Issue - meetings

To receive a presentation from Rebekah Polding (Head of Cultural Services Department) for discussion, on the Council’s new Culture Strategy before Cabinet approval. 

Councillor Margaret Greer had to leave the meeting at this point and Councillor Claire Stewart took over the chair for this item. 

The panel received a presentation from Rebekah Polding (Head of Culture Service Development)

1.            Presentation

Rebekah Polding highlighted the following:

·         A specialist team working both internally and with external organisations had been commissioned to put together a culture strategy for Enfield. 

·         The final strategy was due to be approved at Cabinet in November. 

·         The definition of culture had been taken to be broader that of the Arts Council including creativity in its widest sense and cultural identity but with arts at its centre. 

·         The purpose of the strategy was to obtain a clear view of Enfield’s strengths and weaknesses, to enable strategic support and planning, to harness the power of culture to support key borough agendas and to make more of the borough’s existing cultural offer. 

·         The overall ambition was to connect Enfield through culture providing youth opportunities and celebrating shared cultures.

·         Over the summer Enjoy Enfield had shown what the strategy could do in action. 

·         The policy framework would contain three cross cutting themes (sustainable culture, opportunity for young people, and culture every day) and five areas of focus (on the ground, right mix, celebration, supporting growth and cultural capacity).  

·         Ensuring sustainable culture to include financial sustainability as well as the involvement of stakeholders.  Opportunity for Young People to involve the creation of opportunities across the future work of the Council and in the economy.  Culture every day to emphasise that culture should be seen as an everyday part of everyone’s life, woven through the fabric of the borough. 

·         The focus, on the ground focus seeks to ensure that culture would physically visible in town centres, parks and open spaces as well as in the open spaces to the North of the borough.

·         The right mix focus seeks to address the culture gap - areas where Enfield has had historically less - creating spaces for artists and facilities such as music venues and independent cinemas.

·         The supporting growth and providing opportunities for young people focus would aim to bring more creative jobs to Enfield.  One in six jobs in London was in the creative economy.  These jobs were less prone to automation and were critical to growth. 

·         Increasing celebration across communities, would involve working with local people from the grass roots up to develop new activities. 

·         Increasing cultural capacity from the top would mean creating sustainable networks and obtaining funding.  Funds were already being directed from the Arts Council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund to help support the covid recovery. 

·         The next steps in the development of the strategy would involve cultural and creative sector workshops, agreeing governance arrangements and refining an action plan, following Cabinet approval.  

2.            Questions/Comments

2.1         In response to the query as to whether all ethnic groups had been involved in putting together the strategy, members were informed that a sample survey had been sent to over 60 organisations, followed up by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3