Agenda item

Wiltshire Council has not previously developed a Council Cultural Strategy since its formation in 2009.

The Wiltshire Cultural Strategy 2024-2030 supports the delivery of key priorities set out in Wiltshire Council’s 2022-32 Business Plan. It seeks to provide a better connected, stronger creative and cultural sector and a more vibrant and diverse cultural offer, delivered through collaboration with strategic partners, the cultural and creative sector, and communities.

David Redfern, Director – Leisure, Culture, and Communities, delivered a presentation on the Wiltshire Cultural Strategy 2024 – 2030, alongside Tamzin Earley, Arts and Funding Manager, and Paul Pritchard, Service Manager – Development.

It was explained that Wiltshire Council had not previously developed a Council Cultural Strategy since its formation in 2009. As such, the Council had commissioned the development of a strategy with financial support from the Arts Council England. Officers were keen to develop a strategy that served the entire county and worked as an enabling tool that supported the delivery of arts and culture and yielded the wider benefits of related activities, such as enhancing the county’s natural heritage and landscape, improving the mental health and wellbeing of residents, and creating resilient and vibrant communities.

A set of presentation slides were delivered which detailed the background to the strategy, why the strategy was necessary, the progress made to date, the strategy’s visions, principles, and main themes, and next steps. Members were informed that officers had initially identified 5 key themes, however through stakeholder conversations and the engagement process, this had increased to 7 key themes which were: Identity; Health and Wellbeing; Community; Economy; Tourism; Communicate; and Connect.

Finally, it was noted that the next steps included corporate endorsement and continued conversations with designers to ensure that the strategy was delivered efficiently. Furthermore, the Cultural Partnership was highlighted as being the delivery mechanism for the strategy, therefore officers emphasised the importance of widening local partnerships and the development of the Council’s Cultural Forum in which key officers from across the Council would work in tandem to help shape the strategy. Members were informed that officers were looking to launch the strategy in Autumn 2024 at the first Cultural Assembly.

During the discussion, points included:

• Members queried what additional Council resources would be needed to deliver the strategy and where would they come from, to which officers acknowledged the limited capacity available which was why the mechanisms put in place as part of the strategy were focussed on bringing stakeholders together in order to share the delivery of the strategy.
• Members recognised the value in creating, supporting, and bringing together groups of people, however the limited financial means denoted to the strategy was highlighted. As such, Members raised concerns as to the strategy’s success without adequate funding and sought further clarity on if future investments could be obtained or if additional officer provision could be deployed to support different stakeholders in administrative tasks or coordination of events. In response, officers again recognised the financial limitations, but noted that as part of the strategy’s next steps, at least one more full-time equivalent role would be recruited to assist with delivery, and that officers had worked hard over the past couple of years in engaging with arts partners and identifying where the Council could help and support those partners. Furthermore, officers believed that raising the profile of the strategy would help in driving it forward, therefore Members were encouraged to promote the strategy within their local communities. Finally, it was highlighted that by having the strategy in place, if funding became available then officers would be better positioned to capture investment opportunities as oftentimes part of the process of writing a funding bid required Councils to demonstrate how the bid would contribute to a broader strategy, hence adding immediate value to any future applications.
• It was suggested that the environment and climate change be added as a key theme as it was felt that there were opportunities to show how arts and culture activities could enable the Council’s climate change ambitions, influence culture in supporting and responding to the new and urgent challenges faced with regard to the rapidly changing climate, empower residents and businesses in understanding the impacts of climate change, and how to take positive actions within communities to prepare for the impacts of climate change. Officers echoed those sentiments and noted that they had attended events and workshops around the ability of the arts in raising the profile of the climate challenge.
• Members highlighted the need to promote and encourage existing cultures and appreciating what was already within their local communities by supporting and working each other.
• The importance of public engagement was raised, and it was noted that the cultural partnership would allow officers to understand good practice in organising arts and culture events and allow them to share these across the partnership.
• Finally, it was reiterated that the strategy was funded by both the Arts Council England and the Economy and Regeneration Team within the Council, therefore the strategy was also focussed on economic regeneration as well as arts, culture, health and wellbeing.

At the conclusion of the discussion, Councillors Dr Nick Murry, Stewart Palmen, and Mel Jacob proposed further recommendations in respect of including the environment and climate as a key theme and requesting the attachment of a budget to the strategy. Following a vote on the motion, it was:

Resolved:

The Committee:

1)    Endorsed the Wiltshire Cultural Strategy 2024 – 2030.

2)    Requested that there was a budget attached to the Strategy.

3)    Requested the Climate and Environment was added as a Key Theme.

4)    Acknowledged the Action Plan that was being proposed.

5)    Requested a report on the delivery of the Strategy in 18 months’ time.

Councillors Tony Jackson and Stuart Wheeler requested that their votes against Resolution 3 be recorded.