Agenda item

A Cultural Plan for North Tyneside 2023-2030

To seek approval to create the A Cultural Plan for North Tyneside 2023-2030 as appended to the report.

 

Minutes:

Cabinet considered a report seeking approval to create a ‘A Cultural Plan for North Tyneside 2023-2030’ as appended to the report.

 

Following agreement with the Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and Leisure in September 2021, the process of initiating consultation on a cultural strategy for North Tyneside began in April 2022.  The agreed approach was that, while the Authority should take the initiative in providing a framework for the cultural offer, the active engagement of the wider public sector, private and voluntary sectors would also be vital.  The strategy would be one for the Borough, not just the Authority.

 

Iain Watson OBE (former Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Director) and Catherine Hearne (formerly CEO Helix Arts and BBC Executive) were commissioned to undertake a process of consultation which would result in a boroughwide strategy and cultural partnership, consistent with the Arts Council England (ACE) guidance in their ten year plan Let’s Create (2020-2030), which emphasised the establishment of broad based cultural partnerships, in developing the cultural offer for the benefit of residents and the economy.

 

In the first phase of consultation a programme was mapped out to target all four quarters of North Tyneside and initially invite those working in, or closely with, the cultural sector to share their views on the way forward for culture in North Tyneside.  Four engagement sessions took place in April/May 2022 in North Shields, Longbenton, Wallsend and Whitley Bay and were limited to 20 participants per session.  In total 57 people participated in this phase of consultation.

 

Following the initial consultation, a number of gaps were identified in relation to ethnicity, age, disability and sexual identity, which were addressed through a series of bespoke sessions with representatives from those groups.  A bespoke session for library managers was arranged as well as a presentation to the Senior Management team in the Authority, through the Leadership Forum, and the wider Regeneration, Economic Development and Culture management team. 

 

Elected Members were engaged through the Culture and Leisure Sub Committee and briefings with the Elected Mayor and Deputy Mayor, as the relevant Cabinet Member.  Wider networks, including the Local Cultural Education Partnership and Culture Health and Wellbeing Network, had commented on emerging themes.  Individual conversations were also held with influential cultural leaders, who lived in the borough but were not necessarily active in its cultural networks, in order to generate both interest and engagement in cultural activity in North Tyneside.

 

Wider public consultation was key to the final phase of engagement around the strategy and a survey was widely disseminated to facilitated this.  In total 359 responses were received to the public survey, an analysis of which was provided as part of the report to Cabinet in November 2022.  Overall, responses identified a significant degree of engagement in cultural activity; a strong sense of the importance of culture in people’s lives; a significant sense that children and young people should have greater access to cultural activity; and a powerful sense that cultural activity makes North Tyneside a better place in which to live, work and visit.

 

In terms of cultural partnerships, Cabinet’s agreed draft Cultural Plan was shared with key partners, Authority Officers and the Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism and Events.  Comments were received up until the 4 April 2023, and incorporated into the draft Plan appended to the report.  The Plan reflected the challenges outlined in the report to Cabinet in November; recognised the diversity of the cultural offer in North Tyneside; and set out the necessary steps to meet the strategic objectives for the transformation of culture in the Borough.

 

Organisations were invited to endorse the Plan and add their logo to the draft by way of signalling their support for the approach outlined.  A call out was made for the position of Chair of the Cultural Partnership, to work closely with the Authority’s Head of Culture on the monitoring and delivery of the Plan.  That call resulted in the endorsement of Chair, Katy Fuller (Pinwheel) and Vice-Chair, Stella Hall (Creative Producer) at the inaugural meeting of the North Tyneside Cultural Partnership on 30 March 2023, which saw over 30 representatives from the wider cultural sector in attendance.  The initial meeting worked through the challenges in the Plan with a view to developing initial action points to cover the first two years of the Plan period. 

 

The partners who had signed up to the Plan were committed to working together to meet the challenges outlined, deliver the impacts indicated and improve the cultural life of the residents of North Tyneside.

 

North Tyneside Creates – A Cultural Plan 2023-2030 would be the starting point of an exciting partnership journey, improving the cultural life of all and boosting the growth of the cultural sector.

 

Cabinet considered the following decision options: to either to agree the recommendations as set out in section 1.2 of the report and take forward with partners the development of a Cultural Strategy for North Tyneside, or, alternatively, to not accept the recommendations and not progress the development of a Cultural Plan for North Tyneside.

 

Resolved that (1) the ‘North Tyneside Creates - A Cultural Plan for North Tyneside 2023-2030’ appended to the report, be approved;

(2) the Director of Regeneration and Economic Development, be authorised to work with partners to develop the North Tyneside Cultural Partnership, to drive forward the delivery and monitoring of the Plan; and

(3) Cabinet receive annual updates on progress against the key challenges and strategic objectives of the Plan.

 

(Reasons for decision:a) the Cultural Plan supports the Authority’s objective to develop a thriving economy; b) is consistent with the objectives of the Authority’s Equally Well strategy for health and wellbeing; and c)supports the strategic objectives of Arts Council England in promoting place-based strategies for culture.)

 

 

Supporting documents: