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Dateline: 6th July, 2007
"Idolising" Targets to End, Says Purnell James Purnell, the new Secretary of State at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), has announced the end to the "idolising" of "crude" targets in the arts. "Targets were probably necessary in 1997 to force a change of direction in some parts of the arts world,"he said, “but now we risk idolising them. Without change, we risk treating culture like it’s an old fashioned, unresponsive public service." As well as throwing away "the packaging of targetolatry", the culture secretary said that he wants "the frank opinion of experts" who can advise on removing the crude targets and "empowering artists and organisations to be the best" and "free up the majority of cultural organisations who are already succeeding and focus our targets on the minority who need to change." He has, he said, asked Brian McMaster, the former director of the Edinburtgh International Festival and a member of ACE's national council, toadvise on what he called "preconditions for excellence" and how the department can work with artists and arts organisations "in a rational, non-bureaucratic way." Although access to the arts will still be a central part of the government's strategy, it has to be access to excellence: "If any part of our cultural sector is substandard, doesn’t take risks, doesn’t push barriers, it’s not worth anything," he said. He did, however, sound a warning note: the forthcoming spending round will, he said, be "tough".
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