Consultation underway on programme to address skills development for cultural leaders.
A two-year initiative designed to ?establish a culture of excellence? in the arts has been launched by Arts Council England (ACE). The £12m scheme, announced by Chancellor Gordon Brown in his budget last March, will run from April 2006 and will attempt to develop and enhance the business skills of cultural leaders. The main objectives of the funding will be ?creating a culture of strong leadership?, embedding a ?culture of support and development for leaders in the sector?, and increasing ?the diversity in cultural leadership with a particular focus on leaders from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds?. ACE is now entering a consultation phase to identify the specific programmes and structures that will distribute the funding. £5.5m will be spent in 2006/07 and £6.5m in 2007/08. The money is earmarked for England, but ACE hopes that its effect will be felt across the UK.
Launching the consultation, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said, ?The programme will address skills development issues for cultural leaders at all stages of their careers.? Specifically, funding is likely to target current leaders, future and emerging leaders, and boards and trustees. For current leaders, funding will take the form of fellowships, mentoring schemes, specially-tailored higher education provision and the establishment of effective online resources. Intensive, short-term training programmes, online training, work placements and individual bursaries will be used to improve skills among future and emerging leaders. ACE is also hoping to establish peer working groups to address the fact that ?potential leaders often find organisational culture can be a barrier to personal professional development?. Boards will be offered individual and team training.
The Government has indicated that the £12m allocated to the programme is a one-off opportunity, so one of ACE?s stated intentions is to establish an infrastructure for ongoing training and development when the two years of the scheme are over. By piloting initiatives and analysing the areas where investment is most effective, it is hoped that funding can be secured for training initiatives in the long-term. A programme steering group has been established to lead the consultation and devise the key funding programmes. The group includes representatives of ACE, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Clore Leadership Programme, Creative and Cultural Skills, and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. As well as processing responses to the consultation, the steering group will be seeking partnerships across the sector and investigating other sectors facing and tackling similar challenges. The consultation period will run until 14 October and ACE is hoping that a full programme and application packs will be available by the end of the year.
To participate, go to w: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk