Tag: communications

• Cultural Development Fund marks a new government approach to cultural investment in England.
• Fund is a commitment in the government’s Industrial Strategy.
• Towns and cities across the country will benefit from a new £20 million fund for culture, heritage and creative industries, launched by Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, Michael Ellis today.

Areas will be able to bid for up to £7 million for a number of projects in a certain area to help regeneration, create jobs and maximise the impact of investment. This could be for new spaces for creative businesses, bringing historic buildings back into use or redeveloping museums and art galleries.

The investment will help to grow local economies and increase access to arts, heritage and the creative industries.

The Cultural Development Fund marks a new approach for government investment in culture and creative industries. Rather than investment going to a specific venue or artform, the funding will go to geographical locations, including cities or towns in rural areas.

The fund also supports the Government’s Industrial Strategy by aiming to boost productivity in towns and cities across England and use creativity as a catalyst to make places more attractive to live, work and visit.

Michael Ellis, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, said:

Cultural investment can have a transformative impact on communities. Creativity, culture and heritage is what makes places special for local people and visitors alike. But it also helps attract inward investment, with businesses drawn to vibrant, exciting towns and cities.

This fund gives more places the chance to harness the unique power of culture to regenerate communities, create jobs and boost tourism.

The initiative comes after the success of Hull 2017. Since Hull was awarded UK City of Culture in 2013, it attracted over £3 billion of investment and created 800 new jobs.

The Cultural Development Fund also builds on the success of creative hubs launched by the Government and developed through growth and city deals, such as Bristol’s Temple Quarter. This has delivered thousands of jobs in design, media and music businesses in the West Country city.

The Government anticipates that this approach will allow smaller towns and cities to replicate the huge success of Hull and other creative hubs established across the country.

The Cultural Development Fund comes one day before the Great Exhibition of the North launches in Newcastle-Gateshead. It is part of the landmark Creative Industries Sector Deal, which will see more than £150 million jointly invested by Government and industry to help the country’s world-leading cultural and creative businesses thrive.

The Fund will be administered through Arts Council England (ACE). Bids from local areas must maximise potential economic growth and productivity, strengthen local leadership in culture and the creative industries and help to enhance creative skills.

Details of successful projects will be released in due course.

Notes to editors

• Calls for expressions of interest will run from 3 July to 15 August, with full applications sought from 9 September to 19 October.
• For further details on the application process, including how to apply visit Arts Council England’s website
• Nine things to know about the Cultural Development Fund.

Darren Henley, Arts Council Chief Executive said:

Our world leading Creative Industries benefit from centres of production excellence up and down the country. The Cultural Development fund will help to build on the creativity that’s at the core of our arts, heritage and tech organisations in these towns and cities. We’re looking forward to working with DCMS to spark a real difference in people’s lives through this new investment.

Sir Peter Luff, Chair of HLF, said:

Culture, and heritage in particular, are central to a strong sense of identity and place. Our research has shown that tapping into that distinctiveness can provide a significant boost not just to tourism but also to broader local economic prosperity and all the jobs that means. So we welcome this new fund, which will open up opportunities to even more communities.

Sir Peter Bazalgette, Author of the Independent Review of the Creative Industries, said:

This is one piece of a promising jigsaw envisioned in the Sector Deal: creative clusters taking root and growing, yielding both a cultural and an economic dividend.

• government intervened to push through the measures
• offenders will face up to two years in prison with the most serious placed on the sex offenders register

A new law making ‘upskirting’ a specific criminal offence will move a step closer today (21 June 2018), when a Government Bill is introduced in Parliament.

The move was confirmed by the Prime Minister earlier this week, after a government backed Private Members Bill (PMB) did not pass its second reading last Friday (15 June).

Theresa May made clear that the government will get the new law on the statute book, and ministers have acted decisively to bring through the changes as quickly as possible.

Justice Minister Lucy Frazer said:

The support for this new law from the public, campaigners, and across parliament shows just how seriously this crime is being taken.

Upskirting is a humiliating and degrading practice. We will ensure this Bill becomes law as soon as possible to protect more victims and properly punish offenders.

It follows the work of campaigner Gina Martin, whose tireless efforts contributed hugely to this action:

Gina Martin on ‘upskirting’ campaign

The highly intrusive practice – colloquially known as ‘upskirting ’ – typically involves offenders taking a picture under a person’s clothing without them knowing, with the intention of viewing their genitals or buttocks.

Currently, this behaviour is being successfully prosecuted under the offence of Outraging Public Decency. However, following concerns that potentially not all instances of ‘upskirting’ are covered by existing criminal law, the government decided to act.

Initially, ministers supported legislation brought forward by Wera Hobhouse MP to create a specific ‘upskirting’ offence. However, that PMB failed to progress in Parliament, following objections raised Sir Christopher Chope MP.

Ministers therefore decided to intervene and adopted the measures as a Government Bill, in order to make sure there will be no delay in getting this new law onto the statute books.

The Government Bill will build on Wera Hobhouse’s proposals, by ensuing that the most serious offenders are placed on the sex offenders register. The new law would bring the punishment for ‘upskirting’ in line with other existing voyeurism offences, and will see offenders face a maximum of 2 years in prison.

The second reading of the Bill is expected to take place before Summer Recess.

Notes

• In recent years the government has made tackling sexual abuse and sexual violence a priority, and keeps laws in this area under constant review. After listening carefully to the concerns of victims, stakeholders, and MP’s from across the House, Ministers decided a change in the law is necessary.
• Currently, ‘upskirting’ does not go unpunished in England and Wales, and there have been successful prosecutions under the Outraging Public Decency (OPD) offence. Recent examples of successful prosecutions for ‘upskirting’ under OPD include someone who was convicted in January for taking photos up women’s skirts on trains and on a beach, and a student who was convicted in March for taking photos up women’s skirts in Oxford.
• However, existing criminal law does not necessarily cover every instance of ‘upskirting.’ Creating a specific ‘upskirting’ offence would strengthen the law in this area, as it doesn’t have the same limitations as existing offences. It would also allow this intrusive behaviour to be treated as a sexual offence and, ensure that the most serious offenders are made subject to notification requirements (commonly referred to as the ‘sex offenders register’).
• The Bill would insert a new offence under Section 67 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The changes will cover England and Wales; ‘upskirting’ is already a specific offence in Scotland.
• It would capture instances where the purpose is to obtain sexual gratification or cause humiliation, distress or alarm.
• A summary conviction would carry a sentence of up to one year in prison and/or a fine. And a more serious offence, tried in the Crown Court, would carry a sentence of up to 2 years in prison.
• Follow #UpskirtingBill on social media.