Croydon allocates £850k for Borough of Culture legacy

Croydon Council has budgeted £850,000 to support a Borough of Culture legacy programme within its town centre "growth zone" for the 2024/2025 financial year.

The funding is in addition to £377,500 of cultural Growth Zone funding approved by the council's cabinet in February 2023 for 2023/24.

According to a report by council officers presented to the local authority on 31 January, the money will go toward projects including an annual festival event in the town centre, new signage to promote cultural venues, a digital platform to promote the cultural programme and a dedicated resource for additional cultural fundraising.

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As part of the same funding pot, the Museum of Croydon will receive £290,000 in addition to an existing £200,000, which will go toward developing a year-round programme of events for children and families and an outreach programme of activities delivered in community settings.

Croydon's budget report also revealed that residents perceive culture as the second least important service that the council provides. Just 5% of respondents rated culture as the most important service, above planning at 4% and below libraries at 10%.

The findings come as Croydon's 12 months as BoC comes to a close at the end of this month, during which time the council delivered a programme of over 100 events intended to bring "a lasting legacy of creative opportunity and sector development". However, concerns have been raised over the delivery of Croydon’s BoC year and community engagement in the programme.

'Missed opportunities'

Croydon won the bid in 2019 and proceeded with its This is Croydon programme despite being issued a section 114 notice in 2020 against non-essential spending, as well as facing a review over alleged financial mismanagement and a £67m budget deficit.

Labour Councillor Nina Degrads, the Shadow Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture, told Arts Professional that when the BoC bid was awarded to Croydon, there was “a lot of hope and excitement”, but there were “missed opportunities” in the community consultation process.

She suggested the issues stemmed from "severe cuts to the council by the Conservative Mayor of Croydon."

“A number of community groups have expressed their disappointment to me, as they wanted to engage with the BoC but weren't able to. It is a shame as these groups are pillars of the community and take leading roles in cultural heritage and understand the community in Croydon."

'Poor and under-resourced'

Local musician Paula Goodwin, who previously sat on the steering group that set the criteria for the BoC 'ignite' grant scheme and evaluated bids, said that she was left “severely disappointed” by the process, calling the administration “poor and under-resourced” running “several months behind schedule”.

Croydon Council describes the steering group of over 30 local cultural and business representatives as “a critical friend from the cultural sector” that meets regularly to ensure the council “delivers an exciting, representative programme of events throughout the year”. 

Writing in Inside Croydon, Goodwin said: “When the steering group first met…I was staggered to find that it seemed that I was the only person working in any type of cultural organisation voluntarily.”

“I began to get the impression that the steering group were set on ensuring that as much of the available funding as possible was retained in the professional arts groups represented on the group.”

Capacity management

Shortly after the programme launch in April, minutes from a BoC steering group meeting revealed that "capacity management" in the council was considered “the main weakness” of the programme.

In July, the council reported to the steering group that “not being able to have a culture programme has resulted in lack of awareness and capacity to deliver on their capabilities”.

A council spokesperson said, “The steering group is independent of the council and represents those groups fulfilling the programme. No steering group members have made decisions about London Borough of Culture grant funding for a group they were involved in.” 

A spokesperson for Greater London Authority added, “The steering group reflects stakeholders who are supporting and delivering London Borough of Culture programmes - it is not a board or a group of trustees.

"It’s for boroughs to decide what works best for them when delivering their year as London Borough of Culture, and there is an Executive Board that oversees governance of the programme that includes Croydon and GLA representatives.”

Value for money

Concerns have also been raised about the value for money of some of Croydon's BoC projects after it emerged that a music heritage app created using £40k of funding was downloaded only 458 times in the six months since its launch.

The app is part of the year-long Croydon Music Heritage Trail, a flagship BoC project financed through £290k of grants from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, the Mayor of London and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. 

Croydon Council said the total research and development cost of the Croydon Music Heritage Trail app was £38,895, backed by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. At a town hall meeting, Councillor Andy Stranack confirmed the app had been downloaded 458 times but had seen “107k engagements with content” since launching in June 2023. 

A spokesperson said the council considered the Music Heritage Trail “good value for money”.

Greater London Authority

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, launched the London Borough of Culture in 2017, initially as an annual programme. Following issues raised by boroughs about delivering within the allotted timeframe - Croydon’s 2023 tenure started three months behind schedule - it has switched to a biennial model. 

Boroughs submit bids to receive £1.35m of GLA funding to create a year-long programme of activities. Winning boroughs are expected to provide at least 30% match funding and are supported to bid for funds from a Strategic Partners Board, including Paul Hamlyn Foundation, National Heritage Lottery Fund, and Arts Council England.

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “This Is Croydon has so far successfully delivered more than 100 events, supported more than 50 local organisations, offered more than 10,000 opportunities for young people and reached audiences of more than 200,000 in person and online as part of its year as London Borough of Culture.”