Success for the 'Give it back, George!' campaign

The NCA is delighted that the government has decided to reverse its decision to remove tax breaks from wealthy donors who make charitable donations. The NCA’s director, Laura Willoughby, said, “We welcome this excellent news- it always seemed a backward way to support increasing philanthropy.”

Responding to IEA proposals to cut DCMS

National Campaign for the Arts Director, Laura Willoughby MBE said:

“The IEA’s back of the fag packet calculations don’t make sense. No one wants to see money wasted right now, but it is naive to suggest that cutting all funding to arts and culture makes sense for our country .

The public do value the arts, that is why in tickets and donations they more than double the Government’s cash. Culture is a winner for the economy too, it’s 7% of GDP – and that is before you even begin to look at the benefits of culture in improving our mood and making us a happier nation. The Government would be foolish to listen.

The IEA may well want to spend the money on tax breaks for marrying and buying petrol but I doubt they would help any of us fling angry birds, share a great tune or have a cosy night in with a film. I think that’s worth a tiny 0.2% of what our Government spends.”

Why the IEA are just plain wrong:

- for every £8.59 the national government puts in per head of population, business, charity and individuals put in twice as much (£19.87).

- 1.9% of the adult population donate their valuable time

- 70% of adults and 97% of young people attend arts events

Give it back, George!

As we pointed out in our report on this year's Budget a few weeks ago, the cap on income tax relief on donations of over £50,000 or 25% of income- whichever is highest- could have a severe effect on charities. For us, it's all about the arts organisations that have lost public funding and are turning to philanthropy to make up the shortfall, and the people who would miss out on great arts experiences as a result. That is why the National Campaign for the Arts has joined the Give It Back, George! Campaign and why thousands of theatre, opera and dance companies, orchestras, concert halls, galleries and museums that make up the UK arts sector have added their voice to those of the many charities and universities speaking out against the inclusion of charitable donations in the proposed cap on personal tax relief.

We have written directly to the Chancellor, alongside other organisations including The Association of British Orchestras, SOLT TMA, Dance UK and ITC, to ask for a meeting so that we can explain to him the impact it will have on the sector. You can find a copy of the letter here.

A NEW DIRECTOR AND CHANGE OF LOCATION FOR THE NCA

Following the departure of Acting Director Selina Mehra, Laura Willoughby MBE is joining the NCA as Interim Director on secondment from London Councils.

Laura is currently political advisor to London Councils, the advocacy and services organisation for the capital’s 33 local authorities. She was a Councillor in Islington for 12 years where she had cabinet responsibility for culture and the arts. She served on the board of Arts Council London and the Reaching Communities Board of the Big Lottery Fund. She chaired the Local Government Association Equalities Executive and currently serves on the Homes and Communities Agency equality advisory panel. Laura was formally Chief Executive of The Food Chain and has undertaken advocacy and media relation roles for YMCA England, Stonewall and IMechE.

Last year Julia Payne of the Hub undertook a Strategic Review for the NCA, which reaffirmed the need for an organisation that can speak for all sectors of the arts. The Arts Index, published last December, further demonstrated this need, highlighting trends of central and local government cuts and fragile private and corporate sponsorship over the last few years.

Following this Strategic Review, the NCA is in discussion with its founding member organisations to ensure that the NCA continues to be an authoritative voice representing the whole sector at the highest level. All NCA Members will be kept informed as these discussions progress.

Laura said “this is a really exciting time to be joining the NCA. A strong and consistent dialogue between the arts sector, the Government and the public is essential. I am looking forward to ensuring the talent and expertise within our cultural industries gets its voice heard.”

With effect from Wednesday April 11, the NCA offices will move from Kingly Street, Soho to Tavistock Street in the heart of Covent Garden. These new, efficient and cost effective offices will enable the NCA to continue its vital work for future of the arts.

The new address in full is:

4th Floor

17 Tavistock Street

London

WC2E 7PA

Our new telephone number- which will be active from Thursday 5th April- is : 02072 404698

HENLEY REVIEW OF CULTURAL EDUCATION PUBLISHED

Tuesday 28th February saw the pubilication of Darren Henley's review of Cultural Education. It is fantastic to see he has listened carefully to and really taken on-board the concerns of the sector. We can see our contribution in there, and it's great to see them form a coherent and clear vision of what Cultural Education should be.

We still have concerns, especially with the Government's response, which looks at only a handful of the issues that matter. We also don't know how the recommendations will fit into other things that are coming, like the National Curriculum Review. We believe that arts and culture are a vital part of education, so this campaign isn't over and we'll be keeping you up to date on developments as they come.

You can read the full report here, our response here, Arts Council England's response here and the Government's response here.

UK ARTS INDEX LAUNCHED

Monday 5th December saw the launch of the first ever UK Arts Index. Bringing together key data about the sector’s health for the first time ever, the Arts Index plots trends in tickets sales, corporate sponsorship, philanthropy and public sector funding, as well as other performance measures such as attendance levels for adults and young people, satisfaction levels and the number of people volunteering in the arts. Produced by the NCA in partnership with Audiences UK, this inaugural Arts Index report summarises data from across three years – 2007/8–2009/10 – and is the first indicator of how the arts sector across the UK is faring since the economic downturn.

Based on the highly influential US Arts index, and providing a ‘state of the nation’ type health-check for the arts sector, the UK Arts Index is expected to become a key source of information for all those working in the arts in the UK – from government, policy makers and funders to arts organisations and individual artists.

The Index Report is now fully available to the public and can be found here. There is also an Executive Summary, which surmises the details of the report and highlights its key headline figures. It can be found here.

The production of the Arts Index would not have been possible without the help and support of the following organisations, to whom we are enormously grateful:

Audiences UK, Audiences London, Americans for the Arts, Arts and Business, Arts Council England, Arts Council of Wales, Arts Council Northern Ireland and The Department for Culture, Media & Sport.

Thanks too go to Don Foster MP for sponsoring the launch at the House of Commons to Culture Minister Ed Vaizey and Shadow Culture Minister Dan Jarvis, Fundraiser John Nickson and Eastern Angles' Ivan Cutting for speaking.

Become a member of the NCA, and stand up for the arts

The NCA is a loud, proud, collective voice. Why not add yours?

The arts in the UK are a major success story - artistically, economically and socially. Financial support by Government is vital to the sector's health. When public purse strings are tightened the arts are often the first to suffer. We must talk to Government with one voice and in a language it understands.

For years the NCA has spoken up for the arts world in all its diversity. As the UK's only independent lobbying organisation for all the arts, we serve our members by campaigning, lobbying and bringing them together.

Whether you become a member, patron, donor, or simply spread the word about the NCA and its work, you can help us to help the arts in Britain.

JOIN TODAY