Councillor Laing (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care, Culture and Communications) introduced the item and highlighted:

a)    The culture plan was ambitious, forward looking, and had people and place at its core;

b)    The plan had been developed with best practice from across the city;

c)    There was a need to ensure that culture was embedded into all areas of life for residents;

d)    The economic benefits of the creative and cultural sector were well understood, but the social impact was of equal, if not greater, significance;

e)    A strong and authentic cultural offer made a place more attractive to students, graduates and the wider workforce;

f)     Access to a culture offer could support improvement of mental and physical health outcomes for individuals and supports community cohesion and educational attainment;

g)    Plymouth needed to continue to value culture and better articulate its significance and unique contribution to economic and social outcomes;

h)    Most local authorities in England did not prioritise culture in the way that Plymouth continued to;

i)     The role of culture and creative industry was clearly valued within the Labour Government’s missions and industrial strategy, giving Plymouth an opportunity to align local ambition and policy with national conversations;

j)     Further investment was needed in culture through a holistic approach.

Hannah Harris (CEO, Plymouth Culture) added:

k)    The three key drivers of the culture plan were:

                      i.        Community;

                     ii.        Environment;

                    iii.        Inclusive Economy;

l)     The culture plan used these drivers to engage in the wider city agenda;

m)  The ambitions of the plan were:

                      i.        “We will embrace our unique blue-grey-green landscapes, unlocking assets in our built and natural environments to create memorable experiences only imaginable in Plymouth”;

                     ii.        “We will make cultural encounters part of the everyday for everyone”;

                    iii.        “We will develop an exemplary model of co-creation where our audiences are active participants, making our cultural offer authentic and relevant”;

                    iv.        “We will be the UK’s leading city for immersive cultural experiences, recognised for our ability to use digital technology to engage communities and build cross-sector connections”;

                     v.        “We will embed equality at every level of the sector to actively support diversity of voice and celebrate the creativity in everyone”;

n)    The culture plan would focus on three strategic priorities which would shape decision making and resource allocation:

                      i.        Place;

                     ii.        Sector;

                    iii.        People;

o)    ‘Sea for Yourself’ was a transformational cultural programme aligned to the newly established Plymouth Sound National Marine Park, to reconnect people with place, nature and cultural identity;

p)    The culture plan would create:

                      i.        259 opportunities for creative practitioners;

                     ii.        Work with 71 freelancers;

                    iii.        1437 actively engaged participants;

                    iv.        A digital audience reach of 430k;

q)    A lot of people in communities who were carrying out important work, did not see themselves as leaders which could result in missed opportunities of people who could be contributing to wider conversations;

                      i.        A programme to help people self-identify as leaders was successful in giving people awareness of their own skills was successful;

                     ii.        The team were looking at how this could be embedded as business as usual;

r)    Plymouth Art Weekender returned in 2024 for the first time since 2020 thanks to Visual Arts Plymouth who secured funds to make it happen;

                      i.        Some spaces were outside, some inside, with different art forms represented;

                     ii.        Artists were not paid and contributed for free;

s)     Spaces were being used in different ways to get different audiences in, such as silent discos at The Box.

Supported by David Draffan (Service Director for Economic Development) and Victoria Pomery (CEO, The Box), in response to questions it was reported:

t)           The Summer Sessions were a legacy of MTV Crashes, but there was now a commercial model with Live Nation to bring big artists to perform in the city at the event;

u)          Free tickets were provided to the Council for them to share, which in 2024 had gone to impacted residents, care leavers, foster carers and other community groups, through engagement with Councillors;

v)           A large event like Summer Sessions engaged a large audience but the benefits don’t always reach the sector;

w)         There was a desire in the community that the Summer Sessions provided a platform for local musicians and was being negotiated with organisers;

x)          The team wanted to speak to locations that were happy to be part of events, such as the Plymouth Art Weekender, particularly in parts of the city that were not yet engaged, such as the north of Plymouth;

y)           There was a range of activity across the city;

z)           Most schools in Plymouth had visited The Box and the aim was all would have attended by 2026;

aa)        A lot of the arts and culture creativity in schools was down to individual schools and people, rather than embedded within the curriculum;

bb)        Youth service provision were using cultural and creative interventions to upskill;

cc)        The music action plan was based on the music diplomacy strategy used by local authorities across the world;

dd)        The way in which larger music events put money back into local economies and cultural sectors was an ongoing national debate;

ee)        There was a quarterly music forum that saw 30-40 people come together to talk about what was going on in the city and how they could support each other;

ff)          The focus of the music action plan was published online and a link would be shared with Panel members;

gg)        Plymouth Culture had hosted a funding event with the Arts Council’s Grassroots Music Fund so more venues could apply;

hh)        Plymouth City Centre Company and Plymouth Waterfront Partnership were working with Plymouth Culture to increase music in spaces and at events;

ii)           It was important to raise awareness of opportunities available;

jj)           Teachers could take students on a self-guided tour around The Box, but they could also opt for days where they could engage more with staff;

kk)        The Homes England Board had been hosted in Plymouth, who were looking to make £100 million investment in Plymouth, and the role of culture in creating places that people want to live was important with these types of opportunities.

The Panel agreed to note the report.