in the UK and Ireland and that as a consequence the main funding programmes operate under considerable pressure. This has a major impact on funding streams supporting our Artists working in the community, the musicians, visual artists, writers, poets, dancers and dramatists. Ultimately erodes our quality of life. Beyond NI Artists have had a huge impact ,NI is a cradle of considerable creativity, boasting some of the finest Artists, actors,musician and writers in the world.N I continues to build its international reputation, elevating N Irelands Image on the international stage. Future investment and increased funding needs to be sustainable ,with increased opportunities to support our Artists, Arts Activists, Local district Arts managers including creative professionals working across the voluntary, community arts and education sectors. Partnership is pivotal in securing a positive and creative future, enriching the lives of everyone, bringing communities together, harnessing creative and intellectual skills.

By sharing a vision and redefining how best to use joint resources over the next few years, the strongest possible case can be made for the arts as a driver of economic and social change at the heart of local government and the FLGA as a key advocate for developing the arts in Northern Ireland.

Ulster Orchestra correspondence
13 April 2009

DCAL correspondence
23 April 2009

DCAL correspondence
8 May 2009

From: McAdam, Sadie [mailto:Sadie.McAdam@dcalni.gov.uk] On Behalf Of DCAL Assembly Section

Sent: 08 May 2009 11:05

To: McCann, Meadhbh

Cc: DCAL Assembly Section; Willis, Michael; Gilbert, Peter; Davison, Linda; Devaney, Ronan; Quinn, Paul

Subject: CAL Committee Assembly Researcher request - Audit and Monitoring - DCAL response

Meadhbh

Please find below the response from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) re your email query of 24 April 2009:

The Arts Council would advise that Auditing and Monitoring Procedures are embedded in all our Grant Management Processes. Once a grant award has been made and throughout the project, monitoring is conducted through a wide range of measures. These include: issuing of a Grant Offer under Standard and Specific Conditions; monitoring of quality of arts activity and reporting; attendance at performances/ exhibitions; monitoring financial procedures and expenditure of grant; monitoring of organisational governance structures and promoting best practice; monitoring of recruitment; twice yearly reporting through the survey of Regularly Funded Organisations; meetings and continuous contact with clients; verification of project income and expenditure through sampling process and visits and obtaining copies of audited accounts at year end. These and other auditing and monitoring measures are carried out to a level which is proportionate to the level of grant and size of the organisation. We hold information relating to individual organisations. In addition, awards made to capital projects (construction projects) are managed using the ‘Achieving Excellence’ Model, in line with government policy. This involves monitoring through project steering groups and project boards, which have set protocols for communication and responsibility within the project delivery model.

However, overall we cannot provide an exact figure of how much the Arts Council as an organisation spends on auditing and monitoring of grants, suffice to say that much of the work of our Arts Development Officers is routinely taken-up in this work. It could probably be obtained by carrying out a ‘time in motion’ study but at the present moment it is impossible to disaggregate the information in the form you have requested.

ACNI has confirmed that they do not hold figures relating to arts organisations.

Hope this is of assistance.

Regards

Sadie
DCAL Private Office
Extn 75153
Email: sadie.mcadam@dcalni.gov.uk

DCAL correspondence
12 May 2009

DCAL correspondence
28 July 2009

Mid Armagh Community Network
briefing paper

Mid Armagh Community Network or (MACN) is a volunteer-led Ulster Scots Cultural group based in Markethill. The group has been operating for eleven years and is based in what is commonly known as Markethill Orange Hall. The committee membership comprises of people from across all age and gender groups and from various backgrounds.

We offer classes in Fiddle, Scots Highland and Theatre Dance, Lambeg drumming, Pipe band drumming and Guitar. We employ tutors in support of this and access funding in the main through the Arts Council of N.Ireland and the Ulster Scots Agency.

We would have between 100-150 persons young and old receiving tuition on a weekly basis and operate on the academic year. Out of our Fiddle classes has developed The Markethill Fiddle Orchestra which plays at venues in N.Ireland and has made two tours to the U.S.A. Our Dancers attend competition and members of our committee developed and organise the Scottish Dance section of Portadown Festival.

Ulster-Scots Community Network
briefing paper

Ulster – Scots Community Network
68 -72 Great Victoria Street
Belfast
BT2 7BB

T. 028 90 436710
F. 028 90 330715

Mission Statement –

The Ulster-Scots Community Network aims to Preserve, Promote and Develop Ulster-Scots Heritage and Culture in all its forms.

To make a constructive and progressive contribution to delivering a fully inclusive society in which mutual understanding and tolerance are accepted as the norm - society at peace with itself.

Company History and Status –

The Ulster-Scots Community Network (USCN) was established in 1995 to promote awareness and understanding of the Ulster-Scots tradition in language, literature, music and dance as well as the contribution of the Ulster-Scots community to the development of life in Northern Ireland, the border counties of the Republic of Ireland, and the Ulster-Scots diaspora.

As a representative body of the Ulster-Scots with 168 individual member groups, the USCN is committed to a comprehensive exploration of the interaction between Ulster and Scotland, which has been a constant factor in the history of the British Isles.

The general work of the USCN consists of four broad areas:

• To provide an umbrella organisation for all interest groups engaging in Ulster-Scots activities - language, culture and history.
• To promote Ulster-Scots activities and increase community capacity
• To act as a focal point for the dissemination of information concerning Ulster-Scots
• To develop Ulster-Scots culture and heritage throughout the education sector, tourism sector and the throughout the wider community

Organisational Management –

The Ulster-Scots Community Network consists of five full time members of staff, a Director, Operations Manager and 3 Development Officers.

The current operations of the Heritage Council are co-ordinated between the Director and the Operations Manager

The USCN company status is a company limited by guarantee. The Council is also a registered charity and is currently core funded by the Ulster-Scots Agency with additional support funding provided by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

An Executive Committee acts as the ruling body of the Society comprising a Chair, Deputy Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and Company Secretary and ten other members who are elected at the AGM. The committee deals with areas of work such as general development, finance, publications and marketing.

Company Structure and Staffing –

Chairman

Board of Directors

William Humphrey (Executive Director)

Iain Carlisle (Operations Manager)

Matthew Warwick (Education Development Officer)

Charles Neville (Community Development Officer)

John Murray (Community Development Officer)

2. Main areas of work and services provided

• Promotion - Research and production of a wide range of historical and cultural leaflets and accompanying displays. These resources are extensively used throughout Ulster and provide a valuable resource to our member groups.
• Community Development – Our Community Development Officers continue to meet and advise local community groups on a variety of topics including funding opportunities, group formation and event planning.
• Lobbying/Representation – The USCN continue to actively promote the Ulster-Scots culture at various levels in the political arena. In addition this invaluable work the organisation is represented on numerous governmental, trade, social and voluntary bodies where it continues to uphold Ulster-Scots interests.
• Education – The USCN Education Officer works widely in local primary and secondary schools delivering Ulster-Scots history, culture, language and music to a wide social mix of pupils.

The organisation is the lead partner in a Teachers Forum lobbying local Government for the inclusion of Ulster-Scots activities in the local curriculum.

A project is also underway with the Donegal Education Authority which plans to pilot an Ulster-Scots module in South Donegal in 2010.

3. Review of recent key activities

(April 2008 – March 2009)

Projects -

• Ulster-Scots tours to Carrickfergus – July 2008
• Border Gaitherin Festival April-July 2008
• Including the launch of Sons & Daughters of Donegal leaflet and exhibition
• Belfast Burns 250 Festival – January 2009
• St Patricks Booklet and Displays – March 2009
• Fowkrichts booklet published – August 2008
• Lambeg Drum Project – March 2009
• Ongoing education and community development support and advice

Organisational –

• Comprehensive Membership Review and successful recruitment campaign – active current membership of 168 community groups
• Office Relocation – August 2009
• Procurement Policy – September 2008
• Organisational rebranding – October 2008
• Financial Procedures Policy – November 2008
• Markethill Sub office opened March 2009
• Appointment of Peninsula Business Services to oversee all Personnel and employment law issues.

Report of the Culture, Arts and
Leisure Committee
visit to Liverpool 9 – 11 June 2009

Members: Dominic Bradley
Francie Brolly
Raymond McCartney
Pat Ramsey
Ken Robinson

Staff: Kathryn Bell (Clerk)
Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Meadhbh McCann (Researcher)

Background and context of visit

In January 2009 the Committee commenced an inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland. In order to inform the inquiry and gather comparative data, the Committee agreed to conduct a fact-finding visit to a relevant European city. At its meeting of 2 April 2009 the Committee considered a Research Services paper on this issue and subsequently agreed to visit Liverpool, the European Capital of Culture 2008.

Tuesday 9 June

The Committee delegation and staff travelled to Liverpool arriving at the Marriott Hotel at 8.00 pm.

Wednesday 10 June

The Committee was given a guided coach tour of the major cultural sites in Liverpool by Mr Neil Peterson, an official in Liverpool City Council with responsibility for the ‘Culture Liverpool’ project. The coach tour also took in an area in North Liverpool where a garden/tower had been built as part of the capital of culture (COC) programme, in terms of the community regeneration aspect of the programme.

Mr Peterson explained that there had been two sides to the COC – boosting the economy and tourism, and regenerating communities.

The Committee then met the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Mike Storey in the Town Hall. The Lord Mayor spent some time outlining the history of Liverpool in terms of the difficulties with the economy and its reputation. In terms of the arts, the Council cut its arts budget during the 1980s. In order to pay for the COC, council tax had been put up to raise an additional £1 million. The public had accepted this rise because there was a civic pride in the COC.

The Lord Mayor explained that the COC had been a way to raise the profile of the city and that research shows that by being COC a city will generate 14,000 new jobs and attract £2 million of investment.

The Lord Mayor also discussed the various partnerships the City Council had developed with regard to the COC – with the private sector, local communities, and the universities. He said that the COC had been a way to create new jobs in the city and this had led to Liverpool being in a much stronger position than before.

The Committee asked the Lord Mayor if it had evidence that investing in the arts through the COC had brought quantifable benefits to Liverpool. The Lord Mayor said that research had been done by the University of Liverpool called Impacts 08 which had quantified the benefits.

There was a further question and answer session on topics including the effect of the COC on unemployment, and attracting foreign investors to set up business in Liverpool.

The Committee then met with the Leader of the Council, Mr Warren Bradley, in the Townhall. Mr Bradley outlined the reasons why Liverpool had bid for the COC – to grow the economy, empower the city and develop communities. He explained that the funding had come from the Council and private investment/sponsorship. This was followed by a question and answer session around the themes of involving marginalised sections of the population in the COC and the economic impacts of COC.

Mr Graham Boxer and Mr Andy Farquar, officials of Liverpool City Council, hosted a lunch in St Georges Hall. Mr Farquar explained how Liverpool had developed chain of European cities project including Marseille and Naples, which had attracted £1.5 million of European funding.

Mr Boxer explained that the Council had worked hard to try and develop a legacy from the COC and had consulted with arts organisations across the board. Going forward in 2009/2010 the Council is funding an Arts & Cultural Investment Scheme worth £8.5 million. Applications are invited from large regularly funded organisations, small-medium sized arts organisations, and from grass roots innovators.

This was followed by a discussion on what criteria the Council would use to allocate this funding. The officials stated that the majority of funding went to the large organisations such as the Philamonic Orchestra but that these organisations would be expected to deliver more for the community. Of the £8.5 million, £500,000 would go to the small/medium groups, £100,000 to the grass roots, and the remainder to the large organsations (almost £8 million). However, the large organisations would be expected to do community work. This funding is only guaranteed for 2 years so organisations are expected to show on their application forms how they will become self-sustaining.

After lunch the Committee had a tour of St George’s Hall and a tour of the Central Library.

The Committee then met with Mr Jim Barclay, the Resources Director of Merseytravel. Mr Barclay outlined how Merseytravel had developed a public art strategy in 2005 and that they devote 1% to art with any new builds. Their aim was to facilitate access for the public to event that were part of the COC 2008. In this way a transport operator could raise the profile of and support the arts – by providing the neccessary transport links.

Thursday 11 June

The Committee visited the Bluecoat, one of the city’s oldest cultural venues, to meet with representatives from the Liverpool Arts and Regeneration Campaign (LARC). LARC is made up of 8 major arts organisations which worked closely with the Council on COC. LARC works to bring in funding to the region – it has attracted £6 million. By joining together in this way, they can attract large sums of funding that would not be available to a single organisation.

The Committee then met with Tamsin Cox, a researcher from the University of Liverpool’s Impacts 08 project. Ms Cox outlined the research carried out to date which is aimed at measuring the impacts of culture-led regeneration. The final report will be available in February 2010. There was a discussion around the accuracy and robustness of this kind of study.

The Committee then visited the main tourist information office, before taking a tour of the International Slavery Museum and the Beatles Story, both situated in the regenerated Albert Docks area.

The Committee delegation departed for the airport at 3pm.

Appendix 10

List of Abbreviations

A&BNI Arts and Business Northern Ireland

ACNI Arts Council of Northern Ireland

ASOP Annual Support for Organisation Programmes

CAF Community Arts Forum

CNI Culture Northern Ireland

COFOG Classifications of Functions of Government

CSR Comprehensive Spending Review

CYP Creative Youth Partnership

DCAL Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure

DCMS Department of Culture, Media and Sport

DE Department of Education

DEL Department of Employment and Learning

DETI Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment

DSD Department of Social Development

FLGA Forum for Local Government and the Arts

GSCA Greater Shantallow Community Arts

LISC Libraries & Information Services Council (Northern Ireland)

LORAG Lower Ormeau Road Action Group

MACN Mid Armagh Community Network

MAGNI Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland

NICVA Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action

NIMC Northern Ireland Museums Council

NMNI National Museums Northern Ireland

NISRA Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

NITA Northern Ireland Theatre Association

NSMC North South Ministerial Council

OFMDFM Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister

OMAC Old Museums Arts Centre

OTC Opera Theatre Company

PESA Public expenditure statistical analyses

PRONI Public Records Office Northern Ireland

RPA Review of Public Administration

SPP Sole Purpose Productions

USAIG Ulster Scots Agency Implementation Group

VAI Voluntary Arts Ireland

ValCAL Value of Culture, Arts and Leisure