Patrick
Boylan's
Cultural
Policy and Management Information Service
|
Patrick
Boylan's |
Self-Governing Territories
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland now have full "Home
Rule" self-government in relation to the cultural sector (and many others),
through the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh and Northern Irerland Assemblies
respectively. The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, though within the British
Isles, are not part of the United Kingdom in the legal sense, but are in fact
self-governing territories under the British Crown with their own distinctive
constitutional, legal and administrative systems.
Scotland
On 1 July 1999 the new Scottish Parliament took over most of the powers and responsibilities of the Secretary of State for Scotland in relation to the Scottish Office.
The devolved Government for Scotland is responsible for most of the issues of day-to-day concern to the people of Scotland, including health, education, justice, rural affairs, and transport. It manages an annual budget of more than £27 billion in the financial year 2005-2006 which is due to rise to over £30 billion in 2007-2008. The Scottish Government is led by a First Minister who is nominated by the Parliament and in turn appoints the other Scottish Ministers who make up the Cabinet.
At Cabinet level Culture now comes under the Office of the First Minister, under the day to day responsibility of the Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture, Ms Linda Fabiani, while the Heritage comes under the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment.. Within the Scottish Parliament culture is monitored by the standing Committee on Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture, but there are also separate Committees on Economy, Energy and Tourism and on Rural Affairs and Environment..
Wales
On 1 July 1999 the new Welsh Assembly took over the powers and responsibilities
of the Secretary of State for Wales in relation to the Welsh Office. There
is a Minister (and Ministry) for Culture and Sport, though in June 2007 it
was announced that the former Ministry of Local Government and Culture is
to be merged into the Education Ministry.
The main national level involvement with, or impact on, the cultural sector through the Welsh Assembly includes:
Northern Ireland
Note: Northern Ireland had Home Rule with its own Parliament following the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, under which Ireland was partitioned between the Irish Free State (now Republic of Ireland) in the south, and Northern Ireland, which remained in the United Kingdom. Home Rule in Northern Ireland was implemented by the "Stormont" Parliament until the imposition of direct rule in 1972 by the Northern Ireland (Temporary Powers) Act because of the security situation. Self-Government, through an elected Assembly and an all-party Executive, was re-established on 2 December 1999.
(The City University Department of Arts Policy and Management is most grateful to to Lesley Ann Wilson, formerly of the University of Ulster, for the following introduction to the current Northern Ireland cultural sector)
The Northern Ireland Assembly
The new Northern Ireland Assembly was established as part of the Belfast Agreement reached at the multi-party negotiations on Friday 10 April 1998, now commonly referred to as the "Good Friday Agreement". Under the Agreement, the Assembly has full legislative and executive authority in respect of those matters previously within the remit of six government departments under the Northern Ireland Office of the United Kingdom Government: Department of Agriculture, Department of Economic Development, Department of Education, Department of the Environment, Department of Finance and Personnel, and Department of Health and Social Services.
Following a referendum held on 22 May 1998 which resulted in a majority voting in favour of the agreement, The New Northern Ireland Assembly was constituted Under the Northern Ireland Act 1998. 108 members were elected to the Assembly on 25 June1998 by Proportional Representation. The Assembly met on 29 November 1999 during which 10m Ministers were nominated as well as Chairpersons, Deputy Chairpersons and members for 10 Departments. The necessary legislation passed through Parliament and the devolved powers passed to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 2 December 1999.
The 10 new Departments are as follows: Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, Agriculture and Rural Development, Culture, Arts and Leisure, Education, Enterprise Trade and Investment, Environment, Finance and Personnel, Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment, Regional Development, Social Development.
The
North South Ministerial Council
The North South Ministerial Council brings together ministers from Northern
Ireland and the Irish Government, under the authority of the NI Assembly and
Oireachtas, on a regular basis, to develop consultation, co-operation and
action on an all-island and cross-border basis on matters of mutual interest,
including culture and tourism. In addition to the Ministerial Council itself,
six new North/South implementation bodies, established by international agreement
between the British and Irish Governments, also came into being on 2 December
1999. These bodies will implement the policies agreed by the ministers in
the NSMC. They are Waterways Ireland, The Food Safety Promotion Board, The
Trade and Business Development Body, Special EU Programmes Body, The North-South
Language Body, known in Irish language as An Foras Teanga or in Ulster-Scots
as the Boord o Leid, and the Foyle, Carlingford & Irish Lights Commission.
British-Irish
Council
This will promote the harmonious and mutually beneficial development of the
totality of relationships among the people of these islands. The British-Irish
Inter-Governmental Conference will replace the Anglo-Irish Inter-Governmental
Conference established under the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement.
Government Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland
Arts Councils in each of the four regions of the United Kingdom were established
after the war, as semi-autonomous public bodies responsible to government,
who allocated their block grant. Decisions on what and who to fund were left
largely to the Arts Council - this is known as the 'arms length' principle
whereby government relies on the expertise of others to make judgements which
they would not usually have the expertise to make. In England, the Arts council
of England is responsible to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport [DCMS]
who have responsibility for heritage, libraries, museums, arts and creative
industries and the National Lottery.
Prior to the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly, The Arts Council of Northern Ireland, which operates as a non-departmental public body, received a block grant from the Department of Education of Northern Ireland. This Department also funded the Libraries, Museums and Sports Council. Under the new Assembly these responsibilities transferred to the newly created Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, which effectively came into being from December 1999. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland now receives its block grant from, and is responsible to DCAL.
Department
of Culture, Arts and Leisure of Northern Ireland (DCAL)
One Minister and a Permanent Secretary: five divisions within the Ministry:
(1) Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, (2) Culture, Creative Industries
and Sports, (3) Events/Millennium, (4) Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland,
and (5) Corporate Services and Implementation Bodies.
DCAL gives a block grant in the region of £7m to the Arts Council each year to distribute among a wide range of bodies. Other than the public bodies like the Arts Council and the Sports Council a government department would not, traditionally have funded individual organisations directly. Largely because of the impact of European funding, government departments have been more flexible in their funding and able to fill gaps.
The main DCAL-supported cultural services include:
Jersey
Crown Dependency, held by the Sovereign as Duke of Normandy since the Norman Conquest, through the Queen's personal representative, the Lieutenant-Governor, who reports to the Sovereign through the Privy Council, though the British Government is responsible for defence and international relations. Jersey remains outside the European Union. It has its own legislative assembly, the States of Jersey, and a distinctive legal system derived from medieval Anglo-Norman law. The main cultural functions are:
Jersey
Museums Service (funded by the States through the Societé Jersiaise and
Jersey Heritage Trust), which also manages historic monuments and site museums
open to the public on the Island
Tourism promotion
Planning and control of developments affecting protected historic buildings
and sites on Jersey
Regulation of, and grant-aid to, local authorities on Jersey
Guernsey and its Dependencies
Guernsey, Alderney and Sark are each separate Crown Dependencies, held by the
Sovereign as Duke of Normandy since the Norman Conquest, through the Queen's
personal representative, the Lieutenant-Governor, who reports to the Sovereign
through the Privy Council, though the British Government is responsible for
defence and international relations. All three remain outside the European Union.
Guernsey and Alderney each have their own legislative assembly, the States,
and distinctive legal systems derived from medieval Anglo-Norman law. Sark differs
from the other main Channel Islands in that its legal and administrative systems
are essentially Feudal (in the strict legal and historic sense), under its own
feudal ruler, the Seigneur of Sark who, however, recognises the over-riding
sovereignty pf the Queen (as Duke of Normandy) . Guernsey has significant cultural
facilities and services under the direct control of the Island's representative
assembly or parliament, the States of Guernsey:
Guernsey
Museums and Galleries which also manages the St Peter Port castle
archaeological services and listing of monuments and historic buildings under
special legal protection on Guernsey
Planning and control of developments affecting protected historic buildings
and sites on Guernsey
The Isle of Man
Part of the Norwegian Kingdom of the Hebrides until 1266, and then under the
Scottish Crown, which in the 15th century granted it to the Earls of Derby,
and subsequently the Dukes of Atholl, though it has retained distinctively Udal
(Viking) law and internal administrative structures through its distinctive
Norse-style two chamber parliament, Tynwald, to the present day. The Island
was brought under the administration of the British Crown in 1766, through the
Queen's personal representative, the Lieutenant-Governor, who reports to the
Sovereign through the Privy Council, though the British Government is responsible
for defence and international (including European Union) relations.
Unlike
the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man is within the customs union and other arrangements
of the European Union. The main cultural sector activities are administered
through Manx National Heritage, a government agency administered at 'arms-length'
through an appointed Board of Trustees. The main activities of Manx National
Heritage include:
Manx Museum and four branch museums
Manx National Trust which also provides the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments,
national archaeological service, and management of five national monuments
Planning and control of developments affecting protected historic buildings
and sites on the Isle of Man.
© 2007. City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, United Kingdom. Last updated by Patrick Boylan 12th November 2007