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Brooklands, near Weybridge Surrey was the birth place of car racing in Britain. The track and club was developed by Hugh Fortescue Locke King, using a large acreage of his Surrey estate. The two and three quarter mile track was opened on 17 June 1907

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Key drivers and partnerships

What are the key drivers that influence the objectives and priorities of local authorities?

Decision making in local authorities is complex. There a many different factors that influence the objectives and priorities of a local authority, the services it provides and its approach to service delivery. These in turn will influence its cultural objectives, the nature of the cultural service and its willingness to work with partners and support other organisations in the provision of cultural services. Some of the key drivers are set out below.

Public opinion

Public opinion is important, and will strongly influence the decisions that are taken by an authority about all of its services, including culture. Local authorities are required to consult with the public in order to identify the local issues of greatest important to local people. They must also feedback to the public on the decisions that are taken and how well they are performing.

When the public is asked about local issues and priorities it is unusual for culture to be identified as a high priority. This can lead some authorities to take a view that culture is not important to the public and to treat it as a low priority service.  However culture makes a significant contribution to many of the issues that are important to the public, including meeting the needs of children and young people, raising educational standards, health improvement, crime reduction and economic vitality. If the culture is not a priority within an authority then those wanting to encourage greater cultural provision, or to work in partnership with an authority on a cultural project, will need to present the case for culture's contribution to wider outcomes. Evidence is widely available both on this web site for the south east and on the web site of other agencies such as Arts Council England and Sport England.

The public also influence the decisions of an authority through the electoral process. Local authority elected members are voted in by the public. If the public are not happy with the decisions taken by the elected members, they have an opportunity every few years to vote for alternative councillors.  Local authority elected members are therefore often responsive to campaigns and pressure groups that highlight local issues or causes, particularly in the run up to local elections.

The objectives of government and other partners and key strategic plans

In deciding on its own objectives and priorities for culture, and as a result of the partnerships that it will be involved with, a local authority will be influenced by the objectives and priorities of central and regional government and a wide range of other organisations and partners at a local, regional and national level. Each of these organisations will have their own objectives and priorities which are usually set out in strategies and plans. Because culture contributes to many cross cutting agendas a local authority will need to consider the objectives set out in both culture specific strategies and those relating to wider issues, for example creating sustainable communities, health and community cohesion.

Some of the main strategic plans that may influence local authorities in the south east are produced by government departments, including the Department for Communities and Local Government (formerly the Office of the Deputy Prime minister), Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Department for Education and Skills; the national non departmental public bodies and their regional agencies such as Arts Council England South East, Tourism South East and Sport England South East; other regional agencies including the South East Economic Development Agency (SEEDA) and Culture South East, the regional cultural consortia, and at a local level, the local strategic partnerships and local cultural fora.

The local authority's vision and priorities for culture will sometimes be identified in a specific cultural strategy and plans for the different cultural sectors such as sport, parks and arts. However this is often not the case and the role and priorities for culture are increasingly likely to be integrated into other corporate or cross cutting strategies, and into a wider Community Strategy. However once an authority has decided on its objectives and priorities for culture, these will be incorporated into the authoritys corporate strategy or plan, which is usually translated into a business or forward plan for each service.


Partnership working, including local strategic partnerships

Local authorities undertake a wide community leadership role and work with a range of different organisations across the public, commercial and voluntary sectors. Even in small authorities they are likely to have many different partnerships.

Where effective partnerships exist, there will be a two way process whereby the authority will influence the work of the partnership and the partners, but equally the decisions and action taken by the partnership will influence the authority. For culture, an authority not currently investing in culture may be persuaded by partners of its importance, or vice versa. Recognition of the contribution of culture within partnerships requires cultural champions to be in place who are influential decision makers in the partnership. They can help to identify where culture can contribute to the outcomes achieved and may be willing to work with the local authority and others to deliver cultural and wider outcomes.

One of the most important local partnerships, that is growing in influence, is the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). Increasingly LSPs are determining what services will be provided in an area by local authorities, other public sector agencies and their partners. Many local authorities are adopting the vision and objectives of the LSP within their own corporate strategies.

LSPs cover one or more local authority areas and are made up of representatives of the local authority and other organisations with an interest in meeting the needs of the residents in the area. This will usually include the police, health sector, education and lifelong learning organisations, as well as representatives of the business and community sectors. Local authorities are usually one of the lead partners on the LSP, with many holding the position of Chair. LSPs are expected to consult with the public to identify what they want for the area and the local issues of importance, prepare a Community Strategy that sets out a shared vision, aims and priorities, and agree actions that will be collectively delivered. LSPs are also expected to join up the work and resources of a range of different organisations to provide for the social, economic and environmental well being of their communities.

Across the south east LSPs are at very different stages in their development and effectiveness. However central government are keen for the influence of LSPs to grow. They are actively encouraging LSPs to improve the way they work, and for the organisations involved in them to pool resources to deliver local priority outcomes. Community strategies are increasingly seen as the key strategic document for a local authority area. Some recent government initiatives, such as local area agreements (see below), actually require an LSP and a community strategy (or equivalent) to be in place if an authority is to be able to participate and access resources.

Community strategies vary in the extent to which culture is recognised as an important contributor to the vision and objectives, and in the extent to which it is truly integrated across different strategic themes and priorities. However the growing significance of community strategies, along with the delivery or action plans that underpin them, makes the inclusion of culture within the plan critical if cultural services are to continue to be recognised in the future priorities of local authorities and other partners.  

Under the LSP there may be a range of sub groups that are responsible for delivering the objectives set out in the community strategy. There may also be a range of other partnerships or fora, who may or may not formally link back to the LSP, covering specific issues such as:
 Children and Young People;
 Crime and Disorder Reduction, including youth offending and anti-social behaviour;
 Culture;
 Health Improvement;
 Learning and skills;
 Neighbourhood renewal; and
 Economic prosperity.

Each of these will influence to a greater or lesser extent the authority's objectives and priorities, depending on their function and effectiveness.

Further information on LSPs can be found on a number of web sites including:

Local authority and local strategic partnership web sites most local authority sites will include some information about the local strategic partnership and a link to their web site if one exists.

Local area agreements

Local Area Agreements (LAAs) are a formal partnership agreement between central and local government and their partners. They identify a limited number of outcomes that will be delivered over a three year period, based on identified local needs and priorities but also taking into account national government priorities. Working through Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) LAAs draw into one agreement a number of different funding streams currently available, join up public services and give councils and other local delivery partners more flexibility to work together and make decisions about how they tackle the priority issues within their locality.

LAAs are seen as an important way forward in the delivery of services for local people. Significant resources from different partners and funding streams are being used to deliver the LAA outcomes and the successes and failures will influence the way future services are provided and resources allocated. It is therefore important that culture is recognised within LAAs as one of the mechanism through which the LAA outcomes can be delivered.

See LAA section for further information.

Funding and resources

The resources available to each local authority strongly influence what services it is able to provide. Around 25% of local authority funding is obtained from council tax, with the remainder financed by general and specific grants from central government, national non-domestic rates and income from sales, fees and charges for local authority services. Local authorities may also receive some funding in the way of grant aid from other organisations, such as the National Lottery.
In recent years much of the funding received from central government by local authorities has been tied to the delivery of statutory services or in meeting specific targets. The most flexible funding that an authority has is the money raised through council tax. However the low level of council tax as an overall percentage of local authority funding means that for every 1% increase in council spending, council tax must on average rise by 5%. Council tax rises are unpopular among residents, generate bad publicity and may lose elected members their seats at the next local elections. In addition, in recent years central government has place a cap on council tax rises.
When local authority finances are aligned with priorities there is nearly always a shortfall and each year difficult decisions have to be taken as part of the annual budget planning cycle. Demonstrating how culture contributes to the local priority outcomes is essential in most local authorities if the cultural services are to continue to be funded. As mainly discretionary services they will usually be carefully scrutinised at the time of budget decisions.
Despite the many pressures on budgets local authority expenditure on cultural services is significant. In the Chartered Institute of Public Accounting leisure and recreation statistics for 2004-2005, total net expenditure on leisure and recreation facilities and services by all authorities in England Wales was  2,364 million.
The strong leverage ratio of local authority funding to external funding for cultural provision in some authorities has helped to preserve service provision.  However the issue of the longer term sustainability of some cultural facilities, activities and events once short term external funding ceases is an ongoing problem for many authorities.
Further information on the funding of local authorities can be found on the following web sites: