Deadly cuts to arts and leisure in Peterborough

/

“In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.”  Benjamin Franklin 

What risks are there to a city and its residents if we have nothing to look forward to?

On Monday 7 Feb ‘22 some members of the Peterborough Culture Forum met online to discuss:

-       The announced Phase 2 cuts to culture and leisure in 2022/23. These cuts will result the spend be reduced to £1.169 million, or £5.78 per person on libraries, gyms and leisure centres, pools inc the Lido, the museum, art gallery.

-       Updates on other cuts, including Metal and The Key Theatre.

-       The council’s new corporate strategy, which has no references to well-being or quality of lives for residents and restricts all future council activity to basis statutory services, which no aspiration for partnership working to address the impact of the cuts.

The account below is a summary of the Culture Forum discussion which focused on the risks to Peterborough City Council in their proposed reshaping of services. Readers are invited to use the notes below to inform their own response to the budget proposals, to the corporate strategy, and also to write to their local councillors and MPs about both the budget cuts and the city’s future Corporate Strategy.

Committees and the cabinet are discussing the proposals now, hence the need to write to elected officials immediately, with the consultation on next year’s budget budget ending on 28 February. The consultation on the Corporate Strategy, which will determine council policy for the next 5 years, is taking responses until 25 February. Links are below.

PCC BUDGET 2022/12 PHASE 2: Consultation Document: https://www.peterborough.gov.uk/asset-library/budget-consultation-document-2223-phase-two.pdf

Link to survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MQKHSTD

PCC NEW CORPORATE STRATEGY CONSULTATION: https://www.peterborough.gov.uk/asset-library/budget-consultation-document-2223-phase-two.pdf

Link to survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/SMLKWQG

A relevant two page summary of both documents is also HERE

SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION:

The group reflected on the cuts and expressed concerns that

1. Short-term financial savings are being made which will have long-term negative financial impacts, such as:

-       The city was “selling off its family silver” and once done that these resources, which are essential for regeneration, community safety and inclusion, and prosperity, will be more expensive to replace.

-       Investment from the Town’s Fund to develop the museum to host the Must Farm Boats would be lost.

-       The ability to lever in additional finances will be stopped when services such as Metal, and other cultural organisations, who have proven track record in leveraging substantial funds for arts and culture in the city, are put at risk by these cuts.  This additional funding, from £15K for individual artists’ projects to 1000’s of people spending money in the city centre for free events such as the heritage festival to Diwali to the Christmas Light Swithc on, to £100Ks for programmes such as Harvest, the Street Arts Festival to the Green Festival, will shrink the local economy (inc city centre retailers and car parking) and restrict its potential to bounce back from the pandemic and current economic shocks.

2. The Corporate Strategy states that it’s priorities are young people, the elderly and vulnerable but these will be most affected by the cuts:

-       Young people’s education, already an area of concern in the city, will be impacted by reduced access to libraries and to Flag Fen and the museum, which are instrumental for all schools in delivering the national curriculum.

-       Civic cultural spaces, such as libraries and museums provide safe spaces for those most likely to be affected by loneliness and are essential for supporting well-being, mental health and community cohesion.

-       Digital poverty will be increased by lack of access to library facilities.

-       Stopping all city centre free events, restricting free, physical access to libraries and the museum, and turning all leisure facilities into profit-making set-ups, will have a disproportionate impact on the city’s poorest people, most of whom are working, at a time when household budgets are under greater pressure than ever before.

3. The unique characteristics of each of the cultural provisions should be preserved in the new delivery models, such as Flag Fen for research and occasional large-scale public engagement events, or the role of the museum and libraries in delivering statutory services, from the National Curriculum for schools to mental health support for communities. or Metal’s role in supporting the creative sector.

4. There is a focus in the Corporate Strategy on the development of the new university, particularly as provision to raise educational attainment in the local population, but the restriction of access to libraries will undermine this aspiration of life-long learning for the local population.  The wider cultural cuts will also reduce the attractiveness of the city for students from elsewhere, and also nullify the positive wider change of the city that a university population can bring.

5. That the city’s proposed Corporate Strategy lacks any ambition or care for the quality of life for residents, and should include a service priority to, at least, develop partnerships to deliver aspirations and ambitions for residents to have happy, healthy and fulfilled lives. 

NB. In addition to the above discussion and viewing of documents the group also pooled it’s knowledge that:

-       Metal’s annual revenue grant of £50K, which levers another £300K from Arts Council England, has been cut, and that their venue, Chauffeurs Cottage, which also hosts Eastern Angles, Peterborough Presents CPP, Red 7 Productions and numerous residencies, will be put up for sale.

-       Selladoor will not be taking over The Key Theatre until the start of the next financial year, i.e. April 2022

-       City Culture Peterborough will be handing back the management of Flag Flen, museum and art gallery and the libraries to Peterborough City Council, also in April 2022.

-       Former Chief Executive of Southwark Council, Eleanor Kelly is chair the group of consultants delivering these cuts.

-       Ross Renton, from the new university, is amongst others who have joined the new Peterborough Cultural Alliance steering group.

The group proposed that the following actions be taken:

  • All concerned parties to encourage their members, mailing list and community partners to engage with both public consultations.

  • The Cultural Alliance present a response to the cuts to the public and media.

  • An A4 manifesto is created for the education networks,

  • Key partners and individuals, such as the Literacy Trust and literacy champions, Youth Council, GPs and Social Prescribers, Youth MP, city’s Westminster MPs, Mind, new university, to be encouraged to respond.

  • Every individual to complete the consultation (as above.)

  • Individual organisations to publish case studies on the fiscal and community benefits of arts and culture.