Local Authorities

Alison McKenzie-Folan

Chief Executive of Wigan Council

"We’re really pleased to be a part of the efforts of Culture Commons, working to develop policies that will create the best possible outcomes for the creative and cultural sectors. It’s only right that opportunities to support and develop these sectors are fairly spread across different geographical areas."

We work with local authorities to provide them with the information they need to make informed decisions about the creative and cultural ecosystem in their own areas.

If you are an elected councillor or officer with questions about how the creative and cultural sectors and associated infrastructures can be developed in your place, we're here to support you.

Our team have worked with politicians and as senior civil servants across multiple portfolios within local and combined authorities, right through to Ministerial and Secretary of State level. Our team have also worked directly for some of the most senior parliamentarians in the UK, including Leaders of local councils, and have helped to deliver landmark Bills in recent years.

We also regularly include local authorities in our 'open policy development programmes' - for example on 'the future of local cultural decision making' to ensure their insights are impacting on our national level policy design work.

We have the political sensitivity to mount meaningful campaigns for policy change, and work with decision makers who share our goals and objectives. Our team can brief you or you team on many of the biggest issues of the day facing creative and cultural sector organisations (both privately and publicly funded).

As a consultancy with lots of in-house experience, it's likely that we can support you in a number of ways. Here's just a snapshot of some of things we've been supporting local authorities - in all four UK nations and at all tiers - with in recent months.

Produced specialised events in local wards and constituencies
Developed officer and lead portfolio holder briefings
Designed new policies ready for implementation
Led overt and discreet campaigns (locally and regionally)
Submitted evidence to scrutiny committees on behalf of local authorities
Supported the development of cultural strategies

Co-commissioned research alongside local authorities
Developed policy influence trackers
Drafted speeches on salient topics for officers
Developed political top lines for deployment
Working with local authority networks like the LGA, COSLA and others