Mayoral Briefing - Citizens For Culture

Executive Summary

Citizens for Culture has the support of Bath and North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council, North Somerset Council and South Gloucestershire Council and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.

Citizens for Culture is a pioneering citizen-led initiative to hold the UK’s first Citizens’ Assembly for Culture. It has been developing since 2021 and now represents a partnership between Unitary Authorities, the Creative, Cultural, Voluntary and Business Sectors, Funders and Media and will take place in Autumn 2025.

Citizens for Culture is part of the ongoing Culture West programme which is funded by Arts Council England and West of England Mayoral Combined Authority. Citizens for Culture also has funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Citizens for Culture intends to:

Give citizens the opportunity to shape a regional plan for creativity and culture
Attract inward investment to support a joined-up and innovative plan
Support local growth plans and strengthen the case for devolution

Citizens for Culture will place citizens at the heart of decision-making for creativity and culture in the West of England region and position the Mayoral Combined Authority as a leader on the national stage.

The focus for the citizens’ assembly will be long-standing challenges in access and inclusion to culture. Citizens will be asked to develop a plan for culture by asking the following question:

What would culture and creativity look like in the West of England if they were for everyone?

The Assembly will adopt a federal structure to ensure both local and regional representation. This means that smaller groups of citizens will convene within each of the four Unitary Authority areas to focus on local priorities and challenges. These smaller groups of citizens will also come together as a regional assembly to deliberate and build consensus on region-wide recommendations.

Further information on Citizens for Culture

Project Partners and funding

Citizens for Culture has been in development since 2021 and its project delivery partners are the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, Trinity Community Arts, St Pauls Carnival and Citizens In Power.

The citizens’ assembly has been designed by citizens from across the region and over 100 creative, cultural and community organisations.

Confirmed Funding: £314,000 secured from:
- - Arts Council England + West of England Mayoral Combined Authority: £114,000
  - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation: £100,000
  - Paul Hamlyn Foundation: £100,000

Unconfirmed funding:

- £100,000 to create a budget for citizens to test ideas (applications submitted)

There are no direct financial requests from the Mayoral Combined Authority or from the four Unitary Authorities to deliver this programme but strong support for resource alignment and cultural strategy integration is key.

2. Strategic Alignment

Regional and Local Priorities:

Builds on existing pillars in Mayoral Combined Authority regional Cultural Plan including Cultural and Creative Skills, Freelancers, Start-ups and SMEs, Placemaking and Wellbeing
Will support development of cultural plans and strategies across the four Unitary Authorities
Attracts inward investment to the area from funders to support Growth Strategies across the region and four Unitary areas
Addresses socio-economic and geographic inequalities, particularly for under-represented and working-class communities.

Devolution and National Opportunities:

Authorities conventionally produce top-down cultural plans whereas this project positions the region at the forefront of innovative cultural planning.
The approach illustrates how culture can become an integral part of a devolved governance framework at a time when the new government is prioritising devolution.
The focus of the assembly exemplifies the new government’s cultural agenda of enhancing access and equity echoing the intentions of the new Culture Secretary
The project strengthens the case for increased local control over cultural funding paving the way for sustained investment and greater community impact in the Arts Council’s 2027-2030 National Portfolio (regular funding) framework

Economic Growth Plans:

Citizens for Culture connects with the Cultural Strategies and Action Plans being developed by Authorities

Exploring evidence with assembly members about the role of creative industries as a driver for regional economic growth
Strengthening the cultural sector’s contribution to skills development and job creation

Enhancing placemaking by using culture as a catalyst for regeneration and community engagement

3. Community and Stakeholder Engagement

Outreach Campaign: There will be a civic lottery, delivered by the UK’s leading provider, the Sortition Foundation which will target engagement with under-represented groups working with organisations across the region which work with underserved communities
Public campaign: In advance of the lottery there will also be a six-month public campaign across the region to engage communities in questions and evidence gathering around creativity and culture which will include up to 100 live and online events
Support: One of the key features of Citizens for Culture is the support that is provided for currently under-represented communities to participate equitably, such as rural communities, global majority communities, low-income families, care-givers and young people
Young People Focus: The assembly membership and evidence-gathering phases will include strong representation from young people from across the region
Cultural Sector Support: Over 100 cultural organisations have engaged to date contributing to the design of the assembly; the ambition in the lead-up to the assembly is to bring the sector together to support the delivery of the recommendations

4. Project Scope and Deliverables

Scope:

The citizens’ assembly will create a regional cultural plan by answering the question: What would culture and creativity look like in the West of England if they were for everyone?
Four citizens’ panels in the Unitary Authority areas feed into one regional assembly
Direct citizen-led recommendations on short-, medium-, and long-term cultural priorities

Key Deliverables:

- Citizens’ Assembly: 40 citizens from across the region
- Cultural Delivery Plan: Developed collaboratively by citizens for local implementation

Citizen Oversight: a key part of the design of Citizens for Culture is that citizens from the assembly will have the opportunity to oversee the implementation of the delivery plan

Network: 100s of organisations working together across the region to support and deliver the recommendations
Investment Fund: Citizens allocate a minimum £100,000 starting budget to pilot priority actions with funds that will be raised from outside the region by the project partners

Timeline:

Mar-Aug 2025: Public awareness campaign and pre-engagement work
Sep-Oct 2025: Citizens’ Assembly convenes
2026–2029: Delivery of recommendations

5. Governance and Decision-Making

Governance: There is an independent Oversight Group which will focus on equity and inclusion and an independent Advisory Panel which will select the evidence for assembly members to experience and review
Facilitation: There is a partnership in place with national provider Involve who have led on most of the UK’s most significant citizens’ assemblies, to co-facilitate
Role of Unitary Authorities: to work with the wider group of partners and organisations across the region to endorse and embed the assembly’s delivery plan into local strategies

6. Risks and Mitigation

Risk	Mitigation
Lack of citizen engagement in Citizens for Culture	Conduct a targeted outreach campaign with a federated structure to ensure diverse representation across region. Collaborate with local organisations to build trust and connect with underserved communities.
Unrealistic expectations lead to undeliverable cultural plan	Adopt an asset-based and pragmatic approach, clearly communicating the assembly’s scope and limitations. Provide transparency on decision-making processes and budget constraints.
Political changes post-May 2025	Strategically time the assembly to avoid overlap with the election period.
Outcomes of the assembly not being acceptable or implemented	Engage Authorities and key stakeholders from across creative and culture sectors early to secure commitment to embedding recommendations. Include a citizen oversight mechanism to maintain momentum and accountability for implementing the delivery plan.
Reputational risks for the assembly	Partner with experienced facilitators (e.g., Involve) to ensure high-quality and impartial processes. Establish an independent Oversight Group to maintain equity and fairness throughout.
Insufficient funds for the assembly’s budget	Submitting additional applications to close gap. Leverage support of project partners and Unitary Authorities to attract external investment and align resources efficiently.

7. Impact and Evaluation

Expected Outcomes:

Citizen-led governance and decision-making for culture
Increased cultural participation and access for all communities
Stronger applications by sector organisations to Arts Council England for 2027-30 funding
Long-term systems change in how cultural planning is developed and delivered in the region

Evaluation:

Partnering with Bath Spa University and University of West of England for evaluation, metrics and research

8. Next Steps

We think this is a good news project which has successfully gathered cross-party and multi-sector support over the past four years.

We would like the newly elected Mayor for the West of England Combined Authority to show their support for the project and be part of Citizens for Culture.

Together, we can create a more inclusive creative and cultural life for everyone in the West of England region.

Further information on Citizens for Culture

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