Arts: Funding

Lord Evans of Temple Guiting Excerpts

Thursday 3rd February 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Evans of Temple Guiting]

My Lords, I join everybody in thanking the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, for initiating this debate. He told us that this was the House’s first debate on the arts for 18 months, since a debate initiated by my noble friend Lord Bragg. This has been such a wonderfully interesting afternoon that I hope that, from now on, we will sit all night talking about the arts rather than other matters.

We heard two very good maiden speeches. It is good for the arts to have my noble friend Lady Bakewell making a contribution here. I also congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Wasserman, on his contribution.

The question before us is quite simple. Although funding is the subject of the debate, a far greater issue than simply money is at stake. The question must be: what sort of country do we want for ourselves, and, most significantly, what do we insist upon for the future? The noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, raised that issue in his opening speech.

As many noble Lords have made clear, the arts make a huge contribution to the financial wealth of the nation. Earlier this week newspapers reported that manufacturing output increased in January by the highest percentage since January 1992. It was also widely commented that sterling rose. However, as a footnote, economists emphasised that the manufacturing sector accounted for less than 13 per cent of the economy. We have the huge task of making our political masters and the press realise that the creative economy contributes as much to gross national product as manufacturing does. Various figures have been mentioned today, including 7 per cent and 9 per cent. I have given a few lectures on the creative economy and always use the figures 12 to 14 per cent. It would be interesting to hear from the Minister, either today or by letter, the Treasury’s latest estimate. When did we hear a Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer or a senior Treasury Minister identify the fastest-growing sector of our economy, namely the creative industries, fuelled by public funding of the arts?

I will give a current example. Many noble Lords will have seen a film called “The King’s Speech”. It cost less than £10 million to make, it is doing very well in America—I do not have the figures—and here it has grossed $27 million to date. It has 14 BAFTA nominations and will be the biggest grossing independent film of all time. This huge, developing success will make a significant contribution to the creative economy. Yet amazingly, given the British record in filmmaking, the Film Council is being abolished.

I turn from the economic contribution of the arts to the equally important contribution that they make to society. What sort of country do we want? The answer to that should inform how we treat the arts and how the Government should respond to their responsibilities. What is the benefit to the people of the United Kingdom from the feast of fantasy, imagination and history that makes up our culture? Do we not understand the educational and emotional benefits of being able to absorb, on our doorsteps, in cities, towns and villages around the country, the presentation of the past as well as, critically, the future fruits of artists, designers, writers and composers working today?

I will quote from the New York Times. Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, gave a speech in Oxfordshire. The subject was Oxford County Council's plan to stop financing 20 of its 43 public libraries. He said that,

“there are things that are above profit, things that profit knows nothing about … things that stand for civic decency and public respect for imagination and knowledge and the value of simple delight”.

He continued to attack,

“the greedy ghost of market fundamentalism”.

What he registered so forcibly is the fact that a hidebound Conservative approach to deficit reduction creates a social austerity far more harmful than the deficit itself. I look at the Arts Council budget being cut by 30 per cent over four years in the light of this statement.

While huge strides have been made in attracting private philanthropy for the arts, such largesse cannot be a substitute for continued government support. While we owe great gratitude to corporations and individuals for their generous support of favoured institutions and events, what about less fashionable projects? As the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, wrote in the Guardian last year:

“Philanthropy cannot be a replacement for bodies such as the Arts Council, which reaches out … and provides the necessary, often long-term funding without which much … work would otherwise be lost”.

It would also help if a central appeal made in the 2004 Goodison review of the funding for museums and acquisitions could be revisited and fully implemented. John Whittingdale, the Conservative chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, asked in 2007:

“When will the Treasury respond to the report's tax recommendations, which have universal support in the arts world as a means of substantially increasing private giving at relatively modest cost?”.

I was the first chair of the MLA, which is to be merged with the Arts Council. I will ask the Minister two or three questions because, as the MLA’s first chairman, I thought that it was a wonderful organisation, and think it continues to be so. One of our first reports was Renaissance in the Regions. We hear that its funding is to be cut. I would be very grateful if the Minister could tell us where the cuts are going to be made and the precise percentage of those cuts. My recollection is that it has been an extremely successful and important initiative.

I should also like to ask what the Government’s reaction is to the ferocious and spontaneous opposition to public library cuts that is emerging daily throughout our country. In her maiden speech, the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, stressed that the importance of libraries in the life of young children cannot be overstated.

I have one final question about archives—a matter referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Freyberg. I agree with him that they are incredibly important, and they were a central part of the MLA’a agenda. What is happening, and where will the investment come from? Does the Minister recognise the absolute importance of archives?

We must recognise that the arts are not a mere add-on; they are as much a part of our way of life as the National Health Service and they are a major generator of national wealth, both economic and cultural. I look forward to the response of the noble Baroness, Lady Rawlings, to some of the points that have been made in this debate.