Victoria and Albert Museum

Arts Council of Great Britain: records, 1928-1997

Series description

Context

During the Second World War, after the creation of twelve self-contained civil defence regions, one each for Scotland and Wales and ten for England, the Commissioner for Civil Defence in each region nominated a member of his staff to act as liaison for CEMA activites in the region. Between 1942 and 1944 CEMA itself took over this responsibility, setting up offices in all these regions, excluding London, which it was felt was adequately covered by its headquarters.

The function of these regional offices was to plan CEMA activities, working out as far as possible a consecutive programme for each area and to make these activities known to those who were interested as far in advance as possible. They were expected to keep district inspectors informed of all concerts, plays and exhibitions in their districts. They also developed into advice bureaux for matters concerning the arts.

The 12 regions covered the country thus: Region 1 -Durham, Northumberland and Yorkshire (North Riding); Region 2 -Yorkshire (East and West Ridings); Region 3 -Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutlandshire; Region 4 -Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Norfolk and Suffolk; Region 5 -London and Middlesex; Region 6 -Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorsetshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire; Region 7 -Cornwall, Devonshire, Gloucestershire, Somersetshire and Wiltshire; Region 8 -Wales; Region 9 -Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire; Region 10 -Cheshire, Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland; Region 11 -Scotland; Region 12 -Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

The decision by the Arts Council to leave the provision of music, opera and drama to self-governing non-profit making companies made it reconsider its regional administrative structure. In 1946, the Arts Council had taken over the regional offices from CEMA to handle the considerable direct provision which had been undertaken during the war and which continued to develop after the war. As the Arts Council decided to phase out direct provision, the need for the regional offices, as agents of direct provision, decreased.

In 1952 the number of offices in England was reduced from 9 to 6 (London, region 5, had already been incorporated into region 12 in 1949). These new regions were: Eastern -Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex (North), Hertfordshire (North), Huntingdonshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Rutland and Suffolk; Midlands -Derbyshire (South), Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire (South), Warwickshire and Worcestershire; North Eastern -Durham, Northumberland and Yorkshire; North Western -Cheshire, Cumberland, Derbyshire (North), Lancashire, Staffordshire (North) and Westmorland; South Eastern -Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex (South), Hampshire, Hertfordshire (South), Isle of Wight, Kent, London, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Sussex; South Western -Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, Somersetshire and Wiltshire.

The number of offices was further reduced in 1953 to five, when the Eastern office was closed and Lincolnshire and Rutland were transferred to the Midlands office and the others to the South Eastern office. The main reason for this reduction in offices was to tighten up the workings of the regions and to induce a stronger sense of purpose and discrimination among regional officers.

In 1955, as a result of an even greater decline in the Council's involvement in direct provision, the remaining five offices were closed and the Council made other arrangements for maintaining its contacts with the provinces. Three mobile officers, specialists in music and familiar with the regions, were appointed to take care of the Council's relationships with its associated orchestras and other music-making bodies. Three other officers were appointed to be concerned with the visual arts and to liaise with art galleries and societies. Apart from the role of administering the Council's policy in the regions, these directors advised headquarters on the merits of grant applications in their respective regions and kept headquarters informed about the range and quality of regional needs.

In the summer of 1946, the first Arts Council regional conference was held in Newcastle upon Tyne. These conferences became regular events in the regions and provided opportunities for discussions with representatives from arts clubs and other local societies, the local authorities and secretaries of orchestras and theatre companies.

Special recognition had always been given to Scotland and Wales by the Arts Council, though regional offices and advisory committees and finally (under the second charter of 1967) through executive councils.

From April 1947 the Scottish committee (and office) took charge of a grant for all purposes in Scotland with the duty of accounting to London headquarters for the details of its expenditure. The grant, calculated on the 'Goschen formula' for the proportionate allocation of Exchequer funds in Britain, was £36,000. It was, however, to be administered within the framework of the Council's national policy.

The closing down of the Arts Council's regional offices contributed indirectly to the formation of the first Regional Arts Association in the South West. If the Arts Council would not maintain an office in their part of the country, local societies would band together for mutual benefit and, in 1956, the South West Association for the Arts was formed. Its main function was the planning and co-ordination of a wide range of tours in the region by professional companies and artists. It received a grant from the Arts Council and within ten years a network of independent regional associations was firmly established.

Scope and content

This series contains CEMA and Arts Councilfiles concerning the work of the regional offices set up under CEMAand later administered by the Arts Council.

All the files in this series contain varied correspondence concerning the work of the regional offices in promoting artistic events within the region. There is also extensive correspondence with local authorities and arts societies.

In addition to the correspondence files there are six files of regional directors' circulars, with both a numerical and an alphabetical list (EL3/2). These circulars were sent to all regional directors giving a wide range of policy information and administrative detail. References to them are common in the correspondence files. They also contain notices, agendas and summaries of discussion of the regular meetings of the regional directors.

The correspondence files with Scotland and Wales in this series of records relate mainly to the organisation of events within the regions. For policy files and more detailed information on the running of the committees see EL2 and EL5.

Arrangement

The correspondence files have been arranged chronologically within region. The regions are arranged chronologically (1-12) for files up to 1952 and then alphabetically for files between 1952 and 1956.