Opportunities and challenges of deepening devolution

What are the opportunities presented by deepening devolution across England for arts and culture? How can regions like Yorkshire best benefit from these and what lessons can regions newer to devolution learn from more established combined authorities?

These were some of the questions discussed at the University of Leeds last month, where over 80 cultural practitioners, funders, policymakers and academics came together to share ideas about what’s next for the arts and culture in Yorkshire.

Tempered optimism

The mood was generally positive. Delegates were asked for three words to describe how they felt about the next few years of arts and culture in Yorkshire. The word cloud this generated highlighted emotions such as hopeful, curious, optimistic and excited. But these were tempered by some feeling cautious, apprehensive and even anxious.

A panel comprising sector leaders from across England responded to the theme with a similar tone of tempered optimism. They highlighted the myriad opportunities for the region, while outlining some of the potential pitfalls and challenges.

Pete Massey, director North for Arts Council England, acknowledged the precarious environment, noting many cultural organisations were struggling to survive. He identified the ‘shrinkflation’ evident across the sector following 12 years of essentially static investment, which has impacted negatively on production.

However, he also confirmed some local authorities were increasing investment in culture, despite the significant financial challenges, and said devolution was already unlocking significant sources of funding from some strategic authorities.

Cultural distinctiveness

Consultant Kate Brindley has led the development of the culture strategies for both South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and Sheffield City Council. She argued that devolution enables the distinctiveness of place to influence policy in a nuanced way on local people’s terms, making cultural data and research more meaningful to a range of local and regional stakeholders more directly impacted by them.

Kate’s call to action was: “The future is collaborative, and it starts with us”. This reflected a sense in the room of active engagement with the devolution process and its possibilities. 

A proactive approach

As head of culture, heritage & sport at the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Helen Pheby explained how Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) can be highly effective interfaces between the local and the national. She cited the Creative Health Programme Board, chaired by Mayor Tracy Brabin and Rob Webster (chief executive of the NHS West Yorkshire ICB) as an exemplar, and one that cuts through policy areas that might be traditionally siloed.

Jack Gamble is director and CEO of Campaign for the Arts, closely connected with the perspectives of audiences and the wider public. He highlighted the positive cultural engagement data aggregated in The State of the Arts report that he co-authored.

According to the report, 91% of adults in England engaged with the arts in person between October 2022 and December 2023, and 77% attended events. Despite this strong demand, the supply side has shrunk. Across all venues, there were fewer events in 2023 than in 2018 with a 23% fall in the number of music, theatre, dance and comedy events in the UK.

Jack struck a chord, highlighting the ticking timebomb of the decline of creative arts in the school curriculum, which is already impacting the creative pipeline and reducing diversity in the workforce to historically low levels.

Rethinking the funding model

The artistic director of Red Ladder Theatre Company, Cheryl Martin, expressed hope regarding the opportunities afforded by devolution to redistribute cultural funding to communities to give them a genuine voice in what is funded and for whom. She spoke evocatively about the potential for change to include freelancers and people not reflected in the existing cultural landscape.

Trevor MacFarlane  is the founding director and CEO of Culture Commons, whose recent report explored the future of cultural devolution in the UK. He underlined the precarious situation of local councils and the need to advocate for sufficient funding to enable them to fulfil their statutory services, without which aspirations for even a standstill continuation of cultural funding remain a fantasy.  

Trevor identified the unique opportunity for MSAs to do things differently, to rethink cultural value and evaluation on their own terms, and to rewrite the Treasury’s Green and Magenta Books (for appraisal and evaluation of policy) according to criteria which best suit the needs of local citizens.

He encouraged us to fight to retain the arm’s length principle at the regional level, to advocate for non-competitive funding models to address regional funding disparities, and to ensure funding for culture is ringfenced in any future settlement.

There was consensus that local authorities remain the key players in devolution. Despite the rapid rise of combined authorities and metro mayors and hard-hitting cuts of around 50% since 2010, local authorities are still the largest single funders of arts and culture in England. All combined authorities still comprise a set of local authorities that collectively fund the sector more than they can (at least for now…).

A vital lifeline

When asked to describe hopes for devolution in Yorkshire, recurrent themes from participants were equitable, collaborative decision-making, grassroots, rural and community involvement, and a clear focus on legacy to support a strong and distinctive ecology.

Lisa Turney, principal officer for culture at Leeds City Council, commented: “What’s clear is that it’s only by collaborating and ensuring unique voices in our communities are given the prominence they deserve that we can ensure culture is given its fair share both now and in the future.”

Discussions about devolution in arts and culture are rapidly evolving. Despite the sense of tempered optimism, the operating environment has never been as challenging, and it is therefore vital that cultural professionals and statutory authorities seize the potential lifelines offered by deepening devolution to ensure the sustainability of the sector.