Levelling-up will be tricky, says Iain Watson, but investing in the North’s cultural sector will be key to a more open and fair society.
The Case for Culture report, published in January by the Northern Culture All-Party Parliamentary Group (NCAPPG), rightly does not dwell on the past but notes that “the north has been particularly hard hit by the global pandemic and a legacy of deindustrialisation”.
The inquiry that led to the report was inspired by the government’s commitment “to unite and level up the country”. While statistics such as the mortality rate being 17% higher in the north of England in the first 13 months of the pandemic are stark, the optimism of this report comes from the acknowledgement of the positive social and economic outcomes of culture through the aims of the Levelling Up Fund and the implementation of the Cultural Recovery Fund.
This publication should be read alongside the Institute for Public Policy Research’s State of the North 2020-21 report, which identified that initiatives focused wholly or mainly on economic productivity had failed in reducing regional inequalities and the need for “commensurate investment in people – for example, in health, learning and wellbeing”...Keep reading on Museums Association.
The Case for Culture report, published in January by the Northern Culture All-Party Parliamentary Group (NCAPPG), rightly does not dwell on the past but notes that “the north has been particularly hard hit by the global pandemic and a legacy of deindustrialisation”.
The inquiry that led to the report was inspired by the government’s commitment “to unite and level up the country”. While statistics such as the mortality rate being 17% higher in the north of England in the first 13 months of the pandemic are stark, the optimism of this report comes from the acknowledgement of the positive social and economic outcomes of culture through the aims of the Levelling Up Fund and the implementation of the Cultural Recovery Fund.
This publication should be read alongside the Institute for Public Policy Research’s State of the North 2020-21 report, which identified that initiatives focused wholly or mainly on economic productivity had failed in reducing regional inequalities and the need for “commensurate investment in people – for example, in health, learning and wellbeing”...Keep reading on Museums Association.