Arts Council of England Lottery Distribution Account S 1 April 1995-31 March 199 6
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(+0 l A rT L20972 The Arts Council of England is a successor bode to The Arts Counci l the Arts Council of Great Britain (ACGB) which wa s established in 1940 . On I April 1994, the ACGI3's of England responsibilities and functions Here transferred to three new bodies: The Arts Council of England, The Scottis h 2nd annual report Arts (:ouncil and The Arts Council of WaIcs. (The Arts Council of Northern Ireland was alrcadr established a s and accounts a separate body. ) 1995/96 I1te Arts Council of England operates under a Royal Charter granted in 1994 in which its objective s are stated as : (a ► to develop and improve the knowledge, understandin g and practice of the arts , (b) to increase the accessibility• of the arts to the public , (c) to advise and co-operate with departments o f government, local authorities, the Arts Councils fo r Scotland, Wiles and Northern Ireland and other bodies . The Arts Council of England, as a publicly accountabl e body, publishes an annual report and accounts to provid e Parliament and the general public with an overvie w of the vicar's work. ARTS COUNCIL LIBRARY 14 GREAT PETER STREET LONDON SU'1 P 3NO TEL 0171-973 6517 2 The Arts Council ofF.nglnnd 199.i 96 Contents 5 Chairman's introductio n 6 An abridged version of a speech given in the House of Lord s lit° Lord Gowrie on 12 June 199 6 9 Secretan--General 's report 12 No public subsidx; no West End - essav by Sir Cameron Mackintos h 1 .1 Financial summan; performance indicators , spending by region 21 Deprtronental reports 22 Combined Arts 24 Dancc 26 Drama 28 Education and Training 30 Film, Video and Broadcastin g 32 Literature 34 Music 36 Touring 38 VISLIal Arts 40 National Lotten, 42 The Arts Council Collectio n 44 Regional Arts Board s 48 The Council member s 50 McrnLbership of Council and staff Advisors' structure 53 Accouyw 1995/96 99 National Lotten' : statement of compliance with polic e and financial direction s 100 Partnership funding for ACE Lotten: grants over~5m awarded in 1995/9 6 10.1 Notes on large print versions and accessibilit y 4 171cArrxCozmcil uJZ~t~lnu~f l9U5. '~J(~ In this vear 's anntlal report, I wish to confine my openin g Chairman's introduction remarks to conlnaending Sir Cameron Mackintosh's articl e (sce pctflc 12) cm the contlecrion between the subsidised and unsubsidised arts . It is one of the most powerful pieces o f advocacy - u11,111Swerable even - for sustaining, nor cutting , the very nxxiest contribution the taxpayer makes to ou r share of Britain's third or fourth most important industry. Arts, leisure and tourism are, if you list them as a sector, right up there with oil, pharmaceuticals and financial services. Sir Cameron is concerned with the theatre bu t what he says applies, to a greater or lesser degree, to othe r art forms including popular music . The dilemma facing the Council is clearly spelt out by ou r Secretary-General in the article which follows . My mai n contribution is an excerpt from a debate I initiated in th e House of Lords, which laid great stress can the positive benefits of the National Lorterv (we are not whingers) bu t which addresses - again, I hope, in a positive seal' - sonle of the difficulties and how we are seeking to tackle them . Tile best news of all 1s the cimt11lu1ng vigour of the arts at local, regional, national and international level . The funding organisations, the Rc-ional Arts Boards an d oursel. es exist to serve the arts and we are only useftil i n so far as we do so . So I should like to pay tribute to the Regional Arts Boards, with whom sve are now workin g more closely than ever before (all 10 chairmen joined the Council this \-ear), and their staff for their work . Local government, also hard pressed for funds, continues to recognise the regenerative work of cultural initiatives wher e cities, towns and villages are concerned and has responde d vigorously to the National Lotter\ : The authorities are every bit as involved as we are . The Council is grateful to them and grateful, too, for the services of our own dedicated officials. The work that they do, in relation to the material rewards they receive for it, constitutes a system of arts patronage in itself. Lord Gowrie C'bairrman Airs CouPicil n1'D'yland September 1996 An abridged version of a If we strip the phrase of its sinister, Maoist overtones , nothing less than a cultural rev notion is taking dace in ou r speech given in the House o f country today. Its en,ine is rile National Latter'In onls- a Lords by Lord Gowrie, •ear and a halt, the National Lottery has raised no less than .C2 billion for the arts, spent . the national heritage . caring; Chairman of the Arts Council charities and Schemes to celebrate the new millennium . of England, on 12 June 1996 So tar, -5 .812 awards for nearly 71,000 projects adding u p to .Cl billion have been committed . Through these th e I .otterl is rnccrura,7in~r a sense otcommtrnirY and social cohesion, not [cast ~by acting as a Springboard for the regcner ation of our towns, our cities and our villagcs . With both the major political parties acknovdedging that public spending as a proportion of C11V is not only unSUSrainable, but pieN•ci-it% output from rising as fast a s It otltenViSe might, it is Surer• fantaw to imagine thar the work being done in those fields could be fulled by conventional public expenditure . The Lotrcn• is x-cry much the personal creation of the Prim e \ Mister. The Prime Minister "or rite legislation through and, nwst important ofall, he got it through with all-parry supporr. The Labour Parrv in local and regional government , sharpy assure of the regenerative possibilities of investin g in our culture, Kati beell nwST Supportive. Newcastle an d Gateshcad, Manchester and Liverpool, IIIrmingliam , Bristol and Lf Ilda)Il, to nanic only the biggest cities, wil l soon be transformed in a W .1%, not seen since the contiden r rears of Victorian and Edwardian industrial and municipal expansion. ( )r riles- will be n-anNformed it we keep ou r heads and th r not mess about with the Lotrer v on an y Significant scale tirr fine or si p Fears . As the Prime Ministe r sari to me when we discussed m\ , appointment: 1 wall t %,(w ill? people M Britain to bare the best por nin7. and clrltllr-al facilities• in Elliwpe witbill I U re•ars. ' That is an honourable and useful aim . It is Shared by th e Deader ofthe Opposition and by the I .cadcr of the I .ibcrai Democrats . It is, IC \\,c keep our heads, a pertccrlt • achievable ambirion . So the 1-0-01ution is under way, Culled In, talenr an d commitnient but also hs• the sudden, and rather be\s ildering, availabilirn of ilcw, hard cash . 0 11jeArts (:rnrraiil ref triglrrrir! 1995.`90 By June the arts councils - the largest of which, the one fo r `I ain't knoii, anvtlling about mode;7i sculpture, tl)ouglj I ;ather England, I chair - have made 1,200 awards to the tune of like this one. I do know that out- enablinq contribution to the ,C471m. Ovcr 75% by number of those awards have bee n Lotter, bid isa sensationally cheap inc v ofachicving less than 1:100,000 in value, demanding 10% in matchin g international standing far Gateshead and that rill have positive funds only. Surely this gives the lic to perceptions that al l knock-on effects for our citizens_ ' we do is to provide finances for large and prestigious organisations. Of course we also do that, and quite righ t Had I more time I could continue in a wholly positive vein , too. Britain has starved her great theatres, opera houses , mentioning large awards such as the Cambridge Arts concert halls, living art galleries and dance centres o f "Theatre, the Hall for Cornwall and the Ikon Gallery i n investitaent ever since I entered my teens, which happened Birmingham ; middle scale awards such as the Green Room to be the year of the Festival of Britain . How well I in .Manchester, the Norwich Playhouse and the fil m remember the excitement, the optimism, and the post-wa r adaptation of Thomas Hardy's The Woodlande;s; the small revivalist spirit of 19 ;51 which the Royal Festival Hall, th e awards such as the Wnwickshire County lcnith Orchestra , Domc of Discovery and the much missed Skylon an d the Cheshire Dance Workshop and even Zippo's Academ y Battersea Funfair generated . of Circus Arts . We have even given a little money to a troupe of drum majorettes . When you have spent decades trNing to keep shows o n the road at the expense of investment in infrastructure , Only 14 months on from our first awards last year, it is righ t two things happen . Your overseas trade begins to sutle r to be thoroughly positive - bullish even - because I have n o because, however much foreign visitors admire \,our actors , doubt ,,whatever that so long as any modifications to the actresses and musicians, they \vill not indefinitely suppor t Lottery and its mechanisms are made in the light of realit; uncomfortable, non air-conditioned, tat, theatres and we shall indeed go further tip the slopes of Parnassus than orchestral halls .