Power to the people?

The arts and culture are not mentioned at all in the Localism Bill, which was published this week by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles. Despite earlier rumours, it appears that cultural activity is not being singled out for special treatment – good or bad – as plans are developed for moving services out of government control. However, the Bill does herald a change in the way that local services are delivered, and this will include arts and culture provision. At the heart of Bill is what Pickles calls ‘power to the people’ – “letting councils and communities run their own affairs” free from Whitehall control and “laying the foundations of the Big Society”. This is coupled with the notoriously difficult-to-achieve aim of making decision-making more transparent and democratically accountable, whilst cutting red tape. In practice this could mean local people being able to veto plans for a new arts venue through the planning process, or call for a referendum on council tax rises as a protest on public spending, which may in turn affect arts budgets. Choice is a big buzz word, which could mean more local authorities cutting loose theatres and arts spaces, possibly into trusts. Plans to give communities more power through the right-to-buy of libraries and pubs may extend to arts venues, but the Bill is not clear on this point. Although in his recent finance settlement announcement Pickles has promised no council will face more than a 8.9% budget cut, they will face dilemmas over which services to cut. The arts and other services perceived to be less essential could be seen as an easy target. How power will be passed to the people, what mechanisms there will be for local people to challenge how a service is being run, and which authority will oversee community budgets are the sorts of issues that will be discussed during the Bill’s passage to become law. Lorna Brown of the National Association of Local Government Arts Officers has welcomed the thrust of the Bill: “The Localism Bill is rather complex and we are still unpicking its detail. The arts have always been about localism – recognising diversity and especially about empowering people – so the principles of the Bill are those we welcome.”