Britain: An official handbook > 1993

BRITAIN 1993: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
The Secretary of State for National
Heritage is responsible for general arts policy
and heads the Department of National
Heritage, which replaced the Office of Arts
and Libraries in April 1992. The new
Department determines government policy
and administers government expenditure on
national museums and art galleries in
England, the Arts Council of Great Britain,
the British Library and other national arts
and heritage bodies. Other responsibilities
include the regulation of the film industry,
broadcasting and the export licensing of
antiques. The Secretaries of State for Wales,
Scotland and Northern Ireland are
responsible for the national museums,
galleries and libraries in their countries, and
for other cultural matters.
Local authorities maintain more than 1,000
local museums and art galleries and a
network of over 5,000 public libraries. They
also support many arts buildings, arts
organisations and artistic events in their areas,
providing grant aid for professional and
voluntary organisations, including orchestras
and theatre, opera and dance companies.
They undertake direct promotions and
contribute to the cost of new or converted
buildings for the arts. In England this
support is estimated to be around £200
million a year. Arts education in schools,
colleges, polytechnics, evening institutes and
community centres is the responsibility of
central government education departments, in
partnership with local education authorities
and voluntary bodies.
Finance
Since 1988 the Government has set the arts
budget for a three-year period in order to
give recipient arts bodies a firm basis on
which to plan future activities and to
encourage greater self-reliance and
diversification in their sources of funding. It
considers that this strategy has proved
successful in encouraging arts bodies to
match their plans to a realistic view of the
total resources likely to be available. The
three-year settlement applies to the larger
part of the central government arts
programme.
Planned central government expenditure
through the Department of National Heritage
amounts to £609 million in 1992—93. About
£192 million is spent on 11 national galleries
and museums in England; £221 milllion is
channelled through the Arts Council to
support the performing and visual arts
throughout England, Scotland and Wales;
and over £70 million goes to the British
Library. Grants are also made to the British
Film Institute, the Crafts Council, certain
other museums and arts bodies, and to the
National Heritage Memorial Fund. The Fund
helps organisations wishing to acquire, for the
public benefit, land, buildings, works of art
and other objects associated with the national
heritage. In Scotland the Scottish Office
provides £20 5 million to the National
Galleries and Museums and £11-8 million to
the National Library.
Business Sponsorship
Industrial and commercial concerns offer vital
sponsorship and patronage to a wide range of
arts, including exhibitions, concerts and opera
seasons. The Business Sponsorship Incentive
Scheme was introduced by the then Office of
Arts and Libraries in co-operation with the
Association for Business Sponsorship of the
Arts (ABSA) in Great Britain in 1984, with
the aim of raising the overall level of business
sponsorship. (A similar scheme was set up in
Northern Ireland in 1987.) Since its inception
the Scheme has brought over £48 million
into the arts (including a government
contribution of over £16 million) and has
attracted over 2,000 first-time sponsors. An
estimated 80 per cent of the awards have
been made to arts organisations outside
London. In 1992-93 the Scheme is making
available £4-5 million to match new
sponsorships. ABSA is also participating in
UK Charity Lotteries, a venture launched in
1991 designed to benefit 200 charities, among
them many arts organisations.
The Arts Council’s Enhancement Fund,
introduced in 1990, aims to strengthen
leading arts organisations so as to improve
artistic quality and business and financial
planning. It is setting aside £22-5 million for
schemes in England, Scotland and Wales in
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