Victoria and Albert Museum

Arts Council of Great Britain: records, 1928-1997

Series description

Context

This series spans the period from towards the end of the Regional Development Department and through to the Policy and Planning Department of the 1990s. The Regional Development Department had been established during the early 1970s, but was soon disbanded when in 1976 Neil Duncan, its Director, resigned. Reponsibility for regional development was assumed by the then Deputy Secretary General, Angus Stirling. In 1979/80 a new Regional Department was created.

This department was succeeded by the Planning and Development Department (part of the Services Division 1985/86-1991). Responsibilities included co-ordinating and advising on the establishment of integrated arts funding and responding to a variety of policy issues. It was also responsible for regional matters, such as managing the Regional Arts Boards.

The Policy and Planning Unit was then formed in 1991 as part of the newly createdPolicy and External Relations Division and it assumed these responsibilities.

Scope and content

This series contains papers relating to a number of different subjects. Firstly it contains those relating to the administration and policy of the various Regional and Planning departments as they developed over the years. For example there are the minutes and papers of the various Advisory Panels and Committees serviced by the departments, files on budgeting and restructuring and papers relating to dealings with other Arts Council departments and cross-departmental initiatives such as Housing the Arts, Cultural Diversity and Women in the Arts.

Secondly it contains reports and papers relating to conferences, enquiries and research on arts affairs and liaison with external and regional bodies. Finally it contains miscellaneous material, such as correspondence and printed ephemera, that was kept for informational purposes.

There is a considerable period of crossover between the Regional Development Department, which is covered in series ACGB/103, and the later Regional Department which eventually led to the Policy and Planning Unit of the 1990s. Some of the records in this series are dated to the time of the Regional Development Department but seem to have been handed on to and stored with the later records of the succeeding departments.

In order to reflect the original order of the Archive this material has not been re-integrated into series ACGB/103 and remains in ACGB/112 instead. It is important for the researcher to be aware of the development of this area of the Arts Council's structure in order to pinpoint the origination of the material. It is also important to refer to series ACGB/103 for further records relating to the work of the Regional Development Department.

Arrangement

The items in this series have been arranged chronologically.

Access

Restrictions on access

Access to unpublished material less than 30 years old is subject to the written permission of the Arts Council of England. Apply in the first instance to the Archive of Art and Design at the Victoria and Albert Museum.