Key information
Request reference number: MGLA080125-7617
Date of response:
Summary of request
Your request
- Could you please tell me how much to date has been spent on the Mayor of London’s Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm?
- And can you tell me how many plaques have since been put up?
Our response
1. The purpose of the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm is to lead a London-wide conversation on how to achieve greater diversity of representation across the public realm and heritage sites. This was focussed on increasing presence and visibility of underrepresented groups including Black, Asian and minority ethnic, women, LGTBQ+ and disabled groups and to include consideration of representation of socio-economic diversity.
The Commission set out a broad programme of work which included:
- Providing an overview of existing representation in the public realm in London – this has taken place through a partnership with Art UK.
- Delivery of the Untold Stories grant fund, supporting community-led projects that increased the visual representation of diversity in London’s public realm / to create, test and develop projects that help tell the stories of London’s diverse communities. This included projects that created new statues, memorials, plaques and commemorations.
- An engagement programme, aimed at including Londoners in decisions about the public realm.
- Supporting London boroughs as key decision makers in the public realm through convening a Borough Working Group and embedding good practice across the built environment, programme delivery including evaluation.
- Emblematic project commissions seeking to increase representation of diverse culture and heritage in London’s public realm.
The total spend to date on the programme has been £2,138,888 including £1,156,417 on the Untold Stories grant programme.
2. The Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm has not directly installed plaques. Through the Untold Stories grant programme it has funded community-led organisations to increase the visual representation of diversity in London’s public realm which includes statues, memorial, public art and plaques.
To date, the Untold Stories grant programme has funded 398 new artworks, trails and events in London’s public spaces. 159 ‘plaques, QR codes and information boards’ were installed as part of the Untold Stories grant programme, including:
- One plaque honouring the life of anti-slavery campaigner Olaudah Equiano on Tottenham Court Road, marking the site of his former burial ground.
- One memorial in Hackney Downs Park, including benches and signage, dedicated to the victims of the New Cross Fire.
- Five Rainbow Plaques marking people, places, culture and significant moments in London’s LGBTQIA+ histories.