The Wales Association for the Performing Arts has written to Alun Pugh
A.M., Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport at the Wesh Assembly,
in response to his actions over the chairmanship
of the Welsh Arts Council and the decision
to directly fund six major Welsh arts organisations and therefore exclude
them from ACW's remit.
Dear Alun Pugh,
Following a meeting of our Executive Committee last week, I have
been asked to write to you to express our extreme concern at recent
events surrounding the re-appointment of the Chair of the Arts Council
of Wales.
Some fifteen months ago we expressed our conviction that the Welsh
Assembly Government's plans for the Arts Council, bound up in the
overall review of the ASPB's, severely compromised the arms length
principle that had served both parties well for the previous half
a century. Furthermore we saw your plans increasing the likelihood
of political interference and more directly politicising decisions
taken at Assembly, Ministerial or Committee level.
What has happened in the last few days has only served to make our
concerns even more real.
We fully recognise and understand the formal procedure under which
the Chairs of Assembly Sponsored Public bodies are appointed. We are
however also aware that the transition from one Chair to another of
these bodies normally occurs in an evolutionary manner after their
term is exhausted. We are well able to recognise when that natural
process is undermined by the intervention of a third party as in this
case. We are obviously not alone as the chorus of disapproval from
other sources bears witness.
WAPA has been no "friend" of the Arts Council in recent
years. We have been heavily critical of the Council's shortcomings
and of their lack of accountability. There was a deep frustration
amongst WAPA members that the potential inherent in the arts in Wales
was being stifled rather than encouraged by the body best positioned
to exploit it.
It was against that background that Geraint Talfan Davies had to
re-establish the credibility of the organisation. He has worked very
hard and very openly to do just that, but it is work in progress not
a job that can be seen to have either succeeded or failed. Therefore
we would associate ourselves with the remarks of the Council made
after their special meeting on January 3rd in which they make out
a case for not jeopardising the advances of the previous three years.
Of more concern to WAPA, however, is the linking of the decision
not to re-appoint with your own priority of addressing access and
participation, particularly in the more deprived areas of Wales. This
raises two different but equally important issues. Firstly it further
reinforces our belief that the Assembly Government seeks more direct
and overt influence of policy directions in what is still by Royal
Charter an independent body. And secondly it presupposes that the
present Council under the leadership of the present Chair, together
with the existing client base, are not seeking to address these issues
already. There are in fact very few clients of the Council who are
not trying to widen their audience base, open up participation further
and increase access to their end product. Where this argument needs
to be focused, and we need knowledgeable, experienced and sympathetic
people to lead the debate, is over how best to deal with the problem.
That can only be done if there is a more considered discussion over
what, in our view, the core issues are. So far in public at least,
the debate has been very superficial and to put it bluntly, very ill
informed. The way in which the "numbers game" has been played
in recent days is a clear example. This is not about numbers; it is
about discussing and enacting policies that can enhance experiences
for as many people in Wales as possible. Inevitably therefore there
are extremely complex issues, ones that arts groups have been struggling
with on very limited resources for twenty years or more, that are
being devalued by the low level of understanding that currently applies.
Last year WAPA was concerned enough about the failure of the interested
parties to debate these points publicly that we resolved to sponsor
our own national conference dedicated to access and participation
from our perspective later in 2006. We now intend to bring that forward
as there is an urgent need for the work of our members in these areas
to be acknowledged and appreciated.
We believe that the best way to move progress is through the agency,
namely the Arts Council, strategically placed to do so. They in turn
should work alongside politicians, audiences and practitioners to
achieve the best and most satisfactory solutions. The failure of this
to occur since the announcement of November 30th 2004 is perhaps the
most disappointing aspect of all.
You should be aware that there is a loss of confidence in the Assembly
and the Arts Council as a result of what has emerged over the last
ten days and arts groups in Wales are exceedingly anxious about the
future. There are also rumours that Arts Council clients are to receive
standstill funding while the clients devolved to the Assembly are
to receive an inflation proof award. If this is true it will be an
unacceptable tilting of the playing field.
There is absolutely no doubt in many minds that discriminatory decisions
along with the proactive approach to the chairmanship of the Council
is a precursor to further interventions in the coming months which
will leave the sector de-stabilised.
It is regrettable that our request for you and your colleagues to
leave the arts sector to mange its own affairs and for us to be given
some time to work in a stable environment has been ignored. It is
already difficult enough to produce work in the present financial
climate without adding a disruptive new political dimension.
We are seeking assurances that our further fears are unwarranted
and that there will be some inclusive discussion held in future about
the way in which the arts in Wales are managed and delivered.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Ryde
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