Sketching the big picture

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As the regional cultural consortia celebrate a budget increase, Alex Klaushofer examines these low-profile agencies 

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Regional cultural consortia are little-known players in the regional scene. Established in 2000 by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in eight regions across England, they are designed to play a key role in developing their areas’ approach to culture, bringing together local agencies and devising a regional cultural strategy. But with no executive powers of their own, little money and a low profile, the jury is still out on how much difference the RCCs can make.

In theory a consortium will work with any organisation which is in a position to develop cultural activity in the locality, be that public, private or voluntary sector. In practice RCC partners vary according to the relationships and influences in a particular region. The definition of ‘culture’ is broad, encompassing sports and tourism and extending into economic development. Typically RCCs will work with the regional development agency, local authorities, tourism boards, English Heritage and lottery distributors. As non-departmental public bodies, RCCs report directly to the Culture Secretary through their DCMS-appointed chairs. They are in regular contact with the DCMS representatives based in their region’s Government Office. They have no formal relationship with the Government Office itself, although in some regions the two bodies may share office space. And because RCCs have no employment powers of their own, they have to make other arrangements to contract their staff, such as using secondments from the Government Office.

In the wake of a consultation carried out over the winter of 2001-02, the DCMS sought to further define the role of the RCCs. Its review recommended that RCCs coordinate regional data collection and research, and, rather ambitiously, take on responsibility for implementing regional cultural strategies, using their own funds where necessary. To help achieve this, from April the DCMS has just increased the budget for each RCC to £200,000, while also encouraging the consortia to secure additional funding from their partners. The review also recommended that RCCs liaise with lottery distributors to inform their funding decisions, and more detailed proposals on working with the lottery should be published in the summer. As bodies designed to respond to the needs of each region, RCCs vary, both in terms of how far they have developed and the kinds of priorities they adopt. The Cultural Consortium for England’s North West is one of the more evolved agencies and its executive director, Libby Raper, is an enthusiastic advocate for what the regional body can achieve. ‘We have evolved to become the single strategic body for culture in the region, and that is quite unique in our area,’ she says. One of the main roles of the consortium is, she says, to ‘uncover the strategic need’ which would otherwise go unnoticed, such as identifying gaps in the region’s cultural facilities. Raper believes that data gathering, such as a mapping exercise which has found that 15% of the region’s employment is in the creative industries, can lend valuable support to the RDA and local authorities’ arguments for greater investment in regional culture. In this way the consortium has an enabling function rather than an executive role. ‘It’s not our role to deliver these things,’ Raper says, ‘It is to engage with partners so they can deliver them.’ The north-west consortium brings its partners together through meetings of its board and executive group, while task groups undertake research into specific areas. One task group, the Visitor Attractions Group, includes private-sector representatives such as the managing directors of Manchester Airport and Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Despite the different perspectives and interests of the agencies involved, Raper does not see a problem in persuading them all to follow a single strategy. ‘You have to accept that everyone will have their own take on it, and that’s fine because it’s all about having a vibrant cultural sector,’ she says. In the absence of the consortium, she suggests, the region’s stakeholders would lack the forum and facilitator to see how they might work together: ‘My role is unique, in that I have the time and I’m paid to think pan-culture.’ However, the NWRCC has yet to make much of a splash with the lottery bodies. Andy Freeney, the Community Fund’s north-west region manager, says he just doesn’t have the time for more meetings. ‘I did not see it as one of my priorities. Rightly or wrongly, I’ve seen it as more relevant to the Arts Council,’ he says.

Initial inquiries to a lottery officer at the Arts Council North West generate the response that the RCC ‘doesn’t ring any bells’. But Aileen McEvoy, their director of external relations and development, feels that a strategic body is invaluable. ‘The RCC allows us to identify areas that we have in common,’ she says. ‘It’s fantastic because it gives a direct link to the DCMS.’ McEvoy argues that the coordinating role makes it hard for the RCC to raise its profile. ‘The RCC doesn’t wish to have a primary role above its members. It’s in the nature of the thing not to want to impose another layer of bureaucracy on top of the agencies already in the region,’ she says.

But some people question whether precisely what defines the RCC – its strategic role – also prevents it from having any real bite. Fran Toms, head of cultural strategy at Manchester City Council, says: ‘I just wonder whether, if the tie-in with the Northwest Development Agency was closer, and if it could influence the way money was spent, it would have more clout.’ 

Without some real executive power, she believes, ‘it’s just a talking shop. You’re going to end up with all these strategies, but what’s going to be delivered?’ Lyn Barbour, director of the Creative Industries Development Service, an economic development body for the region supported with European and RDA funding, feels that the big cities of the North West can get on quite nicely without the RCC. ‘I don’t think it’s making a difference in Manchester,’ she says. ‘There is a different dynamic between the region and the cities; they’re not in conflict, but there’s a kind of a parallel. We don’t need a policy to guide us. For the region as a whole, it is very valuable, but it’s not really valuable for Manchester and Liverpool.’ At least from now on the Cultural Consortium for England’s North West will have more money to work with. Its funding increase from £130,000 to £200,000 will enable it to take on a project manager and PA, bringing its staff up to four. Raper hopes that the planned appointment of a new board, and becoming a company limited by guarantee, will further strengthen its hand as cultural ambassador for the region. She feels the consortium has got off to a good start, partly thanks to having had a consistent chair, Felicity Goodey, since its inception.

In contrast, West Midlands Life is more in a state of suspended animation, three years into its existence. This RCC has yet to appoint its board, while its new chair, Brian Woods-Scawen, is the third in swift succession. 

The result of all this change, according to the consortium’s policy officer Margaret Ward (on a two-day-a-week contract), is that West Midlands Life is ‘still reinventing itself’. Its website needs updating and its means to date, by any standards, have been modest. Last year its income from the DCMS was £55,944, of which it spent £12,842.

Despite these constraints, Ward says the RCC has made considerable headway, in particular in forging links with the people who matter locally. ‘The RCC is seen as a key regional player here,’ she says. She argues that its work in compiling data on the region’s cultural activities and needs is vital. ‘They are the things we need in order to be able to sell culture to the Treasury. Culture matters, it contributes to the economy – but we need facts and figures to back that up,’ she says.

It is difficult to disagree with the key statement in the consortium’s regional cultural strategy for 2001-06, which aims to make the West Midlands ‘a very special place, offering the best you can find anywhere, with the widest range of choices, for the greatest number of people and contributing to prosperity for all.’ It is equally difficult to see how, without a quantum leap in resources and influence, the consortium can bring this about. Extra money and the appointment of an executive director in the next few weeks may help. And in recruiting the new board, Ward says the focus will be on finding people who can help to deliver rather than draft strategies: ‘people who can really open doors and get people on board,’ she says.

Judgements from the region’s lottery bodies on what the consortium has achieved so far are cautious. ‘It’s early days, bearing in mind it doesn’t exist, bar the chair,’ says Sally Luton, executive director of West Midlands Arts. ‘We work well together in this region. There’s always room for another body.’ Anne Jenkins, regional manager of the Heritage Lottery Fund in the West Midlands, says: ‘It has certainly helped my personal understanding of the wider issues in the West Midlands. The consortium has made a big impact in terms of focusing on what’s important – it has changed things for us. It does help think through strengths and weaknesses.’

CONTACTS
Please note that the East Midlands RCC has no web address, and a couple of the others are very basic and out-of-date. Alternatively you could contact your regional Government Office, which should be able to provide contact details

North East: www.culturenortheast.org.uk 
North West: www.englandsnorthwest-culture.com 
South East: www.culturesoutheast.org.uk/ 
Yorkshire & Humber: www.yorkshire-culture.co.uk 
East: www.livingeast.org.uk/ 
South West: www.culturesouthwest.org.uk/ 
West Midlands: www.westmidlandslife. org.uk/ie.htm