Publishing Summaries of NAC's Consultations on Arts Management Issues

Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether the National Arts Council (NAC) publishes summaries of its consultations on arts management issues for the public to scrutinise; and (b) whether NAC uses the REACH platform when conducting public consultation.

NAC conducts regular engagements with the arts community through various platforms. It has made public the key issues and outcomes from such consultations on its website. However, not all consultations or discussions on art management issues are handled in the same way. The outcome of such consultations, and the extent to which they are published in public fora are addressed in a number of ways, depending on the specific issue at hand.

Let me cite some recent examples. NAC hosted two Emerging Stronger Conversations in December 2020 to hear the arts community’s feedback arising from COVID-19, with reports and summaries published on NAC’s website and social media channels. Prior to this, NAC engaged self-employed workers and freelancers in the arts for over a year, with reports also published on its website. These engagements helped inform the establishment of the Arts Resource Hub in 2019. Similarly, NAC consulted over 700 members of the arts community on Our SG Arts Plan and published the draft report on its website for public comments and feedback, before the Plan was launched in 2018.

In the coming months, NAC will engage the arts community on the new SEP Grant and Business Transformation Grant under the enhanced Arts and Culture Resilience Package to incorporate their suggestions and design these grants in a way that will best meet their needs. NAC will also begin consultations with the arts community and other stakeholders on the next edition of the SG Arts Plan.

NAC also uses a variety of platforms for its engagements, including small group dialogues and one-to-one consultation with NAC’s dedicated account managers for major arts companies, and has also received feedback from the arts community via the REACH platform. NAC will continue to use the most appropriate modality for its future engagements, including REACH, where suitable.