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| The Powers of The National Assembly for Wales |
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| The Arts Council of Wales welcomes the opportunity to
participate in this consultation. The points made in our
initial response regarding the National Lottery are incorporated
here for completeness. |
| This response does not attempt answers to all of the
questions raised in the consultation, as many do not impinge
on the work of the Arts Council. |
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| Question 1 |
| In what practical ways do the powers of the Assembly,
or the limits on its powers, impinge on you, your organisation
or the people whom you serve and what are the best examples
of this from your point of view |
| 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. |
| The Arts Council of Wales has seen considerable change
in the relationship with Government since devolution.
The issue of accountability featured largely in the arguments
advanced for the change, and although the reduction in
the number of non-governmental organisations did not materialise
on the scale some envisaged, it is certainly the case
that for some, if not all, there is much closer involvement
with the Welsh Assembly Government than there was with
Welsh Office Ministers. |
| In some ways, this can simply be seen as a consequence
of the numbers of people involved, sixty Assembly Members
as opposed to three Ministers, but it is also a feature
of the nature of the settlement. The limited extent of
the devolved powers inevitably leads to greater attention
being focused upon the areas which are within the remit
of the Assembly. |
| The new structures place a premium on new ways of operating,
especially in developing partnerships. Clearly, the existence
of a Minister for Culture, Sport and the Welsh Language,
a Culture Committee and a dedicated team of civil servants
have brought a focus on to the work of the Council which
did not exist previously. |
| Members of the Council were accustomed to a greater
degree of freedom in developing and implementing policy,
and are anxious to ensure that the benefit of their expertise
is available and utilised. |
| A model of policy development which entails the Council
producing advice which is fed into the creation of strategic
policy by the Assembly Government and is in turn reflected
in the creation of the Council’s own strategy and
implementation has worked well thus far. |
| The Council was able to offer advice in the preparation
of Creative Future: Cymru Creadigol, and was generally
very comfortable with the outcomes, especially as it set
detailed requirements for the work of the Council. In
turn, the Council developed its own Strategy, Supporting
Creativity, in a manner consistent with the requirements
of Creative Future, and both its Corporate Plan and Operational
Plan reflect these. Indeed, the Corporate Plan includes
a table explicitly describing the Council’s proposals
for meeting the requirements placed upon it. |
| The role of the Culture Committee both in developing
policy proposals and in increasing scrutiny has also been
welcome. The Committee has taken a particular interest
in the evidence-based planning, and has also looked carefully
at various developments including new grant schemes and
opportunities for young people. It has taken up issues
raised by the arts community, and thus offered opportunities
for clients and partners of the Council to contribute
to the scrutiny function. |
| It is difficult to generalise from the particular experiences
of the Arts Council, and this is particularly the case
as arts policy has by and large been a matter of agreement
across party lines. Undoubtedly colleagues in other organisations
will have had different experiences. |
| One observation which can usefully be made is that the
role of a Council Member (and this applies to all ASPB
board members) has changed markedly. ACW has provided
training for Council members to reflect this, but there
must be a case for providing such training across all
ASPBs, and there may well also be a case for ensuring
that all guidance and recruitment practice reflects the
current arrangements. |
| One area which Council members have found potentially
problematic is the direct allocation of resources to arts
organisations by the Assembly Government. This can blur
lines of accountability, and the Council has suggested
the development of a protocol to cover such issues. |
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| Questions 2, 3 and 14 |
| Does the Government of Wales Act provide the Assembly
with the powers it needs to operate effectively and meet
the expectations of the people of Wales? |
| Whether, and if so how, the powers should be extended,
strengthened or changed, and whether they should include
tax varying powers. |
| Funding Streams - is this an issue for you or
your organisation – if so what have been the practical
problems and how might they be resolved? |
| Broadly speaking, responsibility for the arts in Wales
is fully devolved to the National Assembly, and thus there
is little case for further devolution in this regard.
However, as was pointed out in the earlier submission,
responsibility for Lottery Funding remains with DCMS. |
| The Arts Council, along with the Sports Council for
Wales, is a Lottery distributor. Other Lottery distribution
in Wales is undertaken by London based distributors, who
generally also have Welsh based staff. |
| It has proved possible to achieve considerable levels
of synergy between the National Assembly and Lottery 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 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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| Question 6 |
| How effective has the Assembly been in influencing
UK Government policy making in relation to Wales –
what are the practical examples which illustrate the strengths
and weaknesses of the process |
| As responsibility for the arts is largely devolved in
Wales, there is little material from which to draw. The
most recent examples are the consultation on the future
of the National Lottery, which is covered above and on
the Licensing Bill. |
| Ministers and Civil Servants have worked hard to be
influential, and have some success. London based consultations
habitually fail to take account of Welsh (and other devolved)
perspectives, and the effort to influence legislation
often seems to be against the grain. |
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| Questions 12 & 13 |
| How should we evaluate the costs and benefits
of moving to a different form of devolution in Wales? |
| What are the benefits which should be included
in this evaluation – and what values should be attached
to them? |
| The particular costs and benefits of a revised form
of devolution fall beyond the general context of this
response. The capacity to develop "made in Wales" policies
based on particularly Welsh circumstances have been evident
in the arts, and there have been real and tangible outcomes,
not least additional investment equivalent to an increase
of 33% in Assembly funding over two years. |
| However, there is a real capacity issue relating to
accountability and policy development which has not been
addressed. The increase in establishment of the civil
service has been substantial, certainly in excess of 1,000
posts, and there is no doubt that this is a necessary
response to the transfer of responsibility for policy
making and scrutiny. |
| The pressures which the additional democratic process
places on the civil service are real and substantial.
There are many more questions to answer and there is more
original policy to be developed. |
| Exactly the same pressures fall to ASPBs who are confronted
with hugely increased demands for information, responses
to A M’s questions, and contributions to policy making.
These are all essential features of devolution, but in
contrast to the growth in civil service numbers, ACW,
in common with other ASPBs has had a cap placed on its
staffing capacity. |
| There is an urgent need to address this disparity, and
it must certainly be factored into any calculation of
cost for an extension of powers. |
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