Harnessing innovation and the wealth of culture and leisure related social prescribing initiatives already being run will be crucial to meet the challenges facing communities and councils.
In the spring of 2022, the Local Government Association commissioned consultant peers to review library services in eight councils, specifically with regard to how they worked to enhance the local early years offer and, in particular, support for speech, language and communication development.
This supplement to the LGA’s Spending Review submission sets out further proposals which we would like to work with the Government on implementing. It should be read together with the main submission which also contains proposals relevant to various government departments.
The LGA alongside the Association for Public Services Excellence (ASPE), and Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association (CLOA) consulted with over 250 councils and a wide range of stakeholders to seek their views on what needs to change so that public sport and leisure services can operate sustainably and deliver the best outcomes for communities.
This guide has been written to help councils in an emergency position mobilise their leisure service. It is not intended to instruct or encourage councils to bring leisure services back in-house but instead provides appropriate tools and considerations to support the process. Councils are advised to take their own due diligence to evaluate their individual options. The guide is correct as of June 2021.
Creativity has a role to play in shaping our response to climate change, globalisation and technological innovation – and in enabling the economy and society to ‘bounce forwards’ from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
From the beginning of lockdown, it was apparent that COVID-19 would have a significant
impact on the culture, leisure, tourism and sport sectors. To gain a better understanding of
this impact, the Local Government Association (LGA) undertook a series of interviews with
senior council officers for culture and leisure between April and June 2020.
This advice note aims to update councils on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on leisure providers operating services and facilities owned and delivered on behalf of councils.
Culture is who we are. It is our heritage and future. It is how we live our lives and express our identities. It is art, music, film, fashion, design, even gaming. But it is much more: it is what defines us and how we are changing. For local authorities, culture can be viewed as part of the glue that brings and keeps our communities together.
