ARTS COUNCIL
Minutes of the Midlands Area Council Meeting
held on 18th September starting at 1.00pm at
CBSO Centre, Birmingham
Members
Present:
Peter Phillips
Cllr Roger Begy
Sarah Brigham
Mick Gallagher
Stuart Griffiths
Uzma Johal
Mike Leyward
Skinder Hundal
Lisa Meyer
Cllr Cecilia Motley
Cllr Tony Skipper
Cllr Doreen Stephenson
Also Present: Peter Knott
Brian Ashley
Rebecca Blackman
Sarah Bond
Laura Dyer
Simon Fitch
Amanda Roberts
Sue Elwell
Apologies
Chairman of Midlands Area Council
Area Director, Midlands
Director, Libraries and Nottingham
Senior Relationship Manager, Midlands
Senior Relationship Manager, Midlands
Area Executive Director: North, Midlands
and South West.
Senior Relationship Manager
Director, Diversity and Birmingham
PA to Area Director (minutes)
Tim Desmond
Liz Roberts
1.
WELCOME AND APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
1.1
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the inaugural meeting on the Midlands
Area Council. Apologies were noted from Tim Desmond and Liz Roberts.
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2.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
2.1
Members were asked to complete their declarations of interest forms and
return to Sue Elwell or Maureen Gaynor. Members are required to keep their
declarations up to date. A copy of the register will be available at all future
meetings.
3.
CHAIR’S UPDATE
3.1
The Chairman reported that all Area Council Members’ appointments had
been ratified by National Council with the exception of Cllr Ian Ward who
would be observing this meeting. His appointment was expected to be ratified
at National Council on 19th September.
4.
MEMBERS UPDATE
4.1
All members introduced themselves and it was noted how pleased they were
to be appointed as Area Council members. The Chairman agreed that he too
was pleased with the calibre of individuals now serving on the Area Council. A
press announcement on their appointments would be issued on 20 th
September and Sue Elwell agreed to circulate members’ biographies to the
group in advance of that.
5.
INDUCTION FOR AREA COUNCIL MEMBERS
5.1
Laura Dyer, Executive Director, outlined Arts Council England’s (ACE) mission
& goals for the next 7 years.
5.2
Members were informed that ACE’s core business was to be an intelligent
investor, to offer expertise, advice and strategic interventions. It’s role is to
advocate and champion culture to ensure the development and wellbeing of
the arts, museums and libraries. Members were encouraged to read ACE’s
annual review which gives a flavour of how ACE funds arts and culture and
what our investment has achieved.
5.3
Peter Knott continued by asking members to recognise the strengths and
cultural offer the East and West Midlands Area has but asked them to be
mindful that some hard work needs to be done to realise the Midlands as an
Area.
5.4
Peter outlined ACE’s three strands of investment as National Portfolio
Organisations/Major Partner Museums (NPO/MPM) funding; Strategic Funding
Programmes – a programme designed to fill the gaps in the NPO/MPM strand
in order to deliver against our goals; Grants for the Arts – a rolling open access
programme.
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5.5
Members noted ACE’s investment in terms of artform and geography in both
regions and also across the Area. They noted that Cardiff appears in the
Midlands Area due to it being the home of the Welsh National Opera and No
Fit State.
5.6
Members noted the success rate of Grants for the Arts applications under
£15k as 60% across the Area and for over £15k as 55%. It is anticipated that
this success rate should improve people’s interest in applying to the scheme.
However, it is still unclear what affect the increase in cost of lottery and
potential sales will have on money available to good causes.
5.7
Members were also informed of the National Activities funding strand which is
to support work that takes place in more than one area. Simon Fitch, Senior
Relationship Manager, outlined applicants who had currently been successful
in applying to this scheme. It was recognised that more work needs to be done
before applications are submitted to improve the quality of the applications.
Developing artist development schemes and networking forums was given as
an example of a way to do this. Simon agreed to talk to the Hive team and
obtain more information on the quality of applications and the drivers behind
them.
5.8
Laura continued the induction session by outlining the Arts Council’s nonexecutive governance structure; the Executive Board structure, their roles &
responsibilities in particular the financial reporting structure; and the Area
Office structure. Members noted the dispersed leadership model and the
conscious steps the organisation has made to become a national organisation.
It was noted that the Manchester office (The Hive) is now the largest office,
that the Birmingham office had been partially refurbished, the Nottingham
office was moving to Nottingham Trent University and that the London office
was also relocating to less expensive premises. Members welcomed the
proposal to meet Midlands Area staff at future meetings and in the meantime,
Sue agreed to circulate the Midlands Area staff structure and the Relationship
Manager’s NPO allocations. It was suggested that, now we are delivering our
work with fewer staff, links with previous Regional Council members could be
maintained and their skills and expertise utilised.
5.9
Laura then outlined the roles of Area Council members. She iterated that
ongoing support from Area Council members was key to our work and whilst
their depth of knowledge was welcome they were not the sole voices for their
area of expertise. It was anticipated that there would be specific project based
initiatives to which they could contribute and that the new structure will allow
Area Council members to influence the decisions National Council makes.
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5.10 It was noted that the 5 meetings plus an away day would rotate across the
Area and would include visits to organisations and opportunities to meet
people. A review of the new Area Council model and its performance would
take place annually as part of the National Council review.
5.11 The session continued with a discussion on the Channel of Communication
between ACE staff, Members and clients and how issues should be passed
on. Members were advised to use their professional judgement depending on
the enquiry. They were assured that confidential matters would be made clear
and were encouraged to contact Peter or any staff member if they were
unsure. They noted that an FAQ guidance document to assist with giving
advice and key messages to the sector was currently being produced by the
Communications team. This would be help members talk confidently to the
sector and be one step ahead.
5.12 Members were informed that papers relevant to the Area would be on each
meeting agenda and would include key milestones to help members prepare.
It was agreed that times and venues for meetings would be communicated as
soon as they are known.
6.
MIDLANDS OVERVIEW CONTEXT AND INVESTMENT
6.1
Laura outlined the context for the next Spending Review and how we got to
where we are now. She informed members that a refreshed strategy would be
going to National Council for sign off in October and that the next steps would
be the modelling/planning exercise. Following which at the November
meeting, Area Council members will consider the draft application guidance
and process.
6.2
In December, National Council will then sign off budgets and overall NPO and
MPM process and guidance
7.
MIDLANDS AREA SWOT ANALYSIS
7.1
Peter introduced the Midlands Area Swot Analysis and explained the reason
for doing it was to obtain a full understanding of the geographical/artform
landscape. He explained it was part of a process planning to prepare for the
investment strategy. He welcomed members’ input for consideration but
iterated document wouldn’t be amended.
7.2
Peter went on to outline the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and
Threats and asked for members’ views and opinions.
7.2.1 Strengths -
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Members requested that non city place based examples be recognised
here as international contributors to the arts scene.
7.2.2 Weaknesses Members queried whether low engagement relates to the recession or is
it endemic? Trends suggest it is endemic within low income
demographics.
Philanthropy – Members were interested to know how private giving in
East Midlands and West Midlands compares with other areas.
Digital – Members highlighted that broadband capacity was a barrier for
rural areas and suggested some parts of the region will miss out on
opportunities. It was suggested that the medium needs developing so that
it is not seen as a marketing / advertising tool. Need to ensure sector is
engaged in the development of digital practice.
Diversity – members agreed with the concern that ACE is not getting its
funds out widely enough or appealing to diverse audiences.
Sustainability – members felt that with less money it needs to be used
better and the need for arts organisations to collaborate to make better
use of resources available.
7.2.3 Opportunities
It was agreed that ACE needs to focus on the potential of the Area and not
on its failings as a world class city.
It was suggested that opportunities around cultural tourism working with
some LEP’s should be harnessed.
Members queried how large scale pieces of work that are costly can be
maintained and delivered with smaller budgets?
Members were interested to know more about ACE’s relationship with Visit
England and their work on evaluating international visitors.
7.2.4 Threats
Members recognised public sector cuts is the largest threat to cultural
offer of the area and that different models of working need to be adopted
for survival are already coming through as the way to go.
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It was suggested that although historically unsuccessful, arts organisations
need to consider how to work together and maybe ACE should be making
themselves available to facilitate this and welcome consortium bids for
funding.
8.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
There was no other business
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