The letter asked for assistance, effectively asking for the Arts Council to be forced to address the issues raised. This has been my only reply…
Dear Andy Lamb,
Thank you for your correspondence to the Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport and Chief Whip regarding the current policies of The Arts Council of Wales (ACW). I have been asked to reply.
I have been in contact with ACW on your behalf and ACW has informed me that officers, including its Director of Operations, have been in correspondence with you regarding the points you have raised. ACW indicate it has responded to the specific points you raised regarding the Criw Celf and NoNaffArt and it has pointed out that you are in a position to apply for funding for specific projects. ACW has also shared its published Complaints Process with you on several occasions. This Policy is a shared policy operated by all lottery income distributors.
ACW believe that despite its efforts to bring this matter to a resolution you remain dissatisfied, and it will be responding to your latest email under Stage 2 Formal Review of its Complaints Process. ACW will share a copy of this response with us for information.
Many thanks for contacting us on this matter. Yours sincerely
Prys Dafydd
This is my response, the key parts in bold:
In response to Dawn Bowden's offices unsurprising and inadequate reply for my request for assistance regarding the Arts Council of Wales. This reply is copied into the bottom of this email and following that is a copy of my original request for assistance.
Yes, the ACW have been in correspondence BUT, as clearly described in my correspondence to the deputy minister and minister and relevant Senedd members, the ACW did not answer my questions and I find their obfuscation and smoke and mirrors as well as clearly accepting that they don't want to know what arts provision is being delivered in Wales, wholly unacceptable.
On just one point of many, please justify a minimum cost to the taxpayer of life drawing for teenage students at £95pp when I delivered the same, during the same period, at £10pp. And no, the students were not special needs and they would have been welcome to attend my sessions. Or indeed funding a more recent project that had no attendees but was attended by just the tutors, week after week...
I wrote to the ministers and Senedd members to ask for assistance, not a cursory glance at the complaint and referring me back to those who administer the funding and after over three years have not responded to my particular questions directly.
I therefore demand that my email of complaint is referred back to the ministers and members and the matters contained therein are addressed in full with the objective of someone seeing sense and directing the ACW to act by responding to my questions but more importantly to stop wasting money and damaging small businesses in Wales.
I would like to add that I do not seek grant funding, I believe that a successful initiative and indeed ongoing businesses should not be supported by grant funding, in my experience the projects always fail after the funding runs out, and that the funding of such only serves to distort the marketplace and push out those businesses who do not attract such public subsidy. My proposal of a directory and signposting if adopted would save the public purse a good deal in both admin time and money in grant funding. I simply do not understand why such will not be considered. BUT the bottom line for me is stop funding projects that impact existing businesses and how is that possible to do that if you have your head in the sand regarding knowledge of those businesses.
I look forward to hearing from you with a considered response.
Let’s see what response I’ll manage to crowbar out of the government. I’ll keep blog subscribers updated with posts if/as and when I get replies.
