In the world of culture, co-operation is the thing.  Inspired by the willingness of politicians (so far) to bury their differences and work together for the greater good and driven by an impending cascade of cuts, working together and partnerships are what we should all be looking for.

However, a word of caution here.  Partnerships do not always work and are not always the answer.  They need an understanding of shared goals and needs as well as a real willingness to commit.  Too often, arts organisations enter a partnership promising so much only to find out that the philosophies of the various partners do not match, the expectations are different and the savings promised do not materialise.

A little more understanding of the complexities of partnership is needed by politicians and senior policy makers.  They are a means not an end.  The benefits of partnership may be outweighed by the difficulties and a museum or a gallery may be able to achieve more and risk less by working alone in a more focussed way.  In addition, partnerships can often mean bigger operations and less devolved decision making – which may be counter to the spirit of localism that is one of the new government’s mantras.

Yet arts organisations, as functions that face so many ways and constantly strive to justify their existence in a bean counting world, must continue to look for partners to help them to increase their reach, effectiveness and relevance.    But they must  be thoughtful and strategic in selecting their partners in a way they suits their aims and the nature of their organisations rather than leaping into an agreement with the first body that promises them instant gratification, funding and political kudos.  Those sorts of partnership always end in tears.

BISL represents the private sector in the growth industry of “sport & leisure” – which includes leisure operators, health and fitness clubs, National Governing Bodies of sport and many of the professional services supporting the sector.

We work alongside organisations such as Sport England, the CCPR, the Local Government Association with IDeA and recently SPORTA. Our long term theme is “growing the market”. A key part of this is of course increasing opportunities for our communities to play sport, to engage in leisure; and sport and physical activity in particular is fundamental to the work of BISL. Participation undoubtedly contributes to quality of life, for individuals and the community.

Adult sports participation still remains low in this country, and there is concern in some areas about the quality and quantity of facilities. But BISL believes that partnership working between the public, private and voluntary sectors is essential. Given the increasingly rigorous controls on public spending we need to share best practice and to seek new and innovative ways of providing and operating leisure facilities. Delivering best value for money has never been more important.

BISL has welcomed the publication of the new draft Planning Policy Statement 17, Planning for a Natural and Healthy Environment. This reinforces the need for local authorities to undertake stringent needs analysis and holistic planning for the provision of new and upgraded sports facilities. These assessments must be followed by rigorous procurement and delivery, if value for money is to be achieved over the whole life of a facility.

In the next few years, in an increasingly difficult financial climate, councils will need to apply this process rigorously, openly and transparently, and there are some excellent examples to draw on from the public, commercial and voluntary sectors.

BISL hopes councils will engage more and more with private sector operators, creating cost effective partnerships to meet community leisure targets, while managing costs over the life of their facilities.

Gateshead was a dreary and wet place when I arrived with my colleague, with expectations of a thought provoking conference.  Against a background of uncertain political leadership, public service cuts and threats to the delivery of cultural services it left me with a realism of how important sharing knowledge and the timing of this conference was.

The first day was a tour of several cultural venues in Gateshead, including the famous athletic stadium.  It was a pleasure to meet staff, customers and visit the new academy with interesting talks about the local community and the interventions required to access services. 

The conference for me though came alive with a thought provoking talk from Professor Patrick McGuinness, Professor of French and Comparative Literature, Oxford University.  He entertained us with a rich academic insight into culture.  As always the political thoughts from the cultural minister and Baroness Maddock from the Liberal Democrats helped shaped future direction about cultural services from their parties.  

Conference is also about networking opportunities and I attended the CLOA fringe meeting with fellow delegates, one of the main topics being how we can all join up cultural services provision and examine different delivery mechanisms within a fluid environment.  

If we ever felt down on day two, just listening to Chris Holmes and his experience of the Paralympics was great inspiration – and one of the best sessions from conference for me. 

So, overall an upbeat and though provoking conference with stimulating workshops.  We face many challenges over the next few years but there is no doubt the LGA / CLOA conference has helped us to prepare for them.

The three major political parties all published their General Election Manifestos last week, and whilst the manifestos themselves contain fewer references to culture, media and sport issues than the state of the economy – the parties do have some notable differences.

Both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party have variations on keeping prominent pubs open in communities, with Labour favouring reforming rights for pub tenants and the Conservatives opting for a “right to buy scheme”. The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives would both ban below-cost alcohol sales. The Liberal Democrats would support this by considering a minimum pricing policy, whilst the Conservatives promised a more targeted approach which would only raise taxes on drinks linked to anti-social behaviour.

All three of the big political parties pledge that “superfast broadband” will be rolled out across the country if they are elected – with Labour raising funds for this from a levy on fixed phone lines and the Conservatives saying they will start by requiring infrastructure providers to allow use of their assets to deliver faster connection speeds, and may consider using part of the BBC licence fee to fund broadband in areas where the market fails.

Lottery funding for the arts, sport and culture would continue under all three main parties, with the Conservatives pledging that “original allocations of 20 per cent of good cause money” would be restored. The Liberal Democrats also promise additional funding by using money held dormant in betting accounts to set up a capital fund for improving local sports facilities and supporting sports clubs.

Elsewhere, the manifestos of the smaller parties and independents are wide ranging and challenging, with a strong emphasis on cleaning up Parliament and on localism influencing debates in parliament. Understandably though, they are less focused on the world of culture, tourism and sport.

The future of local authority sport in a tightened funding climate is a major concern to sports’ governing bodies. Many clubs depend on local authority facilities, whilst development and coaching posts are often co-funded by governing bodies and local authorities.

Whilst County Sports Partnerships are making connections between local authority provision and club sport, there is still a sense that club and council sport are ‘different’. Yet surely a badminton club in a council sports centre, and an asset based tennis club offering pay and play are equally club sport and local authority provision?

Recognising this interdependence can reduce costs to authorities, and increase sustainability for clubs.  For instance, how many outdoor changing rooms in your borough need a refresh, but have not made the top of the list? Asking a user-group to maintain this in return for secure usage would provide a club base and make savings for the council.

And its not just about the sports budget.  Traditionally sports clubs have received discretionary rate relief, but some authorities are now withdrawing this. With clubs surviving on average surpluses of just £1,300, this is a real threat to survival. Registering as a Community Amateur Sports Club secures 80% mandatory rate relief paid for by central government, saving both club and council money. Council officers can help clubs make this switch.

Its about more than money too – sport must be prioritised in the revised planning guidance for a ‘natural and healthy environment’, and the Community Infrastructure Levy needs to contribute to sporting infrastructure.

With cuts looming, clubs and councils must help each other to weather the storm, and local authority sports teams must take advantage of other policies that can support their work.

We are now just 827 days to go until the opening of the London 2012 Olympic Games, and 862 to the Paralympic Games; that’s just 118 Thursdays left until our Games begin – the 27 July 2012 is the mother of all immovable deadlines.  Working with local authorities up and down the country will be crucial the closer we get.

2010 is all about focusing on planning and delivery.  We are procuring £700m-worth of goods and services. We have launched Ticketing Sign-up, with thousands upon thousands of people registering to tell us which sports they want to see. We are now securing the 117 planning consents we need for our venues. We will now work up our City Operations plans around our venues, work on the Torch Relay routes, develop the Look of the Games, and recruit our volunteer workforce.

In my area of Paralympic integration, our approach means that the same team that delivers the Olympics will deliver the Paralympics.

But, we will still draw out distinctive elements of the Paralympics. We want to use youth, energy and excitement to emphasise the strength of the Paralympic values of courage, inspiration, determination and equality. We will deliver the most accessible Games for spectators and athletes and a spectacular showcase for Paralympic sport. We also want to raise awareness of Paralympic sport, challenge stereotypes, and support disabled children to have access to sport.

Partnership is key, and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve together over the next 118 Thursdays before staging the greatest show on earth.

The Gateshead Hilton looks out over the bridges of the River Tyne and the symbols of regeneration through culture: the Sage Concert Hall, the Baltic Contemporary Arts Centre. A fitting venue for a thought provoking conference, and one  which CLOA was pleased to have supported, influenced and, in the case of CLOA Chair Nigel Lynn, helped to Chair.

We were particularly glad to see that the culture and sport improvement workshop supported by CLOA and the National Culture Forum was standing room only, with 40 delegates taking part in 4 facilitated groups, and all showing strong support for better communication and further work upskill the workforce in our sector.

CLOA staged their fringe meeting at the St. Mary’s Heritage Centre near the Hilton. We feel that this event was probably our best fringe event ever: the setting in the historic church and the excellent service from Gateshead’s catering staff made for a memorable evening. This was an opportunity to chat, make new friends, some of whom we hope will become new CLOA members, and to recognise the contribution of LGA staff, in particular the conference organiser Cynthia Westley. Nigel presented her with a retirement gift on behalf of CLOA during a speech to around 50 guests at the conclusion of the reception.

Overall, the mood at the conference was upbeat and positive and many delegates said that they enjoyed being in Gateshead for the event.  The opportunity to hear good speakers, engage in stimulating workshops and network with leaders, political and managerial, was a plus

There was an elephant in the room at the LGA/CLOA Culture, Sport and Tourism Conference in Gateshead.  For most of the time, it snoozed peacefully, but occasionally it would jump into action, cause a commotion for a while, before settling down again.

The ‘elephant’ was the dire state of the economy and the threat it may pose to cultural and sport services in local authorities.  In the discussions on sport and physical activity, there was a general concern, but an overriding confidence that these services would still have a key role in health, community safety, social cohesion, regeneration and education.  What nobody was clear about were the structures.

Clearly, there are many ‘unknowns’ at the moment: the scale of cuts that may come down the track; the shape of local government itself; and the extent to which partnerships between agencies at national and local level will be put under pressure. 

What the conference demonstrated was that although significant strides had been made in grass roots sports provision in recent years, the sector had not necessarily made the case particularly well for the continuation of these services.  It is going to have to do better in the forthcoming period of financial constraints.

The sector has to be proactive in making its case.  It also has to re-train to understand the new language and opportunities of ‘Total Place’, procurement, commissioning and personalisation.

The sports and leisure industry is now facing up to the elephant.  If we continue to work together, we can tame it!

Focusing on a major arts and community education programme inspiring communities along the River Severn, Helen’s is just one of a series of contributions looking to show that councils should indeed treat culture as an opportunity – something that can bring substantial and lasting benefits to local communities.

This month’s edition of County Beacon, Making the Case for Culture, features a range of articles looking at a host of innovative and effective cultural initiatives put in place by CCN member authorities.  Examples include:

• Innovative outreach work by Warwickshire County Council’s Libraries Service to take culture out into communities;
• Durham County Council’s role in transforming the neglected and vandalised Apollo Pavilion back into an iconic piece of artwork in which the community takes great pride;
• Nottinghamshire County Council’s work to boost tourism by capitalising on the legacy of Robin Hood.

The edition also includes a foreword by Roy Clare, Chief Executive of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, who throws down the gauntlet to decision-makers nationally and locally, urging them to take action to ensure cultural services maximise their worth.

A copy of the County Beacon – always well worth a read – can be found on the website of the County Councils Network.

Cllr Chris White set the tone at the outset, calling for local culture, tourism and sport services to “never apologise, but always explain”; Margaret Hodge focused on leadership and promotion of culture based on the investment and strong partnership work of the last decade; Bonnie Greer suggested that the “consciousness of the internet” called for a “new great and the good”; Professor Patrick McGuiness and Baroness Maddock spoke of the “local cultural ecosystem” and the “power of creativity” respectively; and Jude Kelly rounded off with an invocation of public servants past, who had laid the foundations that allow us to live fairer lives and to build a thriving local culture.

Doom and Gloom were acknowledged, but did not dominate, and delegates discussed vibrant, creative local projects that showed the impact that leadership, confidence and strong local partnerships have built.

As the LGA culture, tourism and sport conference begins its second day we look forward to welcoming Chris Holmes’ views on the power of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Ed Vaizey will be discussing Conservative proposals for the future of our sector and we’ll also hear from the Chief Executives of the DCMS NDPBs.

We will increasingly open up the discussion to delegates, and we hope to be rewarded with even greater evidence of the vitality of local cultural services.  After our initial workshops we move on to facilitated open discussion sessions, where delegates will tell us what their hopes, needs and predictions are for the future of our sector. 

Keep your eyes out for the feedback in the next issue of LGA Culture, Tourism and Sport news.