Notes
Midlands Area Council
Meeting No. 8
Date
29th April 2015
Time
1.00 pm
Location
Birmingham Hippodrome
Present
Peter Phillips (Chair), Cllr Roger Begy, Sarah Brigham, Mick
Gallagher, Skinder Hundal, Mike Layward, Lisa Meyer, Cllr Cecilia
Motley, Liz Roberts, Cllr Tony Skipper, Cllr Doreen Stephenson
Rebecca Blackman, Laura Dyer, Sue Elwell, Simon Fitch, Hugh
James, Sharon Joinson, Peter Knott, Wendy Parry
Apologies
Brian Ashley, Dawn Ashman, Sarah Bond, Stuart Griffiths, Uzma
Johal, Tim Desmond, Cllr Ian Ward
Guests
Mark Done, Relationship Manager, Children & Young People &
Learning
Richard Clark, Chief Executive, Mighty Creatives
Rob Elkington, Director, Arts Connect
1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES
1.1 The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked Rob and Mike for
the interesting tour of the Birmingham Hippodrome.
1.2 The Chairman also took the opportunity to give a big thank you to Cllr Doreen
Stephenson as this was her last meeting following her decision not to stand for reelection. He expressed his and Sir Peter Bazelgette’s thanks to her for her
contribution to and support of Arts Council England. Cllr Stephenson gave her
thanks in return to the Chairman and colleagues on the Midlands Area Council.
1.3 Apologies were noted and members were informed that Skinder Hundal would
need to leave the meeting before the end.
1
2. PRESENTATION BY RICHARD CLARK, MIGHTY CREATIVES AND ROB
ELKINGTON ARTS CONNECT
2.1 Rebecca Blackman introduced Richard Clark and Rob Elkington and welcomed
them to the meeting.
2.2 Richard and Rob explained that the focus of the presentation would be on





Bridge activities
their vision and where they are heading
how they work
their future priorities and Arts Council England’s investment
the challenges
2.3 Vision is
 to help bring Arts Council’s goal 5 alive and increase Children and Young
People’s (CYP) participation and engagement in the arts and to fill any gaps,
maximising Arts Council funding
 to ensure opportunities are always available particularly in areas of low
engagement and low investment
 to get more children taking part in culture more of the time
2.4 How we work. The Bridge organisations




deploy different ways of working in different situations
work with partners and optimise their intelligence
position themselves to support interventions
see themselves as powerful agents to nurture connections
2.5 Future priorities
 following three years generating a compelling narrative to give CYP the best
cultural start in life the Bridges now have a coherent, connected offer to create
impact
 provide a universal service for all to be aware of opportunities
 build cultural education partnerships with organisations such as Carillion and
2
Dudley Public Health
 invest in partnership building. 25% of ACE funding goes towards bringing new
partners to the table. Eg cultural solutions, Home Office
 support the re-launch of Artsmark. The bridge organisations are working with a
network of schools to increase the uptake of arts awards / partnerships /music
hubs
2.6 Challenges are




to localise national strategy
establishing what is valued by schools
maintaining dialogue with all partners
establishing what can be done together to increase ways of maintaining the
cultural offer
2.7 The Chairman thanked Richard and Rob for their presentation and invited
questions and comments from members.
2.8 In response to a question, Richard identified Birmingham as an area with a high
level of deprivation and that the Bridges are seeing this as an opportunity and
members recognised that connectivity was crucial to the Bridges success.
2.9 Cllr Cecilia Motley informed Richard and Rob that she had heard good things
about the Bridge organisations in the Midlands and agreed that targeting early years
is an important priority and agreed to meet with them to discuss it.
2.10 Members asked how they could help with high level conversations within NPO’s
to ensure they make their diversity action plans matter.
2.11. Rob responded to Skinder Hundal’s interest in how they are dealing with the
shifting nuances of diverse communities by explaining that research and development
and time and space to develop something new was the solution.
2.12 In response to Cllr Doreen Stephenson’s question Richard acknowledged the
value of engaging with families and older generations in order to harness their
knowledge and passion and use it to their benefit. Richard and Cllr Stephenson
agreed to meet.
2.13 Peter Knott explained that Bridge organisations are funded at a high level to help
accommodate a more consistent level of engagement from NPO’s in the portfolio and
3
the challenge is to “join-up” this collective offer. Mark Done agreed that working with
MEH’s was a good way of offering a varied cultural offer.
3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
3.1 Members were asked to complete their declarations of interest forms and return to
Sue Elwell or Maureen Gaynor. Members are required to keep their declarations up
to date. A copy of the register will be available at all future meetings.
4. MINUTES OF THE LAST AREA COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON
25 FEBRUARY 2015
4.1 Members reviewed the minutes of the meeting held on 25 February 2015 and
agreed them as an accurate record.
5. MATTERS ARISING FROM MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
5.1 Members noted that the Midlands Area Plan would be on the agenda for the next
meeting in July.
5.2 Members also noted that an update on the funding agreements would be covered
under item 8.
6. CHAIR’S UPDATE
6.1 The Chairman informed members that since the last meeting he had seen
performances by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Royal Shakespeare
Theatre, Birmingham Opera Company and had attended the Buxton Festival launch,
Wenlock Poetry Festival, Warwick University’s 50th anniversary celebrations and
Ikon’s 50th anniversary event.
7. MEMBERS UPDATE
7.1 All members gave a roundup of recent cultural activity that they had seen or were
planning to see, curated or participated in. Highlights included: Magna Vitae, Cara
Dillon, Format Festival, Beautiful Thing at Nottingham Playhouse, Live & Local’s Spilt
Milk, First Bite at mac, Departure Lounge, an open debate at Battersea Arts Centre,
Doug Fishbone’s Leisure Land Golf, New Art Exchange’s collaborative project at
Venice Biennale, Supersonic Festival, Awkward Bastards symposium at mac,
4
Wenlock Poetry Festival, Death of Salesman at RSC, Electronic Music event at Tin
Arts Centre.
7.2 In addition, Cllr Cecilia Motley reported that she was currently assisting Ludlow
Assembly rooms with their current issues. Cllr Roger Begy informed members that
his current workload centred around the General Election Campaign and Cllr Tony
Skipper reported that he was currently working with the steering group for Coventry’s
City of Culture bid.
8. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / AREA DIRECTOR’S UPDATE
8.1 Peter Knott spoke to his report and invited questions. He highlighted key issues
as:
8.2 Core Cities
He reported conversations had been challenging but that Arts Council has offered a
series of positive collaborations to work on together.
8.3 Funding Agreements
Members were informed that all but 1 NPO funding agreement had been signed and
returned.
8.4 Senior Manager Operations
Peter reported that Wendy Parry had been appointed as Relationship Manager,
Museums and offered her his congratulations and thanks.
8.5 Office Move
Members noted that phase 2 of the building project at Granville Street would begin on
1st July and that staff would be relocated to Apex House for approximately12 weeks.
8.6 Area Investment Report
Wendy Parry tabled the 2014/2015 year-end report and headline summary from the
West Midlands. Members were asked to note that this would be a substantive item at
the next Area Council meeting in July but were invited to let Wendy have any
questions in advance of that meeting via Sue Elwell.
8.7 Area Council Recruitment
Members’ attention was drawn to the draft National Council paper they had received
for information concerning recruitment of Area Council members. Laura Dyer
commented that the purpose of the paper was to ensure Arts Council England is clear
5
about its recruitment process, members’ the terms of office and benefits.
9.2 The report proposed that future recruitment would be for a term of four years but
on occasion they may be extended for an additional three years. Extensions for an
additional four years would be the maximum. Any extensions to appointments would
be by exception.
9.3 The Chairman asked members if they had any questions on the paper that they
would like take to National Council. Members agreed it was a reasonable proposal
but requested the new elements of the process be highlighted.
9. DEVOLUTION
9.1 Peter Knott delivered a powerpoint presentation on the devolution of funding. He
asked members to note that ACE’s distinction of devolution is about ‘where decisions
are made’ but distribution is about ‘where money is spent’. Members also noted that
‘development’ was key to the work of the Arts Council as we are not just a distributor
of funds. Peter explained that the slides were a pre-cursor to a paper being presented
to National Council on 13th May.
9.2 Members expressed their concern that if funds were devolved to Local Authorities
or ring fenced, there was a risk that the money may get used up on other services.
9.3 Members were asked if they feel Area Council is able to have a part and feel able
to contribute to National Council’s deliberations. It was agreed that as long as Area
Council continue to work in the current way then it can deliver.
9.4 Members agreed that if steep cuts in public funding were made then arts and
culture in England would be under threat. The sector’s contribution to the Nation’s
economy was seen as a key message to Government.
9.5 Peter thanked members for their contribution and that they would be informed of
the outcome of the National Council meeting in May.
10. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
10.1 Laura delivered a powerpoint presentation and explained that the presentation
contained Arts Council’s thinking to date which will inform a National Council paper
6
going to the meeting on 12 May.
She asked for members views on the proposals that have been developed so far.
10.2 Overall, members welcomed the proposals.
10.3 Laura Dyer informed members that they would receive a paper in advance of
the May National Council meeting and also be notified of the outcome of the meeting.
10.3 Members also noted that Darren Henley’s speech in Hull on 28 th May would
include details about our approach to the issues around devolution and distribution.
11. CREATIVE PEOPLE AND PLACES
11.1 The Chairman apologised for the meeting overrunning and asked that this
agenda be carried forward to the next meeting. Members agreed.
12. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
12.1 Cllr Doreen Stephenson expressed her thanks to members and said her
farewell.
The meeting closed at 4.00pm
7