Economy: Culture and the Arts

Lord Smith of Finsbury Excerpts

Thursday 13th June 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Smith of Finsbury]

My Lords, I join in the warm congratulations to the noble Baroness, Lady Wheatcroft, on securing and introducing this debate so well and on stimulating so many excellent speeches. I remind noble Lords the range of arts organisations with which I am involved, as set out in the register of interests.

Robert Kennedy once wrote:

“The Gross National Product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile”.

He was making a powerful point; the arts are part of the life-enhancing, wonder-making, intelligence-affirming, glorious life of the mind and soul for all of us. In many ways it should be enough simply to say that to justify the importance and significance of the arts. It is important constantly to reiterate this simple truth. The arts bring us joy and sorrow; they tell our stories; they help our understanding; they trouble us; they question us; they make our spirits soar. That, simply, is why they are important. But of course that is not the whole story—or indeed the only story.

When I became Secretary of State for Culture, I sensed that the arts were important together with all the allied creative activities that they generated. They were important because they mattered economically as well as aesthetically. That is why I established the creative industries task force served on brilliantly by the noble Lord, Lord Puttnam. It is why we published the mapping documents in 1999 and 2001 that set out the shape and value and significance of the creative industries. These are things that are now being copied all over the world in terms of the important stimulus for, and sustaining of, the creative sector of economies. It is hugely important for our economy, especially in these times of economic difficulty. This is a sector of the economy that is still growing, still significant, and will become even more significant as the years go on.

This leads me to four specific thoughts. First, the links between the traditional arts sector and the more creative commercial economic sector are fundamental. One of the reasons we are really good at the creative industries around the world is because we have a strong arts base, strong arts organisations and brilliant artistic activity in this country. These lead to the economic success of the creative sector; indeed, without the one you cannot have the other. It is people learning their stagecraft, and learning about stage design and lighting in regional theatres, that leads to success in film and television around the world. It is people learning their music craft in orchestras, in singing and playing, that leads to music that takes the world by storm, meaning that four out of the top five selling discs in the United States last year were from British artists. Strong, traditional arts activity is vital for the economic benefit that comes from the whole creative sector.

Secondly, DCMS matters. There are worrying rumours bubbling around about the possibility that the Government might be considering disbanding the department. This absolutely must not happen. We need a strong voice for the arts and culture in this country. It cannot come from a small offshoot of a much larger department. Indeed, I would argue for putting the whole of the creative sector—the arts, the creative economy, the whole of communications—under the DCMS umbrella and making it a real champion for this vital part of our national life and economy.

Thirdly, copyright matters. I was pleased to hear the noble Lord, Lord Maclennan, take up this point. The economic value of creative activity comes from the value of the intellectual property that is created as part of it. We need to ensure that the creator can be guaranteed a return for their creativity. There have been some worrying signs that the Government seek to water down the importance and security of copyright in recent years—most notoriously, the deeply flawed Hargreaves report. This must not happen. The Government must reaffirm their commitment to strong copyright protection and, along the way, perhaps they might get on with implementing the Digital Economy Act.

Fourthly, the arts, cultural activity and the creative economy are things which, as many noble Lords have mentioned, we are outstandingly good at as a country. We should be very proud of what we have achieved and are achieving in this sector. The first 10 years of this century have been something of a golden decade for cultural and artistic activity in this country. I like to think that I may have played a small part in helping to stimulate that. Please do not put all of that at risk. We currently have warnings from the Arts Council about the possible impact of the spending review and the danger to arts organisations up and down the country. This would be disastrous. Some are already operating on the margins of viability. There is no easy cut that can be made in this sector. For the sake of our economy, our international reputation, our tourism potential and above all for the wonderful experiences that the arts bring for all of us, please do not cut deeply and savagely and destroy this precious thing that we have.

The Government are rightly talking about infrastructure investment being protected and even promoted when the spending review arrives. Investment in the arts is investment in the infrastructure of the mind and the heart. It is crucial seed corn for the future of our economy. That is what I urge the Government to do, and what I urge the Minister to go and talk with his Treasury colleagues about.