Arts Council England
Encyclopedia
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
was divided into three separate bodies for England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It is a non-departmental public body
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The arts funding system in England underwent considerable reorganisation in 2003 when all of the Regional Arts Board
Regional Arts Board
The Regional Arts Boards were arts organisations in the regions of England.Regional Arts Boards were formed in 1990. Richard Wilding, a senior civil servant, was asked by his former Minister to review the structure of regional arts support in England...
s were subsumed into Arts Council England. The boundaries of the regional offices are now co-terminous with the standard English Regions.
It is a government-funded body dedicated to promoting the performing, visual and literary arts in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Since 1994, Arts Council England has been responsible for distributing lottery funding. This investment has helped to transform the building stock of arts organisations and to create lots of additional high quality arts activity.
History
The Arts Council of England was created in 1945 as the Arts Council of Great BritainArts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
, which was then divided to form the Arts Council of England, the Scottish Arts Council
Scottish Arts Council
The Scottish Arts Council is a Scottish public body that distributes funding from the Scottish Government, and is the leading national organisation for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland...
and the Arts Council of Wales
Arts Council of Wales
The Arts Council of Wales is a Welsh Government sponsored body, responsible for funding and developing the arts in Wales.Established by Royal Charter in 1946, as the Welsh Arts Council , when it merged with the three Welsh regional arts associations...
in 1994. At the same time the National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
was established and the Arts Council of England became one of the distribution bodies. This increased responsibility saw the Arts Council of England grow back in size to the point where it was larger than before the 1987 restructure.
In 2001 Chairman Gerry Robinson
Gerry Robinson
Sir Gerrard Jude "Gerry" Robinson is an Irish businessman. He is the former non-executive Chairman of Allied Domecq and the ex-Chairman/Chief Executive of Granada.-Early life:...
announced a further restructuring in which the Arts Council of England would be merged with the existing Regional Arts Board
Regional Arts Board
The Regional Arts Boards were arts organisations in the regions of England.Regional Arts Boards were formed in 1990. Richard Wilding, a senior civil servant, was asked by his former Minister to review the structure of regional arts support in England...
s to form a single organisation: Arts Council England.
Governance and administration
Arts Council England has a national council of 15 members including the Chair. The national council meets five–six times a year and is made up of representatives of the arts community with six of the members also representing the regional councils and one seat reserved for a Black or Asian person. There are nine regional councils based on the government office regions of England. Each has a board of 15 members (except for the South East, which has 20 - eight of which are from local and regional government) made up of representatives of their regional arts community and local government. The regional councils are:- EastEast of EnglandThe East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. It was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Essex has the highest population in the region.Its...
- East MidlandsEast MidlandsThe East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
- LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
- North EastNorth East EnglandNorth East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
- North WestNorth West EnglandNorth West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...
- South EastSouth East EnglandSouth East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
- South WestSouth West EnglandSouth West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
- West MidlandsWest Midlands (region)The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
- YorkshireYorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
The appointment of the Arts Council England Chief Executive is made by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, a position held by Alan Davey
Alan Davey (civil servant)
Alan Davey is the chief executive of the Arts Council.Starting as an Administration Trainee in the DHSS, 1985, he was Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Health, 1988–90. He went to the Department of National Heritage in 1992 to head the National Lottery Bill Team...
since 2008. Each regional council had an Executive Director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
and each art form has a specialist advisor. The Arts Council England divides its funding into the following headings:
- Combined Art (Festivals)
- Dance
- Education
- Literature
- Music
- Research
- Theatre
- Touring
- Visual Arts
Chairs of Arts Council England
- Sir Gerrard RobinsonGerry RobinsonSir Gerrard Jude "Gerry" Robinson is an Irish businessman. He is the former non-executive Chairman of Allied Domecq and the ex-Chairman/Chief Executive of Granada.-Early life:...
: 1998–2004; businessman and executive - Sir Christopher FraylingChristopher FraylingSir Christopher John Frayling is a British educationalist and writer, known for his study of popular culture.-Biography:Frayling read history at Churchill College, Cambridge and gained a PhD in the study of Jean-Jacques Rousseau...
: 2004–February 2009; Rector of the Royal College of ArtRoyal College of ArtThe Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
(London) - Dame Elizabeth ForganLiz ForganDame Elizabeth "Liz" Anne Lucy Forgan, DBE is an English journalist and executive for radio and television.-Early life:Forgan was educated at the independent Benenden School in Kent, a girls's boarding school, and at St Hugh's College, Oxford, then an all-female college.She initially worked on...
: 2009–2013; broadcaster and journalist
Executive officers
- Mary AllenMary AllenMary Allen is a British writer, broadcaster, arts administrator and management consultant best known for her controversial and turbulent period as Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House.-Early career:...
: Secretary General, 1994 –1997 - Peter HewittPeter HewittPeter Hewitt may refer to:*Peter Cooper Hewitt , American engineer*Peter Hewitt , English film director...
: Chief Executive, 1997–2008 - Alan DaveyAlan Davey (civil servant)Alan Davey is the chief executive of the Arts Council.Starting as an Administration Trainee in the DHSS, 1985, he was Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Health, 1988–90. He went to the Department of National Heritage in 1992 to head the National Lottery Bill Team...
: Chief Executive, 2008 to present
Criticism
The Council attracted criticism from the Parliamentary select committee responsible for its oversight for supporting a Lottery funded programme to subsidise UK film production that resulted in a series of films that failed to find distribution. There was also a series of costly capital projects such as the Royal Opera House and the Lowry Centre that required additional funding. In the case of the Royal Opera House the select committee found the Arts Council had broken its own procedures. In 2005 it was announced that the Arts Council England's budget was capped resulting in an effective £30m reduction in its budget.The Arts Council of England funds a controversial cultural festival, the Festival of Muslim Cultures
Festival of Muslim Cultures
The Festival of Muslim Cultures, a national celebration of Muslim cultures held in the United Kingdom, began in January 2006 and ended July 2007...
.
In March 2006, the Arts Council announced a review of its National Office that would "enhance efficiency and delivery while continuing to provide respected and focused arts leadership and drive", whilst proposing to lose 42 posts, mainly arts specialists, so that the organisation will no longer have dedicated national leads for areas including contemporary music, interdisciplinary art, moving image, architecture, broadcasting, opera, social inclusion, disability, and so on.
Arts Council England's music policy is controversial with jazz enthusiasts. It spends more than 90% of its music budget on opera. Jazz has an equivalent audience size but receives less than 1%. This point was raised in Chris Hodgkins's 1998 paper Jazz in the UK. More recently it was raised in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
by Lord Colwyn
Anthony Hamilton-Smith, 3rd Baron Colwyn
Ian Anthony Hamilton-Smith, 3rd Baron Colwyn commonly known as Anthony Hamilton-Smith CBE is a British peer, doctor and politician...
on 11 May 2006 as documented in the Lords Hansard Columns (1058 to 1060).