In 1990-91 Tim Renton came closer than any other arts minister to funding England’s regional arts boards directly from the ministry’s budget, so exasperated was he at the re-centralising cravings of Arts Council England. Renton wanted to allow time for the reforms instituted in 1989-90 by Richard Luce, who insisted upon local authorities being structurally included as important regional partners, reflected in the new system’s legal constitution.
