Minutes:
The Committee considered the undernoted report which provided an overview of the outcome of an equality impact assessment of the above-mentioned Framework, together with final draft of the Cultural Framework for Belfast 2012/2015, a copy of which was available on the Council’s Modern.gov system:
“1 Relevant Background Information
1.1As Members will recall, the public consultation on the Council’s draft Cultural Framework for Belfast 2012–15 and Equality Impact Assessment closed on 31 August 2012.
1.2Seventy-one formal responses to the consultation were received. Officers also carried out a series of meetings with stakeholders, including with Members and the arts sector, the Heritage Forum, the Festivals Forum, the arts and disability sector, internal staff and general public in five community centres across Belfast.
2 Key Issues
2.1The findings of the public consultation are summarised below. Copies of written responses and minutes of meetings are available from the Tourism, Culture and Arts (TCA) Manager on request. Copies of the Cultural Framework with tracked changes are also available from the Tourism, Cultural & Arts unit.
General findings
Consultees were generally supportive of the draft Cultural Framework. In particular, several consultees praised the open and inclusive approach to consultation.
Investment
45 per cent of consultees who responded to this question indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with this section. Of those who responded negatively, there were four main concerns.
Firstly, the requirement for a minimum turnover of £100,000 to be eligible for core funding was considered detrimental to small organisations and for the diversity of the overall sector. This has been removed.
Secondly, the cap on core funding at 10 per cent of an organisation’s budget was considered not to reflect focus on Belfast or capacity to deliver on the Framework’s objectives. This has been removed.
Thirdly, several consultees expressed demand for Council to fund individual artists. While the development of individual artists is considered to be a role for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) and would further reduce the amount of funding available to organisations, we have included an action to support employability and skills development under the Strengthening the sector theme. This will be facilitated in partnership with Creative and Cultural Skills and other stakeholders, and additional external funding will be sought.
Finally, consultees thought that the Framework was not deliverable of proposed budgets and that the council should provide funding equivalent to UK and ROI councils. The Cultural Framework is timely as we are agreeing budget estimates for 2013/14. We will take all feedback on board as part of this process.
Vision and aims
67 per cent of consultees who responded to this question indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the vision and aims. Some consultees noted that they struggled to find the aims or understand the connection between the aims, actions and targets. The layout has been changed as a result of these comments.
Several consultees considered that there was not enough emphasis on cultural diversity. While the Framework was always intended to be inclusive of ‘everyone in Belfast’ regardless of community and cultural background, we have amended the vision to explicitly refer to diversity.
Finally, several consultees considered that the reference in the vision to the city’s culture and arts being ‘renowned throughout the world’ was too subjective and not measurable. This has been changed to ‘recognised’.
Heritage
Consultees were not asked to respond specifically to this section. Where responses were received, some consultees considered that heritage was not fully integrated in to the Framework, while others considered that there was too much emphasis on heritage.
The Framework is based on a wide and holistic definition of heritage. Buildings are an important feature of this, and a large number of responses related to built heritage. Unfortunately, there was less recognition of the limited role of local government in controlling the built environment or enabling the physical aspects of economic development. However, the Framework does take Council up to 2015, when local government reforms under the Review of Public Administration are expected to take effect. This is likely to include the transfer of some planning functions.
As a result of this feedback, we have further integrated heritage across all four themes. The Open University strongly advocated for actions to support learning and skills development, which they are willing to develop in partnership, and this has been included under the Inspiring communities theme.
Finally, we have made explicit the intent to develop a heritage action plan.
Capital developments
Consultees were not asked to respond specifically to this section. Where responses were received, they were generally supportive. Consultees stressed the importance of finding creative uses for the city’s historical, underused or vacant buildings – including Council-owned assets – which is already included as an action under Distinctly Belfast. This included support from the Ministerial Advisory Group for Architecture and the Built Environment in Northern Ireland, which offered to further advise and work with the Council.
Public art
Consultees were not asked to respond specifically to this section. Where responses were received, they were generally supportive. One consultee suggested that the council should operate a per cent for art scheme.
At May Development Committee, Members requested that a report on the potential for a per cent for art scheme be prepared and presented to Committee alongside responses to the public consultation on the draft Framework.
Creative industries
Consultees were not asked to respond specifically to this section. However, several consultees did respond. While responses were generally favourable, some consultees, including Invest NI and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, objected to the conflation of for-profit creative industries and not-for-profit culture and arts organisations. We have amended the figures cited in the final document to reflect the traditional distinction. However, we believe that the two sectors must work more closely together in the future and have retained the sentiment and associated actions.
This has been further reinforced by a supportive response from Creative and Cultural Skills, and we have further strengthened the actions to support employability and skills development, which will help cultural industries unlock their economic potential. This also addresses requests from a number of consultees for the Council to support individual artists.
Tourism
Consultees were not asked to respond specifically to this section. Some cosultees considered that there was too much weight on tourism in the document. Other consultees suggested further initiatives to support tourism. No substantive changes have been made as a result of the consultation.
‘Distinctly Belfast’
56 per cent of consultees who responded to this question indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with Distinctly Belfast. Consultees who indicated they were unsatisfied or very unsatisfied included a relatively high percentage of arts organisations, Community Relations Council and the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities. Conversely, the heritage sector was broadly satisfied.
The Cultural Framework and Distinctly Belfast theme was always intended to be inclusive, as reflected in the vision. However, a number of consultees understood this theme to be prescriptive, parochial and exclusive of new and minority communities.
Following extensive discussions, this theme has been revised and renamed ‘Connecting the city’. This includes replacing references to ‘local talent’ with attracting, retaining and nurturing artistic talent, and more reference to the international context. While it was never intended that all activity funded would need to be themed around Belfast, we have stressed in the revised theme that all activity needs to be relevant to Belfast and resonate with Belfast audiences.
Inspiring communities
63 per cent of consultees who responded to this question indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with Inspiring communities. While hard-to-reach communities intended to be inclusive of disabled people and minority ethnic groups in the consultation document, this has been explicitly stated in the final document. Other consultees requested that the LGB&T communities be included. However, there is no evidence that this is a hard-to-reach community, as detailed in the EQIA.
While the role arts and culture play in improving good relations was also implicit throughout the consultation document, this has been made explicit in the final document, and a fifth underpinning Good Relations value has been added based on the Investment Programme.
The contribution of voluntary and amateur arts to the city and the sector has also been recognised, and Voluntary Arts Ireland has been included as a strategic partner. It is intended that they, not Council, will deliver on the associated actions.
Attracting audiences
70 per cent of consultees who responded to this question indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with Attracting audiences. More explicit reference to sustaining existing audiences and more reference to the importance of heritage has been included in the final document.
Strengthening the sector
78 per cent of consultees who responded to this question indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with Strengthening the sector. Further reference to the role of volunteering has been included in the final document.
Values
74 per cent of consultees who responded to this question indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the values.
A number of consultees, particularly from the arts sector, stressed the importance of quality and considered that this should be brought to the fore as a measure of success. This will be further considered in action plans in consultation with the sector, but the definition of quality has been amended to be more inclusive of the city’s diverse sector in the final draft.
A fifth quality of Good relations has been added in response to concerns raised by Community Relations Council (CRC) and NICEM among other consultees.
Targets
64 per cent of consultees who responded to this question indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the targets. A lack of targets had been cited as a weakness under the previous Integrated Cultural Framework, and consultees commended this new, more strategic approach. However, several noted that it was not clear how the commitments, priorities, actions and targets interlinked, and the layout has been changed in the final document. Others queried baseline figures, and we will need to establish baselines and revisit targets in partnership with strategic stakeholders over the next six months.
Cultural diversity
Several consultees considered the definition of culture should be broader than arts and heritage and there should be more emphasis on cultural diversity. Other consultees considered that the Framework should explicitly support Irish language arts. While we have not differentiated between art forms in the Cultural Framework as the emphasis is on the impact, rather than the art itself, Irish language arts providers should be well positioned to demonstrate how they align with the four themes, in particular, Connecting the city and Inspiring communities. However, cultural diversity has now been further emphasised throughout.
EQIA
Four responses to the EQIA were received.
Arts and Disability Equality Charter (ADEC) asked that disabled people be identified within each of the four themes. They have been identified as a priority group under Inspiring communities, and further suggestions by ADEC will be considered in action plans to support the implementation of the Framework.
The CRC strongly supported the need to produce more robust monitoring data and further recommended that the council adopt the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency’s Framework for Monitoring Minority Ethnic and Migrant People.
Disability Action submitted a ‘nil’ response. One further consultee responded confidentially, and their response was considered outside the scope of the Cultural Framework. We will continue to monitor and review the equality impacts of all actions as part of the monitoring and evaluation framework, and findings will be included in an annual review on progress to the Equality Commission.
The Twelfth
At the May Development Committee, the DUP expressed concerns that the annual Twelfth of July celebrations had not been included within the Framework document. This was further considered by Officers from the TCA and Good Relations units. We have agreed that within the context of the Cultural Framework, potential support should be channeled via Orangefest as this represents the cultural and arts dimension of the Twelfth and meets funding eligibility criteria. Orangefest is currently supported by the TCA unit to develop culture and arts, audiences and deliver outreach activity through Development and Outreach funding and Peace III City of Festivals Funding. The TCA unit has experienced capacity issues with Orangefest as an organisation. Through the themes of the Cultural Framework, and in particular strengthening the sector and inspiring communities, capacity can be strengthened and Orangefest’s role can be enhanced over the next 3 years.
Next steps
Following Committee approval, the new core funding scheme will open on 8 October 2012. Recommendations for funding will be brought back to Committee for approval in February 2013. A Cultural Forum will also be establish to develop action plans and oversee the delivery of the Cultural Framework, and a further report on this will be submitted to Committee in October 2012.
3 Resource Implications
3.1Financial
£1.5m per year is included under the Investment Programme for culture and arts. Feedback from the public consultation will be further considered in context of the rate setting process.
4 Equality and Good Relations Considerations
4.1A full EQIA was undertaken as part of the development of the Cultural Framework.
5 Recommendations
- Agree the final draft of the Cultural Framework for Belfast 2012–15
- Agree to open the Core Funding Scheme on 8 October 2012.
- Agree the final EQIA report
- Recommend a preferred option for a Per Cent for Art Scheme.”
After discussion, the Committee noted the contents of the equality impact assessment and the endorsed the Cultural Framework for Belfast 2012/2015, subject to the retention of the theme and term ‘Distinctly Belfast’. In addition, it was agreed that the associated Core Funding Scheme would open on 8th October.
It was agreed also that a letter be forwarded to National Museums of Northern Ireland requesting that representatives attend a future meeting of the Committee to discuss the feasibility of identifying additional space within the City where artworks currently in storage could be displayed in public.