The Stage

‘Climate of mistrust’ between ACE and DCMS denounced

Published Wednesday 28 December 2005 at 14:50 by Alistair Smith

Arts Council England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have received a stern rebuke from the independent assessment body led by Genista McIntosh for allowing their relationship to deteriorate, creating a “climate of mistrust” that requires “urgent attention”.

The comments are contained in the so-called Peer Review report into the workings of the council, chaired by the baroness, who previously ran two of Britain’s leading flagship arts companies, the National Theatre and the Royal Opera House. It concludes that repairing the breakdown in communications between ACE and the DCMS following the 2004 Spending Review remains crucial if any progress is to be made in restructuring the council.

The report states: “Although tension around spending reviews is to be expected between government departments and their non-departmental public bodies, the fallout over ACE’s standstill funding settlement seems to have been especially disruptive… ultimately the public nature of the split was unhelpful to both ACE and the sector, and cost ACE considerable political goodwill.”

However the arts council is likely to encouraged by remarks which suggest the government has been guilty of undermining the arm’s length funding principle and bypassing the organisation, leaving ACE officials feeling left “out of the loop”, especially when ministerial policy announcements are imminent.

McIntosh continued: “There are suggestions in the press and elsewhere that ACE should be disbanded, or have its freedom to act autonomously significantly reduced. The team does not take this view.

“Although there are currently imperfections in the way ACE operates, it is nonetheless a national asset: a significant repository of knowledge and expertise which the team believes should be developed and used more effectively… We also recommend that ACE’s recent restructuring be taken a stage further by rethinking the role of the national office and of the council itself.”

In response to the report, ACE has published an action plan designed to respond to three key areas which were underlined by the review - ACE’s need to engage with its funding clients and the public, the need to address the way it works with government, including the DCMS, and thirdly, the role and structure of the national office.

Its chairman Christopher Frayling was keen to highlight the positive points that could be gleaned from the report. He commented: “It gives unequivocal backing to the need for an independent arts council. It praises much of the arts council’s work in recent years. Its recommendations for further improvements were anticipated and welcome and, in many cases, were already being acted on.”

Meanwhile, culture secretary Tessa Jowell also welcomed the report but stressed that there were still challenges ahead for ACE, as it attempts to strengthen its position within the artistic community.

She added: “I welcome publication by the arts council of its action plan taking forward the recommendations of the report. I will be watching progress on this closely.”

www.artscouncil.org.uk/peerreview