The Arts Council of England

A year ago, we achieved a remarkable success – the largest ever increase in funding for the arts. The spending review 2000 rewarded the arts with an extra £100 million a year. In 1997/8, Government funding of the arts through the Arts Council was £186 million. In 2003/4 it will be £337 million. This increase in support for the arts has done much to redress many previous years of financial constraint.

The additional money is already having an impact on the arts in this country. Many arts organisations and individual artists who have for years struggled on inadequate funding now have new opportunities to develop their work, secure in the knowledge that proper funding is available.

Our research shows that 97% of adults agree that all school children should be able to learn to play a musical instrument, learn poetry, take part in plays or participate in other arts activities. I am therefore particularly excited by the potential for our new Creative Partnerships initiative to provide new arts experiences for children and young people through artists, arts organisations and communities working together.

The Arts Council provides financial and other support and developmental activities to stretch creative boundaries in the arts and create new arts opportunities for audiences across the country. In future, the single organisation that will be created by bringing together the 10 Regional Arts Boards and the Arts Council, will, I believe, be in an even stronger position to make the case for the arts. It must be our aim to secure further increases in funding, in order to make arts experiences of the highest quality available to the widest audiences, and to ensure that even more artists have the opportunity to fulfil their creative potential.

I believe passionately in the power of the arts to nurture and strengthen individuals and communities. The arts transcend ideological, cultural and geographical boundaries. They should not be undervalued as a channel for individual and collective expression in what is sometimes a disturbing and discordant world.

Gerry Robinson
Chairman

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The year was notable for two reasons. Firstly, our success in winning an additional £100 million for the arts over three years. Secondly, the announcement of the most radical structural changes in the arts funding and support system for decades.

With the £100 million, we are addressing core support for the arts community as a whole after years of cutbacks. Large increases have been agreed as from 2002/3. In particular, the new money provides us with an opportunity to address the needs of theatre in England. We believe that the extra £25 million a year for theatre will enable artists to rediscover a sense of adventure and artistic innovation, and to broaden the range of theatrical output to meet the needs of a wider public. Indeed, our aspiration is no less than to help theatre to reinvent itself for the 21st century.

Arts in education has been an Arts Council priority for some years. With our £40 million Creative Partnerships initiative, focusing on 16 communities, we hope to show that such a concentration of money and activity can transform experiences for both young people and artists alike. Our ambition is to demonstrate the success of this approach to the Government and to make the case for Creative Partnerships to be set up across the country.

Achieving the £100 million was important, but it also confirmed that much more was needed. The planned structural changes to the arts funding and support system should further strengthen our ability to make a case to Government for future support for the arts. The single, new organisation will deliver other benefits: more capacity to act on bold and exciting ideas nationally and regionally; greater simplicity and less red tape (at less cost) for the arts community; greater regional decision-making with appropriate accountability; and stronger relationships with our partners in local and regional government.

I am determined that the future organisation will build on the exemplary achievements of the present Arts Council and the Regional Arts Boards, to ensure the best possible future for the arts in this country.

Peter Hewitt
Chief Executive

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