Davey unveils ACE’s priorities for the arts

Published Wednesday 30 April 2008 at 17:15 by Alistair Smith

Newly-appointed chief executive Alan Davey has revealed his four strategic priorities for Arts Council England as it responds to the landmark McMaster Report.

The review into excellence and the arts by former Edinburgh International Festival director Brian McMaster was widely welcomed by the industry when it was released in January. Now, for the first time, the arts council is responding in detail to the report, which was commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Davey said that ACE would focus on strategic touring, international import and export of work, the body’s relationship with its regularly funded organisations and the way the arts council makes funding decisions.

The last of these priorities will encompass a new form of peer review and self-assessment - as recommended by McMaster - which Davey is looking to develop.

Speaking exclusively to The Stage, Davey explained: “The death of McMaster would be if it got bureaucratised. And if it were treated like a white paper and every sentence in it had to be analysed and turned into a programme with heaven knows how many person hours to prove that something is happening.”

Instead, ACE is hoping that its proposals will embrace the spirit of McMaster’s report without following it too strictly.

ACE is currently looking at several different models for peer review - including those in Scotland and the Netherlands - insisting it will not return to the old panel system.

It hopes to begin trials for a new scheme in 2009, in order that a full system can be in place for the next spending review in 2010/11.

ACE’s decision making will be heavily informed by Genista Mackintosh’s ongoing review of the recent funding round, which is expected to examine the relationship between the regional councils and the national office.

Meanwhile, Davey is looking to forge closer links with the British Council in order to increase and improve the work both coming into and going out of the country.

“There are all sorts of exciting things happening abroad that artists in this country need to encounter,” he added.

“Our interest is in the arts in this country, but that could be developed with better international links. The British Council’s interest is in what goes on abroad primarily, but the two do come together.”

He highlighted the Royal Shakespeare Company’s recent Complete Works Season, which involved several foreign companies performing alongside home-grown work, as an example of a good model of the new ‘internationalism’ he was hoping to foster.

The strategic touring strand, which will be informed by the results of the ongoing Theatre Assessment, will look to plug gaps in specific geographical areas, which ACE feels are under-served by dance, drama or music.

McMaster’s other two headline recommendations - for an annual free week and for ten-year funding for ten companies - are under consideration.

According to Davey, the free week still needs to be costed and, while he “likes the idea of a breakthrough event that gets people to engage who might not have engaged before”, he is not yet convinced that a week of free tickets is the best way to achieve this.

Meanwhile, extended funding agreements - although probably not as long as ten years - are also being considered.