Terms of Reference: Independent Commission on Culture and Local Government

This independent Commission is being established by the Local Government Association to demonstrate the important contribution local council funded culture can make to Levelling Up and resilience to COVID-19 and set out what is needed to achieve this.


Background

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Councils are the biggest public funders of culture, spending over £1 billion a year in England alone. They run a nationwide network of local cultural organisations, including 3,000 libraries, 350 museums, 116 theatres and numerous castles, parks and open spaces, monuments, historic buildings and heritage sites.

However, the significant role of councils and the contribution of local cultural organisations in our national cultural life is not always recognised at a national level. National funding for local culture is often fragmented and project based, creating challenges around sustainability.

This independent Commission is being established by the Local Government Association to demonstrate the important contribution local council funded culture can make to Levelling Up and resilience to COVID-19 and set out what is needed to achieve this.

Objectives

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The purpose of the Commission on Culture and Local Government is to bring national, regional and local actors in the publicly funded cultural realm together to explore and communicate:  

  • The unique role of council funded and supported culture in our recovery from COVID-19; and  
  • A vision for the future of council funded and supported culture in the context of place.  

We want the Commission’s findings and recommendations to support and shape the work of national and local policy makers, funders, and practitioners and to influence how culture is included in narratives around pandemic resilience and recovery and levelling up.

Outcomes

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The Commission on Culture and Local Government will achieve the following outcomes.

  • Advocacy – decision makers at a national and local level have evidence that helps them to make the case for investment in local cultural infrastructure. Culture and the creative industries have a central place in narratives around pandemic resilience and recovery and levelling up.
  • Relationships – the process of running the Commission opens up a debate about the contribution councils make to culture and helps to build and consolidate partnerships between different funders of these service.
  • Vision for the future – The Commission will make specific recommendations on sustaining national and local investment in these services through models of partnership and collaboration.

Areas of focus

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In working towards the final report the Commission will undertake specific evidence sessions, research and analysis to test four propositions about local, council funded culture and its relationship to Levelling Up.

These will be tested and discussed at four roundtable events, to which expert practitioners will be invited to contribute as speakers. Contributors will provide evidence in relation to the proposition and examples of barriers to it being achieved.

  • Economic recovery. Publicly funded culture is essential to our national economic recovery, particularly in relation to the growth of the wider commercial creative economy and in levelling up economic inequalities between regions.
  • Social mobility. Publicly funded culture can help to address educational and skills inequalities and challenges around social mobility.
  • Place. Publicly funded culture can promote civic pride and change perceptions about a place, leading to wider social and economic outcomes.
  • Health inequalities. Publicly funded culture can challenge health inequalities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A theme that will also run throughout each of the four topics, is partnership. We will be testing the proposition that collaboration between national government, arms-length funders and local government at a place-based level is essential to achieve the outcomes explored in the propositions. We will be seeking successful models of accomplishing this and barriers to it happening to inform the recommendations of the Commission.

The Commission will reflect a diverse range of voices and the views of service users.

Scope

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The Commission will focus on cultural organisations and projects that are funded or otherwise supported by the local authority, including museums and heritage, libraries and archives, theatre and the arts, parks and open spaces.

Governance

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A core group of expert Commissioners, led by an independent Chair will conduct the work of the Commission.

The LGA Culture, Tourism and Sport Board will act as advisors to the Commission and will have representation on the core group of Commissioners.

A wider Advisory Group will be established to feed into the work of the Commission at key points. The Advisory Group will include experts able to contribute to each of the four lead propositions.

LGA officers will provide the Secretariat for the Commission.

Timing and reporting

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The Commission will work towards delivering a final report in December 2022. In working towards the final report:

  • The independent Commissioners will meet to agree Terms of Reference and propositions/themes in March 2022.
  • A series of four roundtable discussions will be held between April and July 2022 to explore the four propositions.
  • Relevant Advisory Group members will help to lead evidence sessions on each of the four themes.
  • There will not be an open call for evidence, but targeted pieces of research will be undertaken with the wider Advisory Group to inform the discussion at each of the four roundtable events. This will result in a paper to be shared ahead of each of the events as a provocation for discussion.
  • Practitioners and sector experts will be invited to speak at each of the roundtable events.
  • The output from each of the four roundtables will be a short film, picking up on the key themes explored in the discussion. These will form part of the final reporting on the project.

Contact

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Lauren Lucas, Adviser- Culture, Tourism and Sport, LGA