Minutes:
The Committee considered the undernoted report, together with a revised Cultural Framework document, a copy of which was made available on the Council’s Modern.gov website:
“1 Relevant Background Information
1.1 The Development Committee in May 2010 gave approval for the development of a new cultural strategy for Belfast City Council.
1.2 The previous Council strategy, the Integrated Cultural Strategy for Belfast (ICS) 2007–10, was developed in partnership with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL). It established a shared vision for cultural development in Belfast and set out two guiding principles for the Council:
- To develop the cultural product in the city; and
- To use culture and arts to regenerate the city.
1.3 The Council invests just under £1.4m in culture, arts and heritage organisations each year through five funding schemes. This supports approximately 75 organisations; an audience of 4 million; 314 full?time jobs; 135 part-time jobs; 826 freelance contracts; and 736 volunteering opportunities. For every £1 of funding invested by the Council, a further £8 is leveraged.
1.4 Investment to support and promote arts and culture in Belfast has been identified as a key economic driver in the Investment Programme 2012–15.
Development of the New Cultural Strategy
1.5 Since June 2010, Officers have undertaken substantial developmental work on the new strategy. This includes engagement with stakeholders, including a series of consultation workshops with the arts and heritage sectors; engagement via existing networks such as the Festivals Forum and Tourism Forum Officers Working Group; one-to-one meetings including with Arts Council Northern Ireland (ACNI) and Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL); two cultural and creative industries workshops; and an inter-Departmental briefing.
1.6 Officers also facilitated two consultation sessions with Members on 20 September and 28 October 2011, and provided party briefings to all parties.
1.7 An independent report on the socio-economic impact of the Unit’s Annual and Multi-annual Funding schemes and an audit of the audience at the city’s ticketed events and venues have been completed. An extended report on the competitiveness of Belfast’s culture, arts and sport was also commissioned from Oxford Economics and is included on Modern.gov.
2 Key Issues
2.1 Following consultation and in-depth feedback, the ICS is considered to be still very relevant, and it provides a strong foundation for further development. Feedback from consultees indicated that a more practical, action-oriented strategy is required for the next three years.
Consultation with Political Parties
2.2 Officers have carried out briefings with all Political Parties. Key issues raised by the Parties included sustainability; deliverability; need for community engagement; and need to increase audiences. A summary of the feedback is included on Modern.gov and adaptations to the strategy following party consultation have been highlighted in the Cultural Framework in red.
Consultation with the Arts and Heritage Sectors
2.3 Officers undertook a series of workshops with the arts and heritage sectors, which identified some of the challenges they face, including:
- The relationship with the Council was generally considered good.
- They would like Councillors to play a greater role as advocates for culture and arts.
- Communications and increased support for marketing and audience development, in particular, were pinpointed as areas that need increased focus and resources.
Key Challenges
2.4 The most significant challenge faced by the cultural sector is the level of public sector funding:
- Northern Ireland’s sector is under-funded relative to England, Scotland and Wales.
- The Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s budget has been cut by £1.4m.
- Other central government departments that support culture and arts activities, such as the Department for Social Development and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, are likely to pass on further cuts.
- The Council’s funding for culture and arts organisations has remained standstill over the past five years, which is a cut in real terms against rising inflation and overheads.
2.5 Furthermore:
- Organisations have suffered from a decline in audiences and box office income.
- Organisations are already absorbing increased inflation and general business costs.
- New capital developments and flagship venues including but not limited to the Lyric and the MAC now face increased running costs and need larger programming budgets to fill their spaces.
- Private sector investment and sponsorship is under significant pressure.
Council’s Investment in Culture and Arts
2.6 At the start of this framework, the Council’s culture and arts funding has remained at a standstill for five years. The current demand on our funding in any given year is five times what we have available. Funding is also spread thinly across a large number of organisations, while most successful applicants receive 60 per cent of the amount of money they requested. This may in turn reduce the size and impact of the funded project. We support on average 4.9 per cent of organisational turnover (a benchmarking exercise of councils in England showed that, on average, they support 8 per cent of organisational turnover).
2.7 The funding system is complex and cumbersome. Operating five funding schemes places a huge administrative burden on staff resources. There is also little coordination between funders, although steps have been taken to address this following meetings with ACNI. Organisations have to complete similar applications and submit similar reports to different funding bodies, which do not share information or communicate effectively with each other.
2.8 Funding Schemes
Due to the issues raised, we recommend that:
- We will reduce the number of schemes we operate
- We will provide core funding to fewer organisations. This will through two-year funding contracts, and the minimum grant available will be £10,000 a year. This will provide organisations with greater security to deliver excellent cultural product.
- We will also increase the ceiling of project funding from £3,000 to £10,000 to allow for growth and innovation.
- We will review the Community Festivals funding. Members and stakeholders were very supportive of the outputs of these schemes. However, we will review them to maximise benefits for communities and the city.
- A detailed breakdown of the proposed new funding schemes is available on Modern.gov. All funding will be allocated by a new, competitive process, and this will refresh the portfolio of clients we fund. It is likely that we will core fund between 35 and 40 clients a year. We anticipate that only 50 per cent of applicants will be successful. However, successful applicants will receive larger grants.
- We will review our application processes to ensure that they are fit-for-purpose and paperwork is commensurate with the amount of money being requested.
- We will put in place a robust monitoring and evaluation framework and communicate the results.
- We will work in partnership with ACNI to streamline application processes and reduce the level of unnecessary duplication, as far as is possible.
2.9 Members asked for a flagship fund to be created. We currently support flagship programmes and projects through:
- Multi-annual Funding: three-year core funding for flagship festivals and venues
- Development and Outreach: project funding up to £20,000 per project supporting audience development and community arts in areas of social need
- Creative Legacies: project funding of up to £16,000 per project supporting audience development and community arts among targeted Section 75 groups in areas of social need. This is a one-off scheme funded through PEACE III.
2.10 We propose re-launching the Development and Outreach Initiative as a Flagship Fund. This fund will deliver cross-cutting, cross-city partnership projects. In particular, the projects must inspire communities and be distinctly Belfast. Further detail is included on Modern.gov.
Visions, Aims and Objectives of the Cultural
Framework 2012–15
2.11 The vision of this new framework is that by 2020, everyone who lives in, works in and visits Belfast experiences and is inspired by Belfast’s diverse culture. Belfast will be internationally renowned for its distinctive arts and heritage, which will improve quality of life and generate wealth for its citizens.
2.12 Our objectives for 2012 to 2015 are:
- We will prioritise home-grown product that celebrates the city’s distinctive character and supports local talent
- We will coordinate a focused approach to heritage via the Belfast Story
- We will inspire our citizens to participate in and help shape the city’s rich cultural life
- We will grow audiences to ensure there is a demand to meet the new supply
- We will strengthen the culture and arts sectors to provide them with greater stability to deliver excellence
- We will support development and innovation to ensure that culture and arts do not just weather the economic storm, but help Belfast to emerge from it as a proud, more prosperous city
- We will measure and advocate the impact of culture, arts and heritage on the city.
2.13 To achieve this, we are proposing four themes:
2.14 Distinctly Belfast: It is widely recognised that a proud, thriving city is a diverse city that celebrates its uniqueness and takes pride in its difference. Under this theme, we will prioritise our local artists and our unique stories. This will help build a positive image of Belfast, drawing in tourists and boosting the economy. It will also connect our citizens to our city, so they can take pride in our distinctive stories and places.
2.15 Inspiring Communities: Members and other stakeholders emphasised that engaging communities across the city must be a priority. It is vital that everyone in the city can have access to high-quality cultural services and can participate in high-quality arts and cultural activities. This will improve quality of life and builds confidence at an individual, community and whole-city level.
2.16 Attracting Audiences: One of the most critical challenges for the cultural sectors is to engage with, retain and develop audiences locally, nationally and internationally. We have invested heavily in the cultural infrastructure, and now we must attract larger audiences to ensure the sustainability of the arts and the city.
2.17 Strengthening the Sector: Belfast’s culture and arts scene is reliant on public subsidy. In a time of economic constraint, this is a risk to its sustainability.
While continuing to invest in the sector, we will provide them with the skills and opportunities to diversify their income streams. This includes opening the doors to tourism and creative industries, growing closer relationships with Europe and developing business skills according to business need.
2.18 The full draft of the Cultural Framework 2012–15 is included on Modern.gov.
Partnership
2.19 We recognise that we cannot deliver a Framework for Belfast in isolation. We will continue to build on partnerships established under the ICS, including a potential Memorandum of Understanding with ACNI.
Next Steps
2.20 The Cultural Framework along with an Equality Impact Assessment will be issued for a 12-week public consultation, which will be managed proactively. This will include workshops with key groups such as the arts sector, community groups, young people, older people, disabled people and festivals.
2.21 Following requests from the arts sector for an audience with Members, we also recommend running a consultation workshop with Members of the Development Committee on a panel.
3 Equality and Good Relations Considerations
3.1 A full Equality Impact Assessment has been prepared in tandem with the development of the Cultural Framework and is included on Modern.gov.
4 Recommendations
4.1 It is recommended that:
- Members agree the content of the draft Cultural Framework as a basis for public consultation
- Members agree to open a public consultation on the draft Cultural Framework for Belfast 2012–15 and Equality Impact Assessment
- The Chair, Deputy Chair and one representative from each of the other parties is nominated to participate in a consultation workshop.”
A number of Members welcomed the content of the Cultural Framework and expressed the view that the document was balanced and presented a positive basis for further consultation.
A Member expressed concern that the annual Twelfth of July celebrations had not been included within the Framework Document. The Director explained that it was his understanding that the issue of the Twelfth of July celebrations, together with matters related to the Council’s future language policy, would be addressed within the context of an agreed Council Diversity Policy, work on which was ongoing. However, Members pointed out that issues relating to the Twelfth of July celebrations were not within the remit of the Working Group overseeing the formulation of the Council’s Diversity Policy. In response, the Director undertook to revisit this matter within the period set aside for public consultation of the Framework.
A further Member suggested that the criteria outlined for project funding within the Framework was, perhaps, too rigid in that it excluded groups without one year’s experience of delivering such initiatives. He pointed out that such a stipulation would exclude new or emerging projects for consideration under the Framework.
After further discussion, during which the Head of Economic Initiatives clarified a number of issues and undertook to consider the points made in respect of the Framework, the Committee adopted the recommendations.