Building a ‘think-&-do’ tank for Cultural Devolution

England possesses extraordinary creative, cultural and heritage assets, but lacks a coherent system capable of aligning national ambition with local delivery across the wider creative industries and cultural ecosystem. Fragmentation across institutions, funding streams and decision-making continues to limit strategic coordination and long-term impact.

Under-resourced local authorities and sector bodies increasingly carry responsibility for sustaining this ecosystem, despite lacking the powers, capacity and investment needed to shape it effectively. As devolution accelerates, roles and accountabilities across national, regional and local institutions are becoming increasingly blurred.

A more integrated framework is needed - one that recognises the interdependence of the creative industries, the cultural sector and heritage, while clarifying responsibilities and better aligning policy, funding and decision-making across the system as a whole.

England’s creative industries, cultural sector and heritage ecosystem require a shift from fragmented governance towards a clearer multi-level system, with stronger alignment between national, regional and local responsibilities. As devolution accelerates, accountability must be matched by meaningful decision-making powers and the resources needed to exercise them effectively.

In some areas, policy and funding approaches may need to move away from short-term, competitive models towards longer-term, place-based investment that supports local capacity, strategic planning and sustainable growth across the wider ecosystem. Sub-sector leaders and the public must also be better equipped to seize the opportunities presented by devolution and be at the table to shape emerging policy frameworks.

This will require stronger national data and evidence infrastructure that moves across spatial scales to support monitoring, evaluation and shared learning, enabling more coordinated decision-making across the creative industries, culture and heritage sectors.

Public investment in the creative industries, culture and heritage is too often diluted by short-term funding cycles and fragmented delivery mechanisms, limiting the sector’s ability to plan strategically or achieve lasting impact. Rather than reducing regional disparities, current approaches could reinforce place inequalities by rewarding areas with existing capacity while leaving others behind.

At the same time, the contribution of culture to economic growth, health, wellbeing and place-making remains underleveraged across wider public policy. As devolution progresses, there is a risk that sub-sectors reliant on national or pan-regional infrastructure could become increasingly overlooked within locally driven frameworks.

This is not simply a cultural policy challenge, but a systems challenge - requiring better coordination between governance, investment, infrastructure and evidence across the wider creative and cultural ecosystem.

Devolution, integrated settlements and Local Government Reorganisation are rapidly reshaping England’s governance landscape, creating a rare window in which the future relationship between national and local cultural leadership can still be meaningfully influenced. New powers, institutions and investment mechanisms present significant opportunities for the creative industries, cultural sector and heritage ecosystem - but only if policy development is grounded in evidence and informed by the realities of delivery across the system.

The governance environment remains fluid enough to shape, as recent progress on cultural competency within devolution policy has already demonstrated. However, that window is narrowing. Without strategic intervention, temporary devolution workarounds risk becoming permanently embedded structures, reinforcing fragmentation and uneven capacity for years to come.