The Stage

Hewitt takes sabbatical to campaign for ACE’s future

Published Tuesday 9 November 2004 at 13:10 by Alistair Smith

Arts Council England has announced that it will release its chief executive Peter Hewitt on a fact-finding mission in an attempt to secure long-term funding and devise a future strategy for the organisation.

Hewitt’s contract has been extended to January 2008 but he will be relieved of his day-to-day responsibilities between January and April 2005 to allow him to devote himself to talks with government officials and key figures in the arts community, prior to next year’s general election. He will discuss how the arts council will progress under the tenure of new chairman Christopher Frayling and how it will cope with potential changes to the distribution of Lottery and government subsidies.

It has been reported that the arts council could lose out on funding due to the prominence of London’s Olympic bid. Moreover, with the potential introduction of the Gaming Act, any loss in revenue that the Lottery suffers due to increased competition would have a knock-on effect on the money available to the council.

When the National Lottery was founded in 1994, its introduction had a disastrous effect on the Foundation for Sport and the Arts, which was funded by the Football Pools. With the downturn in the Pools’ revenue, contributions to the FSA fell dramatically. However, the arts council does not envisage a similar situation occurring.

A spokesperson for ACE said: “There have been studies which have shown that the Lottery is seen as small-change gambling and would therefore not be seriously affected by the Gaming Bill, in the same way it hasn’t been affected by online gambling. We are fairly bullish about the whole thing but we are aware that revenue might be affected.”

Speaking to The Stage, Hewitt has stressed the need to secure long-term future funding, saying he believes that the next phase of arts council funding will represent a change in focus.

He said: “With the general election approaching, we want to be in people’s minds when they come to write manifestos and make pledges. This is the end of ten years of National Lottery funding but I also see it as the beginning of the next ten years. These four months are about finding out what we do in these next ten years.”

“We have finished restructuring. We have done most of the big stuff now, like Sadler’s Wells and the Tate Modern,” he continued. “Now it is time to get more specific. We are trying to develop ACE’s involvement in the arts. It will be more about people, more local, more about community.”

Frayling has recently expressed fears that the arts are at risk of losing funding to sport when the Department for Culture, Media and Sport apportions its treasury budget later this month, saying that London’s Olympic bid could have a negative effect on arts council funding.

However, speaking at an event at the Greenwich Dance Agency, celebrating ten years of Lottery funding for ACE, Hewitt remained positive about the influence of the Olympic bid. He said: “London’s Olympic bid provides a key opportunity for Greenwich. Locally based arts organisations will be able to reach an international audience by participating in the four year Olympics programme.”

He was also enthusiastic about the Lottery’s contribution to the arts but warned of complacency. He added: “From 1994 to the present there has been a quite extraordinary transformation in the arts. The National Lottery has made a really big difference. It’s been ten fantastic years. But the job hasn’t been done, the job has only just started. It is important that we get our arguments in place to make sure that this is only the first ten years [of funding].”

In Hewitt’s absence, executive director of arts Kim Evans will become acting chief executive, with full authority for the everyday running of the council.