We are writing to urge you to establish a new town of culture award to run alongside the UK city of culture, and to celebrate and boost arts, culture, investment and jobs in towns across the country.
As you know, the city of culture is not just a title, but a huge opportunity.
The UK city of culture award has served as a catalyst for social and economic regeneration in the cities that have been awarded with the title, and shortlisted cities have similarly benefited from the bidding process which publicises the best of local culture.
As the 2017 city of culture, Hull attracted over £220m in investment, created 800 new jobs, opened 131 new businesses and attracted millions of tourists. The city of culture helped to boost the local economy and to foster an immense feeling of pride among residents.
While towns are not exempt from applying for the city of culture title, only one town has made the shortlist previously, and small towns are simply not equipped to contend against major cities in a bidding process that is resource-intensive. That disqualifies huge parts of the country that are rich with cultural history and heritage.
Towns already lose out from national arts and culture investment. Arts Council funding is more than four times higher on average in city constituencies than it is in town constituencies. In addition, towns are facing growing economic challenges compared with cities, so losing out on arts and culture investment and jobs is even more of a problem. The number of jobs in English town constituencies has grown by just 5% in five years, compared with 11% in city constituencies.
Instead of having to compete with big cities once every four years, or lose out completely, we believe there should be a distinctive town of culture award convened by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport every year.
From the proms at Pontefract Castle, to the Batley and Spen Youth Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon, to the iconic old Adelphi cinema in Slough, the Turner gallery in Margate, the restoration of Auckland Castle and the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury festival, towns and smaller communities across the country can be great showcases for culture and creativity.
A town of culture award would generate new investment, footfall and national recognition for the towns involved, and it would provide the opportunity for communities to be creative, ambitious and to celebrate the best of their local area. A year-long programme of cultural activities and events would help to regenerate local areas and high streets, create new jobs and bring communities together.
But perhaps most important of all, the award process would mean national funding organisations, such as the Arts Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund, or private sector organisations would be required to focus particularly on towns.
We are therefore calling on the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to establish an annual town of culture prize and to promote increased arts and culture investment in our towns in order to offer our towns the same transformative opportunities as our cities.
We hope that you can not only agree but work with devolved administrations to make this a nationwide initiative.
We are requesting a meeting with you to discuss this further.
Yours sincerely,
Yvette Cooper MP, Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford
David Hanson MP, Delyn
Tracy Brabin MP, Batley and Spen
Gloria De Piero MP, Ashfield
Tan Dhesi MP, Slough
Helen Goodman MP, Bishop Auckland
David Drew MP, Stroud
Ian Lucas MP, Wrexham
James Frith MP, Bury North
Vernon Coaker MP, Gedling
Liz McInnes MP, Heywood and Middleton
Melanie Onn MP, Great Grimsby
Yasmin Qureshi MP, Bolton South East
Nic Dakin MP, Scunthorpe
Chris Matheson MP, City of Chester
Conor McGinn MP, St Helens North
Jo Platt MP, Leigh
Ged Killen MP, Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Paula Sherriff MP, Dewsbury
