Committee for Culture Arts and Leisure report on Arts funding

The arts are one of the key spending areas for the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. However, over recent years there has been a growing concern at the relatively low levels of funding to the arts in Northern Ireland as compared to other countries and regions.

In this report, the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure has sought to establish how and to what level the arts are funded in Northern Ireland by the public and private sectors, the impact of this funding, and how monies are allocated across the various art forms.

• The Committee came to the conclusion that there is a lack of information regarding how much money the public sector invests in the arts. Research is required to ascertain how much government departments, other than the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, spend on the arts.
• In order to increase funding for the arts an inter-departmental approach is required, as the social and economic benefits of the arts meet the objectives of a range of departments.
• In relation to allocating existing funding, the Committee came to the view that more money should be spent on community and voluntary arts, given their impact on regenerating communities and providing people with opportunities for participating in arts activities.
• The Committee was particularly concerned that arts groups in communities without a history of arts funding should be pro-actively encouraged to access available monies. To this end the Committee recommends that the Start Up programme operated by the Arts Council continues and develops.

For the full report visit

www.niassembly.gov.uk/culture/2007mandate/reports/report05_09_10r.htm