In late 2005 Welsh Culture Minister Alan Pugh announced the intention of transferring funding responsibility of the largest arts clients in Wales from Arts Council Wales to the Welsh Assembly. There had been little prior warning of this and the proposal met with a considerable criticism from the arts sector and was defeated in the Welsh Assembly. It prompted the Stephens review to examine the existing and future roles of the Arts Council of Wales and Welsh Assembly Government and the funding of the arts in an international context. The review reported in Autumn 2006 and sought to make the arts in Wales more ambitious, innovative, strategy-driven and inclusive. For the full report visit http://new.wales.gov.uk/subsites/ walesartsreview In 2007 Labour lost overall control in the Welsh Assembly elections. It agreed a coalition with Plaid Cymru and produced the ‘One Wales’ document setting out its plans for the future.The One Wales document included a small section on culture but with some ambitious plans for developing the arts in Wales.
Its findings include: • The vast majority of local authorities have acted in a professional and appropriate manner when dealing with applications for live music. • No one particular type or style of live music, or any particular style of venue, has been more affected than any other by the new legislation. • The Licensing Act 2003 has had a broadly neutral impact on the provision of live music. But it has not led to the promised increase in live music. • Many of the benefits the Government believed
the new legislation would bring to live music have been delivered but, the Forum has questioned the need for the licensing of live music at all. • The Act has an exemption from licensing for ‘incidental music’. The Forum believes that this is quite a wide-ranging exemption and should be applied liberally. • In some areas there has been an over zealous or incorrect interpretation of the legislation. The Forum thus recommends changes to the legislation, particularly by providing a definition of ‘incidental music’ and that unamplified live music is exempt from licensing. • The actions of a small number of local authorities, whose response to this legislation, in relation to live music, has been unnecessary, unreasonable and disproportionate, should further be investigated. The full report is available to download from: www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/Creative_indus tries/music/live_music_forum.htm
nalgao updates
Back Story
In issue 16 (November 2005) we carried a report from nalgao Executive Member Jane Wilson on the Live Music Forum and impact of the Licensing Act on live music provision. The Live Music Forum, was set up to fulfil a Ministerial commitment to monitor the impact of the 2003 Licensing Act on live music, and to promote live music performance. Chaired by Fergal Sharkey, it has now produced its final report.
nalgao Magazine Spring 2008
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Music – Live Music Forum update
ARTS AT THE HEART
importance of understanding that the arts have a role to play in delivering a cross-cutting agenda, which is something we’ve been pushing for, for a long time. Also to highlight the potential of the arts to generate income into the economy because it provides jobs and skills. The most positive thing from the meeting, reports Carys, was that the Minister is very keen to adhere to the arms length principle of governance for the arts and wants to know about examples of good practice. He wants to know what’s going on and increase communication. Funding is currently a sensitive issue, reports Carys, and it is understood that finance is not seen as the only means to progress. It is recognised that a lot more could be achieved through developing expertise in the arts, collaborative working and good practice models. Nalgao Wales is also building up its partnership with the Welsh Local Government Association to look at regional partnership agreements and how local authorities can input on a more longer term basis into the Stephens Review. These processes, says Carys Wynne, will make a big difference to the arts in Wales in the next five to ten years.
Creative industries policy update We reported in the last issue that a Government Green Paper on the creative industries was expected in the early part of 2008. That has now been revised and the DCMS, in partnership with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for
Innovation, Universities and Skills, has just published a creative industries strategy paper – “Creative Britain – New Talents for the New Economy” Look here for this strategy paper: http://www.culture.gov.uk /NR/rdonlyres/096CB847-5E32-4435-9C52C4D293CDECFD/0/CEPFeb2008.pdf
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