Government signals move away from PSA targets for the arts.
The Government has signalled a change in direction over Public Service Agreement targets for the arts. In his first speech as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, James Purnell defended public subsidy of the arts, but questioned the continued need for targets, claiming that they had done their job, and that the arts are intrinsically valuable before they are instrumentally so. In his first significant move as Culture Secretary, Purnell also announced the appointment of Sir Brian McMaster to lead a review of how Government supports the arts sector. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said that McMaster, who has previously run the Edinburgh International Festival and is a national Council member of Arts Council England (ACE), would look at how the Government could promote excellence in the arts in a light-touch, non- bureaucratic way. McMaster has been asked to deliver his report in the autumn.
Speaking to an audience of cultural leaders at the National Portrait Gallery, Purnell defended the Governments record on targets, saying, Targets were probably necessary in 1997, to force a change of direction in some parts of the arts world. But now, ten years later, we risk idolising them. Without change, we risk treating culture like its an old-fashioned, unresponsive public service not a modern, complex network of activity, with plurality of funding. Claiming that, via self-regulation, the arts are probably one of the most highly regulated parts of British public life, Purnell said that, whilst access to the arts will continue to be vital, he was more interested in what people have access to. He said, The question we should ask ourselves now is what is necessary on top of that self-regulation. In the past, weve chosen a small part of the picture to look at [but] I want us together to review the role that Government and public funding can play in enabling excellence, how we can move from top-down targets, to empowering and risk-taking. However Purnell offered no easy solutions to the sector, conceding that the upcoming spending round was going to be tough.
In response, Peter Hewitt, ACE Chief Executive said, We welcome this speech which acknowledges the immense value of the arts to English life and we share the vision of fostering excellence by placing equal emphasis on innovation and access, rather than imposed targets. The initial findings from our Arts Debate & will provide invaluable insight into how we achieve this balance. We also welcome the appointment of Sir Brian McMaster, to report to James Purnell on how best to define and encourage artistic excellence. As the Secretary of State has said, money also has a key part to play and the Arts Council will continue making the case to Government for continued investment in the arts, in order to make this vision a reality.
Shadow Minister for Culture, Ed Vaizey, said of the speech, As much as James Purnell would like to move away from top down targets he will be unable to do so while Gordon Brown remains Prime Minister. We have had the most centralising government in recent memory, endlessly trying to micromanage from the centre. Only a Conservative Culture Secretary would be able to set arts organisations free to manage their budgets in the way they saw fit.