News – Culture promotion

A leaflet setting out the ways in which local authorities can benefit from the promotion of leisure and cultural activity has been distributed to councillors across England by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The 20-page document aims to encourage councillors to utilise culture as a tool for achieving local and shared priorities in housing, planning, transport, health, education, social services and in social and economic regeneration.
It also sets out the key responsibilities and targets of the DCMS and its non-departmental public bodies like Arts Council England, and offers a list of contacts and useful information for councillors to access further information. The document states that local authorities spend £3.2bn annually on cultural services, including sport, and is part of a bid by the DCMS to raise the profile of cultural activity as a social tool and to increase good practice.