Supporting the UK Government with a new national outcomes framework for local authorities

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.

The LGOF represents a significant shift in how Whitehall will hold councils in England to account - introducing 15 draft outcomes designed to empower local authorities as place leaders while delivering against the Government’s national missions.

The new framework will sit at the centre of the Government’s wider English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, due before the UK Parliament later this year, which marks the next stage of the so-called “devolution revolution”.

Bringing culture to the table

Building on our national open policy programme on The Future of Cultural Devolution in the UK, Culture Commons’ Director, Trevor MacFarlane, has been working inside these discussions to ensure that the creative, cultural and heritage ecosystem is properly represented across government departments feeding into the LGOF.

Our view

While ‘culture’ currently features under a single draft outcome – Neighbourhoods – we are making the case that culture can have a far broader role to play.

Proposed measures under this indicator include “satisfaction with cultural facilities”, visits to libraries, and access to green spaces. These are welcome foundations, but we believe additional cultural data can be harnessed to reflect the role that creativity can play in community resilience, wellbeing, and economic renewal.

Culture Commons is also exploring whether culture might be carved out as a standalone indicator — recognising its cross-cutting contributions to multiple national outcomes — or whether embedding cultural measures throughout the framework will better capture its value.

We are also progressing our work with partners on a National Cultural Data Observatory, which could harmonise cultural evidence at scale and directly feed into the LGOF, providing policymakers with a richer and more reliable evidence base for the future.

Next steps

As the LGOF develops, Culture Commons will continue to work alongside senior officials, parliamentarians and sector partners to make sure culture is not just included, but recognised as a driver of the UK’s key missions - from economic growth to community cohesion.