A major new report to the UK Government puts New Towns back in the spotlight - key to delivering 1.5 million homes and tackling regional inequalities. Crucially, it makes culture central to their success. That shift could transform how we plan and sustain places in the UK.

At the 2025 Labour Party Conference, the UK Government has announcement £25 million over three years for six mayoral regions - a significant boost for creative industries. Beyond the headline, the question for us at Culture Commons is: how does this investment advance the case for cultural devolution?

On 25 September 2025, the government launched its Pride in Place Strategy as part of the Plan for Change. What began as a pilot is now a flagship national policy - backed with long-term funding and new powers for communities.

Our Director Trevor MacFarlane FRSA was hosted in Riga by Latvia’s Minister for Culture, Agnese Lāce for a wide ranging discussion on culture, creativity and heritage.

Culture Commons has been attending a series of high level roundtables hosted by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to help support the development of the emergent Local Government Outcomes Framework (LGOF).

New Towns Taskforce report drawing on Culture Commons policy cited in an evidence session in a cross-party House of Lords committee.

The UK Government has today published the ‘English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill’ - a game-changing moment for local decision making across England.

Culture Commons joins the consortium of partners scoping a blueprint for a new National Cultural Data Observatory for the UK.

This June, Culture Commons collaborated with partners our partners at the University of Dundee and Culture Counts on an inspiring two-day visit to Dundee as part of 'the future of local cultural decision making' - a major four-nations research and open policy development programme.

At the end of May, Culture Commons teamed up with our partners at Belfast City Council to co-convene a series of activities across Northern Ireland as part of our flagship open policy development programme for 2024 looking at cultural devolution.

Director of Culture Commons, Trevor MacFarlane contributes to a new book series exploring how the creative, cultural and heritage ecosystem responded to the Covid-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022.