Thanks to Shadow Culture Secretary Harriet Harman’s high profile intervention, talk of arts cuts this week has been, once again, dominated by Newcastle. While Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes announced plans last year to cease all funding to the arts, in an interview yesterday with The Guardian, Harman said: “The reality is there is not going to be a 100% cut to the arts in Newcastle.”
So, there may be some light at the end of the tunnel for England’s North East. But what of the arts community in the North East of Scotland, or more specifically the area covered by Elgin-based Moray Council (‘Malt whisky country’, population circa 90,000).
It too is facing a 100% cut to its arts budget, as part of the council’s bid to save £30million over four years. A political heavyweight in shining armour is unlikely to arrive before the council meets to vote on the proposals at 2pm tomorrow (13 February) – Labour doesn’t get much of a look in these parts.
What does the annual arts budget of a tiny council such as Moray amount to? A total of £79,000 apparently, included in which is just one full-time position, that of Arts Development Officer Nick Fearne, who has been in the job for 12 years. He wasn’t on his own when he started – there have been other cuts over the years.
The leader of Moray Council, Councillor Allan Wright, chair of the council’s policy and resources committee, has described the job of saving £30million as “extremely daunting”, adding that “no-one wants to cut services to this degree, but that is the position we are in.”
The local arts community are understandably concerned by the likelihood that Fearne, Moray Council’s last man standing in terms of a clear commitment to the arts, is to go. And while at first glance the small figures involved may suggest this is anything but a big issue, in reality it makes the impact of the cuts even greater.
“It’s the final nail in the coffin in a situation that has got worse and worse over the last three years,” says Kresanna Aigner, Director of the Findhorn Bay Arts Festival, which plans to launch in 2014. “My fear is that if you lose the Arts Development Officer post, where do other funders turn to for information on arts projects in the area? It sets the arts sector adrift – it impacts on the entire arts infrastructure.”
Simon McPherson, Business Development Manager at contemporary dance organisation Bodysurf Scotland, agrees: “Money’s money, but the loss of an Arts Development Officer like Nick Fearne isn’t about the money, it’s about knowledge. He acts as the glue, as a facilitator.”
While losing the post, and in particular a person who has clearly won the support and respect of many in the area, is damaging in itself, Aigner also raises wider issues about the impact of the cuts.
“We understand that cuts are needed, but when you take away all support so dramatically, how can you lever in support from other sources?” she says. “The council needs to wake up and see the importance of the creative sector to tourism, community engagement and the local economy. We want to help find solutions.”
Robert Livingston, Director of HI-Arts (Highlands and Islands Arts) also expresses dismay at the prospect of Moray losing its one and only arts post.
“Moray Council was one of the last in Scotland to establish a dedicated arts post,” he says. “Yet in the past decade that officer, Nick Fearne, and the arts team whose posts have already been cut, have had a transformative impact on the county, from sell-out projects with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre of Scotland, through employing artists to transform the dining halls of almost every primary school in Moray, to remarkable work with young people at risk of offending. There could hardly be a better or more tangible return on such a modest investment.”
Moray Council’s 26 elected representatives – please take note.
Postcript: On Wednesday 13 February Moray Council voted to approve the budget proposals, meaning that the entire arts budget has been cut.
More on a-n.co.uk:
Local_authority_arts tag on a-n News
