Supporting England's levelling up journey

No matter where I go, I’m always struck by how local leaders put culture at the centre of a vision for better lives and places. We all know about the cultural transformation of Liverpool and Hull, and of creative powerhouses like Manchester and London. Yet such ambitions are not restricted to big urban areas. There’s plenty happening in places as diverse as Wigan, Cornwall, the Black Country and Kent. In fact, it’s difficult to think of many places which aren’t making the most of their rich cultural life.  

Helping harness this local passion are several funding programmes made available by the government, which provide more opportunities to lay the building blocks for what is needed to help creativity and culture thrive locally. 

Firstly, culture is an investment theme of the Levelling Up Fund, which can help a local authority develop its cultural infrastructure. Similarly, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which can be used to develop the local capacity necessary for inclusion and growth (for example SME support, high street improvements, digital inclusion and skills) can support cultural activity against any of its three investment themes. There’s a real opportunity for local and combined authorities to use these funds to support culture.   

Getting hold of the right funding and planning for long term, sustainable success isn’t easy though, and local government leadership is the key. Given this, we’ve collated some online resources to help authorities plan how to use these funds to get the most for their local cultural sector.

• Levelling Up Fund – this is a capital programme, which can support the development of refurbished and new cultural infrastructure.  We have provided information on how to develop capital programmes for culture.
• UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) – this provides opportunities for revenue funding (and some capital) to support cultural activity under three investment themes of community and place; supporting local business; and people and skills. It can be used to develop local capacity necessary for inclusive growth, be that SME support, high street improvement, digital inclusion and skills. We have developed an online resource to help councils and combined authorities develop their UKSPF Investment Plan.
  
   

Many local authorities have high cultural ambitions, and these funds can help make them reality. We know that culture can build stronger communities and pride in places, and that it enables people to lead happy and fulfilled lives, promoting wellbeing and strengthening connections that reduce loneliness. It can support local prosperity, helping provide good jobs in growing creative industries clusters and visitor economies. And where town centres are threatened by the decline of retail, culture can help them find renewed purpose as places for shared experiences. In fact, 62% of UK adults agree that having cultural experiences on the high street makes them feel proud about where they live.  

At the Arts Council, we know that the ambitions of our strategy, Let’s Create, can only be delivered by taking a place-based approach, and working in partnership locally. That’s why one of Let’s Create’s three Outcomes, Cultural Communities, gives a vision of cities, towns and villages that thrive through a collaborative approach through culture. It also sets out our commitment to increasing cultural opportunity and investment in places where both are currently low, which was further developed in the Government’s Levelling Up White Paper.

Levelling up has only sharpened the focus on what places need to be successful and to make sure that everyone in every place is given opportunity. I know that local and combined authorities are thinking hard now about what that means for the places and communities that they serve, and that many will be thinking about what museums, libraries and the arts can offer. We at the Arts Council look forward to supporting them on this journey.