westminster city council strategy for arts and culture … · · 2008-05-23westminster city...

Westminster City Council Strategy for Arts and Culture 2008-2013

May 2008

Westminster City Council Strategy for Arts and Culture 2008 – 2013 3

ContentsSection Page

Foreword

1 Summary of the strategy 8

2 Culture and the arts – value statement and definitions 14

3 Our vision for arts and culture in Westminster 20

4 Westminster: the place 26

5 Putting the strategy into action 32

6 Conclusion 36

Appendices

A How we have developed this strategy 40

B Research and statistics about participation 42

C Westminster City Council policy context 48

D The national context 51

4 Westminster City Council Strategy for Arts and Culture 2008 – 2013 Westminster City Council Strategy for Arts and Culture 2008 – 2013 5

ForewordA vibrant and thriving arts and cultural scene is the mark of a dynamic society. Culture has a fundamental role to play in today’s world. By championing and encouraging it, we can do so much to improve the quality of life for our residents and create stronger, more cohesive communities. Through arts and culture we can deliver vibrant creative networks and neighbourhoods, educating, entertaining and making people feel proud to live in the most exciting capital city in the world.

Westminster is uniquely privileged to be the home of many of the world’s greatest arts and cultural institutions. We enjoy a rich and diverse cultural offer, from international institutions to grass roots community organisations. Many of our residents take part in cultural activity of all kinds, but too many do not. This strategy focuses on inclusivity and access – about increasing engagement and making arts and culture part of daily life for everyone. It challenges those who provide arts and cultural activities in the city and those who use them to work together to reinvigorate these relationships. It is by working together as one unified cultural community that we can make a difference.

The role of local authorities is changing, with reduced emphasis on our role as funders. Whilst the council can and should provide a level of funding to ensure that art forms exist and flourish in the city, its role as primary funder cannot be sustained. More important is the council’s role as relationship broker between the private, cultural, voluntary, community, and statutory sectors, and creating strong ties between those institutions of national and international excellence and our local community organisations. It is not our role to prescribe delivery, but to assist those who deliver to reach out and extend the artistic and cultural offering beyond traditional barriers. These roles are pivotal to our new arts and culture strategy and the commitment of all involved is vital.

This strategy aims to reflect the diversity not only of art and culture forms in the city but also of the communities which make up this city to celebrate our diversity together and bridge our differences as one community. This strategy is a catalyst for a renewed and invigorated offering across Westminster.

Young people will be the focus of our One City project to enable all secondary school age children to attend at least one cultural event or activity per term. The strategy will provide opportunities for young people to showcase their own cultural projects. It will improve access to cultural activity for older people through improved awareness of opportunities, and better links to community groups through Local Area Renewal Partnerships. Support for the Creative Industries sector and encouragement for cultural institutions to adopt volunteering policies will strengthen the Economic Development agenda.

This strategy and its action plan are ambitious yet challenging. Working together, we can make our aspirations practical, real and lasting. I look forward to its implementation and success.

Councillor Daniel Astaire Cabinet Member for Customer and Community Services, May 2008.

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6 Westminster City Council Strategy for Arts and Culture 2008 – 2013 Westminster City Council Strategy for Arts and Culture 2008 – 2013 �

8 Westminster City Council Strategy for Arts and Culture 2008 – 2013 Westminster City Council Strategy for Arts and Culture 2008 – 2013 �

1 Summary of the strategy Our vision for 2013 is that people in Westminster of all ages and all

backgrounds have the opportunity to take part in excellent and innovative cultural and creative activity that enables them to achieve their best.

To achieve our vision the following objectives will be pursued. They are not listed in order of priority and will be explained in more detail throughout this strategy.

1 Increasing participation

Encourage and enable greater engagement with arts and cultural activity by communities at a neighbourhood and city wide level, especially targeting people in areas where participation is lowest.

2 Developing young talent

Support the development of creative talent in young people including routes for progression.

3 Improving quality of life for older people

Provide opportunities for older people to attend cultural events or take part in creative activity.

4 Bringing art to your doorstep

Increase the visibility within local communities and neighbourhoods of the city’s arts and cultural resources so that local people can get involved.

5 Supporting the Cultural Olympiad

Ensure that Westminster plays a pivotal role in the Cultural Olympiad to maximise the benefits of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

6 Protecting our heritage

Promote good stewardship of the city’s cultural resources and heritage assets and encourage the use of the arts to animate history.

� Supporting the Creative Industries

Maximise the contribution that the Creative Industries make to the City of Westminster and its economy.

8 Sharing resources and expertise

Strengthen connections between larger, national cultural institutions and smaller, local arts and community organisations in the city.

� Generating external funding

Facilitate partnerships between potential commercial supporters and cultural providers and encourage providers to generate external investment.

10 Raising the profile of culture

Raise the profile of arts and culture within the council and increase awareness of the ways that cultural activity can be used for meeting the priorities of other services.

11 Promoting high quality experiences

Support and promote innovative creative and cultural activity of an excellent standard that is relevant to all residents at a city wide and neighbourhood level to provide high quality experiences in which people can take part.

How arts and culture can impact on health and well-beingThere is significant research to show that cultural activity has a positive impact on a person’s physical and mental health and well-being. It can assist and support everyone’s effort to enjoy good health and can contribute to the recovery of people with long term conditions or during rehabilitation.

For example:

• encouraging people to attend cultural events has been shown to have a positive effect on blood pressure and hormone levels1

• rheumatoid arthritis sufferers who listened to 20 minutes of preferred music daily supported a significant reduction in the perception of pain2

• singing and oral history have been shown to increase the quality of life of people with progressive dementia3

• patients exposed to visual arts and live music tend to spend less time in hospital, had significantly less need for pain relief and reduced levels of depression and anxiety4

• physical activity and sport play an important role in preventing and treating a range of diseases.

1 Cited in Dr Staricoff, Can the arts have a positive effect on health? A review of the medical literature

2 Ibid

3 Ibid

4 Department of Health, Report of the Review of Arts and Health Working Group, April 200�

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2 Culture and the arts

2.1 Culture makes places distinctive. Individuals and communities represent themselves through culture. The culture of communities is manifested in the places we create in the city, through:

• the physical landscape of the street and green spaces

• the histories we share, the futures we imagine

• activity and expression, and in games and sports, music, art, drama, dance and storytelling.

2.2 Cultural activity and the arts are a means of creating identity, shaping communities and expressing shared values. They help us to learn about, understand, and interpret the world. In modern, competitive cities culture is also a marker of prestige and a contributor to economic success.

2.3 Arts and culture create opportunity: to play a role in society, to learn transferable skills and to fulfil our own potential. Arts and culture improve the quality of life by offering opportunities for recreation and social interaction, mental stimulation and physical activity, thereby contributing to good health and well-being.

2.4 Participation in arts and cultural activities offers a chance for self-expression and learning new skills, which increase self-esteem, broaden our horizons and raise our aspirations.

2.5 Culture supports renewal as neighbourhoods and the public realm are revitalised, animated and made more distinctive, and contributes to enterprise in the form of the talent it supports within the creative industries which generate £14.� billion per year for the city.1

2.6 Arts and culture promote order in the city by providing positive things for young people to do and outlets for achievements that are non-academic. They also help to build more cohesive communities by increasing understanding amongst different cultures and backgrounds as different people either work to produce something together (like a festival) or learn about another heritage or cultural tradition.

2.� Last but not least we should not forget the importance of ‘art for art’s sake’ - the pleasure something beautiful can bring, the thrill of being intellectually challenged and exposed to new ideas, and the pure enjoyment of being absorbed in something creative.

1 Westminster City Council’s Creative Industries Study, 200�. See Appendix C.

What do we mean by ‘culture’?Culture in a broad sense can mean sports, heritage, museums, galleries, libraries and archives, leisure, tourism and parks as well as the arts and art in the public realm.

The scope of this strategy

Arts and culture affects all parts of the council and so we will work across council departments to help make the whole cultural offer in Westminster accessible to all residents. The focus of this strategy is cultural institutions, the arts and arts organisations, art in the public realm and the historic environment.

In this strategy cultural institutions refers to museums, galleries, libraries and archives, while arts organisations include community arts groups as well as those of a larger scale.

The arts encompass music and singing, theatre, dance, visual art, photography and film, sculpture, sound and digital art, carnival arts and circus skills, and creative writing and storytelling.

An example of art in the public realm is the Sultan’s Elephant which came to London in 2006. The historic environment refers to heritage sites and places of historic interest.

Cultural and creative activity might be a visit to a gallery, an interactive workshop in the Archives Centre, a trip to the ballet, a slam poetry performance in a library or a course in short film-making.

The Creative Industries are an important element of the Westminster economy but their continuing success depends on a vibrant cultural sector. They are defined as:

advertising; architecture; art and antiques markets; computer and video games; crafts; designer fashion; film and video; music; performing arts; publishing; software; television and radio.

Some of the other cultural services provided by the council already have strategies in place or in development. You can find links to them in Appendix C.

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How arts and culture can impact on place-making and local identity Moonwalking in Chinatown Case Study

Westminster City Council funds the Soho Theatre and Writers’ Centre to develop participatory productions with the local community. A promenade performance around Soho and Chinatown called Moonwalking in Chinatown is one example.

To celebrate the Chinese Autumn Moon Festival the theatre collaborated with �5 local residents and community members to produce an interactive performance. The audience was taken on an informative and imaginative walk through Soho and Chinatown, and given the opportunity to explore the area’s cultural diversity.

On the promenade, nearby buildings were used as impromptu stages and stories came to life as the streets were transformed into theatrical settings.

Soho Theatre developed the Moonwalking production through a series of workshops with residents of all ages, sharing their experiences of the Chinese community and life in London. Participants performed alongside professional actors, and took part in stage management, costume design and sound. This production emphasised the community spirit of Chinatown, and was an opportunity for the audience and residents to communicate with one another through a shared artistic experience.

The production was critically acclaimed and a sell-out success and the project met the priority in the council’s Soho Action Plan to ‘encourage public art programmes which reflect the diversity of the Soho community’.

Our vision for 2013 is that people in Westminster of all ages and all backgrounds have the opportunity to take part in excellent and innovative cultural and creative activity that enables them to achieve their best.



3 Our vision for arts and culture in Westminster

This section is divided into four parts. Each part looks at the impact we want this strategy to have on different stakeholders with some examples of the types of actions we propose to take.

3.1 Impact on Westminster residents

By 2013, we want every young person in Westminster to feel entitled to walk through the doors of any art gallery or museum in London or any theatre in the West End, to be confident about expressing themselves creatively or to aspire to a career in the Creative Industries if they choose.

We want cultural and creative activities like music-making, new media and digital art or parkour to be encountered in everyday life, to be things that young people expect to see and experience all around them as part of the fabric of the city.

We want every older person to have the opportunity to express themselves in ways that suit them, all families to have access to Westminster’s cultural institutions and all neighbourhoods to be brighter, friendlier, more welcoming places buzzing with activities taking place and individuals fulfilling their creative potential.

We need to bring down the barriers that stand in the way of local people benefiting from the rich blend of cultural provision that is available in Westminster and ensure that all residents are able to experience, enjoy and contribute to the city’s unique cultural offer.

To achieve this we will

• encourage and enable greater engagement1 with arts and cultural activity by communities at a neighbourhood and city wide level, especially targeting people in areas where participation is lowest

• support the development of creative talent in young people including routes for progression

• provide opportunities for older people to attend cultural events or take part in creative activity.

3.2 Impact on neighbourhoods and the city

By 2013, we want all our local neighbourhoods to be inspired and invigorated by excellent quality arts and cultural activity that plays its full role in contributing to planning and city development and place-making. We want to increase the range and number of opportunities for people to encounter the arts, heritage and public art in their own local area.


• increase the visibility within local communities and neighbourhoods of the city’s arts and cultural resources, so that local people can get involved

• ensure that Westminster plays a pivotal role in the Cultural Olympiad to maximise the benefits of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

• promote good stewardship of the city’s cultural resources and heritage assets and encourage the use of the arts to animate history.

2 By ‘engagement’ we mean direct participation in activities, contribution through producing creative content, and attendance at events as audience members or spectators. Increased engagement will help us meet the new National Indicators for culture.

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3.3 Impact on arts and cultural organisations in Westminster

Westminster is unique in the richness and diversity of cultural offer we have in the city and in the array of world-class institutions and professional, voluntary and community arts providers. We should harness these resources for the benefit of the wider community.

We want to encourage the subsidised cultural sector to seek investment from business and to become more sustainable with strong links to different council services.

By facilitating networking within the sector we will encourage professional development and the sharing of innovative ideas with a particular emphasis on access and learning resources. We believe huge benefits can result from the sharing of skills, expertise, resources and facilities between larger scale cultural organisations and smaller grass-roots arts groups and we will seek ways to broker better relationships.

Westminster will be enriched by the experience of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games which will unlock the creativity of the city and its communities and help us to build a more sustainable cultural sector.


• maximise the contribution that the Creative Industries make to the City of Westminster and its economy

• strengthen connections between larger, national cultural institutions and smaller, local arts and community organisations in the city

• facilitate partnerships between potential commercial supporters and cultural providers and encourage providers to generate external investment.

3.4 Impact on the council’s performance

Within the next five years all departments in the council will recognise and make use of the benefits that arts and cultural activity can bring to their services. We want cultural activity to be deployed in council initiatives that tackle worklessness, homelessness, environmental sustainability and climate change, drug and alcohol dependency and family breakdown and in initiatives that improve health and involve disabled people or people with sensory needs. We want to make arts and cultural practice better understood, better integrated and more visible.

In addition, we want Westminster to be a world leader in connecting major arts and cultural facilities and their local communities. Working with arts and cultural partners, we want to show how a leading local authority can extend and celebrate existing best practice. We want to make sure that the arts and culture teams in Westminster (and by extension the council as a whole) are recognised as credible brokers, leaders, advocates and collaborators who effectively nurture and support cultural partners, facilitate creative activity and foster links between a range of external partners and council services.


• raise the profile of arts and culture within the council and increase awareness of the ways that cultural activity can be used for meeting the priorities of other services

• support innovative creative and cultural activity of an excellent standard that is relevant to all residents at a city wide and neighbourhood level to provide high quality experiences in which people can take part.

3.5 Taken together these points provide our eleven objectives and form the core of this strategy.

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How arts and cultural activity can impact on young peopleFreqOUT! Case Study

FreqOUT! is an innovative community education programme for young people aged 13-1�. It is hosted by Vital Regeneration and steered by a consortium of representatives from Westminster City Council, CityWest Homes, Capgemini and Vertex, individual artists and the voluntary sector. It explores the artistic and educational potential of wireless technology to engage socially excluded young people living in the 20% most deprived areas of London.

Through involvement with technology, and exposure to artists, members of the business community and statutory service providers, it aims to increase the young people’s opportunities for work and further education.

FreqOUT! devises projects where young people are given practical and professional experience of using cutting-edge technology, This inspires creative thinking and advances the young people’s creativity, encouraging them to use future technologies to engage with their local communities.

Specific projects have included the Museum of the Moment audio project which created a mix of site specific content delivered by radio and wireless technology and acted as a showcase for the talents, voices and sounds of the Harrow Road. A documentary film-making project delivered in partnership with the Cardinal Hume Drop In Centre and Churchill Gardens Youth Club enabled young people and young homeless people to make their own short films.



4.4 Each day Westminster’s core population swells to over one million from incoming workers and visitors. The majority of London’s 30 million annual visitors come to Westminster during their stay in the capital, attracted by iconic heritage sites such as the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace and some of London’s largest public and ceremonial events. More modest, though significant, heritage assets include the listed social housing on Millbank Estate and Churchill Gardens, and an outstanding collection of Victorian pubs, traditional mews, shopfronts, and historic street furniture.

4.5 Trafalgar Square and the Royal Parks are major venues for outdoor arts events. The city is one of the most important locations for British film and broadcasting production and 83,000 people are employed in wider Creative Industries in Westminster.

4.6 The city is home to many national and world-class institutions and museums such as The National Gallery and the Royal Opera House and more than 40 West End theatres. The majority of these cultural institutions have education and outreach functions to facilitate access and connection at a local level. Some of these already provide learning, participation and work opportunities for Westminster residents, and we want to work with these partners to spread this offer even further across our communities.

4.� A number of high profile Higher Education institutions specialising in the arts are based in the city. These include the Royal Academy of Music, London College of Fashion, and Chelsea College of Art and Design.

4 Westminster: the place

4.1 The City of Westminster is a place of diversity and contrast and is home to over 240,000 residents. Some of the world’s wealthiest people live here, but four of Westminster’s wards are among the ten most deprived localities in Britain. Over 180 nationalities are represented in Westminster’s population with some 150 languages spoken in schools. In future years the population is expected to continue to grow and diversify.

4.2 The ethnic diversity of Westminster brings a spectrum of world cultures and styles onto the streets and into the life of the city. From the Middle Eastern influences of the Edgware Road, to historic and thriving Chinatown at the city’s centre and the phenomenal Trinidadian-inspired Notting Hill Carnival, the neighbourhoods of Westminster exemplify metropolitan diversity. These diverse communities make an invaluable contribution to the wealth of cultural opportunities available in the city.

4.3 Westminster’s most disadvantaged areas are Church Street, Harrow Road, Queen’s Park, Westbourne and South Westminster. Some of these wards are also where engagement with cultural activity is lowest.1 Local Area Renewal Partnerships (LARP’s) work to improve the quality of life of people who live and work in these areas.

3 Further details about levels of engagement can be found in the information about the Taking Part survey and CultureMap in Appendix B.

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4.8 Two of London’s emerging Cultural Quarters, comprising clusters of national institutions and cultural excellence, are at Exhibition Road and Central Westminster in the area around Trafalgar Square. The Exhibition Road cluster includes the Royal Albert Hall, the Serpentine Gallery, the Royal College of Art and the Royal College of Music while the Central Quarter accommodates Somerset House and the Institute of Contemporary Arts, among others.

4.� Just over the borders of the City of Westminster we are fortunate to have the Cultural Quarters of the South Bank and Create Kings Cross, along with high profile institutions like the British Library and the Barbican.

4.10 Westminster will host a number of events for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We are preparing for our role in receiving many of the UK and international visitors to the games who will be staying in or visiting the centre of London. The major street events which pave the way and then accompany the Olympic and Paralympic Games will build on the council’s unique expertise of safely managing arts and cultural events on the largest scale.

4.11 We are also preparing plans for our part in the cultural celebrations that form the build up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games from October 2008 so that we can ensure that the games raise the profile of London’s cultural offer, extend an invitation to local communities to join in and generate a meaningful legacy for Westminster residents.

Westminster City Council Strategy for Arts and Culture 2008 – 2013 2�

How arts and culture can impact on local area renewalSouth Westminster Community Festival Case Study

Westminster’s largest community festival, South West Fest, has more than 40 individual events and one main ‘Festival Sunday’ at the start. The festival is an important local resource to celebrate and enrich the South Westminster community, promoting social inclusion and awareness of and access to local services

Activities at the Festival Gala Day in St George’s Square include circus skills; kids entertainment in association with WICKED and Pimlico Toy Library; workshops by Westminster Adult Education Service; fairground rides and police horses; live performances from Pimlico School Jazz Band, and events with the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms

Other festival events are Cla$$y Flavas held at Westminster Boating Base and organised for and by young people; the Lord Mayor’s Tea Dance for older people at the Abbey Centre; kids cooking with the top chef at City Inn; the return of SW1 Community Radio; and a special Late@Tate Britain with karaoke in the gallery. There are also open-air film screenings on the Parade Ground at Chelsea College of Art and Design.

• The Carnival Parade in 200� involved 60 children and young people.

• An estimated �,000 people took part in the Festival overall: 5,000 on Festival Saturday and approximately 4,000 over the course of the festival fortnight.

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5 Putting strategy into action

5.1 The relationship between the council, the communities it serves, and the cultural sector of Westminster is central to the achievement of our vision for culture and the arts. This relationship is at the heart of the actions of this strategy.

5.2 Partnership working is the key to effective delivery and we want the council to be a responsive and energetic partner. The leadership shown by the council and the effective use of the capacity, strengths and flexibilities of the council’s own resources and systems will underpin the success of the action plan as a whole.

5.3 The Leader of the Council has demonstrated commitment to arts and culture by including it in the One City1 plan for 2008-0� a project to offer secondary school age children one free cultural event per term.

5.4 Westminster’s Strategy for Arts and Culture covers the period 2008-2013. The initial action plan will cover the period 2008-2011 and will be reviewed and refreshed annually. It will be a cross-council plan, developed, co-ordinated and monitored by the Cultural Officers Group, the council officers with lead responsibility for various cultural services, chaired by the Director of Libraries.

5.5 The Action Plan is designed to meet our objectives and each action will:

• deliver improvement to residents in accessing, learning about, and enjoying arts and culture in Westminster

4 See Appendix C for information on the One City plan.

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• strengthen and support arts and cultural organisations in Westminster and ensure the council can act as an effective champion for the arts and culture

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• increase the council’s ability to improve its own performance and effectiveness.

5.6 The actions include proposals for cultural activity as part of Westminster’s contribution to the Cultural Olympiad where those proposals help to further the council’s long term objectives.

5.� Resources for delivering the strategy

Much of the strategy is about the council giving strong leadership and direction, better information, improved partnership working, and providing opportunities for networking for spreading and sharing good practice.

Some of the strategy will be delivered by partner organisations and by more effective use of existing service budgets, including the budget which is used to commission 1� arts organisations to run programmes that meet the council’s priorities. These priorities include improving the overall quality of life for residents and creating strong communities.2

Capacity to deliver the action plan will need to be kept under review. The current action plan covers the first three years of the strategy.

Part of Westminster City Council’s role as leader, broker, co-ordinator and commissioner is to identify funding opportunities, both internal and external, to support arts and cultural initiatives and activities.

5 See Appendix C for more details of Westminster’s priorities.

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6 Conclusion This strategy is just the starting point. The delivery of the action plan will

enable us to realise our vision of all Westminster residents participating in excellent cultural and creative activity that enables them to achieve their best.

Photography credits

Page number

Project organiser Project name Credit

6 Westminster Arts Arts & Minds Susan Aldworth

� Westminster Arts Arts & Minds Deborah Padfield

10 London Chinatown Chinese Association

Torch Festival July 200�

12 Streetwise Opera Critical Mass Suzanne Jansen

13 Serpentine Gallery Hreinn Friðfinnsson Family Day Alistair Fyfe

1� Soho Theatre Moonwalking in Chinatown Simon Kane

25 Vital Regeneration / FreqOUT! Perceptual Landscapes Kuba Novak

30 Paddington Arts Notting Hill Carnival 200� Steve Shaw

31 Westminster City Council Traceurs Andy Day

34 Paddington Arts Annual Show 200� Steve Shaw

35 Paddington Arts Steel band Steve Shaw

38 Westminster City Council Traceurs Andy Day

3� Westminster City Council Traceurs Andy Day

How arts and culture can impact on community cohesionRoad to Abolition Case Study

The ‘Road to Abolition’ was an online heritage trail with a downloadable audio guide organised by a group of partners who hadn’t worked together before and who are not in receipt of council funding. Designed to mark the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade, the trail led the participant to various points of interest related to the slave trade and highlighted individuals involved in the campaign to abolish slavery. The walk took participants from Trafalgar Square to Pimlico and invited them to visit a selection of exhibitions that were being held to mark the bicentenary.

The project’s aims were to raise awareness and appreciation of the diverse heritages and cultures of Westminster communities and to encourage members of Black and Minority Ethnic communities in Westminster to attend some of the city’s most prestigious cultural venues.

The partnership comprised Westminster City Council, the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament), Tate Britain, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and City of Westminster Archives Centre.

The partners commissioned London historian Steve Martin to devise the trail and historical narrative, and actors Penelope Jagessar Chaffer and Shango Baku to record the commentary.

For further information on the trail visit http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/abolition/



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4 Research and statistics into levels of participation in cultural activities can be found in Appendix B. This explains the rationale for targeting particular groups of participants.

5 A summary of the policy areas that this strategy will contribute to is listed as Appendix C. A summary of the national context is given in Appendix D.

6 The following stakeholders were invited to comment on the consultation draft of the strategy:

• council officers

• members of council

• Regional Cultural Agencies

• around 300 stakeholders from the cultural sector

• the thematic networks of the Westminster City Partnership (eg Housing Network, Health and Care Network)

• Local Area Renewal Partnership managers

• Voluntary Action Westminster

• statutory bodies such as the Primary Care Trust

• the wider public who visited the Westminster website and The Seer website

Appendix AHow we have developed this strategy

1 This Strategy for Arts and Culture sets out how Westminster City Council will direct its resources to make best use of arts and culture for our residents, visitors, businesses and the wider community from 2008-2013. It is based on:

• feedback from Westminster’s arts sector to the Arts Symposium in February 200�

• an analysis of our current and emerging policy priorities

• a discussion at the council’s Health and Community Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting

• interviews with council members and officers

• assessment of the council’s performance through the Regional Cultural Commentary

• a multi-agency meeting with the Regional Cultural Agencies 1

2 This strategy builds on Westminster’s good and improving practice in supporting, encouraging and delivering arts and cultural services. It sets out the value of positive relationships with external partners across the cultural and commercial sectors. It seeks to embed and further strengthen collaborative arts and cultural activity between council teams and departments, which has already been identified as a growing strength of our approach.

3 The strategy will be delivered by all council departments with Westminster’s arts and culture teams playing a strategic role, providing advice and support, sharing information, and brokering relationships within and outside the council.

6 See Appendix D for a list of the Regional Cultural Agencies.

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Appendix B Research references on attendance and participation in cultural activities in Westminster

Informing change: Taking Part in the arts

Survey findings from the first 12 months1 A recent survey by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), ‘Taking Part’, looked at levels of participation across the country in different cultural activities. In its analysis of the survey results Arts Council England, London identified future priority audiences as those people who currently do not attend cultural events or participate in creative activities. It will now focus on behaviour (ie whether or not people take part, and how much) as a way of describing priority groups. It believes that ‘getting the art right’ is the key to increasing engagement.

In London, 66% of adults attended an arts event and 55% participated in arts activity at least once in the last 12 months. Forty five per cent both attended and participated but around a quarter did neither. Engagement rates in London vary by socio-demographic factors and by artform.

Reasons for non-attendance: Of those who had not attended an arts event during the past twelve months, cost did not appear to be the biggest barrier as only 6% stated this as the reason for not attending. ‘Not really interested’ was the main reason for non-attendance followed by ‘difficulty in finding the time’ (31% and 2�% respectively.) Four per cent stated that it simply ‘never occurred’ to them. Main factors that would encourage higher attendance are ‘having more free time’ and ‘more performances and events closer to where I live’ (30% and 1�% respectively). Other factors that would encourage more frequent attendance included ‘more performances/events about subjects I’m interested in’ (10%) and ‘better information on what is available’ (5%).

� Taking Part is a major, continuous national survey commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in partnership with Arts Council England, Sport England, English Heritage and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.

The survey asks around 2�,000 members of the public every year about their attendance at a wide variety of arts events, museums, galleries, libraries and heritage sites; and their participation in creative activities and sport. It also asks about motivations and barriers to attendance and participation and collects a large quantity of socio-demographic information such as age, occupation, income, social class, health and ethnicity. The survey has been conducted since July 2005.

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For these reasons, it is important to make sure that cultural opportunities are relevant to different target groups.

Further information about ‘Taking Part’ can be found on the DCMS website at http://www.culture.gov.uk/Reference_library/rands/taking_part_survey

Audiences London and CultureMap Arts Council England commissioned Audiences London to create CultureMap, the pilot for a new online resource bringing information about cultural provision in London together with data about users and audiences, all linked to maps showing the city’s infrastructure and population. It contains interactive maps that allow information to be accessed on a London wide, regional and local authority level. These maps combine Audiences London’s data on provision and user information with a wealth of additional, publicly-available demographic and statistical layers.

CultureMap shows that in Westminster the lowest engagement is amongst people living in the Queen’s Park, Harrow Road, Church Street, Westbourne and Churchill wards. (http://www.culturemaplondon.org/)

An Audiences London report2 on levels of engagement with culture in the five central London boroughs shows that Westminster enjoys extremely high levels of satisfaction amongst residents with the borough’s cultural facilities, with one of the highest proportion of residents using these cultural facilities. Westminster residents are also most likely to consider that these cultural facilities have improved over the last three years.

Mapping of cultural facilities: There is a high concentration of cultural facilities in the South Eastern side of Westminster. Westminster accounts for 36% of the total cultural facilities across the five central boroughs. Visual arts venues are most numerous in Westminster; over 80% of the total number of archives in London can be found in Westminster and Camden.

8 Audiences London, Central London Arts Partnership Central London Creative Offer 2012 - Attendance and Participation Stage 1 Summary Report (July 200�), unpublished.

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The target beneficiaries of the arts commissioning fund are a) Westminster residents in areas with few cultural opportunities b) disabled young people c) vulnerable or at risk young people d) BME communities e) older people f) carers and g) Westminster residents as a whole, who will benefit from large scale, city wide initiatives. The figures below indicate the level of engagement in arts activities according to ward, art form and target group.

The data below does not indicate level of engagement of residents with non-funded partners and cultural providers in Westminster, of which there are many.

Figure1 Level of engagement by ward (where organisations are based and where events took place)

Arts attendance by socio-demographic profile: In terms of Mosaic3 household types, Westminster is characterised by large proportions of ‘Symbols of Success’ (higher than the London average) which according to research, has significant proportions already attending arts events.

Arts attendance by art forms: Residents in Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster are more likely to attend arts events than the London average. Visiting art galleries and art exhibitions is the most popular arts activity, followed by attending any performance in a theatre, and then plays. Contemporary dance is the least popular arts activity.

Arts Council England Arts Debate – What people want from the arts The Arts Debate, Arts Council England’s first ever public value inquiry, ran from October 2006 to September 200�. The findings were released in March 2008 at the annual Local Government Association (LGA) Culture, Tourism and Sport Conference, and are entitled ‘What people want from the arts’.

The results of the Arts Debate are important to local government for the following reasons. It is the largest, most robust piece of research into the opinions of the English public of how much they value the arts. From the research, members of the public clearly identify the links between their engagement in the arts and their personal well-being and connection to their communities. Local arts venues, festivals and activities therefore can play a major role in place-shaping and delivering better outcomes for individuals and communities.

The Arts Debate findings will be a useful tool for elected members to support the needs and aspirations of their communities in relation to access to quality arts. The data will give all local authorities and their strategic partners the opportunity to consider their levels of engagement against regional and national averages.

Westminster City Council Arts Commissioning Fund target beneficiaries: In 200�-8, Westminster City Council commissioned 1� arts organisations to deliver three year community and education programmes of cultural and creative activities for Westminster residents to participate in. A further six organisations were awarded one year funding.

� Mosaic is a marketing tool that classifies United Kingdom consumers according to their socio-demographic profile, lifestyle, culture and behaviour.

�


Figure 2 Level of engagement by art form Figure 3 Level of engagement by target group


Appendix CWestminster City Council’s policy contextThe Cabinet Member for Customer and Community Services has responsibility for libraries, leisure facilities, arts and culture in Westminster City Council.

Arts and culture in Westminster’s governing policiesWestminster City Council has articulated its corporate ambitions and values in a range of policies that set out the values and direction that the council is following and which direct the delivery of its services. The core policies, described below and taken together, provide the framework within which we will deliver our Strategy for Arts and Culture.

Westminster City Partnership - Community Strategy 2008 - 2016Westminster City Plan is Westminster’s Community Strategy and has been developed by Westminster City Partnership (WCP), a partnership between the council and other key partners from the voluntary and statutory sectors. It sets out a vision and goals for Westminster over an eight year period.

Our shared vision is that by 2016 Westminster will be the best city to live in, work in and visit in the UK. A vibrant city with a great quality of life, strong united communities and excellent services offering real opportunities for everyone to achieve a better future.

The Community Strategy recognises that culture - arts, sports, heritage, media, tourism and libraries - is a critical component in the quality of life of the city. Culture is identified as one of four cross cutting issues which runs through the City Plan. Consistent advocacy for the contribution of culture to the success of the plan will be necessary.

Westminster City Council – One City Programme 2006 - 2010Westminster’s One City Programme describes how the council will take forward the priorities of the Community Strategy.

The council’s objective is to make Westminster the best governed city in the world. This means

• an example of a united, tolerant and active community

• a centre for opportunity and enterprise with active residents and flourishing businesses

• support from a council which sets a leading edge example in terms of community leadership.

In 2008-0�, under the theme of Opportunity, project number 16 is entitled ‘Cultural Activities for Young People’. The project will increase the opportunities young people have to participate in arts and culture based events or activities and aims to provide every secondary school child in Westminster with one free trip every term to an arts or cultural event.

Local Area Agreement The Local Area Agreement (LAA) sets out the priorities and funding levels between Central Government and Westminster City Council (WCC). As a city of diverse cultural influences and a wealth of tradition, Westminster identifies the need to strengthen intercultural networks, expand opportunity and to build cohesion and understanding amongst its residents.

Neighbourhood Renewal The Local Area Renewal Partnerships (LARP’s) work to improve the quality of life of people who live and work in Westminster’s most disadvantaged areas. These areas are: Church Street, Harrow Road, Queen’s Park, Westbourne and South Westminster. Supported by WCP and funded through the LAA, the LARP teams co-ordinate partnership working at a neighbourhood level and deliver programmes to reduce deprivation.


Local Development Framework The Unitary Development Plan which sets out Westminster’s proposals for land use and policies for assessing planning applications is now in the process of being replaced by a Local Development Framework (LDF). The Core Strategy for the LDF includes consideration of tourism, arts, culture and entertainment uses. Supplementary Planning Guidance is in preparation for a Public Realm Strategy Supplementary Planning Document, for a Public Art Supplementary Planning Document and for a Statues and Monuments Supplementary Planning Document. A strategy for Open Space was adopted in 200�. The council’s Creative Industries Study (200�) examines the economic contribution the Creative Industries make to the city and proposes an active use of the planning framework to sustain and support this sector.

Westminster strategies or policies for specific cultural services • Sports and Physical Activity (in development)

• Parks and Open Spaces (http://www.westminster.gov.uk/environment/planning/ldf/documents/oss.cfm )

• Public Art (http://www.westminster.gov.uk/environment/planning/public realm)

• Creative Industries Study (200�) (http://www.westminster.gov.uk/environment/planning/majorprojects/creativeindustries.cfm).

Appendix DArts and culture in a national context

Children and Young PeopleThe green paper Every Child Matters identifies five outcomes that are most important to children and young people whatever their background or circumstances: Be Healthy, Stay Safe, Enjoy and Achieve, Make a Positive Contribution and Achieve Economic Well-being. Westminster recognises that arts and cultural activity provides effective and inspirational ways to achieve these outcomes, whether through work in and out of formal education; with young people at risk, their families, and those caring for or working with them; through Westminster’s Youth Service, and through independent projects working with and supporting young people.

The new Children’s Plan developed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families has a target of making available five hours of cultural activity per week in and out of school. It will run pilot schemes between 2008-2011 to encourage young people to learn about culture and learn through culture. The aim of the pilots is to find ways to connect all 0-1� year olds to their five hours of activity.

Regional Commentary on Cultural ServicesIn 200� a Regional Cultural Commentary on cultural services was completed in partnership with the Regional Cultural Agencies (Arts Council England, Museums Libraries and Archives Council, Sport England, English Heritage). It noted that Westminster City Council works well with the regional cultural agencies, commending its strengths in local consultation and the quality of information provided locally. It stressed the importance of good mechanisms of consultation and communication with Westminster’s arts and cultural communities. For further information on the final commentary visit http://www.westminster.gov.uk/leisureandculture/artsandentertainment/.


Department for Culture, Media and SportThe Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) has an objective ‘to encourage more widespread enjoyment of culture and sport’. There are three new National Indicators for this:

• use of public libraries

• visits to museums or galleries

• engagement in the arts.

See Appendix B for more information about research into levels of engagement.

Supporting Excellence in the Arts Commissioned by James Purnell, then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Sir Brian McMaster’s review of how public subsidy can support excellence in the arts emphasises the need for art to be relevant to the individuals who experience it, as well as excellent and innovative.

Arts Council England Outdoor Arts Action Plan 2008-2011 – New Landscapes (January 2008)Between 2008-2011, Arts Council England will invest £1.6 billion of public money from government and the National Lottery in supporting the development needs of outdoor arts in England. The focus on outdoor arts activity will help artists to develop new and high quality work and enable more people to participate in more places.

The Arts Council will be working with local authorities and other bodies who seek to use outdoor arts with which to celebrate or to re-generate and animate their public spaces.

The following indicators have been set by the Arts Council to measure the success of New Landscapes:

• more and better quality work produced collaboratively by professional artists and companies

• a clear focus on outdoor arts work throughout the development of the Cultural Olympiad and other major celebratory events nationwide; measured by levels of new activity and opportunities for artists

• an evidence base of participation and investment and clear frameworks for collecting and evidencing impact.

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