CONTENTS ARTS COU NCIL LIBRARY 14 G REAT PETER STREET LONDON SW I P 3NQ TEL 651 0171-973 7 As Lord P,141111110 atmplelCS his tics--ca r tenure as Chairman of the Arts COL11161 , he argues that it is more nccessan- tha n ever that the "arm's length" principIc h e prCSCr\ r cd . 46 The Secretary-Cwncral rcilects on a yea r of change and calls for a I-C instawnwill o f the Government ' s planned nvo per cen t cut in arts ffinding . c 'HE YEA R ,Major achievements in the arts ove r the Ycar . '.".19 Wr f= inancial findings in the year. AUdience figures have held up during th e recession . Arts Council dcpartnicnts and unit s highlight the 1c .ir's achieNclilents. I . : 30/31 THE A(,Z7 ; ~ : : . ; FVNMMG 5YWY 0 The Arts Council's role in the arts Ming "vmn, A list of the ten Regional Arts Board s in England . 35 scumsm aNn wvm A&Ts mm m REPORT S `7 CASE STUDIF S Three arts organisations discuss ho% y Gwernmum gmminvid in the Arts Council has enabled them to develop . : A O L -lo - ;~'.RSHIP OF COUNCIL ANO 5FA F 42/43 STRUCTUR E 424 SP0NS(jR 1,'Vt P 41 ANNUAL ACCOUNTS CHAIRMAN'S INTRODUCTION nlakc~ my circle just, And they define +yh„ie ar:as Csf Ax :r nationa l arts io11111t1.tI11t1 - tike artist abo%e all, T',,iakcs me end when: I bcganne" - the life ; the\- give pride of place and mak e with the adminis nr a[or,. and all those %du l concluding lines of John Donne' s Grcat Britain a great tourist attraction ; work in a fashion so dedicated as t o A Valediction Forhiddinfl Mournitirf, they create jobs and revenue and boost demonstrate beyond doubt how vital the provide an injunction and a reflection as invisible earnings . This is not the time t o arts are to our national life . I have bee n I prepare to vacate the Chair of this most penny pinch when the arts have been s o greatly blessed by supportive fello w British, splendid and ncccssan- nationa l abundantly succcssful . This is not th e members of the Arts Council, by the skull institution . Whatever the presen t time - is there ever anv time? - in whic h and commitment of the staffat the Art s difficulties, whatever the criticisms tha t to penalise success . Council, led by its doughty Secretary - have been made of the Arts Council an d It is more necessan , than ever that th e General, Anthony Everitt, and by the its decisions, nothing ~hakes my, Arts Council be fiercely independent of , many friends that 1 haxc made in th e conviction that the arts in this countn• while responsible to, Government . Never regions throughout the country . We hav e are best served in the dispensation of must the "arm's length" be destroyed b y achieved, together, a great deal in th e Government funding by a body a mailed fist at its cx[remity. The Art s past five years. With continued firnines s independent of Government, ready t o Council of Great Britain must be free to of intent, the Arts Council will protec t fight tier the one individual upon +yhom pursue its chartered aims, spreading the and enable our matchless artisti c our artistic life depends - the artist . knokdedge, understanding an d capability - so I end where "I hcgannc" , When "1 beganne " , almost five year s enjoyment of the arts to all our people . in the sure and certain knowledge tha t ago, there was as much turmoi l The. Chairman and Chicf Exccutivc o f the arts will he best ser ved by the Art s surrounding the Arts Council as there i s the South Bank Centre in a recent lette r Council as it is currently chartered . now. Five years, and five Ministers for to the lndepeudertt, said with splendid the Arts on, we have a Secretary of State clarity : "The arts are the key to the life o f for National Heritage . The famou s the mind. They invigorate, feed and "arm's length " principle is as robusr an d stimulate the intellect and the emotion s as essential as ever, and it has been re - . .. for what is an extremely modest su m affirmed recently by the Secrctar<• o f for the Treasury, the arts offer hope , State in the Commons . Funding for the debate, escape, a commentan . on our arts has steadily increased over the pas t times and a horne for our deepest five years but it is now threatened by a n emotions . " I wholeheartedly agree, fo r attack of traditional Treasury pecksniffery that is the heart of the matter. which affccts understanding of the art s Whatever debates and disagreement s but ignores the crucial tact that artisti c there may be, I have no doubt that the talent is a resource so precious that it i s quality of the arts is crucial to th e not easily subject to regulation b y creation arid maintenance of a civilise d parsimony . `I'hcre is all the differenc e society . bcnvicen the prudent disposition an d I am not surprised at the attacks upo n management of scarce resources and the the Arts Council of Great Britain, and w• e denial of rltcni as an article of dogmati c are and should always be, ready to repe l trLlgaliry_ as a necessary antidote to th e them because ,%-c live in times o f proven success of the arts in this country- wholesale denigration of the great forma l over the past fcw years . instirutions of State, the Crown, th e There is more than a +vhif Of, a Church, p arliament and the La+v , suggestion that the arts have don: so exacerbated by the rigorous cutbacks i n well that they must be put in thei r public expenditure. financial place . -fhe point was eloquentl y The Arts Council of Great Britain, fo r put by a correspondent to -17je Times all its frailties, is still a national centre o f recent]\, : "When, oh "lien, arc we going; excellence . Its raison d'etre is the artis t to learn that cultural platters transcend and the c1[sscinination of knowledge an d balanced hooks ." The arts in this cOUIltn ' understanding of the artistic impulse an d generate a twvo-fold return for every its creations . 1 am immensely proud t o pound of tax payers' money in vested i n have been Chairman for this past fiv e them . 'ncc arts not only give vita years and 1 salute the thousands of me n l LORD PALUMBO spiritual uplift in our bewildered times ; and women who make up our flourishing CHAIR v}AfJ AR T S COUNCIL Or GREAT BRITAIN 440M fak SECRETARY-GENERAL'S REPORT ht past year saWW- a number oC histori c demonstrating prog,res, 1, ti~% .lydi th e uicrcascs to the Arts COLInCil ' s grant ii t TCllanges in the system of arts funding , realisation of our Corporate plan' s aid . These enabled the Arts Council try The respontibilit for funding, an d primary objcctiycs - that is, access, stabilise the tunding of the porttirhO 41t ' assessing the remaining building-base d excellence, the growth of the art s arts organisations which it support s regional theatres which had not bee n cconlnry and Improvement to ou r across the country. Despite th e devolved under the terms ofthe Art s efficiency and qualit\. cif senice . deepening recesS!Otl, tile arts conrinuc d Council 's I984 strategy doc1.1111CIlt, I7ie The balance between excellence an d to tlourish . Glorv t f the Garden, will be handed ove r access has been debated since the Art s Now we enter a collier climate . The to the Regional Arts Boards from April Council's filttndation after the Secon d {rclatiyeh•1 fat tears arc to be followed b y 1994. The Goycrnmcnr has decided tha t World War. [can ones . A two per cent cash cut to th e from the samc date the Scottish an d A ten• decades ago it was stnnnned LIP grant-in-aid has been announced . Ou r ~Velsll Arts Councils, currently sub - by the catch phrase "raise or spread" . Of' primary task "ill be to pcrsuadc th e committees of the Arts Council OF Great course, these principles are tlyin aspect s Government to change its mind on th e Britain, will become independent bodie s cif a single enterprise . BUt from tinge to grounds that the subsidised arts are on e with Royal Charters and will be finldc d time the emphasis has shifted to and fro . of Britain's glories. Thcy iced the huma n by the Scottish and Welsh Offices . It also During the 1980s many saw the .Arrs spirit . Research repeatedly demonstrate s decided to establish a National lottery : Council as being primarily Concerne d the high ya1LIC which the puhlit p€aces o n according to the proposed legislatio n with access to the arts, partly through it s them. Our aim will be to protect th e now before Parliament, the nt proceeds encouragement of earnings an d achievements ofthc thOLISands ofar'tist s will be divided five ways and the arts , improved bcrx-Office results and part h and arts groups Which are tile lifChIoOd film and crafts share will be distribute d through its commitment to equa l of Britain's cultural life, and to ensure by the Arts C OL11161 .