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Implementation of the National Cultural Strategy: Draft Guidance for Scottish Local Authorities
Part 4. Partnerships and community planning
This part of the guidance discusses 1) the purposes of 'partnership' 2) local authorities' various cultural partner organisations 3) why partnership is important in cultural provision 4) the capacity- and infrastructure-building roles of local authorities 5) the role of planning in partnerships 6) partnership schemes based on funding. |
4.1 The purposes of partnership
4.1.1 A partnership is where there is a shared agenda between two or more bodies, to achieve an agreed goal or goals. Partnerships are crucial to the successful provision of culture. The Scottish Executive has indicated that it has itself a role in fostering partnerships. Some partnerships involve individual local authorities, whereas some are collective (e.g. regional ones involving several local authorities, or a national one involving CoSLA). The partnerships will vary in nature and purpose (e.g. funding, planning, service delivery). Community planning gives local authorities the lead role among local bodies for fostering partnerships - including partnerships relating to cultural matters.
4.1.2 Partnerships can be formed for many different reasons, including:
developing inter-agency policy
developing facilities
consulting service users and citizens (e.g. local planning fora and rural partnerships)
accessing funds which are external to local authorities
pooling of budgets and other resources
making resource transfers between partner bodies
sharing experience/practice
enhancing service quality.
4.1.3 Above all, partnerships make possible what could not be achieved were the partner organisations to act alone. Sometimes partnership is necessary, in order to bring together the mix of responsibilities and resources a particular initiative requires. It usually is the best way to bring about action where organisations have shared objectives and operations call for cross-cutting activity. Many partners in the cultural area can be identified - the private and voluntary sectors, artists and sportspersons, governing bodies and other public agencies.
4.1.4 In such cases, it is good practice for local authorities actively to seek and develop partnerships with relevant bodies.
Illustration:
sports partnerships Strategic partnerships are now established throughout Scotland between local authorities, and others, with the Scottish Institute of Sport and its six area institutes. All local authorities are now involved with an area institute. The purpose of these partnerships is to develop and sustain top-level international sport - for example: Central Scotland Institute of Sport (CSIS) has a strong partnership at its centre made up of Stirling University, Stirling Council and Falkirk Council. This core partnership is supported by both the Scottish Institute and
sportscotland. There is significant support from a number of secondary partners such as Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley, Clackmannanshire Council and Falkirk College West of Scotland Institute of Sport (WSIS) has 13 local authorities covered by the area designated as WSIS. Glasgow City Council has taken a lead role and the three city universities are also in crucial roles.
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Community Planning
4.1.5 Community planning recognises that the needs of individuals and communities must be addressed collectively. Community planning is about involving communities themselves in agreeing priorities and how those priorities can be delivered. It is also about bodies and partnerships working together more effectively to improve service provision. Increasingly, community planning will be the key mechanism for making better connections between national and local priorities. It will also place responsibility for delivering change with those agencies and providers most able to respond.
4.1.6 The Local Government in Scotland Bill which was presented to the Scottish Parliament in May 2002 proposes statutory underpinning for effective community planning. This underpinning will have value in building on the success of existing arrangements for joint working and co-operation, and in ensuring the on-going engagement of key participants.
4.1.7 Local authorities will have a duty to initiate and facilitate the community planning process - consulting and co-operating with local community bodies. Authorities will also be given a power to "advance the well-being" of their respective areas. This will provide them with greater scope and flexibility to undertake their community leadership role.
4.1.8 The role of culture and recreation has great potential for development within community planning. This guidance demonstrates the real opportunities and benefits available at local level from the development of cultural provision - within recognised cultural activity (Table A) and in its contribution to cross-cutting areas (Table B). This may call for the involvement of some new community planning partners - or the greater involvement of those engaged at present - e.g. the Scottish Arts Council,
sportscotland and other bodies and companies which make cultural provision at local level (see below).
4.1.9 It is good practice for local authorities to promote cultural provision within community planning, where its intrinsic and instrumental contributions can bring important benefits for the well-being of communities and individuals.
"National companies" and other bodies
4.1.10 It is important that local authorities appreciate that potentially one of the most important types of cultural partnership is with bodies which are national or regional providers of arts services (as contrasted with bodies which plan, co-ordinate and fund cultural activities). There are four bodies with 'national company' status - Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. However, there is a much wider group of bodies whose role is national or regional - rather than local - and which currently provide, or are able to provide, services in local authority areas. Examples include the National Galleries and Museums of Scotland, Historic Scotland, and theatre and dance companies.
4.1.11 It is good practice for local authorities to:
use the services such bodies provide as a means of widening access (e.g. through visiting performances; arranging workshops).
not only consider funding such bodies by means of a grant, but also look for opportunities for such bodies to visit their area to mount performances on the basis of a partnership in which not just the performances but the opportunities for creating access are included in the local authority commission
make use, through partnership, of the outreach responsibilities (e.g. in communities and schools) of arts bodies in receipt of public funding.
4.1.12 A possible obstacle to this more sophisticated commissioning role is the weakness of co-ordination mechanisms. National and regional bodies face what is for them a problematic 'one to many' relationship with Scottish local authorities. This suggests that partnerships between local authorities to co-ordinate their approach on a 'cluster' basis may be one way of achieving better partnerships with national and regional bodies. Any such partnerships would have to recognise that individual local authorities may have different needs and circumstances (e.g. how much use and which type of use a local authority wishes to make of a visiting performing body).
Illustration:
regional arts co-ordination and planning The Scottish Arts Council has established a series of area planning ('clusters') meetings. The aim of area planning is to: develop a good fit between national and local arts policy/planning encourage a more equitable distribution of activity and funding, and increase investment in the arts. These meetings bring together arts officers from several neighbouring local authorities, with a total of 6 clusters across Scotland. The purpose is to exchange information and best practice, and to identify actions. There is also scope for local authorities to explore joint initiatives which may provide economies of scale - e.g. audience development strategies. At the time of writing, there have been two sets of meetings - in Summer 2001 and January 2002.
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International cultural exchange
4.1.13 Local authorities are of course local bodies. Nevertheless through partnerships with other bodies they are able to contribute to, and benefit from, national culture. They do so in a number of ways, including:
town twinning
school exchanges
exchanges of cultural bodies (e.g. in sport, arts)
festivals (e.g. major festivals such as the Edinburgh International Festival)
linking with the overseas activities of regional and national bodies (e.g. VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise, British Council).
4.1.14 In turn, this support helps these national and regional bodies to flourish - which helps them take culture (including Scottish culture) overseas. National and regional bodies based in Scotland, can also present culture from overseas. That way, cultural variety and creative exchange can be promoted by the actions of local authorities.
4.1.15 The Scottish International Forum project, which is in its development phase at the time of writing, will produce a website and database of international activity. This will assist local authorities in promoting international cultural exchanges.
4.1.16 Local authorities should therefore, in preparing their cultural strategies and plans, discuss the following questions and, where possible, bring forward proposals:
what scope is there for partnerships with national and regional 'provider' bodies?
how can these best address local needs (e.g. for access)?
what opportunities are there for supporting international cultural exchange?
will joint working with another local authority or authorities help create opportunities?
4.2 Local authorities' 'cultural partner' organisations
4.2.1 Local authorities' cultural partner organisations are diverse, and include
(*):
"
Key priority 4.1: Action to develop a national framework of support for cultural provision appropriate to the 21
st Century We shall: (Creating Our Future . . . Minding Our Past, p 68) |
the Scottish Executive
public bodies (e.g. Scottish Arts Council,
sportscotland, Scottish Screen, health bodies, economic development bodies)
National Lottery distributors (see paragraph 3.5.7, above)
cultural provider bodies (e.g. the national companies, local sports councils)
voluntary sector bodies (e.g. Voluntary Arts Scotland)
other community planning partner organisations (e.g. social care bodies, universities, private sector bodies)
other local authorities.
(*) The listing above is illustrative, rather than definitive.
4.2.2 All of these organisations and many others contribute to the Scottish Executive's National Cultural Strategy, and to the strategies of other national bodies (e.g. health boards; the further and higher education sector). Many also contribute to the strategies and plans of individual local authorities. This part of the guidance considers the circumstances in which local authorities can and should positively shape those contributions.
4.2.3 It is good practice for each local authority to consider the scope for partnership in relation to promoting cultural provision and achieving the authority's policy goals. There are three particular opportunities for forming partnerships, which it is good practice for each local authority to pursue:
the process of developing, and implementing, a whole-authority strategy or plan for cultural provision (see section 5.4, below)
in delivering the authority's lead role in relation to community planning
through economic development planning.
Illustrations:
strategic approaches/partnerships Examples of strategic partnerships include: local authorities' involvement in shaping national plans (e.g. most authorities contributed to the consultation on the National Cultural Strategy and
Sport21) public bodies' (e.g. the Scottish Arts Council,
sportscotland) work with CoSLA to provide guidance to local authorities - for example the CoSLA/Scottish Arts Council guidelines on arts plans; the annual arts expenditure survey produced by CoSLA and the SAC; and the CoSLA/SADLS/
sportscotland report on sport in local government) public bodies' support to individual local authorities in the production of strategies, assistance in planning projects and the provision of Lottery funding partnerships between groups of local authorities and public bodies (e.g. regional institutes of sports, Activ-8, North East Arts Touring).
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4.3 Why partnership is important in cultural provision
"A framework for partnership Culture focuses upon shared experiences and therefore partnerships are of particular importance. The key cultural partnership is the one between artist, producer or presenter and participant, audience or consumer. However, in order to reach their audience, those working in the cultural sector also need to work in partnership with a range of others, including those who fund and facilitate cultural provision and access, such as commercial bodies, local authorities and the Scottish Arts Council. Activity which is supported by public funds needs to have tangible benefits measurable in terms of meeting people's requirements, promoting inclusion and excellence, widening access, stimulating creativity and removing barriers to enjoyment and participation." (Creating Our Future . . . Minding Our Past, p 56) |
4.3.1 As noted in Part 3, partnerships can be important in helping a local authority achieve its own goals. Indeed, in some circumstances, a local authority may be unable to achieve its cultural goals without the commitment and resources of its partner organisations. Partnerships are not merely desirable but often essential when the goals are complex and/or the goals are shared by the local authority and its external partners. (See discussion of complex/'cross-cutting' goals at section 3.3, above.)
4.3.2 As discussed, an important
local type of partnership is formed through community planning - a process led by the local authority, involving identifying shared goals and practices.
4.3.3 Meanwhile,
local-national partnerships between local authorities and national cultural bodies are important for cultural provision because they can result in bringing work of an international standard to audiences throughout Scotland, and therefore widen access.
4.4 The capacity- and infrastructure-building roles of local authorities
"Key priority 4.1: Action to develop a national framework of support for cultural provision appropriate to the 21
st Century We shall: (Creating Our Future . . . Minding Our Past, p 68) |
4.4.1 Local authorities should take the lead role, at local level, for partnerships relating to cultural provision. There are two reasons for this:
These reasons reflect the 'service' and 'strategic' roles discussed in Part 3 (section 3.4).
Building capacity
4.4.2 'Capacity building' usually refers to helping individuals or groups to grow and develop to identify and achieve their ambitions. Local authorities have a role in helping this happen. The process of capacity building can also have the effect of raising ambition, confidence and civic pride in an area or sector. Local authorities can help build capacity in many ways including the provision of:
advice and information.
encouragement for networking
the opportunity to see best practice
training and skills development
community workers and facilities
funding which allows leverage of further funding from other sources.
Illustration:
preparing a heritage strategy to buildcapacity Collaborative working is well understood by local authorities as a key objective for successful project development and implementation. A thorough process of consultation and involvement can, however, be difficult to achieve and it is not always clear from the outset which constituency groups and partners should be involved in a project and at what stage. One example of the development of a collaborative project is the recently published East Lothian Heritage Strategy. The point of departure for this project was collaborative working within the local authority itself - a working group was formed to develop the Strategy with representatives from Economic Development, Property, Planning, Policy & Performance, Landscape & Countryside and Cultural Services. Monthly meetings over a period of more than one year resulted in a first draft strategy which was circulated to the key national heritage agencies and to local interest groups for comment. The first draft had taken account of the published strategy documents of the national agencies and was informed by an awareness of local heritage activity. Starting with a local authority-wide group had many advantages including the creation of corporate awareness of how heritage is managed and understood by different departments of the Authority and identifying ways in which this cross-cutting issue could be imaginatively developed through future internal collaboration. The first draft of the document was welcomed by those consulted but the question of ownership of the Strategy was raised by many. With heritage extending way beyond the control of the local authority, what should the role of the authority be? The final document took account of the many responses received and clarified the status of the Strategy - this first version is a local authority strategy and future strategies will be devised and implemented through collaborative working. To achieve this, East Lothian has established two heritage groups. The first is the Heritage Steering Group which includes representatives from key national heritage agencies in addition to the original members of the internal local authority working group. This is the strategic group which will drive the implementation of the 2001-2004 Strategy and will devise future strategic documents. The second is East Lothian Heritage Forum which will provide an opportunity for local involvement in heritage development and will advise the Steering Group on key issues for future activity." |
Illustration:
infrastructure building Dundee City Council has invested in infrastructure and arts development, and now plans to develop a 'cultural quarter'. |
Illustration: arts marketing project for capacity building In January 2001, in direct response to feedback from local arts organisations and artists, East Renfrewshire Council undertook a three year initiative to improve the ability of the local arts community to sustain a viable, diverse and accessible network of arts activities. With funding from the Scottish Arts Council's Local Authorities Partnership Scheme, a consultant was engaged to undertake a wide-ranging evaluation of existing marketing efforts, programming and barriers to participation covering both community-based activities as well as the local authority's own direct provision. Prompted by the results, a number of workshops and initiatives have been set up. To date, training workshops have been delivered in fundraising and sponsorship, grant applications, media relations and internet-based marketing. Future workshops are planned in conjunction with the local agency for the voluntary sector to enhance groups' ability to recruit and retain volunteer members. A Marketing Officer was hired to work with local organisations to improve their marketing and fund raising efforts, and an Arts Marketing Grants Scheme was developed to enhance the community's ability to employ their new marketing skills successfully. Results to date have been encouraging with increases in membership of up to 23% being reported by some groups. |
4.5 The role of planning in partnerships
4.5.1 Joint planning of cultural provision is a critically important activity. The resulting plans (including both service plans/strategies and community plans) can be seen as both outputs in their own right from partnerships and also, more importantly, as a step towards clarifying and achieving outcomes (such as new or re-designed services).
4.5.2 Partnerships are often needed by individual cultural bodies to achieve their plans or strategies - for example,
sportscotland has formed partnerships with individual local authorities to take forward the
Sport 21 strategy. This, in turn, has implications for local authorities' planning. In this example, the
Sport 21 strategy encourages authorities to develop a sports development plan or strategy for their area, based on 'strategic partnerships', rather than the local authority developing its own sport plan.
Illustration:
sports partnerships In its delivery of the national strategy for sport and physical recreation,
Sport 21 Nothing Left to Chance,
sportscotland has pursued and developed partnerships at a national and local level to ensure delivery of common goals. Many of these partnerships are with local authorities and demonstrate joint commitment and practice worthy of note. A central feature of these national-to-local partnerships is the commitment from local authorities to develop and implement an integrated local plan for sport and physical recreation. This local plan is defined as 'a strategic plan for sport and recreation which draws on the resources and efforts of all relevant local authority services including leisure, education, planning, social work, economic development and others as appropriate. The local plan should unite the energies of the public, voluntary (including local sports councils and clubs) and commercial sectors in the development of sport. The plan articulates the national strategy. Each authority is encouraged to establish a
Sport 21 strategic group to review progress of implementation. There are a number of examples of established partnerships with local authorities, and others, in pursuit of a common agenda: A strategic alliance between Glasgow City Council and
sportscotland has been established to agree a common agenda that takes cognisance of both organisations' corporate priorities, focusing on a number of key areas of work over a three year to five year period. This work is output- and outcome-driven and evaluated by the implementation of a monitoring framework to ensure progress is communicated. Targets and outcomes will be reviewed and agreed annually. The strategic partnership in the Highlands is led by the Chief Executives of the Highland Council, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, the Highland Health Board and
sportscotland. A lead officer has been identified in each organisation to oversee the multi-agency management team responsible for integrating current work and developing new joint programmes/initiatives to deliver mutual outcomes. The Islands Forum is a multi-authority, national agency partnership. It comprises the six local authorities with islands: Argyll & Bute Council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Council of the Western Isles), Orkney Islands Council, North Ayrshire Council, Shetland Islands Council and the Highland Council, in collaboration with
sportscotland. The Forum was formally launched by the Deputy First Minister, Jim Wallace MSP to a CoSLA Cultural Services Network audience, who were in Orkney discussing issues concerning delivery of public services to remote communities. The Forum has begun preparing a development strategy.
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4.5.3 It is important for local authorities to be clear about the focus of any partnership. Bodies may offer advice and may provide funding for individual projects within local authorities' strategies (for example, the Scottish Arts Council and
sportscotland) but may not necessarily be partners in the delivery of the services with result.
llustration:
arts partnership Aberdeenshire Council has developed a strategy for the arts in collaboration with representatives of the local arts community and the Scottish Arts Council (SAC). This involved extensive consultation the costs of this were met jointly by Aberdeenshire Council, Scottish Arts Council and Shell Expro. The strategy aims to build an effective infrastructure to support the development of the arts. Most of the resources and staffing required to implement the strategy will be provided by the local authority but the SAC is contributing to key aspects of the strategy such as marketing, education and promoting inclusiveness. The Council's Social Work Services will be contributing funding. Sponsorship is also being sought. The strategy will be developed and implemented by a newly formed Aberdeenshire Arts Partnership comprised of representatives from the Council and the local arts community with advice and support from SAC. |
4.6 Partnership schemes based on funding
4.6.1 Partnerships based on shared funding are helpful to local authorities as they create possibilities which might not otherwise be affordable to the individual local authority.
4.6.2 Examples of the different types of schemes include those which:
are specific to cultural provision
relate more indirectly to cultural provision (e.g. tourism schemes)
are revenue- and capital-based (the European Regional Development Fund is an example of both)
are inter-local authority partnerships, for example -
'Activ-8', between Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray Councils, sports clubs, and governing bodies in sport supported by
sportscotland to increase participation in sports and develop performance standards in targeted sports
North East Arts Touring: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray Councils with support from the Scottish Arts Council to tour performing and visual arts throughout the North East
are time-limited funding schemes (projects rather than creation of posts) to be developed longer-term by the local authority, for example -
the Scottish Arts Council's local authority partnership scheme (to help 'low spending' authorities)
the Lottery New Opportunities Fund for Physical Education and Sport, for out-of-school activities
the Scottish Arts Council's "
links officer" scheme (see section 5.5)
artform development posts (e.g. artists in residence)
are 'seed' funding for strategic posts (where the local authority must contribute funding), for example -
sports co-ordinators
cultural co-ordinators (pilot programme going live in Autumn 2002)
Scottish Museums Council education officer posts
the new Scottish Museums Council's strategic change fund
Historic Scotland heritage officer posts.
4.6.3 Funding opportunities available to authorities to support cultural provision arise at three levels:
Scottish schemes (e.g. Scottish Executive, national cultural bodies/Lottery distributors)
UK schemes (e.g. Foundation for Sports & The Arts, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts)
European Union.
Local authorities should be aware that funding opportunities change from time to time. There also are different sources of advice on funding opportunities - not only from the funding bodies themselves but also from other sources (e.g. the International Cultural Desk, which is jointly supported by the British Council and the Scottish Arts Council).
4.6.4 Another model which is relevant here may, in some circumstances, be available to local authorities through the land use planning system. It is possible that, under section 75 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, (formerly section 50 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972) a developer may, in agreement with a local authority, provide or contribute towards facilities required as a result of new development (sometimes referred to as "planning gain"). This may include cultural provision, such as a library, sports centre, or community centre. It is also possible that such agreements can be made outwith the Act. Such agreements, commonly referred to as planning agreements, are only appropriate in certain circumstances. Scottish Executive Circular 12/1996 (The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972 Planning Agreements) gives guidance on the use of section 75 agreements.
4.6.5 If successful in obtaining project funding, local authorities are likely to have to account for any resources used, since funders (e.g. the European Union) apply project monitoring and audit arrangements. To satisfy these, the local authority will require to ensure that (amongst other things) it has evidence of achievement of the agreed goals for which funding was provided, without which grant may be 'clawed back'.
4.6.6 Many local authorities will have their own specialist officers or staff - e.g. for economic development, or European Union issues. While such staff are unlikely to be specialists in cultural issues, they are an important resource for local authorities. It is good practice for:
all staff handling cultural issues and such specialist staff to work closely, to identify opportunities for the development of cultural provision
these staff from a non-cultural background to become familiar with their own local authority's plans and strategies for cultural provision, and become be pro-active in looking for opportunities for support and collaboration.
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