2023-update-mapping-the-auckland-funding-ecosystem-for-nga-toi-culture-creativity-and-the-arts - Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi

Auckland Council’s investment into Ngā Toi is provided via Council departments, Local Boards and Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs). Council describes its investments and activities in relation to “arts”, which it defines as “all forms of human creative skill, imagination and interpretive expression, and their various branches including performing arts, visual arts, screen and digital arts, literary arts, and cultural heritage collections”; and “culture”, which it defines as “the values, ideas, customs, attitudes, social behaviours and physical artefacts of a particular people or society, e.g., gaming culture”. These definitions are noted as excluding “sports and recreation, or built and natural heritage” (Auckland Council, 2015, Toi Whītiki Action Plan p.6). Data provided by Auckland Council about its investment includes funding for libraries.

Council’s investment into Ngā Toi is guided by Toi Whītiki1, the arts and culture strategic action plan, which was developed through research and public and sector consultation. Toi Whītiki was designed in alignment with the Council’s Auckland Plan 2015–2025, Local Board Plans and Māori Plan; and was adopted in 2015.

Toi Whitiki sets out a vision where arts are integrated into our everyday lives in a culturally rich and creative Auckland. This is underpinned by 6 goals:

• All Aucklanders can access and participate in arts and culture.
• Auckland values and invests in arts and culture.
• A network of vibrant arts and culture organisations and facilities.
• Arts and culture are intrinsic to Auckland's place making.
• Auckland celebrates a unique cultural identity.
• Auckland has a robust and flourishing creative economy.

Toi Whītiki identifies the role of the Auckland Council family as supporting arts and culture through:

• Strategy and policy
• Facilities (local and regional)
• Programming and events
• Investment and funding
• Regulatory and operative frameworks
• Facilitation
• Advocacy.

Data provided by Auckland Council for this research enabled detailed analysis of their investment into Ngā Toi in the Auckland region, by department/CCO and by Toi Whītiki outcome area.

Data covers the financial year 2018/19, 2020/21 and 2021/22:

• 2018/19 data represents investment trends during and following COVID-19 and includes approximately $184.7m of investment.
• 2020/21 data represents investment trends during and following COVID-19 and includes approximately $175.7m of investment.
• 2021/22 data highlights budgetary changes as a result of COVID-19 recovery and includes approximately $185.2m of investment.

The tables below provides a summary of Council and CCO investment which was comprised of:

$168.26m of capital and operational invested through:

• Council teams and departments (which invest in arts, culture and events, public art, City Centre activation, community empowerment and library services)
• Grants programmes (Regional Arts and Culture Grants Programmes, Local Board Grants)
• Investment in major cultural institutions Auckland War Memorial Museum and Museum of Transport and Technology, with funding also distributed by the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Board (to Auckland Theatre Company, NZ Opera, Auckland Arts Festival and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra).

$16.3m of operational investment through CCOs:

• Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) merged on 1 December 2020)
• Eke Panuku Development.

There are several caveats to note with Auckland Council’s data:

• The information provided by some teams is an estimate only. This is because some of council’s programmes use arts and culture as a method of achieving positive community outcomes. These teams do not record the actual spend on arts and culture, but rather investment in community outcomes more generally.
• The method of collecting data may have changed between 2020/21 and 2021/22. This is something that council will look to making more consistent in future.
• The “Arts, Culture & Events” area has seen a decrease in spending between 2020/21 and 21/22 due to the significant lockdown period which reduced expenditure and required savings to be found.
• In addition, some teams are likely to see regular fluctuations in expenditure from year to year. For example, the public art team’s expenditure is largely driven by parent project milestones being met, where lower expenditure does not necessarily reflect a reduction in work delivered.  In addition projects can span several years which can also impact a yearly reporting model.
• While the overall council spend between 2020/21 and 2021/22 has increased slightly, it is worth noting the above caveats. This information should therefore be treated as an indication of council’s overall spend, rather than a complete picture.
• Auckland Council is committed to collating, reporting and continuing to improve the veracity of this investment information to provide transparency about council’s investment and to help us to determine whether our spend is aligned with our strategic objectives.

Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage is the government’s principal advisors on the cultural system which includes Ngā Toi. The Ministry provides advice on policy, legislation and sector development to the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage. The Ministry also funds some of New Zealand's most iconic arts, media, heritage and sports Crown entities such as Creative New Zealand, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and NZ On Air.

Arts and Culture Recovery Programme

As part of the COVID-19 Recovery Budget, the Government announced the Arts and Culture COVID Recovery Programme in May 2020. This investment was to help the arts, culture and heritage sectors through the impacts of COVID-19.

The funding supported a suite of more than 25 initiatives which were delivered by Manatū Taonga, funded agencies and sector stakeholders. The initiatives were designed to deliver short and long-term relief from the effects of COVID-19. Additional investment was announced in response to the 2021 Delta and 2022 Omicron outbreaks.

Arts and Culture COVID Recovery Programme initiatives delivered by Manatū Taonga

Of the 25 initiatives, Manatū Taonga were responsible for the delivery of:

• Te Tahua Āki Auahatanga, Innovation Fund – to support innovative projects that improve the sustainability and resilience of the sector, provide commercial opportunities, safeguard Mātauranga Māori and improve access and participation.
• Te Tahua Whakahaumaru, Creative Arts Recovery and Employment (CARE) Fund[2]  – to support the cultural sector to adapt to the COVID-19 environment by funding projects that enhance access to, and participation in, the cultural sector and create employment and skill development opportunities. It included some contestable initiatives as well as projects in partnership with other agencies.
• Te Tahua Whakakaha, Cultural Sector Capability Fund – available to cultural sector leadership organisations to deliver projects to support the cultural sector to adapt to the COVID-19 environment by funding projects that build skills and knowledge, and provide access to advice, services, tools and resources.

The funding within these three initiatives has been distributed to successful recipients, with grants ranging in duration from a few weeks to several years.

[2] This programme included Ngā Wāhi Auaha – Creative Spaces, Ngā Puninga Toi ā-Ahurea me ngā Kaupapa - Cultural Installations and Events and Ngā Kaiwhakaoho Ahurea – Cultural Activators Pilot

Manatū Taonga was also responsible for the following Omicron and Delta relief funding:

• Pūtea Tautoko mō ngā Huihuinga Aro Toi, Arts and Culture Event Support Scheme – to help organisers of arts and cultural events have confidence to commit to and deliver events while Government restrictions were in place in response to COVID-19. It also offered reassurance for artists and crew that they could get paid if their events didn’t go ahead as planned.
• Te Tahua Pūtea Whakaora mō ngā Ringatoi, Cultural Sector Emergency Relief Fund, Grant for Self Employed Individuals – one off grants to support cultural sector practitioners who lost income due to the COVID-19 Omicron response.
• Te Tahua Pūtea Whakaora mō ngā Ringatoi — Ngā Rōpū, Cultural Sector Emergency Relief Fund — Organisations – a fund of last resort to support cultural organisations, including sole traders, at clear risk of no longer operating viably.

This funding was all distributed as one-off grants within the agreed timeframe of the relevant fund. These emergency relief funds were only available to individuals, organisations or events in areas that were 'red' (or similar) under the Covid Protection Framework. This approach meant that more funding went to Auckland relative to other parts of the country.

Funding paid during the 2021/22 financial year

As the term of some grants span financial years, and decision making for some funds occurred in the 2020/21 financial year, the information provided below reflects the payments made to recipients of the COVID recovery programme delivered by Manatū Taonga, during the 2021/22 financial year. In the 2021/22 financial year, payments totalled $59.3m, with $23.4m paid to organisations and individuals located in the Auckland region.

Manatū Taonga geographical data is based on the location of the applicant, and this does not always reflect the location of the activity or initiative that was supported. For example, some applicants may have spent money outside the region while delivering their initiative which may have been targeting multiple regions or had a nationwide outcome.

Foundation North holds in trust for the Auckland and Northland communities an endowment, or putea, of over a billion dollars. This comes from the sale of the community’s shares in what was previously the Auckland Savings Bank. That endowment allows Foundation North to make grants each year to not-for-profit groups in Auckland and Northland.

Since 2018, Foundation North’s grant-making has been oriented towards a set of Outcomes and Priorities that the Foundation wants to contribute to in order to address significant, evidence-based social, economic, and environmental inequalities being felt by many communities in its region. The strategy does not have a sector focus, rather with a limited grants budget each year, funding is targeted to a wide range of initiatives aligned to four focus areas that deliver positive outcomes to enhance the lives of the people in its region, with emphasis on supporting priority populations and communities, increasing understanding, and giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and on climate change action.

Foundation North funds across four focus areas:

• Hāpai te ōritetanga | Increased Equity
• Whakauru mai | Social Inclusion
• Whakahou taiao | Regenerative Environment
• Hāpori awhina | Community Support