Closer links between the arts sector and the wider creative economy have become more important as public investment in the arts declines, according to Arts Council England (ACE) Chief Executive Alan Davey in his foreword to a new report which puts forward a range of suggestions as to how National Portfolio Organisations could be the main drivers of new initiatives in this area. The report, ‘Supporting growth in the arts economy’ by Dr Tom Fleming and Andrew Erskine, was commissioned by ACE with a view to exploring how the sector can operate more effectively in a commercial environment, by learning from creative businesses and making better use of finance. The authors discuss synergies between the arts and the creative economy, and suggest that ACE should act as an “enabler to support the arts sector to grow and benefit from practices within the creative economy”. Describing ACE’s current terms of engagement with the sector as “not fit for purpose”, they urge it to “move quickly and confidently to ensure existing success is sustained and that the arts deliver greater outcomes for more people over the coming years”. They recommend that ACE should establish an arts and creative economy development programme to align its 10-year strategy, ‘Achieving great art for everyone’, “more clearly and productively with opportunities across the creative economy.” Davey has described the ideas in the report as being “at the forefront of our minds as we develop a national policy and strategy for nurturing sustainable links between the creative economy and the arts”. ACE will be announcing its plans in the autumn.
