The Local Government Association’s independent Commission on Culture and Local Government commenced in March 2022 and has been chaired by Creative Communities Advisory Board member Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey. The commission was set up by the LGA’s cross-party Culture, Tourism and Sport Board to bring national, regional and local actors in the local publicly funded cultural realm together, in order to investigate the role of local publicly funded culture in supporting our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
After examining fifty case studies and benefiting from cross sector expertise, the commission has published the ‘Cornerstones of Culture Report’. The report demonstrates the important contribution local council funded culture can make to the Levelling Up agenda and our cultural and economic recovery post-pandemic. The report identifies four key ‘cornerstones’ essential to a healthy local cultural ecosystem: capacity, leadership, funding and evidence, and sets out detailed recommendations for securing the future of local publicly funded culture.
The launch event on 8 December saw a celebration of the work and the case studies profiled throughout by a cross sector audience:
Director of Creative Communities, Prof Katy Shaw, was one of sixteen commissioners working collaboratively on this report. Speaking about the report, Prof Katy Shaw said:
‘From Cornwall to Carlisle, the diversity and creativity of the communities we have heard from across the Commission evidence has been inspiring and moving. Our report makes clear asks to activate its evidence base for future policy making: the value of culture does not begin and end at the economic. When we invest in culture we invest in ourselves. We look forward to sharing the report across the country in 2023 through a series of nationwide roadshows.’
Prof Katy Shaw will speak about this report and her previous work with the Northern Culture APPG report at the forthcoming LGA Annual Culture, Tourism and Sport conference in March 2023:
More information about Prof Katy Shaw is available via her profile, and you can find more about the programme across our website, but can start with the about section.
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