Belfast City Council
MEETING OF DEVELOPMENT (ARTS) SUB-COMMITTEE
Wednesday, 4th August, 2004
[excerpt]
to see minutes in full see:
http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/minutes.asp |
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| Factotum |
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| The Sub-Committee considered a report which had been prepared by the Head of Economic Initiatives in respect of the contents of "The Vacuum" newspaper, published by Factotum, which had been raised at the meeting of the Council on 1st July. A copy of the report, with the exception of the appendix referred to therein, is set out hereunder: |
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| Copy 1 |
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| During a lengthy discussion in the matter, Members were of the view that the content of the recent additions of "The Vacuum" were distasteful, in bad taste and contained foul language which they considered offensive. The point was made that the Arts was a subjective topic and that opinion differed concerning what people liked and disliked. However, the majority of the Members were of the opinion that the purpose of the publication had been to offend people and the lengths which the newspaper had gone to offend was not acceptable. Accordingly, ratepayers' money should not be used to assist the publication and the Council should not be associated with a publication whose contents were contrary to the Council's Policies in relation to Good Relations and Good Governance. |
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| The Sub-Committee was aware that its role was not to act as a censor or editor regarding the content of arts projects which it assisted but accepted that it would be necessary to protect the Council from possible legal action as the Council's logo was on the newspaper and it had funded its publication. A Member made the point that, whilst "The Vacuum" had lampooned people who attended church, it was unlikely to risk lampooning gay or coloured people due to the potential of court proceedings. |
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| Several Members expressed concern that, as the application from Factotum had met the Council's criteria for grant assistance, it would be difficult for the Sub-Committee to withhold the funding which was being recommended under the second tranche of the Culture and Arts Project Grant Scheme or endeavour to claw back any unspent monies which had been awarded earlier in the year. The point was made that the Sub-Committee could be placed in an invidious position should another organisation submit an application which met the criteria but was pornographic in nature. It was therefore suggested that the criteria for assistance would need to be amended to ensure that such a situation did not arise. A Member drew the Sub-Committee's attention to the fact that, due to the large number of organisations which it funded, the Council knew very little about the arts and cultural events and publications which it assisted. |
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| The Director of Legal Services informed the Sub-Committee that, arising from his discussions with officers within the Cultural and Arts Unit and from listening to the debate during the meeting, he was of the opinion that three broad issues of legal concern had arisen. Firstly, questions had been asked as to the possible liability of the Council arising from the contents of "The Vacuum" newspaper articles. He indicated that, in his view, there was nothing in those articles in relation to defamation or a breach of any legal provision in relation to religious or other forms of discrimination for which the Council could be held liable. In addition, it would be difficult to hold the Council liable in any legal sense for the views expressed by others. However, he did suggest that any claim which might be made any time in the future would have to be examined on the facts of the particular case and in light of the specific allegations made. |
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| Secondly, the issue arose as to whether the Council could vary the criteria on which the applications for funding had been assessed under the current Culture and Arts Project Grant Scheme. The Director of Legal Services reminded the Sub-Committee that, when issues similar to this had arisen previously, his advice had consistently been that, whenever the Council established a competitive process in the context of a limited financial budget and on the basis of pre-determined criteria, the Council would be vulnerable to legal challenge should it subsequently attempt to change the rules of the competition to the prejudice of any particular applicant. Accordingly, given that the application submitted by Factotum had already been assessed in accordance with pre-determined criteria, the Council would be left open to possible legal challenge should it attempt to deal with that application on a basis which was different to that applied to other applicants. |
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| The third legal issue which arose was whether the Council could amend the criteria which it might apply to future funding competitions. The Director of Legal Services indicated that he could see no reason why the Council should not be able to do so. He suggested that the Council might wish to consider setting funding criteria and applying funding conditions which indicated that the Council did not wish its money to be used for a purpose which was contrary to the Council's Policies and Corporate Objectives. He made the point that it would, of course, be difficult to reach a consensus as to how any such criteria and/or conditions should be worded but, nevertheless, it should be possible to establish a form of wording which might include, for example, the need to ensure that the grant was not used for purposes which would cause gratuitous offence. |
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| Having discussed the views of the Director of Legal Services, it was |
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Moved by Councillor Crozier,
Seconded by Councillor McCausland, |
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| That the Sub-Committee agrees to provide no further funding to "The Vacuum" newspaper as it is a political and offensive publication. |
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| Amendment |
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Moved by Councillor Crowe,
Seconded by Councillor Adamson, |
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| That the Sub-Committee agrees that the funding which Factotum received earlier in the year be not recouped and that its application in the second tranche of funding under the Cultural and Arts Project Grant Scheme be awarded. However, the Sub-Committee requests the Head of Economic Initiatives to submit to the meeting later in the year at which new grant criteria are being considered a report outlining conditions which could be applied to grants awarded by the Sub-Committee which reflect the Council's Policies in relation to Good Relations and Good Governance, with the view to ensuring that future applicants understand that it is their responsibility to deliver their project in accordance with those Policies. |
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| On a vote by show of hands five Members voted for the proposal and two against and it was accordingly declared carried. |
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| The amendment was thereupon put to the meeting as the substantive motion when five Members voted for and two against and it was accordingly declared carried. |
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Culture and Arts Project Grant Scheme 2004/2005 -
Second Deadline |
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| Factotum |
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Moved by Councillor McCausland,
Seconded by Councillor Crozier, |
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| That the Sub-Committee agrees not to provide financial assistance towards "The Vacuum" element of the Factotum application. |
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| On a vote by show of hands two Members voted for the proposal and three against and it was accordingly declared lost. |
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| Accordingly, the Sub-Committee agreed to provide funding of £3,300 to Factotum. |
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