On 2 February, the government published a white paper to indicate how they intend to implement their flagship Levelling Up policy. Meanwhile, responding to this Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) inquiry could influence what the detail looks like.
Background
What does the Levelling Up white paper say that is relevant to leisure-time music groups?
These two points are most directly relevant:
- ‘The White Paper will commit the government to significantly increasing cultural spending outside the capital, and commit that 100% of the Arts Council England [ACE] funding uplift agreed at the latest Spending Review will be spent outside London.
- A new National Youth Guarantee will be launched so that by 2025 every young person in England will have access to regular out of school activities, adventures away from home, and opportunities to volunteer.’
But there is much more in their '12 Missions to level up the UK,’ which is likely to consider the role of leisure-time music groups when detailed policies come to be written and implemented.
In addition, the white paper outlines 55 Education Investment Areas (EIAs) which will be a focus in this policy. This is about young people, of course, but it is not just about their time in school:
‘In direct response to the activities young people said they want outside of school, the government has announced a National Youth Guarantee. Backed by £560 million worth of investment, plans set to be outlined in the Levelling Up white paper will mean that every young person in England will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and volunteering opportunities by 2025.’
It is therefore worth making a note of these 55 EIAs – especially if your group is in one of them (see page 12 of this Education Investment Areas – selection methodology document), and keeping an eye on developments in your area.
Also, check out (and note how closely the EIAs overlap) with the Arts Council England’s 54 Priority Places which, given the government’s instruction to Arts Council England to spend the uplift awarded in the autumn budget outside of London, will receive priority in terms of funding. Are you in one of these places?
Levelling up UK-wide
The Levelling Up agenda applies to the whole of the UK, though detail and implementation in the nations other than England will be (to some extent) devolved to those administrations.
Northern Ireland: 3% of the overall levelling up pot announced in the autumn budget is going to NI. It seems to be targeted at local level. "For culture and regeneration projects this will mean we are accepting bids from district councils or local applicants operating at that level." Read more on the UK government website.
Scotland: There are also funds going to Scotland under last autumn’s budget, but otherwise it is unclear at the moment how and whether the white paper will be implemented by Scottish government. Read more in The Scotsman website.
Wales: Again, there seems to be debate about how this agenda will be implemented in Wales, and some unhappiness about the amount of cash, which does not fully replace the lost European funds Wales used to benefit from. Read more on the BBC news website.
DCMS parliamentary committee inquiry – deadline 18 February
A number of government departments have held inquiries, and sought the views of their specific audiences on what levelling up might mean in practice, and so it is now with the DCMS committee.
The DCMS inquiry is asking:
- How can culture reanimate our public spaces and shopping streets?
- How can creatives contribute to local decision-making and planning of place?
- How can the Government support places without established artistic infrastructure to take full advantage of the opportunities that the Levelling Up agenda provides?
- How might changes to the UK’s broadcasting landscape affect investment in cultural production outside the capital, and what could the consequences be for artists and communities?
- How should Government build on existing schemes, such as the UK City of Culture, to level up funding for arts and culture?
Making Music believes it is important that we respond to this inquiry, so that leisure-time music groups, their needs and challenges (e.g. in terms of local infrastructure), and also the benefits they can bring to individuals and communities, are firmly on the radar of policymakers implementing the Levelling Up agenda in future.
We have learnt that giving specific examples, names and localities in our submissions is really helpful in getting our points across to politicians, and we are now looking to member groups to get in touch so that we can include your activity in our submission.
So if you, for instance:
- work with your local community
- Work with local schools
- bring new people to music
- have a great story to tell in terms of your participants’ well-being or progress
- contribute to building pride of place through your performances
- help to revitalise local spaces with your activity
- and especially if you are located either in one of Arts Council England’s 54 Priority Places or the Levelling Up white paper’s 55 Education Investment Areas
- if you are in the constituency of either one of the DCMS committee’s MPs or of Nadine Dorries, the Secretary of State for Digital Culture Media and Sport, or are connected to the Minister for Arts, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
- or think of anything else particularly be of interest to the committee’s inquiry by emailing us.
| Please get in touch by emailing Making Music's Chief Executive, Barbara Eifler, either sending a brief description of your work or relevant connection, or contacting her to set up a phone call, by the end of of the day on Sunday 13 February. |
You can of course also make your own submission to the inquiry or make one as a group of organisations in your area.
What next?
Nationally/UK-wide
Generally, such inquiries eventually publish a report which then draws a response from government setting out whether and how they intend to act on its recommendations.
See for instance, in this same policy area, Danny Kruger’s 2020 report on Levelling up our communities: proposals for a new social covenant which has just received this response from government.
To stay informed, you can usually sign up for alerts from relevant government departments and for leisure-time music they might be DCMS, or the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities, the Department for Education or the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, depending on topic or policy.
For instance, last year’s Protect Duty consultation, which has just published a report, was a Home Office exercise, but still relevant to leisure-time music. You can read Making Music’s thoughts on the government response.
Locally
Not just Levelling Up, many policies which are relevant and make a difference to leisure-time music groups are delivered or created locally. Make sure that you sign up to relevant council newsletters or keep up with local debates on news websites – and ask Making Music for help if an issue comes up that you would like support with.
