The publication last month of Equality, Diversity and the Creative Case, Arts Council England's annual diversity report has been described as "disappointing".
This fifth report on diversity, which now includes libraries, museums and sector support organisations, uses 2018–2019 data to look at 2018–22 NPOs and their progress with implementing diversity.
It now analyses gender, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation within workforce and governance, art forms / disciplines and geographical areas, and whilst the NPO cohort may not necessarily represent the landscape in the broader sectors, the inertia revealed must surely cast a shadow across them.
In the area of performing arts, dance has the highest percentage of black and minority ethnic workforce, at 18%, but the lowest of disabled workers at 3%, and theatre (joint with visual arts) has the highest percentage of LGBT workforce at 9%.
The report also provides analysis of NPOs with a permanent staff greater than 50. Looking at, say, BME percentages by geography against organisation-specific data reveals that London's National Theatre and Barbican Centre have 11%, English National Ballet 14% and the LSO 4% against the average of 15% for the capital.
By contrast, The Almeida has 16%, Lyric Theatre Hammersmith 24% and Battersea Arts Centre has 29%.
With 21% of the working age population, disabled representation here is low with only 6% across the NPO workforce, improving somewhat at leadership levels with 9% chief executives and 8% artistic directors, although board representation is 7% and only 5% of chairs are disabled.
Nicholas Serota, ACE chair, said, “this year’s annual diversity report reveals a disappointing picture. A key tenet of our new strategy for 2020–30, Let’s Create, is that the organisations we fund, and that the Arts Council itself, should be representative of society.
“In the new strategy, organisations that receive regular investment from ACE will need to set themselves stretching targets for representation in governance, leadership, workforce, participants and audiences. Failure to meet these targets will have an impact on future funding.
“Over the years, there has been progress—and, since launching the Creative Case for Diversity in 2011, much has been done by organisations to focus on the work they produce, collect and present—but we must now all act with greater determination to remove the persistent inequalities in our boards, our workforce and our audiences that are holding back opportunity and achievement in our sector.”
Equality, Diversity and the Creative Case is the first report for this NPO group and has new levels of analysis so comparative data against earlier reports is not available.