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RESPONSE
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Richards Commission – Response from the Arts
Council of Wales
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This response is not intended to address
the breadth of issues being considered by the Commission,
but rather focuses on some specific issues regarding
currently non-devolved powers which impinge on the work
of the Arts Council and also more broadly, particularly
in the field of Lottery distribution.
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| The Arts Council of Wales was
formed following the dissolution of the Arts Council of
Great Britain and this has allowed for a concentrated
focus on the arts in Wales, which might otherwise be marginalised
in a UK context. The devolution of most artistic matters
to the National Assembly has greatly assisted the development
of the arts in Wales, and has created a clear policy framework
within which the Council operates. |
| However, in addition to distributing
funding on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government, the
Arts Council is also a Lottery distributor and responsibility
for the lottery is not devolved in practice, it has proved
possible to achieve considerable levels of synergy between
the funding streams and to operate within a single strategic
framework and within a single set of grant schemes. Nonetheless,
it is evident that the Lottery is driven by UK government
priorities and that the synergy would be greater if there
were a single framework of government framework which
could be achieved through the devolution of responsibility
for Lottery distribution to the National Assembly. |
| The recent review of the Lottery
has highlighted the confusion caused by the current arrangements,
with consultation tending to exclude non-London based
distributors and the devolved administrations. This is
not unexpected as the London based distributors clearly
have links with government in Whitehall in the ordinary
course of their work, which is not the case with those
based in devolved administrations. A similar issue regarding
consultation arose with the Licensing Bill which is currently
being considered by Parliament. This has significant implications
for Welsh culture, is a non-devolved area, and the consultation
tended to focus on England. |
| There are also issues of accountability
which particularly affect the accounting officers in the
Arts Council of Wales and Sports Council of Wales, who
are separately accountable to the National Assembly, and
DCMS. It has proved difficult to establish precisely where
accountability lies, and this is evidently unhelpful and
potentially problematic. |
| Devolving responsibility for
overseeing Lottery distribution would allow for the creation
of a single strategic framework, and ensure that prioritisation
of Lottery spending complemented other Assembly priorities.
It would ensure that particular issues affecting Wales,
including the use and promotion of the Welsh language,
could be fully taken into account. It would also resolve
the current fuzzy accountability, and ensure that consultation
took appropriate account of issues specific to Wales.
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