Shaping places
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The Cultural Development Fund (CDF) was launched in the summer of 2018, with a budget of £20 million available for towns and cities (excluding London) to invest in creative, cultural and heritage initiatives. Delivered as part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy this marked a new approach to cultural and creative investment, focusing on geographical location and the effect that strategic investment can have on economic growth and productivity.
It has been great to see the government recognising the transformative power of arts, culture and creativity, and the benefits they can bring to towns and cities in strengthening communities, creating jobs and boosting tourism – something which is at the heart of our mission at the Arts Council.
This morning, while speaking at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, the Secretary of State for DCMS announced the five successful CDF applications: Grimsby, the Kent Thames Estuary, Plymouth, Wakefield and Worcester. The plans laid out by these cities are full of ambition and innovation, reflecting the unique needs of each area and ranging from the development of affordable creative workspaces to investment in immersive and digital technologies.
It’s been a privilege to be involved in delivering a multi-million-pound fund that will enable real transformation to these places. The cornerstone of our work at the Arts Council is to ensure great art and culture for everyone, regardless of location; through CDF we are able to play a significant role in increasing and diversifying access to the cultural and creative industries, as well as generating more opportunity for people to build their careers in the arts locally.
It has also presented a new way of working for the Arts Council. Unlike other funds that we manage, this was entirely a DCMS fund and as such all decisions on successful applications were made by the Secretary of State. Because of our experience in delivering similar schemes we were selected as the delivery partner, responsible for providing pre-application advice, assessing applications, and the payment and monitoring of grants.
One of the ambitions of CDF was to encourage closer working between cultural bodies, private industry and local authorities, to support them in delivering transformative change with their communities. As this fund goes beyond our core area of expertise, we worked closely with experts from across the creative industries and heritage sector. As part of the assessment process, I chaired an Expert Advisory Panel which brought together senior people from Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic England, NESTA, Creative England and DCMS’ commercial and creative industries teams, plus independent creative business people. Together we were responsible for reviewing the assessments, considering how the proposed activity would use cultural and creative investment to make places more attractive to live, work and visit, before making recommendations to the Secretary of State.
Working with economics experts to forecast the applications’ return on investment was particularly insightful. Applicants were required to provide qualitative and quantitative evidence of the economic impact of their bids (including businesses supported, jobs created, visitor / audience numbers), and the successful towns and cities will undergo a formal evaluation process to measure the impacts and outcomes of CDF. This data, which will tangibly measure what we’ve always known about arts, culture and creativity’s ability to shape towns and cities, will help us continue to make the case for public investment
When the fund opened last year, we received a significant number of Expressions of Interest, revealing just how high the demand is for major investment in creative and cultural activities to drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth. It showed that urban areas right across the country are brimming with ideas for how culture can help transform their communities. CDF will help bring five of these visions to life, and I hope that the successes and learnings of the fund will allow us to invest in many more in future.
