Victoria and Albert Museum

Arts Council of Great Britain: records, 1928-1997

Series description

Context

In June 1945 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA) would continue as a permanent organisation with the title ' The Arts Council of Great Britain' (ACGB). It was to be incorporated as an autonomous body and at the end of the financial year, in 1946, the Ministry of Education would cease to administer its grant which would be received direct from the Treasury. The Minister of Education and the Secretary of State for Scotland would retain an interest in the Council, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer would speak for it in the House of Commons. These changes were incorporated in a Royal Charter granted to the ACGB on 9 August 1946.

The policy of the new Council was to remain that of CEMA, however; 'to encourage the best British national arts, everywhere, and to do it as far as possible by supporting others rather than by setting up state-run monopolies'.

Unfortunately the Chairman of the Council, Lord Keynes, who had worked hard to ensure the continuation of state support for the arts, did not live to see the incorporation of the Arts Council. He died in April 1946 and Dr Ivor Evans took over as acting chairman until the appointment of Sir Ernest Pooley later in the year.

On 7 February 1967 a second Charter of Incorporation was granted to the Arts Council under which several administrative changes were made. Among these changes were; the abolition of the Executive Committee and the raising of the maximum number of Council members from 16 to 20.

As a publicly accountable body the Arts Council published annual reports and accounts to provide Parliament and the general public with an overview of the year's work and to record all grants and guarantees offered in support of the arts.

After incorporation in 1946 the decision-making bodies of the Arts Council were the Council and the Executive Committee. Council members were persons known for their attachment to the arts who acted voluntarily in a personal capacity. They were appointed for stated periods of time by the Chancellor of the Exchequer after consultation with the Minister of Education and the Secretary of State for Scotland. Representatives of these three government offices also sat as assessors on the Council and the Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee was established as a result of the debate in 1945 on the question of the reconstitution of CEMA as a permanent peace time body. It was to consist of Keynesas chairman, a general member of the Council as deputy, and the chairmen of the Advisory panels. When the Executive Committee was abolished in 1967, the Council retained the power to appoint other committees and panels to advise and assist it in the exercise of its functions.

Advisory committees for Scotland and Wales had been established by CEMA and under the 1946 Charter the Arts Council was charged to appoint a committee for Scotland in consultation with the Secretary of State for Scotland and a similar committee for Wales in counsultation with the Minister of Education. Both these committees were advisory, although the Scottish Committee did gain a degree of autonomy to administer an agreed proportion of the Council's grant from the Exchequer. Both were updated to Arts Councils under the Charter of 1967.

Scope and content

This series contains the first 40 annual reports of the Arts Councilcovering the years 1945-1985. It also contains the minutes and papers of the Arts Council, the Executive Committee, the Scottish Committee and the Welsh Committee.