The national trust for talent? NESTA and New Labour’s cultural policy

Abstract

Although the New Labour period witnessed a high degree of institutional formation in the UK, many of its initiatives, from regional development agencies to the Film Council, have not survived. One exception is the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA). Using interviews and unpublished documentation, this paper traces the pre-history of NESTA; its origins as an idea in the last years of the Major administration, the policy networks that helped develop it, and its realisation under New Labour. The argument is that by examining the trajectory of NESTA, we can see many of the themes of New Labour s cultural policy, particularly what came to be thought of as its creative economy policy under which an early enthusiasm for supporting small cultural businesses was replaced by the discourse of creativity and innovation, progressively emptying the policy of its concerns with culture in favour of a focus on economic growth. AbstractAlthough the New Labour period witnessed a high degree of institutional formation in the UK, many of its initiatives, from regional development agencies to the Film Council, have not survived. One exception is the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA). Using interviews and unpublished documentation, this paper traces the pre-history of NESTA; its origins as an idea in the last years of the Major administration, the policy networks that helped develop it, and its realisation under New Labour. The argument is that by examining the trajectory of NESTA, we can see many of the themes of New Labour s cultural policy (particularly what came to be thought of as its creative economy policy, under which an early enthusiasm for supporting small cultural businesses was replaced by the discourse of creativity and innovation, progressively emptying the policy of its concerns with culture in favour of a focus on economic growth.

Austere Creativity and Volunteer-run Public Services: The Case of Lewisham's Libraries

“…Within this context, austerity came to be seen as an opportunity both to foster creativity and restore a missing citizen engagement. This perspective will now be explored through grey literature from the Nesta think tank, which was central to the creative industries discourse under New Labour; 25 after the change in government Nesta became involved with a series of initiatives on public service reform. Nesta commissioned a project in 2011 entitled People Powered Public Services, which was based on the principle that the public should play a greater role in the running of public services; 26 they also administer a £14 million 'innovation fund' in connection with the Cabinet Office for Social Action, which is about integrating volunteers into the running of public services.…”