Marking the first such session since Parliament’s return from the Easter Recess, Thursday April 18th saw ministers from the Department of Culture, Media & Sport in The House of Commons answering questions related to their briefs. Whilst today’s proceedings focused heavily on sports questions, including the importance of grassroots football, inclusivity in sports and usages of national flags and images, several questions concerning the Arts & Theatre landscape were featured by members from across the House.
Oral Questions and Topical Questions are regular events asked to government ministers, regarding current events, their work as leaders of their departments and ongoing issues faced in communities across the country. Each government department regularly has questions sessions in The House of Commons, attended by the Secretary of State and other relevant ministers, as well as shadow ministers in His Majesty’s Official Opposition and other opposition parties.
Questions to the Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media & Sport earlier today were responded to by Secretary of State Lucy Frazer (Conservative, South East Cambridgeshire), Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries Julia Lopez (Conservative, Hornchurch & Upminster) and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sport, Gambling and Civil Society Stuart Andrew (Conservative, Pudsey). All government MPs for this department were present for questions.
Today’s Questions
Oral Question 13: “If she will take steps with relevant stakeholders to help provide spaces for artists to create and display their work”
The first Arts & Theatre question asked was from Andrew Selous (Conservative, South West Bedfordshire), focusing on whether the department “will take steps…to help provide spaces for artists to create and display their work”, with a focus on studio spaces and workspaces. In response, Julia Lopez affirmed the government’s commitment to “encourage local authorities and property owners to make spaces available”, pointing out that they “support creative industries primarily through Arts Council England”, which offers grants for spaces, including for Yorkshire Artspace.
This was followed by an intervention from Matt Western (Labour, Warwick & Leamington) pointing out the importance of arts venues, and that “pubs are increasingly used for showing artworks as much as they are for performing music”, going on to highlight that “last year was the worst year for the closure of music venues”. Lopez referenced the provision of a “specific fund” for issues such as this, and “the Localism Act 2011, which allows communities to designate a particular community asset of value”. She also said that the department is considering “giving [venues] help to buy the freeholds of properties so that those kinds of assets can stay within communities”
Opinion of an Editor
The question asked, I believe was a particularly pertinent one. Even within our university and Students’ Union, the provision of space to showcase student artwork is lacking given the size of the buildings our university has, and society displays for their work are often non-existent or temporary. Whilst the minister’s responses may be true, and some creative groups may not be aware that such funding is available, the widespread incidence of venues closing, such as we reported with Sheffield’s Abbeydale Picture House, indicates that the funding available is insufficient to prevent such venues from closing their doors.
Whether the solution does involve additional funding is unclear, but the rate of venues closing as Western pointed out is increasing, which indicates that more needs to be done than is already to secure the future of venues. The minister also mentioned the Localism Act of 2011, and whilst that does give provision for greater decision-making at a local level, there have been few significant examples of its implementation since the legislation’s introduction. As well as this, it was pointed out that this use would “give communities time to raise funds to save those kinds of assets”, shifting the responsibility of safeguarding venues onto the public, rather than local authorities or central government. Whilst this may well be an option to securing the future of a venue, I would argue it is not a long-term solution that should be aspired towards.
Topical Question 1: “If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities”
A standard question in the business of the House, asked this morning by Alex Davies-Jones (Labour, Pontypridd), the question was responded to by Secretary of State Frazer herself, using the opportunity to highlight “the Chancellor [using] the Budget to extend, introduce and make permanent a range of tax reliefs to drive growth and investment in our creative industries”, as well as “tax reliefs worth £1 billion over the next five years”. The Secretary of State then continued with sport-related matters also in her portfolio.
Opinion of an Editor
This question was short and snappy in relation to Arts & Theatre, and there’s honestly not very much for me to say about it. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt (Conservative, South West Surrey) did indeed introduce the measures announced in the Budget several weeks ago, and whilst the tax reliefs are a prediction based on current estimates, the changes he announced were welcomed by the industry and Opposition parties, and will reduce the total tax burden on productions affected by the changes, which are welcome given the pressures the industry currently faces.
Any reference to a Conservative Chancellor since 2010 will however come with questions regarding cuts, particularly in the austerity period following the financial crisis of 2008. In the period of the coalition government (2010-2015), the department’s budget was reduced by almost 25%, from £1.4 billion per year to £1.1 billion, when the Chancellor himself was the Secretary of State of this department from 2010-2012. Whilst his boosts in the recent Budget are welcomed, some will see this as only a small help following the austerity period.
Question from Dr Kieran Mullen MP
In the penultimate Arts & Theatre question of the session, Dr Kieran Mullan (Conservative, Crewe & Nantwich) paid tribute to a local theatre group’s production of Kinky Boots but posed “that Arts Council funding does not do enough to support existing groups and activities” and whether the minister would “meet [him] to discuss” the matter. Answered by Julia Lopez, she “[wished] the Crewe Amateur Musicals Society the very best of luck”, before detailing how Arts Council England receives “lottery funding and Government funding, that is about £444 million every year”, and encouraging groups to apply for “the latest cultural development fund round”.
Opinion of an Editor
This point in proceedings was frustrating, especially when looking back at the arguments I posed to the answer to Oral Question 13. The fact that groups like this are struggling implies that the funding is not there. As someone who has been part of local theatre groups before, I know that these groups are deeply aware of every funding strategy and stream that exists, as it is often the primary method for keeping their groups operational. Whilst I accept that there is not infinite money available, £444 million may sound like a lot, but doesn’t stretch exceptionally far across the nation, and the clear implication that additional funding is not being considered is disappointing.
The arts often struggle to receive funding, especially when competing against other funding needs such as health, but the need is implicit to their survival. For small amateur dramatics groups, putting on productions are costly, and they don’t always have the reputation needed to equal their expenditure, and that’s before considering long-term costs such as storage, room hire or venue bookings. Groups need sufficient funding to survive, or they risk simply not existing in the future, and preserving them must be a priority.
Question from Chi Onwurah MP
The final relevant question from today’s proceedings, from Chi Onwurah (Labour, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central) asked “what support does the minister offer…[to] understand and promote our great industrial heritage” in local regions, with a specific focus towards the north-east. Frazer responded again, saying “through Arts Council funding and through Department for Culture, Media and Sport funding”, institutions across the country are being supported.
Opinion of an Editor
Three of the four answers all relied on the same answer that Arts Council England are the public body to be turning too, and again this clearly doesn’t offer the solutions it needs. Three different MPs have all been greeted with a very similar response, MPs from across the country as well. Times may be tough, but the fact that all of these groups have to turn to Arts Council England suggests to me at least that the body could use additional funding to support more groups. With Lopez’s answer to Dr Kieran Mullen suggesting this may not be forthcoming, I fear questions such as this will continue to arise in these sessions.
Industrial heritage is an important feature of many cities in northern areas of the country, as well as our own Steel City, and its promotion is important in helping to communicate the past of our local areas to its current residents and the next generation. We are lucky in Sheffield in that many of our heritage sites, run by charities such as Sheffield Museums, are free to access and engage with, but these groups often rely on local donations to help stay operational. Additional work, besides simple funding, may be helpful in cities across the country to promote local heritage sites, such as advertising boards around these cities, on transport links or increasingly on social media, and of course any help from central government in facilitating this would be welcome.
Having such a high student population often means that heritage sites and museums are explored more than in other cities, so investigations or funding targeting how we can increase engagement will be crucial as more and more people find themselves knowing little about their home’s heritage.
Full proceedings from April 18th’s Questions to the Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media & Sport are available to stream on BBC iPlayer, or are written in Hansard. The date for the next Oral Questions session to the department has not yet been set
