outside in seminar
Changing The Culture Derrick Anderson
Derrick Anderson
12
ARTS ATTHE HEART
nalgao Magazine
Autumn 2010
The cultural sector has achieved a great deal in recent years.The sector has shown itself to be adept at responding to opportunities presented by wider developments.As a result, the profile of the sector has never been higher. However, despite laudable efforts by the sector to take responsibility for its development needs, this new found profile has come at a price.Questions have been raised about performance and its impact on outcomes.As we enter a period of unprecedented pressure on public finances, these weaknesses threaten to undermine the ability of the cultural sector to compete for scarce resources. Faced with these challenges, the sector must continue to address known weaknesses around performance and, at the same time, boldly pursue new opportunities presented by the political consensus that is emerging around localism and new forms of service delivery. In many ways, the recent story of the cultural sector in modern times has been one of growing confidence and influence. As the 1990s progressed the sector moved beyond energy sapping battles over compulsory competitive tendering to position culture as a driver of economic and social wellbeing.The introduction of the Local Government Act 2000, which explicitly set out Local Authorities’ responsibilities in this area helped. But more importantly, the sector acted boldly to make space for itself at the top table, using the utilitarian arguments of the day. Much as I admire the way the sector has pursued the opportunities that have arisen, I also see that it has not been without its problems. Increased attention from beyond the sector highlighted longstanding weaknesses within. Lambeth was by no means alone in being criticised by the Audit Commission for the way performance was managed within its cultural services. In many ways, the sector came to the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) game late in the day and, at times, seemed resistant to doing what needed to be done to meet the new requirements of performance management. When I addressed the nalgao conference in February, I told delegates that only a fool would try to predict the outcome of the general election. As it happened, the outcome was even less predictable than I had imagined - the first coalition since the Second World War, bringing together Conservatives and Liberal Democrats for a term they hope will last five years. Five months later, I’m less surprised by the financial situation we find ourselves in. In the hierarchy of priorities for the national government, local government ranks far lower than hospitals and schools or defence. Local government had already been asked to find an additional £1.1 billion in savings this year when the government announced the curtailment of the Building Schools for the Future programme. And there is more pain to come, with the Comprehensive Spending Review expected to spell out cuts in departmental spending of at least a third over the next three years. Faced with these challenges, what must the culture sector do to safeguard its future? With the formation of the coalition government we now know that Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) is no more and, in the future,