The 2011 UK Arts Index Report

In order to download a copy of the Arts Index report you need to become a member of the NCA. The report gives a full breakdown of the data collected across 20 indicators, including in-depth anaylsis of the regional, national and UK wide picture. If you are a member, simply log in and then follow this link.

On Wednesday, Mayor of London Boris Johnson attended Access All Areas, a seminar on how young people can get into music.

Last Friday brought the announcement of the new recipients of the Beyond Borders scheme. Beyond Borders is a specific funding programme which encourages music organisations to share resources and work together on the commissioning of new work.

Following a debate on the Live Music Bill, reintroduced into the House of Lords by Lord Clement-Jones, the Government has given its backing to the Bill, subject to certain amendments.

As part of the Mayor of London’s ongoing music education strategy, an audit is being conducted on the scale, accessibility and quality of music education in the capital. 

Lord Clement-Jones’ Live Music Bill is to receive its second reading on Friday 4 March.

Major entertainment companies and internet service providers attended a roundtable on online content in the digital age. 

The much anticipated Music Education in England Review by Darren Henley was released on 7 February. Overall, the report praised the role of music in education and contained a total of 36 recommendations to promote music education in England.

The first commissions have been announced for the London 2012 Festival; the 12 week festival that is the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad.

The NCA has submitted its written response to the Government’s independent review into the funding and delivery of Music Education, conducted by Classic FM Chief Executive, Darren Henley.

The Government has launched an independent review into the funding and delivery of Music Education, to be conducted by Classic FM Chief Executive, Darren Henley. 

When Lord Clement-Jones introduced his Live Music Bill in the last Parliament, the NCA welcomed his response to the government’s frustrating and inhibiting red tape around live pub music.  This week the Lib-Dem peer reignited the debate, one day before the Live Music Forum prepared to deliver a 17,000 signature petition to Downing Street to address the need for small venues like schools and village halls to be exempt from the Licensing Act.

Yesterday, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced which projects were to be axed as part of a range of cuts totalling £73 million.

Arts Council England (ACE) today outlined how it would apportion the £19 million in-year budget cuts. In brief, it has been able to use £9 million of its historic reserves to mitigate the cuts to RFOs and cap these at £1.8 million, a 0.5% reduction across the board. This means that the average cut to arts organisations is £2,000, with the range varying from £142,000 to £105. 

On Thursday 10 June 2010, the NCA and Arts & Business launched a new forum to represent the UK’s cultural sector in the debate on how best to reanimate private sector cultural funding in this period of economic difficulty.

The NCA was in attendance at Toynbee Hall as Munira Mirza unveiled the Mayoral Cultural Strategy for 2012 and beyond. Topics addressed during the presentation included education, environmental sustainability and the improvement of arts provision for London’s outer boroughs.

A proposed code of practice which implements legislative measures aimed at reducing online copyright infringement was published by Ofcom this week, as part of its new duties under the Digital Economy Act 2010 (the Act).

Following the rather gloomy news from the Treasury we can, perhaps take some small comfort from two recently announced consultations which may pave the way for new avenues of funding for the sector.

Andrew Dixon, Chief Executive of Creative Scotland, the organisation set to take over the reins of Scotland’s cultural stewardship from the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, has announced that he wants to see Scotland in the top 10 ‘cultural nations’ within five years.

The NCA attended the new Secretary of State’s inaugural speech to the arts community, themed ‘Arts and Philanthropy’, at the Roundhouse on Wednesday, 19 May. Accompanied by his Minister for Culture, Ed Vaizey and Jesse Norman, the new Conservative MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire (whose father, Torquil, was the driving force behind the Roundhouse’s restoration), Jeremy Hunt outlined his central tenets on the arts.