Agenda and minutes

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from the Deputy Lord Mayor (Councillor Lavery) and Councillors M. Browne and McCausland.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      Members will recall that they agreed to receive a presentation from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in order to gain a greater understanding of the Arts Council’s contribution to Belfast’s Culture and Arts sector, to determine their future priorities for arts development in Belfast and to progress towards establishing a collaborative and integrated approach towards new opportunities, especially in light of the Review of Public Administration.  Rosemary Kelly, Chairman, and Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive, will be in attendance. 

Key Issues

      The purpose of this report is to provide Members with current issues relating to the culture and arts sector in Belfast and relevant background on the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

      Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure’s Inquiry into

      The Funding of the arts in Northern Ireland

      DCAL made the decision to hold an inquiry into the funding of the arts on 8th January, 2009 and agreed the terms of reference for the inquiry on 29th January, 2009.   Advertisements requesting submissions by 27th February, 2009 were placed in the local newspapers on 3rd February, 2009.  In addition, the Committee agreed to write to 134 individuals and interest groups to request submissions on a number of areas set out in the terms of reference and establish how and to what level the arts are funded in Northern Ireland by the public and private sectors, the impact of this funding and how monies are allocated across the various artforms.  BelfastCity Council actively participated in this process.

      The Committee came to the conclusion that there was a lack of information regarding how much money the public sector invests in the arts and that research was required to ascertain how much Government Departments, other than the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, spent on the arts. 

      It also concluded that, in order to increase funding for the arts, an inter-departmental approach was required, as the social and economic benefits of the arts met the objectives of a range of Departments.  The Committee also concluded that more money should be reallocated to community and voluntary arts, given their impact on regenerating communities and providing people with opportunities for participating in arts activities.  There was also a particular concern that arts groups in communities without a history of arts funding should be proactively encouraged to access available monies and to that end recommended that the Start Up programme operated by ACNI continued and be developed.  A full list of recommendations is available on Modern.gov.

      Culture and Arts Impact in Belfast

      According to the recent DCAL Committee inquiry into the funding of the arts in Northern Ireland, BelfastCity Council has the highest per capita spend at £28.94.  It should be noted that Belfast City Council’s approach differs from many other local authorities in that it provides direct funding to arts organisations as well as managing arts venues.

      In 2008/09, BelfastCity Council’s direct investment in culture and arts organisations resulted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.