ConservativeHome's Local Government Blog

Southwark as the cultural heart of London

Southwark Council are holding an Arts Conference today sponsored by Tate Modern with speakers including the Shadow Arts Minister Edward Vaizey and Munira Murza, the City Hall Culture supremo. Here Cllr Lewis Robinson, Executive Member for Culture Leisure and Sport on Southwark, gives his views.

One of the current fashionable buzzwords on the lips of every politician is “localism”.  I thought in opening this event today I would reflect on what this means for arts and culture and Southwark.

The Arts to date have weathered the current economic downturn better than feared.  A mixture of “staycations” and a weaker currency have seen visits and ticket revenue remain relatively buoyant at national institutions.  But we should all recognise that after the next General Election, the next challenge will be what impact restoring the public finances has on the arts.

And this is where “localism” will come into play.  It would be too easy for Government and local authorities, facing straightened circumstances to say “we don’t do culture” without thinking through the consequences.

However, in Southwark, like Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea, we have a unique combination of local, national and international institutions providing a cultural backbone to the Borough, running from the Dulwich Picture Gallery, South London Gallery, to the Tate Modern and the raft of other organisations
along the Southbank represented here today.

Barnet does do culture

Between now and the next General Election seldom with a cabinet minister's speech be complete without some invented or distorted quote from a Tory Council leader. In the case of Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw he always quotes the Barnet Council leader Cllr Mike Freer as saying: "We don't do culture in Barnet." Bradshaw said it in his Labour Party Conference speech. He said it in his Progress lecture. It shows he believes in recycling. But the problem for Bradshaw is that the quote, offered unsourced and without context, is not true.

Cllr Freer says:

What we said is that given the financial straightjacket the Council has operated in for the past eight years, we have had to make hard choices on our budgets. We have said we can't do everything and we had five key priorities and we have aligned our budgets accordingly. That meant we did not spend large sums of money on the Arts, we retained our grant to the Artsdepot and devolved the culture development officer to them. in a broadly middle class area we took the decision that our residents would buy theatres/arts if they chose and we would spend council tax on education, making the borough cleaner, greener etc. We have of course invested considerable sums on our Libraries (which is culture) to make them modern,. Relevant and fit for purpose.

If Mr Bradshaw thinks dancing topless at Glastonbury is culture then I think we've got it right and he's got in wrong. The fact that Labour Cabinet Ministers spend so much time attacking Barnet, suggests we've got it right.

Southampton sells art to build new museum

There was an item on the Radio 4 Today programme about plans from Conservative run Southampton Council to sell off some works of art. They include After the Race by Sir Alfred Munnings and Eve by Rodin.

It is hoped that the sales will raise £5 million and allow A further one hundred paintings from the permanent collection will be exhibited. It means an increase of 50% of the art works on permanent display. That will increase the access to the 3,500 piece collection.

The Museums Libraries and Archives Council rules state that any sales must enhance the remaining collection.

"We are looking at a Heritage Museum for the first year a focus on the Titanic would be appropriate," said Cllr John Hannides, the Cabinet Member for Culture and Heritage. "The Heritage Museum will also incorporate an extension to the Civic Centre and its that extension which will release space."

Cllr Hannides was debating with Charles Saumarez Smith, chief executive of the Royal Academy, was on debating with Cllr Hannides. But when Saumarez Smith heard what the money was being used for the opposition was rather blunted. "I'd very much like to see more works on display if the City Council are rethinking there position I would welcome that," said Saumarez Smith. It sounds rather more likely that Saumarez Smith had got the wrong end of the stick.

My only criticism is that Southampton Council haven't gone far enough. They will still be left with thousands of art works left in storage, gathering dust.

New Tory leadership will phase out Lancashire's Labour-style red rose logo...

[Outgoing logo above, Traditional logo right.]

...and restore the traditional Tudor-style logo that the outgoing Labour-run council team abolished.  "Conservative chiefs" reports The Lancashire Telegraph, "said the emblem would be phased it out so council taxpayers’ money was not wasted."  Conservatives won control of the council last Thursday.

Tim Montgomerie

> Watch David Cameron address Lancashire's victorious Conservative councillors

Westminster Council approves Reagan statue for outside US Embassy

The Young Conservative has the story:

"London is to have its memorial to freedom after Westminster council granted full planning permission for a statue of Ronald Reagan outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square. At a meeting of the council the planning request met with unanimous approval, and the council waived its ’minimum 10 years after death rule’ to grant permission."

Cambridgeshire County Council to auction Lowry painting

Conservative-run Cambridgeshire County Council is hoping to raise between £300,000 and £500,000 for this painting by LS Lowry of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

They bought it in 1945 for 30 guineas.

It sounds as though the sale makes sense. I don't know whether the painting has been on display or stuck in storage. Or what the insurance bill has been for keeping it. But generally there is too much art languishing forgotten in municipal cellars which should be sold or leased.

Cambridgeshire will use the proceeds for an arts programme.

UPDATE.

I'm informed this painting has been on display at the Lowry Gallery in Salford.

Manchester Council mothballs £1.4 million sculpture

Manchester Council has mothballed a 180ft metal sculpture called "B of the Bang" just four years after it was unveiled. There were concerns that it giant spikes could fall off and impale local residents.

Manchester councillors understandably decided against spending £2 million to £3 million fixing it. But I wonder what the storage costs will be.

Boris's cultural plans for London

Strange to think that a year ago we were all rather worried about drift in Boris Johnson's campaign for Mayor of London. Would voters be worried that he was too lazy to be their Mayor? He certainly seems busy enough at the moment. Today sees the launch of his cultural plans "including better provision in the outer boroughs, measures to improve music and art education and a drive to reduce red tape and to support creative and grassroots talent."

High culture and excellence are to be encouraged rather then denigrated as they were under the previous City Hall regime. Shakespeare, ballet and opera didn't get much of a look in under the previous Mayor's Socialist Action Cultural Commissars. But they are included in Boris's big tent. Boris's excellent cultural adviser Munira Mirza (pictured) tells the Guardian this morning she wanted to learn from Venezuela's El Sistema, which nurtures more than 100 youth and children's orchestras. It was "the one thing Ken missed" in his links to Venezuela.

Next year will see a series of events, The Story of London, celebrating London's history and people. Its role as the capital of the UK. A stress on what unites us rather than on multiculturalist divisions.

Modern art on the Council Tax

Mark Wallace of the Taxpayers Alliance on the vanity of councillors becoming art collectors at the Council Taxpayers expense.

With a recession biting, putting greater pressure on public services and hitting household budgets hard, it is more important than ever that councils cut out all unnecessary and frivolous spending.

The Editor of this blog raised one example of potential savings earlier in the week, proposing – rightly - the abolition of political advisor posts in local government. Having elected councillors to decide the policies of the council and provided officers to carry out their instructions, people are strongly opposed to such duplication which smacks of political parties taking advantage of taxpayers’ generosity. Advisers, though, are just the tip of the iceberg.

Another, far more spurious, area of spending which regularly outrages the public but keeps catching the eye of councillors is public art. Whilst most people have nothing against the concept of art in public places, they do wonder why it is so often councils that feel it is their responsibility to commission it at the expense of local taxpayers.

Take, for example, Poole Council, which was reported this week to be considering spending £50,000 on a 4 foot tall sculpture in the shape of a stack of giant plates. Poole’s taxpayers would much rather that money was used to help sort out the council’s struggling finances. Failing that, if the council don’t need the money then it should be given back to people, not spent on sculptures.

Gateshead Council's £1 million bronze model

Antiques Roadshow has estimated that 6ft tall maquette by Antony Gormley of his Angel of the North is worth £1million. It's understood to be owned by Gatehead Council and has been gathering dust in Council offices for the last 13 years. Wouldn't it make sense for the Council to sell it and pay off some debt? Also while they are about it, why do they need to own £9million worth of shares in Newcastle Airport?