News
Welcome to the nalgao website
This site provides information for those interested in local arts in Britain and is also a professional development resource for nalgao members. The public area of the site carries news, a number of sample case studies and some resource material. We hope you find this useful. If you'd like to access the full site then see "how to join nalgao" - in the menu bar - for more information on our membership rates.
Monday 06 September 2010
nalgao Announces Autumn Conference
nalgao is pleased to confirm that its Autumn Conference & AGM: will be held in Brighton on 6th & 7th December. The conference will be addressed by Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for the Arts. Brighton & Hove Council have kindly offered to host the event and we are looking forward to returning to Brighton, especially after the success of our last event in 2004.The conference was previously scheduled for Sunderland at the Glass Centre from 13th – 15th October, but membership evidence across England and Wales showed that many authorities have put into place partial moratoriums on travel and training, and we thought it prudent to revise our conference planning in light of the present economic and political environment and member needs. As the Conference was programmed for only a few days after the budget spending assessment, to be announced in late September, we also thought it prudent to move the date to allow more time to consider the impact that the settlement may have to our sector.
Read the rest ...
Friday 13 August 2010
Audit Commission Pickled
The Audit Commission is to be scrapped as part of Government cost-cutting measures. News leaked today that Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has announce that the £200 million a year body which employs 2,000 staff is to be abolished.The Audit Commission was established by the Conservative Government in 1983 to improve economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local government, housing and the health service.In its place, audit functions will be moved to the private sector and councils will be free to appoint their own independent external auditors from “a more competitive and open market”. This, says Pickles, will save council taxpayers’ money and decentralise power.
Eric Pickles has told one national newspaper that the Audit Commission had become ‘too political’ and was no longer fit for purpose.
Wednesday 14 July 2010
Arts Council plans for cuts of up to 30%
Arts Council England has written to all its Regularly Funded Organisations (RFOs) saying that it has been asked by the DCMS to plan cuts of up to 30% over the next four years. The same request has been made to other DCMS funded bodies. ACE plans to use 2011-12 as a transition year with deeper cuts falling in the two years following. ACE is asking its RFOs to model prudently for a minimum of a 10% reduction in their ACE funding for 2011-12. ACE, is seeking to give organisations at least 12 months’ notice of significant changes to their funding future.The grant reductions of 25-30%, says Arts Council Chief Executive Alan Davey, are not set in stone. The Arts Council, he says is arguing to minimise the cuts. Any cuts, says Davey in his letter, need to be managed intelligently, and in a way that protects the achievements of the last 15 years. Cuts of up to 30%, he continues, would mean significant change. ACE would no longer be able to fund many organisations in the way it has been to date. To read Alan Davey’s full letter to ACE's RFOs click on read the rest. Read the rest ...
Friday 21 May 2010
Unitary Status Overturned
Exeter, Norfolk and Suffolk will not become Unitary authorities the new Coalition Government has decided. The decision, contained in the Coalition’s Programme for Government will overturn commitments made in the dying days of the Labour Government, commitments which national newspapers have reported were opposed by Senior Civil Servants.
Thursday 18 February 2010
Outside In Report Launched
nalgao yesterday launched ‘Outside In’, a study examining the issues and opportunities in contracting out local authority arts services. The report was launched at a seminar of the same name in London attended by 180 people. Produced by Paul Kelly of Cultural Futures and Rick Bond of The Complete Works, the 60 page ‘Outside In’ report identifies five different ways that local authority arts services can be externalised. The report authors talked to nine different organisations about the issues and benefits involved in alternative ways of delivering arts services and their report is packed with anecdotal detail and practical checklists.
The ‘Outside In’ report also briefly examines the opportunities offered by Strategic Commissioning which is increasingly being undertaken by local authority childrens’ services and care services.
Lorna Brown, Chair of nalgao said, “At a time of growing pressure on local authority arts services, nalgao considered alternative delivery mechanisms at its conference last October and the possibility these offered of protecting long-established arts services. We realised we needed to share authoritative information with our members. It has taken just four months from our conference to the release of this well researched, valuable and timely report. That must be something of a record in local government response times. I am delighted that nalgao is able to offer its members this valuable advice. We are looking to build on this excellent research over the year ahead with updates on our website.”
The ‘Outside In’ report was produced with the financial support of Arts Council England.
Click here to download the Outside In report.
The ‘Outside In’ report also briefly examines the opportunities offered by Strategic Commissioning which is increasingly being undertaken by local authority childrens’ services and care services.
Lorna Brown, Chair of nalgao said, “At a time of growing pressure on local authority arts services, nalgao considered alternative delivery mechanisms at its conference last October and the possibility these offered of protecting long-established arts services. We realised we needed to share authoritative information with our members. It has taken just four months from our conference to the release of this well researched, valuable and timely report. That must be something of a record in local government response times. I am delighted that nalgao is able to offer its members this valuable advice. We are looking to build on this excellent research over the year ahead with updates on our website.”
The ‘Outside In’ report was produced with the financial support of Arts Council England.
Click here to download the Outside In report.
