Policy

Specialist consultants have been lined up to help develop a five-year cultural strategy for a new unitary council being established in Somerset next year.

Somerset’s five councils – Mendip, Sedgemoor, Somerset West and Taunton, South Somerset district councils, and Somerset County Council – have worked in partnership with Arts Council England to recruit cultural consultants, The Fifth Sector.

Since its foundation in 2011, The Fifth Sector has delivered more than 100 strategic and cultural projects, including cultural strategies and creative investment frameworks for Derby, Liverpool, Manchester, Rushmoor, South Yorkshire and Tees Valley.

Key aims and objectives of the strategy include ensuring that a cultural identity for arts and culture in Somerset is at the heart of the new authority’s strategic plans.

It is also intended that the piece of work will raise awareness and promote the role that culture and creativity can play in enriching communities and improving the quality of life, health, wellbeing and the local economy for Somerset residents.

Federica Smith Roberts, Somerset County Council’s Lead Member for Communities, said: “The Somerset Cultural Strategy will define how, as an organisation, the new Somerset Council will deliver cultural activities to better the lives of residents and enhance our communities.

“I am delighted that work will commence through The Fifth Sector now to create a strategy ready for adoption when the new Council comes into effect in April 2023. 

"Arts and culture are important to help improve the quality of life, health, wellbeing and the local economy for Somerset residents, local businesses and visitors and I look forward to bringing the strategy in front of fellow councillors in 2023.”

New research shows that “the pandemic was a time to reassess museum purpose and find new ways of keeping relevant”, said Elizabeth Crooke, Professor of Museum and Heritage Studies at Ulster University.

Researchers at the university have spent two years investigating the sector’s response to the pandemic as part of the Museums, Crisis and Covid-19 initiative, funded by UK Research and Innovation. 

The research focused on how museums can contribute to community resilience and wellbeing. Its recommendations are expected to help support museums, funders and policymakers build on experience learned through the pandemic.

Three separate reports focus on distinct areas: museums and the pandemic (revisiting purposes and priorities); museums and community wellbeing; and museums, Covid and digital media (innovation, engagement and practice).

“This research project found evidence of an innovative and engaged museum sector, committed to new and established audiences,” said Crooke.

“The Northern Ireland museum sector has proved itself agile, able to adapt its services at the most challenging times.”

Crooke added that future priorities, informed by the project, include “reaching new audiences; addressing museum purposes for changed social, economic and political landscapes; and deepening museum links with communities and the issues that matter to them”.

Stella Byrne, Head of Investment  at the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Northern Ireland, said that the research “has helped the National Lottery Heritage Fund to better understand the infrastructure needs of the sector and tailor our emergency funding responses. It will also guide our future support for the sector”.

Arts Council of Wales (ACW) has opened a consultation into the way it allocates its funding to arts organisations.

Known as The Investment Review, ACW has traditionally reviewed its funding process every five years. This review was originally scheduled for 2020 but was postponed by the pandemic.

The funder is proposing a simplified application process and a move away from funding a portfolio of companies towards a mix of multi-year revenue and project funding agreements. It is also suggesting three-year funding arrangements, rather than the existing five years, with the option of an additional three years based on performance.

The new funding model would sit alongside ACW’s other programmes that are funded by The National Lottery.

ACW says it is “seeking as many views on the new proposals as possible”. Eight online consultations will be take place on Zoom through August and September, with booking available on the funder’s website. An online survey is already open and email responses are welcomed.

The consultation period runs until 10 October, with final details of the new process expected to be released on 21 November. 

Funding applications will then open in January 2023, with decisions delivered in September 2023 ahead of the release of funds beginning in April 2024.

Three Sudanese museums that received £1 million in funding from the British Council are demanding the return of colonial artefacts taken by imperial troops in the 19th century.

The museums, overseen by Sudan’s National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), were awarded the grants in 2018 to help with restoration efforts after they were damaged by regional conflict.

The head of the NCAM has now demanded that the UK repatriate looted Sudanese cultural treasures including banners, armour and human remains taken after the Battle of Omdurman in 1898, suggesting that they could be moved to the museums that received the funding.

The artefacts in question are currently held at Durham University’s Palace Green Library, the Royal Armouries and the University of Edinburgh’s Anatomical Museum.

“We have to have a big campaign. These people are our brothers, our heroes. They unified and defended our country. It is a very special story of resistance to imperialism,” said Dr. Eglal el-Malik, the NCAM’s Conservation Director, according to a report in the Telegraph.

The choice to fund organisations lobbying for repatriation of artefacts has raised questions about how cash is awarded by organisations such as the British Council, which is partially government funded.

A British Council spokesperson said: “We are proud of our cultural protection work in Sudan. It has helped to strengthen the cultural ties between the UK and Sudan.

"The grant, which was provided in 2018, aimed to protect cultural heritage at risk and does not have a remit on repatriations of cultural artefacts."

The Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre has published a collection of digital resources for local authorities considering funding bids for their creative industries as part of the government’s levelling up agenda.

The new resources include relevant research and critical insights about the sector, such as useful statistics, case studies and suggested reading lists. 

The information is designed to aid local authorities that plan to submit bids to the Shared Prosperity Fund, due to close on 1 August, and to serve as a useful bank of advice for future research and investment incentivisation. 

The collection of pages is intended to be an evolving resource. Interested organisations and researchers are invited to share input on further case studies and useful research that should be added to the online hub.