Policy

Calls to make it easier for UK museums to consider repatriating cultural objects have been rebuked by the government.

The House of Lords debated a motion to amend the 40-year old National Heritage Act, tabled by Conservative former culture minister Lord Ed Vaizey, last Thursday (13 October).

Vaizey is chairing a new body aiming to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece. He has also suggested give greater freedom for museums to dispose of objects in their collection and deal with restitution requests.

Similar proposals have been made by museum sector leaders, including V&A Director Tristram Hunt.

But Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt has told MPs revisiting the legislation is “not a priority” for the government.

Her comment followed former Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden saying that amending the legislation risks institutions “facing a barrage of claims for restitution".

“I can assure you that if we allow this Pandora’s box to open, we will regret it for generations to come as we see those artefacts being removed to countries where they may be less safe,” he added.

Ms Mordaunt replied: “I thank Mr Dowden for raising this issue, and there were many nods around the chamber when he was speaking.

“I am aware that Lord Vaizey has a debate on this matter in the House of Lords, but I can tell Mr Dowden that revisiting the National Heritage Act is not a priority for this government.”

Mordaunt’s response appears to echo Prime Minister Liz Truss’ stance on the issue, who told GB News at the Conservative Party conference earlier this month: “I don’t support that”.

Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has claimed some of the policies she looked to progress while in office at DCMS have been ditched.

Dorries took to Twitter to say policies including the privatisation of Channel 4, the BBC licence fee review and the Online Safety Bill have been shelved.

"Widespread dismay at the fact that three years of work has effectively been put on hold," she wrote.

"No one asked for this. C4 sale, online safety, BBC licence [fee] review - all signed off by cabinet all ready to go, all stopped."

Her comments come during the Conservative Party Conference and follow current Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan last month saying she would "re-examine the business case" for privatising Channel 4 and scrapping the BBC licence fee.

Dorries also appeared to suggest Prime Minister Liz Truss should call a general election if she plans not to move ahead with these policies.

"If Liz wants a whole new mandate, she must take to the country," she added.

New Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan has indicated the government may not press ahead with plans to privatise Channel 4.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Donelan said she will “re-examine the business case” for privatisation by taking a fresh look at the benefits and costs of the plan.

“I’m the type of politician that bases their decisions on evidence, on listening and that’s what I will be doing over the coming weeks,” she said.

“I will take that approach when it comes to Channel 4 and every aspect of my brief.”

Donelan declined to say whether or not she agreed with plans to scrap the BBC licence fee, first tabled by her predecessor Nadine Dorries, but said she would take another look at the policy.

“It is no secret that I have been a long-term sceptic of the licence fee and that we need to make sure that the BBC is sustainable in the long term. So I’m looking at this in the round,” Donelan added.

“I’m somebody that listens, I’m somebody that decides policy based on evidence and that’s what I will be doing over the coming weeks.”

Arts Council England has published its updated Environmental Responsibility Action Plan 2022-24, which details its goal of establishing a clearly defined pathway to net zero emissions by 2024, in line with the UK’s long-term Net Zero Strategy.

It also aims to reduce office energy use and business travel emissions by 25% by 2024, when compared to 2019/20.

The plan was developed in association with environmental partner Julie’s Bicycle, which helped complete a carbon footprint and environmental snapshot for 2019/20.

Based on what this revealed about ACE's environmental impacts, practice and performance, the updated environmental strategy will primarily focus on its operations and nine offices across England, taking into account limitations imposed by leasing office space and the impact of hybrid-working patterns.

The carbon footprint associated with touring and loaning works from the Arts Council Collection is also scrutinised in the new strategy, which includes a plan to rehouse the collection in a single repurposed building in Coventry, designed and operated to high environmental standards.

Other approaches to tackling emissions include instituting a minimum Energy Performance Certificate rating across all offices, updating the Cycle to Work scheme to include e-bikes, encouraging staff to use personal phones instead of company phones and transferring company pensions to ethical and environmentally friendly funds.

The diversity body Inc Arts UK has ceased trading after efforts to save it failed.

The charity, founded in 2019 by Amanda Parker has made significant contributions to boosting diversity in the arts in its three years of operation.

Its closure comes three months after Parker stepped down as Chief Executive for personal reasons.

Trustees told The Stage that the organisation had been through “many challenges in recent months” and has appointed legal professionals to oversee its next steps.

“We want to thank colleagues of the Global Majority and allies for their support through this time,” a statement said.

“We are very sorry to our staff, freelance workers and organisations where we could not fulfil our obligations to them.”

Parker said that the closure of the charity was a loss to the sector, adding that "the work Inc Arts did is needed”.

“I’m deeply disappointed that Inc Arts’ leadership has not been able to build on and grow the support, goodwill and dedication to inclusive change that individuals, organisations and funders have expressed to Inc Arts,” she said.

She added that she will continue working to create “inclusive systemic and organisational change” in the arts sector.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has pledged £1.2m to enable workspaces in London’s nine Creative Enterprise Zones (CEZ) to become greener and more sustainable.

Local authorities with accredited zones are being invited to apply for grants of up to £200,000 to invest in practical and achievable measures that will improve energy efficiency.

The move comes in attempt to support small creative businesses and organisations that face the pressure of rising energy bills.

Khan said rising energy costs are hitting the arts, cultural and creative industries hard.

“It is vital that [the sector] is supported to become more energy efficient, especially as these businesses are not protected by the energy price cap,” he added.

“This latest investment reaffirms my commitment to placing the environment at the centre of our economic recovery and will help workplaces deal with burden of the cost of living crisis and spiralling energy bills as we build back a fairer, greener city for all.”

To date, the CEZ programme has invested £14m to support London’s artists and creative businesses and has established nearly 1,000 creative training, work placements and jobs across the nine zones.