DD2730 London Borough of Culture – youth programmes

1.1.    The Mayor launched the London Borough of Culture (LBOC) programme in 2017. It is a key commitment of Culture for all Londoners, his cultural strategy to unite Londoners. The Mayor wants to help build stronger, more resilient and more creative communities. The programme helps to ensure Londoners have pride in their local areas; enhances their health, wellbeing and prospects; and supports the capital’s economic and social growth. Round one was approved under cover of MD2107 and MD2287; round two under MD2450; and round three under MD3113.
1.2.    LBOC delivers ambitious cultural programmes that are underpinned by residents’ active engagement. It places culture at the heart of communities – inspiring new and diverse talent and drawing visitors from across the city and beyond. Programmes focus on young people; community and civic engagement; health and wellbeing; and jobs and skills. The programme works strategically with councils to embed culture across borough strategy and policy for the long term.
1.3.    So far, the programme has:
•    engaged over 3m people in person and online 
•    supported over 5,107 artistic partners 
•    leveraged more than £22.2m from over 20 programme funders 
•    created 4,796 volunteers 
•    worked with 569 schools 
•    delivered over 25,907 employment and leadership opportunities for young people 
•    supported and delivered culture programmes in 12 boroughs. 
1.4.    Previously investment in youth programmes has supported The Agency – a young creative entrepreneur programme from Battersea Arts Centre – to work in partnership with Blackhorse Workshop in Waltham Forest and Kiln Theatre in Brent. That programme supported the next generation of cultural leaders by investing in young people to develop new social business ideas.
1.5.    The programme focused on the most under-served young Londoners, including care leavers; refugees; excluded pupils; young people not in education, employment or training; and ex-offenders. Following the success of the programme in Waltham Forest, Blackhorse Workshop was inspired to establish Blackhorse Responders, a new youth programme in creative activism.
1.6.    In Lewisham, the programme funded A Big Conversation. This brought together young people from Lewisham Music, Lewisham Youth Theatre, Heart N Soul and Sounds Like Chaos to explore how culture and creativity supports good mental health. The young people went on to work with the Albany arts centre and Lewisham Council to look at embedding young people’s voices in commissioning processes. In partnership with Goldsmiths, University of London, they are developing an evaluation framework for evidencing the impact that arts participation has on young people’s mental health.
1.7.    For the next iteration of the project, the young people are sharing their findings, and collaborating, with local statutory and voluntary sectors to address health inequalities in access to mental health services among young Black African and Caribbean men.
1.8.    In July 2024, Wandsworth and Haringey were invited to submit a proposal for a programme that supported and inspired children and young Londoners. Engagement with the Culture and Creative Industries Unit, and the Children and Young Londoners Unit, took place over the summer to discuss ideas, aims and objectives. In October 2024, the borough teams presented their proposals.
Wandsworth – Creative Skills (2025)
1.9.    Wandsworth’s Creative Skills programme will create opportunities for youth voices to be front and centre throughout the borough’s LBOC year in 2025. The programme aims to work with every secondary school in the borough, engaging over 2,000 young people, in addition to several school-leavers. The journalism and theatre-making projects will enable young people to tell their stories and share their perspectives on art, culture, their borough and their future, amplifying the range of diverse voices. Working with partners such as the BBC, Sky and Tara Theatre, and local creatives, these projects will offer skills development opportunities, paid employment and engaging experiences with professional creatives for 520 young people. The work will enrich children’s cultural education and inspire the next generation of cultural leaders. The programme will connect with existing initiatives such as Wandsworth Arts Fringe’s Young Producer, Reporters and Reviewers programmes, and the Creative Routes school workshop series. A key part of the programme is also focused on creative continuing professional development (CPD) for around 100 teachers who will receive training.
Haringey – Disrupt (2027)
1.10.    The Disrupt Programme will provide multiple points of provision and support across three modules, in a tailored development cycle, with aims for it to continue beyond 2027 (Haringey’s LBOC year). The programme is designed so that, in future, there are various points of entry and access to support children and young people at all phases of their development. SOUNDoff will help children aged 0-11 to find their voices through music. Working with Haringey Music Service, and early-years and primary schools across the borough, children will take part in a series of music lessons, holiday clubs and performances. CULTUREshift will train, mentor and support 45 young people aged 12-18 to manage and curate their own events programme over 12 months. The work will involve another 140 young people in creating those events. Finally, ENTRYpoint, for those aged 18-25, will provide three young people with training and mentoring over 18-24 months, giving them vocational experience in producing, project management, marketing and budgeting. It will also offer 40 young people intensive emerging practitioner training. Haringey will also engage around 200 primary teachers and teaching assistants through a music learning conference. 
1.11    Each borough will receive £175,000 in grant funding to deliver the programme. The GLA will manage an additional £50,000 (£25,000 per borough) to support the boroughs with evaluation, storytelling and legacy. This involves working with experts to assist with both formative evaluation (so boroughs can see how the programme is working and allow for any adjustments whilst it is active) and summative evaluation (to help understand and communicate the benefits and effectiveness of the programme). We will also support boroughs to reflect on their learnings and share best practice with other boroughs, to promote inclusivity and help build a strong legacy across London. 
 

2.1.    Both programmes have been designed to achieve outcomes for the LBOC programme (as outlined in MD3113, in particular). They deliver a programme of work with young people at its heart, offering training, development and creative participation experience for diverse young Londoners. 
2.2.    Investment in the two youth programmes will assist the boroughs to deliver the following goals:
•    there is increased diversity of potential cultural leaders in London, achieved by providing children and young people with creative skills, knowledge, creative experiences and networks 
•    children and young people have an increased range of skills needed to work with others
•    children and young people recognise their potential to make change
•    there are increased opportunities for children and young people to experience joy and enhanced wellbeing through culture.
2.3.    The programmes will also adhere to the following principles: 
•    children and young people have agency, and are involved in planning, development and delivery
•    it amplifies children and young people’s voices (Youth Voice)
•    children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing are paramount
•    it engages children and young people from diverse backgrounds, including those who are D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent.
2.4.    Boroughs have set their own output targets and outcomes, set out below for Wandsworth (see paragraphs 2.5 and 2.6) and Haringey (2.7 and 2.8) The GLA will support with evaluation of these projects (as set out in 1.11 above). They will also be considered as part of the wider LBOC evaluation, which is supported by The Audience Agency.
Wandsworth – Creative Skills (2025)
2.5.    The expected outputs of Wandsworth’s Creative Skills programme include:
•    all 18 Wandsworth secondary schools are offered involvement in a creative skills project 
•    20 young people gain paid work experience on a professional creative project in theatre
•    around 500 young people gain work experience on a creative project working with professional journalists 
•    over 50 pieces of video and/or written content pieces are created by young people, sharing their stories and perspectives on arts and culture, and on Wandsworth’s LBOC programme 
•    three performances of one new theatre production devised by young people, sharing their stories and perspectives of the climate crises, with free tickets for Wandsworth residents
•    over 10 artists are engaged to work directly with young people, giving them valuable insight into a creative career and helping them to develop skills 
•    over 100 primary school teachers and teaching assistants benefit from a creative CPD programme
•    over 500 audiences are engaged in content created by young people, both in person and online. 
2.6.    The expected outcomes of Wandsworth’s Creative Skills programme include:
•    young people’s voices and perspectives are shared widely across various formats 
•    young people gain skills and increased understanding of different creative careers
•    young people’s confidence and storytelling skills are improved 
•    young people recognise the power of their voices as a force for change 
Haringey – Disrupt (2027)
2.7.    The expected outputs of Haringey’s Disrupt programme include: 
•    three young people in paid development positions, receiving training, skills development, mentoring and support over 18-24 months, gaining experience in producing, project management, marketing and budgeting
•    45 young people trained, mentored and supported over 12 months to develop, manage and curate their own events programme
•    40 young people take part in a week-long intensive emerging practitioner training, with professional work experience to help them at a crucial stage in their career 
•    1,320 children take part in music lessons and learning, including 630 children taking part in a series of six music lessons; 600 children taking part in a music lesson and creating a music tree; and 90 children attending a week-long holiday club focused on music-making
•    200 teachers and educators attend an Early Years Music Conference in partnership with Haringey Music Service
•    performances of the music created by the children and young people reach an audience of over 75,495, including children in schools, family and friends, and the wider community. 
2.8.    The expected outcomes of Haringey’s Disrupt programme include: 
•    children and young people’s happiness is increased, their education is improved and they feel better equipped for the future 
•    young people feel confident as creative changemakers, who feel able to make tangible change
•    young people feel empowered and informed to enter the creative industries.
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the Mayor of London must have ‘due regard’ to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; and to advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between people who have a ‘protected characteristic’ as defined in the Equality Act 2010 and those who do not.
3.2.    LBOC has local communities and London residents at its heart. The key aims are to increase Londoners’ engagement with culture; and shine a light on the rich and varied stories of London’s diverse communities. Wandsworth and Haringey have devised their wider LBOC programmes in response to extensive consultation with their residents, and to local needs analysis, data and research (i.e., Wandsworth’s Joint Cultural Needs Assessment Framework, and its ‘Enough is Enough’ report into health inequalities of global majority communities; and Haringey’s State of the Borough report). 
3.3.    Youth programmes in Wandsworth and Haringey involve working with local schools catering for special educational needs and disabilities, and Pupil Referral Unit settings at primary and secondary age. Through the journalism and theatre elements of the programme, Wandsworth aims to enable opportunities for a diverse range of voices and perspectives to be heard. They will ringfence several places on the journalism element of their project for disadvantaged or less engaged students, or those on pupil premium. The theatre element of their project will target young people from the global majority.
3.4.    Haringey is focused on championing justice and inclusivity for children and young people, helping them to be more independent and informed, and thus inspiring and empowering a more diverse creative workforce. Recruitment for all three elements of their programme will target those most in need, engaging local young people experiencing under-representation, vulnerability and/or deprivation. These young people will be identified with support from the council’s children’s services, schools’ teams and local young people’s organisations. 
 

4.1.    The programmes outlined in this decision link to the following Mayoral strategies: 
•    London’s culture strategy, Culture for all Londoners. This outlines a vision to ensure all Londoners can engage with and contribute to the capital’s rich cultural offering on their doorsteps. LBOC is the flagship programme within the Love London chapter of this strategy.
•    Inclusive London, the Mayor’s EDI Strategy. This work ensures there are opportunities for all Londoners to engage in the programme, regardless of age, social class, disability, race, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or marital status.
•    The Mayor’s Social Integration Strategy. This work enables people to have more opportunities, through culture, to connect with each other positively and meaningfully; and supports Londoners to play an active part in their communities and the decisions that affect them.
Conflicts of interest  
4.2.    There are no conflicts of interest to note for any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form.  
 

5.1.    The Mayor has approved expenditure of £4m for round three of LBOC (MD3113); and has delegated authority to the Executive Director of Good Growth to approve expenditure plans for the youth programme strand outlined in MD3113.
5.2.    Approval is requested for expenditure of up to £400,000 to support a youth programme strand in Wandsworth and Haringey (as outlined at 1.9 and 1.10, above). This comprises £350,000 of grant funding; and £50,000 retained and managed by the GLA to support evaluation, storytelling and legacy. 
5.3.    The phasing of the proposed expenditure is shown below. 

5.4.    The funding for the LBOC Youth Programme is held within the Culture and Creative Industries Unit. The indicative plan outlined in 5.3, above, for 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 is planned in the budget and can only be confirmed when the budget is approved.
5.5.    Funding for future financial years is subject to the annual budget-setting process and is subject to change. Any contracts that commit the GLA to expenditure in futures years are subject to appropriate break clauses.
 

6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that:
•    the decisions requested of the Director may be considered facilitative of the GLA’s delivery of its culture strategy; and concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers and duties, exercisable by the Mayor, to do anything facilitative of, or conducive or incidental to, the promotion of social development in Greater London
•    in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:
o    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people
o    consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the UK
o    consult with appropriate bodies.
6.2.    In taking the decisions requested, the Director must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty – namely, the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010; and to advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, sex, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
6.3.    Officers have indicated that £350,000 of the expenditure proposed will amount to the provision of grant funding and not payment for services. They must, therefore, ensure that:
•    the funding is distributed fairly, transparently, in accordance with the GLA’s equalities, and in a manner that affords value for money in accordance with the Contracts and Funding Code
•    appropriate funding documentation is put in place between, and executed by, the GLA, Wandsworth and Haringey before any commitment to fund is made.
6.4.    Officers must also ensure that any services, suppliers or works required are procured in liaison with TfL Procurement, in accordance with the Contracts and Funding Code; and appropriate contract documentation is put in place between, and executed by, the GLA and contractors before commencement.

7.1.    The project will be completed according to the following timetable: