TALKING THROUGH THE ARTS
Lorna Brown muses on what the new Cameregg coalition will bring
Well so there we are – a hung parliament for the first time in 65 years, and the period of doubt continues. For the politics watchers among us this has been the most fascinating few days – I confess to having sat up till 3.30am watching the complexity of the results as they came in. Never in the history of political commentary have there been so many words used to say, ‘we can’t tell you anything – we just don’t know’. Although as it turned out, we could all have gone to bed after the exit polls.
So just what do we know now? Still precious little really. Jeremy Hunt is duly installed as Secretary of State for Culture, Media, Olympics and Sport, and the word is the DCMS (DCMOS?) will survive pretty much as it is. TThe Ministerial roles are taking shape, John Penrose (Conservative) is in for Tourism, whilst Ed Vaisey is taking Culture and Hugh Robertson, Sport and the Olympics.
The old Department for Children, Schools and Families transforms into the Department for Education, but Higher Education stays with the Department for Business, Innovation
Surf’s up
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and Skills, under Vince Cable. Certainly in the pre-election period, it was the Lib Dems who seemed strongest on the economic value of culture – let’s hope that gets reflected in BIS’s programme.
None of the party manifestos proposed ring-fencing culture, despite Margaret Hodge’s attempt. So one thing we do know is that cuts to public funding are on their way – and that any comfort we might have taken in the Comprehensive Spending Review being until 2011 might just take a blow as talk of ‘claw back’ gains ground.
While the manifestos talked glibly of ‘efficiency savings’ that would protect front line delivery, the reality is that the level of cuts (I can’t dignify them with the term savings) will affect services. After all, local government has operated under the Gershon philosophy of ‘efficiency savings’ of 2.5% year-on-year for some time now. Small services particularly have limited scope to make operational savings – hence the move to combine services across council borders to give economy of scale.
“… to slightly misquote Jonathan Dimbleby on election night, ‘We thrive on doubt and confusion’, and Arts Officers are nothing if not optimistic and opportunistic. But buckle your seat belts – we’re in for a bumpy ride.”
On a more positive note, among the changes we are likely to see is the repeal of restrictive legislation that has included increasing limits on photographers in public spaces under the terror banner. Perhaps the emphasis on voluntarism will also bring some sense to the sometimes extreme interpretation of ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) guidance that led to massive charges and impossible restrictions on community arts activities even causing cancellation of events.
I’m just guessing here but I’m not ruling out further changes to the Arts Council and the other NGDBs (Non Governmental Departmental Bodies).
The possibility of improved freedoms might be poor comfort, but to slightly misquote Jonathan Dimbleby on election night, ‘We thrive on doubt and confusion’, and Arts Officers are nothing if not optimistic and opportunistic. But buckle your seat belts – we’re in for a bumpy ride. a
Lorna Brown
Chair of NALGAO, (National Association of Local Government Art Officers)
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