£600,000 Creative Bursaries Scheme

March 9th, 2010 - 
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The government says its two-year pilot grants programme, announced today, aims to make it easier for talented creative young people, with an arts degree, to find jobs in a market where unpaid internships are common, and those from low income backgrounds are often at a disadvantage. Culture Minister Margaret Hodge said:

‘There is no shortage of cultural and creative talent in this country.  But breaking into the business, and turning talent into a job or career can be really difficult unless you come from a well-off or well-connected background.  This pilot scheme aims to help create a level playing field of opportunity so that real talent in the arts can get through, regardless of economic barriers.  It further demonstrates how the Government has nurtured creativity, ensuring that the past ten years have been a golden age for the arts.’

Ed has responded as follows:

‘As with several other recent Government announcements, it is not at all clear where the money for this scheme is coming from, which makes me wonder whether it actually exists, in which case I welcome it; or whether this is yet another cynical pre-election empty promise.

In any case, this programme will only make a small difference. In contrast, our proposals will unlock another £50 million a year for the arts from the lottery, and enable greater fundraising from the private sector. With these additional funds, arts organisations will be able to create new jobs across the sector as they see fit, creating many more opportunities for all arts graduates.’

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News Summary: 8th March 2010

March 8th, 2010 - 
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BBC

The BBC is standing by a report that 95% of the aid raised to fight famine in northern Ethiopia in 1985 was diverted by rebels and spent on weapons, despite denials by Bob Geldof and leading charities (whose complaints can be see in our Weekend News Summary HERE).

BBC World Service’s Africa editor, Martin Plaut’s documentary is expected to find itself the subject of a formal complaint next week when Geldof and several charities send a letter to Ofcom and the BBC Trust. The BBC has declined to comment directly, instead referring to a blog entry written by the BBC World Service’s news and current affairs editor. Andrew Whitehead said the programme had presented ‘compelling evidence that some of the famine relief donations were diverted by a powerful rebel group to buy weapons’, adding that the BBC stood by Plaut’s reporting. He also noted that the programme had not suggested that any relief agencies had been complicit in the diversion of funds:

‘It explicitly stated that “whatever the levels of deception, much aid did reach the starving”… But there is a clear public interest in determining whether some money given as famine relief ended up buying guns and bullets. And that’s what the evidence suggests.’ More in The Guardian HERE.

Erik Huggers, the BBC digital chief, has promised its closure of 200 websites is not simply an exercise in cutting dead wood and will help commercial rivals. In an interview with MediaGuardian – which you can read in full HERE – he said the BBC expansionist tendencies that had angered commercial rivals were a natural consequence of the internet being a medium with no boundaries:

‘Our mistake was allowing our web presence to sprawl, a natural consequence of not being constrained by spectrum… We need to be more focused, and do it much better… we need to improve the quality level, and reprioritise on what we do best.’ More in The Guardian HERE.

Tech

A BBC World Service poll, which collated the answers from more than 27,000 people across 26 countries, has found that 87 per cent of internet users felt that web access should be a basic human right. More than 70 per cent of non-users felt they should have access to the net. Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union has said:

‘The right to communicate cannot be ignored… The internet is the most powerful potential source of enlightenment ever created. [Government’s must] ‘regard the internet as basic infrastructure – just like roads, waste and water’. More in The Telegraph HERE.

The Chinese government has pledged to punish the hackers who attacked Google if there is evidence to prove it, but said it has yet to receive any complaint; Google has never filed a report to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology over the cyber attacks or sought negotiations, Vice Minister Miao Wei has been quoted as saying by state news agency Xinhua:

‘If Google has had evidence that the attacks came from China, the Chinese government will welcome them to provide the information and will severely punish the offenders according to the law’. More in The Independent HERE.

Meanwhile today’s Times reports that urgent warnings have been circulated throughout Nato and the European Union for secret intelligence material to be protected from a recent surge in cyberwar attacks originating in China. The attacks have also hit government and military institutions in the United States, where analysts said that the West had no effective response and that EU systems were especially vulnerable because most cyber security efforts were left to member states. James Lewis, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies has said British and American cyber defences are among the most sophisticated in the world, but:

‘… the EU is less competent… The porousness of the European institutions makes them a good target for penetration. They are of interest to the Chinese on issues from arms sales and nuclear non-proliferation to Tibet and energy.’ More in The Times HERE.

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Making Music Matter: Boris Johnson’s Music Education Strategy for London 2010-2012

March 2nd, 2010 - 
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Munira Mirza, Boris Johnson’s Mayoral Advisor on Arts and Culture, writes for us about the Mayor’s Music Education Strategy, which has been launched today.

The music scene in London is unparalleled. We have more live music performances than New York, Paris, Tokyo or Shanghai and some of the world’s greatest musicians, bands and orchestras.

But whilst the number of opportunities for young people to get involved and engage with music has increased dramatically over the last few years, access to affordable and ongoing tuition is much more patchy. If parents cannot afford to pay, their children often cannot develop their talent.

The Mayor passionately believes that playing a musical instrument is something every young person should have the opportunity to experience. It can have a transformative impact; enriching the mind, giving knowledge and teaching valuable skills and discipline. It’s not just about diverting them from youth crime or boosting the creative economy.

But in order to create the next generation of Lilly Allen’s and Julian Lloyd Webber’s we have to make sure that the quarter of London’s population who are under-19 have the right opportunities.

Today, the Mayor has published ‘Making Music Matter: Music Education Strategy for London 2010-2012′ (HERE) and unveiled plans for a new fund aimed at increasing music education across the capital.

More than £250,000 will be put into a range of projects to improve musical opportunities for young Londoners, both as players and as audiences, including a Music Education Fund, worth £100,000.

This fund will offer seed money for partnerships between local authority music services and orchestras in the capital, so that more young Londoners, irrespective of background, can learn to play orchestral instruments and experience working with professional musicians.

The strategy also includes initiatives to celebrate and promote music in London. ‘Rhythm of London’, which saw over 100 participatory musical events throughout the city in 2009 is happening again this April.  As is the Rhythm of London busking scheme, which gave young musicians playing at Tube stations the chance to win musical instruments and a year’s licence for a TfL busking slot.

We know there are hundreds of arts organisations, orchestras and local music services already doing fantastic work. Our aim is to build on this by championing what exists and encouraging partnerships so that all young people in London have the opportunity to reach their full musical potential.

If you want to find out more about the Strategy or register an interest in the Fund please email: rhythmoflondon@london.gov.uk

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Weekend News Summary 27th-28th February 2010

March 1st, 2010 - 
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Education

An influential group of leading academics and cultural figures has issued a stark warning that they fear for the future of the arts and humanities in British universities. A letter to the Observer (see HERE) signed by the directors of major arts institutions and a number of university vice-chancellors, claims that funding cuts and a decision to focus on the sciences have left subjects such as philosophy, literature, history, languages and art facing “worrying times”. Without urgent action the country’s intellectual heritage is in danger of being diminished, they conclude, and, with reference to Labour’s decision to run tertiary education from the Business department:

“There is more to citizenship than business and skills… People’s complexity comes from their language, identities, histories, faiths and cultures.” More in The Observer HERE and HERE.

Broadcasting

BBC chiefs effectively wrote off £150m of licence-payers’ money spent on an online education service, BBC Jam, after it was axed, and officials decided efforts to recoup the cash by selling off the material “wasn’t worth the candle” reports The Independent on Sunday HERE.

It has also emerged that leaked proposals by Mark Thompson to axe the digital radio station 6Music have set the BBC’s director-general on a collision course with the BBC Trust. Two weeks ago, the trust published a report into 6Music which concluded the music station was “well liked by its listeners” and its audience had “grown faster than any other BBC digital radio-only service”. It emerged last week that Thompson’s proposals, to be published next month, recommend closing the station down. Other proposals include shutting the Asian Network, slashing the website’s staff by 25 per cent, selling off magazines such as Radio Times and Top Gear and capping sports rights at 8 per cent of budget, or £300m. The news that 6Music is in danger has met with vocal opposition, despite an audience of fewer than 700,000, according to the latest Rajar figures. More in The Observer HERE, HERE and HERE; Independent on Sunday HERE and HERE; FT HERE.

This Wednesday’s full-year results presentation from ITV will be the platform for Archie Norman (Adam Crozier’s start date is yet to be confirmed) to present his plan for the broadcaster’s future – including a roadmap away from the Michael Grade era. The results will be far from woeful; analysts predict pre-tax profits doubling from £34.7m to around £67m-£88m. Numis Securities has forecast a pre-tax profit of around £75m based on the belief that advertising recovered dramatically in the last few months of 2009. The Sunday Times HERE; Telegraph HERE.

Funding

A host of internationally flavoured arts events in London in the coming months are being supported by companies that intend to use cultural links to support their business interests in emerging markets. HSBC, which promotes itself as the bank that best appreciates the world’s diversity, is emphasising that message by sponsoring this summer’s Brazil festival on the South Bank, about which we’ve blogged HERE. Marah Winn-Moon, HSBC’s head of cultural sponsorship, said:

“It is a great opportunity to bring clients in with a cultural hook, and then to start talking to them about doing business in those countries too”.

Overseas companies are also exploiting London’s vibrant arts scene to promote their business in an international context. Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust became the first African corporation to support art in Britain when it sponsored Tate Britain’s current exhibition of paintings by Chris Ofili, a painter of Nigerian heritage. The bank also sponsors the next installation at Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth, the British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare’s “Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle”, a reproduction of HMS Victory bedecked with sails decorated with African patterns. The work will be unveiled on May 24. Segun Agbaje, the bank’s deputy chief executive officer, said that arts sponsorship was an opportunity:

“… to give people another perspective on Africa, to talk about its heritage instead of droughts all the time”. More in The FT HERE.

Theatre

Sir David Hare, an associate director of the National Theatre, has said theatre lags behind other creative art forms, such as the novel, when it came to women and equality of expression. Theatres should realise that women’s writing for the theatre had reached a “tipping point”, he says:

“I don’t think the repertory of most theatres at the moment is reflecting what seems to be happening in terms of the most interesting new theatre…We would hope to see management of theatres reflecting where we think the creativity in playwriting is coming from… There’s no doubt that the structure of the theatre is plainly male… The rough and tumble of the theatre is like politics to a degree – it’s a macho business.” More in The Telegraph HERE.

Art

Some of the world’s most important paintings may be lost to the nation because there are no funds available to keep them here following the purchase of two works by Titian for £100m. The latest artwork poised to join the exodus of masterpieces is St John the Evangelist by the Italian Old Master Domenichino. Despite being in the UK for the past 100 years, the painting is likely to leave the country. Professor David Ekserdijian, of the Government’s Reviewing Committee has said:

“It is the best work by the artist remaining in private hands and its departure from the UK would be lamentable.”

Works to be lost from the country include:

Raphael’s Head of a Muse The “exquisite” drawing from 1510 – a preparation for a commission by Pope Julius II – looks likely to be on its way to America after being bought for a record £29.2m, even though “every possible effort should be made to raise enough money to keep it in the country”.

Turner’s Pope’s Villa at Twickenham One of Turner’s most important works is already in America after an export ban last year failed to find any institutions willing or able to pay the £5.4m the 1808 painting was worth.

Domenichino’s St John the Evangelist It will be “lamentable” if this £9.2m work from 1621-29 left the country after more than 100 years, according to the Reviewing Committee. Lamentable, but likely.

Works saved include:

Titian’s Diana and Actaeon A six-month campaign persuaded the public, the Scottish government and the Heritage Lottery Fund to part with £50m to buy the Old Master’s work from the Duke of Sutherland last year. Fundraising is due to start shortly to raise the same sum for the companion painting, Diana and Callisto, by 2012. Both were created between 1556 and 1559.

Turner’s Blue Rigi One of the finest watercolours by one of Britain’s greatest painters, an 1842 view of a Swiss mountain, was saved in 2007 after the Tate raised £4.95m. More in The Independent on Sunday HERE.

Banksy‘s undoubted knack for exploiting the feverish interest his anonymity provokes has certainly created a lot of hype around the documentary Exit. The point is, says Andrew Johnson in The Independent on Sunday HERE, it isn’t really about him. It’s more about the creation of another street artist, Mr Brainwash, and an exposé of the art market and “suckers” with too much money who want to be part of the latest thing.

Tech

In August 2009, it was hard to move around Beijing without seeing an advert for Google. China was awash with the logo of a company whose motto is “Don’t Be Evil”, and the scale of the investment was a palpable endorsement of China’s vital importance to the economics of any global company. Skip forward to January this year, and an official blogpost announced summarily that the censored results that China demanded from Google were no longer compatible with the company’s philosophy. Off the record, employees said the company would pull out of China imminently.

So did the search giant really decide to eschew profits in favour of a defence of free speech? Or did it realise it would never be the biggest search engine in China and simply cut its losses? The question that matters is simple: what does Google stand for? More in The Telegraph HERE. And the FT asks, having acquired power over those it freed, is Google now a monopoly HERE and how ethically is its power used HERE.

In the week when three Google execs have been convicted and awarded six-month suspended sentences for allowing a clip of an autistic boy being bullied to play on Google Video (see more HERE), The Observer asks HERE, When anyone can have their say, what use is the stuff that comes out the other end? What can be done with it, and who is going to be in charge of quality control when things go wrong? And Microsoft has attacked ‘aggressive’ Google, as covered in The Sunday Telegraph HERE.

Opera

The people of Thurrock are being promised a piece of Covent Garden, complete with the sparkling glamour of its greatest operatic divas and prima ballerinas. On Tuesday, the Royal Opera House will officially take over the centre of an empty 14-acre site near the Thames in Essex. Tony Hall, Royal Opera’s chief executive has said:

“I love the fact Covent Garden is going to do something in a place that is half an hour away from London by train, but could be miles and miles away in every other way… It is a place that is relatively deprived, for the south-east, and that has a history of manufacturing that makes it the right place for us.” More in The Observer HERE.

Design
The Independent on Sunday has picked up two top honours in the prestigious Best of News Design awards. Organised by the Society for News Design, the professional organisation for the world’s graphic designers who work in the industry, the awards recognise the best from around the world in newspaper production. More in The Independent on Sunday HERE.

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News Summary: 24th February 2010

February 24th, 2010 - 
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Media

The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s Press Standards, Privacy and Libel report was published last night and can be read in full HERE. In summary the report:

  • Called for the Government to cut “enormous cost of libel cases” in the UK;
  • Called for the Press Complaints Commission to be renamed and have power to fine;
  • Condemned “collective amnesia” at News International over phone hacking but said the culture of hacking being deemed acceptable had now changed.

More in The Guardian HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE; Independent HERE and HERE; Times HERE; and Telegraph HERE.

Tech

It has been revealed that former children’s laureates Quentin Blake, Anne Fine and Jacqueline Wilson, among others, have opted out of the Google Books settlement. Court documents relating to the case (see HERE) show that more than 6,500 authors, publishers and literary agents have opted out of the settlement. These include the estates of Rudyard Kipling and Roald Dahl. Novelist Marika Cobbold, author of books including Guppies for Tea and Shooting Butterflies, has opted out and said:

“My feelings were, in the end, that I doubted I would lose out by opting out, whereas I might do by opting in. Also there was the principle that copyright is important… It would be like handing over my babies to a babysitter I’d never met, [and] I couldn’t understand what was in it for me. I love Google, and in principle making information accessible is wonderful, but things are moving so fast, and authors are losing so much control over what we’ve done, that my fear was who knows, in five to 10 years’ time, how this information could be used?” More in The Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; and FT HERE.

More bad news for Google as it faces a preliminary anti-monopoly probe by the European Commission into its dominant position in online browsing and digital advertising following allegations that it demotes competing websites to the lower echelons of customers’ search results. The complaints centre on the way in which Google’s search results are compiled and on the terms and conditions the company attaches to deals with advertisers. Although the commission’s investigation is only at a tentative stage, the fact that Brussels is taking the issue seriously is likely to set off alarm bells at Google. More in The Guardian HERE.

Cinema

There’s interesting coverage of the Alice in Wonderland/ Odeon fall-out in today’s Guardian, where it notes that Tim Burton’s film has become an unlikely pawn in a global struggle to ­redefine how, when and where we watch ­movies in the digital age. Disney, which ­produced the movie, wants to shorten the amount of time between some films being released in cinemas and then coming out on DVD. Exhibitors, unsurprisingly, want to preserve the exclusive ­theatrical experience for as long as possible. The studio insists that it’s not trying to enforce a new industry standard: it ­simply wants the ­flexibility to release some films sooner on DVD, when it makes commercial sense to do so. The studio argues that films typically last about two months in cinemas before they disappear off screens; this means a further two-month wait until the official DVD release, a period used by pirates to flog illegal copies. A shorter window, says Disney, will mean less money lost to the pirates.

But exhibitors fear that if they accept a three-month window for Alice, rather than a four, then other studios will ­follow suit, making a further ­contraction inevitable. This, they say, will erode the eagerness of audiences to rush out to the cinema, and tempt them to wait instead for the DVD or online release. More in The Guardian  HERE.

Music

It’s National Sing Up Day today, ‘Sing Up’ works on the basis that every child deserves the chance to sing every day. Singing improves learning, confidence, health and social development; it has the power to change lives and help to build stronger communities. You can read more about Sing Up’s work at their website HERE. There is also news this week that teaching stroke patients to sing can “rewire” their brains, helping them to recover speech. Dr Nina Kraus, a neuroscientist from Northwestern University in Chicago, also studies the effects of music on the brain. She has discovered that musical training seems to enhance the ability to perform other tasks, such as reading; providing yet more evidence that musical training is an important part of children’s education. More in BBC News HERE.

Auction

A rare copy of the first comic book to feature Superman sold for $1m (£640,000) yesterday, smashing the previous record for a comic. The 1938 edition of Action Comics No1 was sold by a private seller to a private buyer. Neither released their name. The issue, which has a cover featuring Superman lifting a car, originally cost 10 cents. More in The Guardian HERE.

Libraries

Miranda McKearney, Directorof the Reading Agency has given an interview to The Guardian, talking about their schemes to promote authors and books to communities, through such means as Summer Reading Challenges and reading groups. More HERE.

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News Summary: 23rd February 2010

February 23rd, 2010 - 
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Art

Tate Britain’s important retrospective of Henry Moore’s work, opens today to reveal, say curators, his demons; that this is a man much darker, edgier and more complex than has been realised hitherto. It also reveals an unexpected twist to Moore’s career pattern; he is unusual in that even when his best work was behind him, in every subsequent decade he continued to make individual pieces of sculpture as original and powerful as any he had done; The “five-to-10 good years” phenomenon, appears not quite to apply, as noted in The Telegraph HERE. More in The Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; and Times HERE.

Literature

Michael Morpurgo, the former children’s laureate, is spearheading a writing award for children that launches today. The award is a reincarnation of the much-loved WH Smith’s Young Writers’ competition, which more than a million children entered until it was discontinued 20 years ago. Previous winners included the biographer Hermione Lee, the playwright Neil Bartlett and the actresses Helena Bonham Carter and Kate Beckinsale, who won twice, for poetry and a short story.

Morpurgo said that the new award was aimed at children whose parents “do not go to literary festivals” and offers them a creative antidote to the culture of testing prevalent in schools:

“I know this sounds just like any other campaign, but it’s not… It’s about saying that children matter on a national scale. They make art and poetry just like anybody else does.” More in The Times HERE.

Advertising

In response to Ofcom’s ruling that the Curry’s sponsorship of The Simpsons on Sky1 breached broadcasting regulations, Sky has said it had sought Ofcom’s informal guidance on the campaign and was of the view that “Ofcom had confirmed the credits were compliant”. Ofcom has rejected Sky’s response, issuing a note to broadcasters reminding them that:

“Ofcom does not accept Sky’s view that, in advance of transmission, Ofcom had ‘confirmed that the credits were compliant’… Ofcom is a post-transmission regulator and has always made clear to its licensees that it does not offer pre-transmission clearance or compliance approval… Ofcom does not and cannot clear material prior to broadcast… Any [pre-broadcast] advice is given on the strict understanding that it will not affect Ofcom’s discretion to judge cases and complaints after transmission and will not affect the exercise of Ofcom’s regulatory responsibilities. More in The Guardian HERE.

Theatre

High praise indeed for the British theatre from the theatre editor of Time Out New York who writes of how the excitement over the transfer to Broadway from the West End of Enron, is mitigated by the shame that no one stateside had thought of it first. He argues “American artistic directors are shockingly unimaginative.” More in the Guardian HERE.

Librarians

As Marilyn Johnson explains in This Book is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All HERE, a new generation of young, hip and occasionally tattooed librarians, calling themselves “guybrarians”, “cybrarians” and “information specialists”, and to be found blogging at sites like The Free Range Librarian HERE and The Lipstick Librarian HERE. Who else is going to help us formulate the questions Google doesn’t understand, or show non-English speakers how to apply for jobs online, or sympathize with your need to research the ancient origins of cockfighting? There’s a great Salon article HERE, finding answers to questions such as Aren’t libraries and librarians obsolete in the age of Google?/ What does a librarian look like today?/ and, perhaps most interestingly of all; is the library the last place, other than your home, where information comes free of charge and you don’t have to be ‘on guard’ against the big sell?

Journalism

The Pulitzer committee have decided that the National Enquirer will be eligible to be considered for their investigative reporting and national news reporting awards. The magazine’s executive editor, Barry Levine, who just a few days previously had been telling Pulitzer committee-members that they needed “to get their heads out of the sand”, is jubilant:

“That persistence, that old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting that we exhibited on [the John Edwards affair] story, at the end of the day, is what the Pulitzer committee recognised”

Washington politics blogger, Emily Miller led a grassroots campaign to lobby the Pulitzer committee and says:

“The National Enquirer is a supermarket tabloid, but the time has come for the media elite to admit that it has an excellent investigative reporting team, which broke the biggest political scandal of 2009.”

The Guardian notes that some serious caveats are in order HERE; and a Guardian journalist tells of how the Statesman:

“… shaped my journalistic ambitions. It teaches one to be cynical (yup), sarcastic (tick), and to believe that anyone who is a celebrity is definitely an idiot and probably full-on doolally” HERE.

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News Summary: 22nd February 2010

February 22nd, 2010 - 
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Heritage

The Abbey Road recording studios could be listed within a week as part of a move by English Heritage, which is standing by a recommendation it made in 2003 that the studios should be given Grade II listed status. In the recommendation to ministers the organisation concluded:

“The Abbey Road Studios warrant listing at Grade II for their outstanding cultural interest as the world’s earliest purpose-built, and still the most famous, recording studios… [The studios] possess huge cultural interest as well as substantially intact recording studio spaces interiors and should be listed.” More in The Times HERE.

The move is in response to the widely held belief that the studios were to be sold by EMI. However, EMI allayed fears of a sale yesterday, saying it had rejected a bid for the historic building last year but was in discussions about a “revitalisation” project to bring new life to the studios:

“At all times, these plans have focused on providing access to artists and, where possible, members of the public… In mid-2009, we did receive an offer to buy Abbey Road for in excess of £30m but this was rejected since we believe that Abbey Road should remain in EMI’s ownership.” More in The Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; Times HERE; Telegraph HERE; and FT HERE.

A major celebration of the work of Gustav Mahler and a return of a Venezuelan youth orchestra that took London by storm last year (for example, HERE), are among the highlights of the forthcoming classical music season at the Southbank Centre. More in The Guardian HERE.

Tech

The spate of internet attacks that hit Google (background of which you can see in our January news summaries, for example HERE and HERE) has, according to the New York Times HERE, been traced to two colleges in China. Shanghai Jiaotong University is well regarded as a centre for computer studies, and has an extensive information security programme that boasts “high level talent” and, says the NYT, has links to major military research projects. The other college is the Lanxiang Vocational School. While the Chinese authorities have not commented on the report, a member of staff from Lanxiang has said:

“We did not know Google was hacked before the New York Times contacted us – when they called, we told them we know nothing but they still made the story up… Our students are middle school graduates, and we train them to use software like Photoshop. If our students are so skilled they can hack Google, then what are they here for? …I hope the media can be cautious about this report… We don’t want to worsen US-China relations or draw national attention.” More in the Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; Times HERE; and Telegraph HERE.

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The Future of the Arts with a Conservative Government

February 22nd, 2010 - 
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Jeremy and Ed have launched our arts proposals today, as they publish a policy paper on our plans for the sector. Our approach is to provide coherent and sustained support for the arts base centred on the following key principles:

  1. To secure long term funding for the arts; based on the mixed economy and the arm’s length principle which ensures they have the resources to carry them through the good times and the bad.
  2. To promote excellence in the arts through greater trust and independence for our arts organisations.
  3. To use technology and a more coherent approach to arts funding in schools to enable access – we believe as many people as possible should enjoy the arts in all their varied forms in this country.

Ed said:

“Under Labour the arts have not been give the priority they deserve. We cannot go on like this. The arts need coherent and sustained support in order to consolidate and build on their achievements… Conservatives are passionate about the arts and if we are lucky enough to form the next Government, I look forward to working with the sector to create funding stability and promote excellence and access.”

Jeremy has discussed our plans with Charlotte Higgins in the Guardian – you can read the full intervew HERE, and Charlotte’s discussion of it HERE. The Guardian are also running a ‘have your say’ HERE, which you could join in, although we would rather you told us what you think here on our blog, by signing in and posting in our comments section below.

You can download the full paper here: The Future of the Arts

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Policy

School Library Commission Invites Submissions

February 19th, 2010 - 
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As we covered last month HERE, The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) has, along with the National Literacy Trust (NLT), launched a commission to examine the future of school library provision in England, pointing out that, with the number of pupils with school libraries provision dropping from 88% to 66% in the 10 years to 1997, “an evidence based examination of the school library in the education landscape is urgently required”.

Former Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Estelle Morris, will Chair, to be joined by Peter Wanless, chief executive of the National Lottery Fund; Jean Gross, director of Every Child a Reader; and Catherine Blanshard, chief officer of libraries, arts and heritage for Leeds City Council. Findings will be published in June. More HERE.

The Comission yesterday announced its intended lines of enquiry (see HERE) and requested submissions. 

Director of the National Literacy Trust, Jonathan Douglas, said:

“We strongly urge all individuals and organisations who are committed to the future of school libraries to submit their ideas to the Commission. As powerhouses of reading, school libraries are a vital resource that must be rediscovered in the context of a changing educational landscape. We need the expertise of all parties with a vested interest in school libraries to ensure our final report is balanced, results driven and engaging.”

Museums, Libraries and Archives Chief Executive, Roy Clare, said: 

“Libraries are vital in offering children and families access to reading, learning and information – whether in physical media or digitally – and in supporting them to achieve their full potential.  This Commission offers an exciting opportunity for everyone to contribute and help to shape the future of effective library services in a changing educational and economic environment. The new primary curriculum offers the potential for some fresh linkages, too, and we believe that everyone gains from the earliest possible engagement with all that libraries have to offer.”

All written evidence must be submitted to the Commission by 12am on 17 March 2010 and should be emailed to National Literacy Trust Policy Adviser George Dugdale at: George.Dugdale@literacytrust.org.uk. More information on lines of enquiry and methods for submission available care of the National Literacy Trust HERE.

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Weekly email: 28/01/2010

February 2nd, 2010 - 
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Here’s this week’s news…

 

Tory Stuff

Ed spoke this week on cultural education at the Yehudi Menuhin school. He warned that: ‘We are losing sight of the key aims of cultural education in a blizzard of initiatives. What I would like to do is bring some coherence, stability and long-term strategy to the sector.

 

I want to be able to answer easily questions like: can my child learn a musical instrument, learn art, learn to dance, regardless of my income; if my child is talented, can I guarantee that they will be able to sustain their talent; will my child leave school with a solid cultural education, and therefore feel comfortable in engaging in the arts in all its forms?

 

In short, we need strategy and coherence from the centre, so that the considerable funds that are spent on music and dance education – more than £95 million annually – are spent efficiently and effectively.’ Full speech HERE. We are very interested to hear your contributions, so please do post them in the comments section, identifying who you are and which organisation you are from. There is a nice comment about the speech on LinkedIn HERE.

Jeremy is on Facebook, add him as a friend HERE We are resisting all obvious jokes

Creative Industries

Digital Economy Bill Day 5

Clauses 10 -18 were considered, full transcript on Hansard HERE A sixth day is scheduled for 3rd February. With discussions of the eagerly anticipated Clause 17 starting HERE Lord Howard spoke for our side, and pointed out HERE that the Government haven’t said what they want this power for, which makes it rather difficult for us to decide whether to support it or not. He also expressed our serious concerns about broad nature of the power and the use of a super affirmative resolution (that’s a super duper SI) and said that in its current form, we don’t support it. We would like to see the Government come back narrower definition of the power, and continue to discuss this with them.

Online Piracy

At the Oxford Media Convention, Stephen Timms, the ‘Digital Britain’ Minister, criticised rights holders for not moving fast enough to bring new business models to market. He said: ‘The space the legislation provides to develop those models will be important. But rights holders must get a move on. Legislation is not the whole solution to the problems. Rights holders need to develop new ways to make content available to people in formats that they want and at a fair price – reducing the incentive to break the law. Progress has been much too slow. We also need initiatives to educate people about why creativity deserves to be fairly rewarded.’ Er, we agree, more HERE ’

ITV

ITV have appointed Adam Crozier, the head of Royal Mail and former boss of the FA as its new chief executive. More HERE congratulations all round.

Congratulations to ITV and Sony Pictures TV, as analysis suggests Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? A TV format created in the UK is the most popular gameshow in the world more HERE.

BSkyB

Continue their downturn-defying financial performance: For the six months to the end of December, they have reported a revenue rise of 10% year on year to £2.9 billion. More HERE.

Video Games

The House of Lords Communications Committee has effectively backed TIGA’s campaign for Games Tax Relief in their report into The British Film and Television Industries published this week. The report says: “We recognise the claims of the videogames industry for support in the face of foreign government-subsidised competition, and recommend that the Government consider providing tax incentives for videogames production.” More HERE.

Speaking at the Westminster eForum on video games Ian Livingstone criticised the national news media’s tendency to stir up more panic surrounding violent content more

HERE Ed also spoke at this event, more HERE.

TIGA have said it is ludicrous to suggest that playing video games was responsible for an apparent increase in cases of rickets more HERE and HERE.

Technology

Derek Wyatt MP has created a ‘My MP’ App for the iPhone, yes really, a Beta version is available HERE

Local News

The CEO Trinity Mirror’s CEO called for the abolition of council newspapers at the Oxford Media Convention last week, HERE. Meanwhile, the Audit Commission wrote to Stephen Timms last week with their conclusions from research into this area. They say that ‘the money being spent by councils is not unreasonable, though they should always consider whether it provides good value. Few council publications are published sufficiently frequently to be viable media for most local advertising.’ The letter and the appendix are published HERE.

Newspapers

Congratulations to the Guardian.co.uk which has attracted nearly 37m users and breaks the record for a UK newspaper website according to their latest ABC stats. We don’t know where we’d be without it, frankly. More HERE.

Music

Congratulations to UK indie label XL, part of the Beggars group, on reaching a number 1 in the US album chart with Vampire Weekend’s second album Contra, more HERE.

iPad

Bringer of the eBooks revolution, possible saviour of the newspaper business, or an oversized iPhone? Views on this, and an explanation of the term ‘goldilocks device’ HERE

Arts and Heritage

Culture and Education

Ofsted have published a report into culture and education: ‘Learning: Creative approaches that raise standards’ more HERE which recognises the work of Creative Partnerships and the impact of creative learning practices in schools in improving standards and pupils’ personal development.

Creativity, Culture and Education have welcomed Ofsted’s recognition that using arts and culture across in learning raise attainment levels, improve attendance and increase pupil motivation  – particularly for schools in challenging circumstances, more HERE

New Deal of the Mind

£1.45 million announced for 223 jobs, 167 of which will be arts jobs across 14 London boroughs in a project run by new Deal of the Mind. There include design assistants, marketing and press assistants and fundraisers at organisations including The British Library, the Lyric Hammersmith, the Young Vic and the Royal Court, more HERE

Libraries

A new research report conducted by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) highlights the crucial role public libraries play in supporting the delivery of the national digital priorities set out by the Government and Digital Inclusion Champion, Martha Lane Fox. More HERE and HERE.

Meanwhile, a commission to examine the future of school library provision in England is being launched by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and the National Literacy Trust (NLT) it will be chaired by Estelle Morris, more HERE

New funding opportunity for libraries to support digital inclusion has been announced in December’s Smarter Government report. Library services have their chance to bid for new funding, thanks to a new £30 million government investment in UK online centres. More information about the funding, different models, criteria and obligations HERE.

The Charted Institute of Library and Information Professionals has responded to the Government’s (latest) libraries review, HERE.

Heritage

English Heritage is suggesting that refurbishing old school buildings is often the best use of resources and the most sustainable way of modernising them and have published two new papers that highlight the value and potential of older schools. We think this is an interesting idea, well worth exploring, more HERE and HERE.

New grants from HLF have just been announced, Including a £3m grant to the Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland and £3.7m for Liverpool’s pioneering Florence Institute for Boys, more HERE.

Theatre

Great news for theatre: total box office receipts for 2009 were up to £504,765,690; marking the seventh record-breaking year in a row. What’s more, while in previous years it has been musicals that have driven increases in box office takings, in 2009 the rise was almost entirely accounted for by the performance of drama at the box office. Led by the success of shows such as War Horse, Waiting for Godot and Calendar Girls, plays were 26% up on 2008 levels, while opera, dance and entertainments were up 7%. Musicals were 2% down over the year more. Congratulations all round, more HERE.

In Parliament

Parliamentary Questions

Just 77% of the Scottish population can currently access DAB HERE

DCMS considering proposals from Camelot to enter the commercial market for bill payments HERE

The largest proportion of the general public view the Arts Council ‘neither favourably nor unfavourably’ HERE

Digital Economy Bill

The Digital Economy Bill has reached Clause 9 in the Committee Stage of the Lords HERE

EDMs

EDM 689 – Licensing Act 2003 HERE

EDM 671 – Publication of salaries and remuneration packages of BBC executives HERE

EDM 666 – Live Music Bill HERE

Where we’ve been and who we’ve seen

The Stephen Lawrence Centre, the RSC education team, Battersea Power station, English Heritage, Asian Music Circuit, Southbank Sinfonia Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the National Theatre, UK Music, Enron at the Noel Coward Theatre, The Yehudi Menuhin School, the Performer Alliance APPG were everybody supported an exemption to the Licensing Act for small venues HERE, the Globe, Clore Duffield Foundation, the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Foyle Foundation, Fidelity UK Foundation, Michael Van der Ham, Christopher Kane, Erdem, the London College of Fashion MA show at the V&A, Clare Delmar, Channel 4, ITV, STV, Johnson Press, Google, Yahoo, Ebay, Facebook, OFT.

 

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