§ Ms MowlamTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to respond to the report "The Arts and Compulsory Competitive Tendering" commissioned from the consultants Positive Solutions Ltd.
§ Mr. Brooke[pursuant to his reply, 13 July 1994, c. 599]: I have been asked to reply.
Last year, I commissioned Positive Solutions to undertake a study of management practice in local authority arts facilities and ways in which it might be improved.
The consultants have produced a thorough report, reflecting extensive consultation with local authorities, arts organisations, the commercial sector and others: a copy is being placed in the Library. Taken with the recent Arts Council survey of local authority expenditure on the arts, it shows that local authorities are very significant supporters of all forms of arts provision, both through direct assistance of artists and entertainers and through the provision of facilities for arts events either in purpose-built venues or in other general purpose facilities. I am pleased to pay tribute to local authorities' work in ensuring a high quality and innovative arts sector, accessible to all.
The report shows that there have been significant improvements in local authorities' management of arts facilities. Since the Audit Commission's report on arts and entertainment in 1991, greater attention is now paid to such matters as the definition and communication of arts policies and the control of expenditure against agreed plans and targets.
Nevertheless, there is general agreement that performance varies greatly between authorities and that there remains considerable scope for management improvements. There is also further scope for authorities to encourage the growth of private sector competition in the longer term.
I therefore propose to review with local authorities a detailed programme of voluntary mechanisms for implementing management improvements where they have not already been adopted. Specific areas to cover include identification of a client-side function within authorities; development of performance indicators similar to those developed by the Audit Commission for other areas of local authority services; establishment of service level agreements; monitoring of performance against agreed performance targets; mechanisms for effective consumer feedback; and scrutiny of staff terms and conditions. In addition, as means of promoting competition I shall explore with local authorities mechanisms to encourage them to introduce efficiencies of scale through cluster management and to exercise customer choice within the internal market of their facilities.
I shall aim to conclude this review by the end of 1994–95, with a view to implementing its conclusions from the following year. I would propose to assess the progress which authorities have made on this voluntary basis in two years' time.
I am confident that the resulting changes will improve management standards in arts facilities and be to the benefit of users, artists, local authority staff and local taxpayer alike.