Oral Answers to Questions — Communities – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 2:15 pm on 14 January 2025.
5. Ms Nicholl asked the Minister for Communities for his assessment of the current budgetary position of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. (AQO 1351/22-27)
As the principal funding and development body for the arts in Northern Ireland, the Arts Council is tasked with distributing funding on behalf of my Department. It is also a distributing body for National Lottery moneys. It is my assessment that, despite the constrained position in the current financial year, the Arts Council continues to make a positive difference across a range of areas such as social inclusion, health, education, regeneration, justice, place-shaping and tourism. I am also going to continue to make the case to Executive colleagues that they should recognise the benefits that the arts provide to them in delivering on their responsibilities. It is my assessment, however, that government cannot wholly support the arts sector by itself and that a range of funding sources are needed to complement government funding. We are also exploring options for private and philanthropic investment opportunities.
In short, I do not believe that the arts get the level of funding that they deserve or require, but I am working on that to increase the level of funding, because I know the impact that the arts have right across Northern Ireland and how they help other Departments in how they deliver public services. Funding the arts is an investment in people and our services across Northern Ireland.
I thank the Minister for his answer. I wholeheartedly agree that our arts are underfunded. There is widespread recognition of that. The Department for the Economy has added funds through the in-year monitoring rounds to the year-end totals of arm's-length bodies. Is the Minister agreeable to looking at that and putting in place a similar agreement for the Arts Council so that it can adequately plan and budget for programming for the year ahead?
I have used the monitoring process over my time in office to make sure that additional funding is made available to the Arts Council. I did that for resource and capital this year, and we can see the results of that. I am always keen to ask for more in the monitoring rounds and to make sure that we have the resources that we need. However, we need more in the arts than just that funding. We also need a clear policy framework. That is what I am bringing forward under the new arts policy.
I have protected the budget allocation that we had last year. We are in an environment in which I have had to find savings of £119 million, but the Arts Council budget was maintained. Compared with other regions, that is still a small amount. That is why I have been able to bid for and receive money in monitoring rounds where I have allocated additional capital funding as well. I have also been exploring philanthropic avenues for investment. My recent visit to the US opened a few doors there, which I look forward to exploring. I was pleased to attend the arts round-table event, where we were able to set out some of the issues and the challenges in how we approach those. Certainly, I am committed to continuing to fund the arts and to highlighting to Executive colleagues the benefits of doing so properly.
Minister, last November, like you, I was among those who attended a meeting with representatives from Equity and heard from its members about the huge challenges, particularly in the north-west. We heard from local artists in Derry about how it is now really difficult to be able to remain in the field and to be an artist while living at home. We are exporting our local talent. I welcome the fact that you mentioned that you are working on and exploring a range of options to increase the funding. In that process, how will the Department seek to ensure regional balance in funding opportunities for Derry and across the north-west?
Regional balance is very important when it comes to the arts. That is why I have been so keen on the musical instruments for bands scheme: that funding has gone to communities across Northern Ireland; it has not been limited to particular geographical areas. I look forward to working with the Arts Council to ensure that the funding gets to where it is needed and where it will make the most difference.
There has been a feeling for a long time that the arts have been very Belfast-centric. My question builds on your previous answer. Does the Minister agree that regional balance across Northern Ireland is important in the arts sector, especially in rural areas of the country such as my constituency of South Down?
Yes, that is absolutely the case. Again, I am happy to tell the Member that part of the extra allocation that we made through the musical instruments for bands scheme went to her constituency. In the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area, we were able to allocate over £110,000 of funding to bands, professional and non-professional groups and individuals. I often feel that rural areas have missed out on arts funding in the past. It is a key priority for me, given that I come from a rural area. I have asked officials to begin work to identify programmes and activities that can ensure that we support rural areas such as South Down.
Further to that answer to my constituency colleague's question, if there is money for instruments in South Down, maybe I will take up the guitar or something, and is the Minister aware of the percentage of Arts Council funding that goes to the Belfast City Council area compared with other areas?
I saw those figures recently. I do not have them with me but I can certainly provide them to the Member. I have to say that it is a significant amount. Do not get me wrong: I am a fan of Belfast, but I want to see other areas getting money as well. That is why I am looking for additional resource in that area. I am happy to provide that information to the Member. Hopefully, he will be glad of the extra investment that I made in the South Down area. On his comment about taking up the guitar, if the comments that were made by Members who are sitting behind me are anything to go by, I do not think that he would have universal support in the House for that. Certainly, though, if he would like to make an application to the Arts Council, that process is open to him as well.