Paul Kelly highlights the role that local authorities can play in achieving government targets for social inclusion.
About eighteen months ago, I was working with a small local group in the North Prospect district of Plymouth, discussing how we might introduce arts activities into the area. North Prospect is a once proud landscape of 1930s semis, since fallen into decay, and now clawing its way out with the help of an active Neighbourhood Renewal Scheme. It is the fourth most deprived ward in the city and has Plymouths second poorest education record. Every city has one. The area has a local library, but there was little outward sign of arts or cultural activity. It seemed safest to start where the people were, so to speak. So, we discussed enhancing the local community pantomime, which was very popular; or bringing in an artist to enhance the Christmas lights. The discussion had almost reached its conclusion when the Deputy Head of the local primary school mentioned, almost as an afterthought, that Birmingham Royal Ballets education team had recently been working with the school and how rewarding it had been, not to say enjoyable, for children and teachers.
After a large neon sign had stopped flashing the words oh, you stupid fool into my eyes, I had time to reflect. Ballet is the sort of traditional art form commonly held to be élitist and a far cry from the 1970s community arts paradigm that is supposed to be appropriate to deprived communities. But what do seven year-olds know about élitism? They just want to be inspired and have fun. These reflections raised all our aspirations on the planning group. We no longer want just something for North Prospect, we want the best.
nalgao, the National Association of Local Government Arts Officers, was recently asked by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to join a project board with Arts Council England (ACE) and the Voluntary Arts Network to look at the way the arts sector is going to deliver the governments PSA3 targets. PSA what? This is a Treasury-determined public service agreement and its existence and implementation tells some very interesting tales. PSA3 requires the DCMS, ACE and its clients to increase participation in and attendance at arts events by C2, D and E social groups, Black and minority ethnic communities and disabled people. The PSA3 targets are a 2% increase in participation and a 3% increase in attendance by over 16s by 2008. Research shows that 67% of the population already participates in arts activities. But in the above social groups the figure is a lot lower, at somewhere just above 50%.
These sorts of targets may be new to the arts, but the thinking is not. The Governments Neighbourhood Renewal Scheme, which is helping revive rundown and neglected neighbourhoods across the land, is based on the observation that deprivation in communities is not just about economics. Deprived neighbourhoods also get a correspondingly poorer quality of public service than well-off ones. The first aim must therefore be to ensure, as of right, that all communities, whether rich or poor, receive the same quality of public service. This thinking is now being extended to culture, and who can argue with it? PSA3 is all about public money and social justice.
This is where local authorities are well placed to deliver. They have the local knowledge, the contacts, the networks and the trust of local communities to enable real cultural opportunities and developments on the ground, right where it matters. But local authorities can only do this if they have the financial and staff resources, whether from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister or from the DCMS. Without these, the chance for young people in places like North Prospect and many, many others, to experience culture in all its aspects and to grow into participants or audiences in later life, just isnt going to happen. PSA3 will remain an unfulfilled aspiration and cultural richness will be based on how much you can afford rather than how much you were offered.
Paul Kelly is Joint Vice Chair of nalgao and Principal Arts Officer, Plymouth City Council. e: nalgao@aol.com