When we came to power in 1997, one of our key pledges was that we would make sure all our publicly funded cultural institutions – theatres, museums, galleries – were accessible for all. After all, since everybody pays through their taxes for culture, everybody should be able to enjoy it. And more fundamentally than that, the arts and sport, things of quality in our lives, should not be the exclusive preserve of a small coterie.
There are, though, still a few people who believe that whilst it’s fine for all of us to pay for the arts, they don’t want us to show up at the door. They accuse us of political interference and ‘dumbing down’. But the 3.5 million people who have been able to visit the Tate Modern for free – thanks to a Labour Government – know the ‘dumbing down’ accusations are nonsense.
To improve access for children, we have opened our national museums and galleries to all children free of charge, and attendances by children have risen by 20 percent. We set up the National Foundation for Youth Music with £30 million of Lottery funds and the Music Standards Fund with a budget of over £470 million to enable each child, no matter where they live or what their parents earn, to have the chance to learn to play music.
We have just announced ‘creative partnerships’, which we will pilot in sixteen of the most deprived parts of the country. This will give children in those areas access to regular lessons to develop their creative skills plus visits to theatre, concerts, galleries, as well as the chance to perform or show their work. We’re also giving their teachers the chance to develop their skills as well.
And we gave the BBC a special settlement in its licence fee to enhance a new educational provision for children on TV and on the net. This will go alongside Culture OnLine, our new project giving children the chance to work with artists, creators and our best cultural organisations through the Internet.
Of course, our policies have not just been about ensuring access to culture. We’ve also been putting the investment in to make sure it can happen.
Under the Tories, the arts were cut in real terms every single year of the last Government. We have given them record increases – by 2003/4, the Arts Council will have £150 million a year extra – an increase of 60 percent in real terms. The funding has also enabled the Arts Council to offer vital help to regional orchestras, and in the autumn we announced £25 million a year for theatre, which will especially help our regional theatres. Under the Tories, the lottery money for the arts was allocated very unevenly, with many of the poorest communities in the country getting less than their fair share. We have changed the legislation, and introduced a new directive to make Lottery Distributors take social and economic deprivation into account when they award grants. Small grants to community groups have doubled, and some of the most deprived communities have seen increases in their share of funds and projects.
One of our great cultural glories in Britain is the quality of our public service broadcasting. We have announced that we will protect this – the work of the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 – unlike the Tories who recently announced their intention to ‘privatise’ Channel 4, which would destroy its remit and its character.
We know that for all of us to enjoy the best quality of life, the Government needs to invest in culture. We have listened to the millions a year who enjoy their TV, films, plays, dance or music performances, exhibitions, visits to museums or to great heritage monuments, and learned the impact that culture has on their quality of life.
The Prime Minister said that the arts should be in the core script of government: our access policies make sure that the arts are able to take their rightful place in the core script of everyone’s life.