This group brings together representative groups from local government to champion and support the future of local cultural services and the organisations that run them.
Common Purpose Statement
This group brings together representative groups from local government to champion and support the future of local cultural services and the organisations that run them.
The partnership will work collaboratively to support the implementation of the recommendations of the LGA Commission on Culture and Local Government’s Cornerstones of Culture report, including taking a leading role where required and using our joint capacity to influence others as appropriate.
We will do this by helping local authorities across England to find solutions to challenges by supporting independent, transparent and informed long-term decisions.
Our voice has significant reach and influence, with the ability to make a real difference to the future of public services. We will collaborate where we can and share our plans where organisational differences mean we cannot publicly align.
The partnership provides a solid platform for our cross-sector partners and government to have strategic conversations about the role of culture in place-led working and to optimise publicly funded culture as a driver of resilient places, inclusive economic recovery, social mobility and health equality.
Our ambition is that for all relevant strategies and white papers, we are consulted as the representative voice of local government cultural services and always involved in early conversations to help create the whole system approach, using our combined leadership capacity, knowledge and experience.
For more information about the alliance, please contact [email protected]
Objectives
- To provide a collective voice on local government cultural services
- To offer a clear point of contact for consultation on these services
- To inform debate on their funding and governance
- To articulate the cultural sector’s value to the economy and other policy areas
- To support councils to deliver and shape cultural services that meet the needs of their communities
- To share best practice and champion innovation
Our activities will include
1) Collaborating on securing the delivery of the Cornerstones of Culture recommendations.
2) Supporting sharing of practice and debate to improve service delivery.
3) Coordinating our work on Leadership development, recruitment and upskilling the sector with a greater understanding of the leadership capabilities and capacity required for future delivery.
4) Working towards improving access to key and up to date data sources to inform our work, and supporting the development of practice in evidence based planning.
5) Advocating for the wider role of culture with other parts of the system, including health, education, economy and social isolation.
The membership of the group will include
Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association (CLOA)
Local Government Association (LGA)
District Councils Network (DCN)
County Councils Network (CCN)
London Councils
Key Cities
Core Cities UK
Rural Services Network
The groups will be comprised of officers, although political representation may be drawn into discussions as relevant. The group will cover England and include Welsh representatives of the above networks.
Advisory members
Arts Council England
National Lottery Heritage Fund
Historic England
Sector specific local government-led networks, such as the Civic Museums Network, Libraries Connected, The Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers (ALGAO), Chief Archivists in Local Government Group (CALG) will be invited as relevant and there will be an annual wider meeting for all partners.
Representation
Representatives on the Partnership should a nominated individual, through deputies are welcome.
The chair will be rooted in local government. Thus when the Chair or Vice Chair roles become vacant nominations will be sought from the group with a shared decision taken by the partners.
Meetings
Meetings will take place every six to eight weeks and Secretariat provided by CLOA.
Revised draft 31 January 2024
Supporting statements
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