Supporting Growth in the Arts Economy; a report by Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy released today by ACE, explores the opportunities and possibilities to encourage growth within and across the sector. The report brings together findings from three papers: The arts economy; Place, infrastructure and digital and Towards an arts and creative economy development programme.

Applications are now open for creative businesses focusing on digital content to apply for funding from ACNI. The Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) have announced £4m, to be administered over four years, to encourage growth, creativity and innovation.

On Wednesday, Mayor of London Boris Johnson attended Access All Areas, a seminar on how young people can get into music.

The Minister for Finance and Personnel, Sammy Wilson, has visited a number of successful businesses that have received money from the Creative Industries Innovation Fund administered by Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Two reports have been published this week examining the role of the creative and cultural sectors in society.

National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) have created the first ever map of the UK’s creative industries as part of the research for their report Creative Clusters and Innovation.

Two weeks ago, the NCA launched its Cultural Workforce Survey in order to gather data from everyone who works in the cultural sector, including CEOs, Chairs, Board Members/Trustees, Employers, Employees, Freelancers, Interns and Volunteers. With this data, we hope to create a snapshot of what the cultural workforce looks like today and find out how people really feel about the work that they do.

The UK has a thriving, world-class cultural sector which is nurtured and supported by its human capital, the cultural workforce. Without this workforce, the sector would not be where it is today.

The NCA has submitted its response to Arts Council England’s Achieving great art for everyone consultation, ACE’s ten-year strategy which aims to place the arts at the centre of national life and ensure their continued growth throughout the next decade.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has today published Sarah Thane’s report into Child Performance regulations. The report makes a number of recommendations on how the licensing system for child performers can be overhauled and re-balanced.

A reminder to members that Arts Council England (ACE) launched Achieving great art for everyone – a consultation on future priorities for the arts, the results of which will inform a ten-year strategic framework and ACE’s future investment decisions. The consultation represents the first time the Arts Council has brought together all arts forms and development areas into one set of long-term priorities. The consultation is a very important one, to which the NCA will be responding. We invite members to submit comments and evidence to the NCA for inclusion before 2 April. These can be sent to campaigns@artscampaign.org.uk.

The Association of British Orchestras (ABO) has published A Platform for Success: A Five Year Vision for Orchestras. The ABO’s vision sets out the following aspirations:

Maintain our programme of great performances at home and abroad, challenging audiences with a wide repertoire and diverse approach. Place orchestras within the national celebrations towards the London 2012 Olympic Games and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Nurture home grown talent and attract the world’s best composers, performers and conductors to the UK. All these artists have at their disposal a hugely talented and highly skilled pool of musicians, with a rich orchestral heritage. Ensure every orchestra in the ABO commits to an environmental ‘touring charter’ by 2015.

Liberal Democrat shadow Culture Secretary, Don Foster, has published new proposals for the arts and creative industries in a manifesto entitled The Power of Creativity. The document calls for creativity and culture to be celebrated, and to be seen as important in their own right, as powerful drivers of our national identity, global standing and affluence. The Liberal Democrats believe the status of the arts and creativity should be raised across society and government. The policy proposals set out Foster’s vision of how to support the arts and culture and celebrate creativity in this country.

Last week, we reported that Arts Council England (ACE) had launched Achieving great art for everyone – a consultation on future priorities for the arts, the results of which will inform a ten-year strategic framework and ACE’s future investment decisions, and asked Members to submit comments and evidence to inform our response. Briefly, the consultation outlines five long-term goals that will drive ACE’s development work, inform its funding priorities and strengthen relationships with artists, organisations and audiences.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have announced a further 223 theatre and performing arts apprenticeships, after successfully securing funding to help young unemployed people into a career in the arts sector. Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw called the £1.45 million announcement “a tremendous investment in our creative industries and in the talent of the future.” Funding has been confirmed for:

Arts Council England (ACE) has launched Achieving great art for everyone – a consultation on future priorities for the arts, the results of which will inform a ten-year strategic framework and ACE’s future investment decisions. The consultation represents the first time the Arts Council has brought together all arts forms and development areas into one set of long-term priorities. The NCA will be responding to the consultation, and asks Members to submit comments and evidence before 22 March. This can be sent to nca@artscampaign.org.uk

The NCA has been invited to attend a meeting headed by Sarah Thane (former chair of the Royal Television Society and a former adviser to Ofcom on regulation and content) to discuss issues concerning the Government’s exploratory review of the regulation of child performance. The aim of the review, commissioned by Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), is to explore scope for consensus among the various parties for what a modern, effective and proportionate set of arrangements for the regulation of child performance should look like.

Unusually so close after Christmas, Parliament is focussed on no fewer than four pieces of legislation which are of interest to the arts sector.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced the confirmation of funding for 624 jobs in the culture and sports sector, in areas as  diverse as theatres and music venues, digital archiving, media production and the furthering the Olympic sporting legacy.