Cultural services by 2020

Open date: Tuesday, 10 February 2015 at 12.00am Close date: Friday, 24 April 2015 at 11.59pm Type: Consultation

Please note this consultation is closed

The Culture2020 consultation has now closed and we’d like to thank everyone who’s taken such an interest, responded and attended or organised events.

Following feedback during the Culture 2020 consultation, new plans have been developed that could see library buildings open for longer and offer wider benefits to the local community, including health and fitness services as well as study space, IT access and book lending. The changes were discussed at the Lambeth Cabinet Meeting on 12 October 2015.
For the latest information about this please visit www.lambeth.gov.uk/culture2020

About the consultation

During the Culture2020 consultation we wanted people to let us know what they thought about proposals concerning the future provision of cultural services in Lambeth before decisions are taken. By cultural services we mean your local park, open space, library, the borough archives, sports and physical activities and the arts. We are proposing significant changes to the way cultural services in Lambeth are provided and this may include the council no longer providing a service.

Our ambition

We all know that regular physical activity and cultural stimulation contributes positively to emotional and mental wellbeing by preventing and reducing stress, anxiety and depression. So we want to make the most of the borough’s cultural, physical and sports assets to help local people live healthier, happier lives.

We plan to make sure the provision of cultural services in the borough will be financially sustainable for future generations. Our ambition is that by 2020:

  • no matter where you live in Lambeth you‘ll be within 20 minutes average walking time from affordable activities which will improve your health and wellbeing
  • 85% of Lambeth’s population take part in regular cultural, sports and physical activities
  • all residents have access to a range of affordable, excellent facilities where they can engage in cultural, sports and physical activities

Introduction

The council is facing unprecedented cuts to its core funding and has to save £90 million by 2018. By 2018 we’re going to have just over half what we had in the budget for these services in 2013-14.

Furthermore, our population is expected to increase by more than 30,000 in the next 10 years and we need to use some of our assets to have money to invest more widely.

The Cultural services by 2020 booklet, explains how we intend to make financial savings and meet the challenges ahead.

So we’re proposing to sell Waterloo and Minet libraries and use the money to create a £10million endowment fund for the culture and library services. We’re proposing to have five town centre libraries and four community libraries across the borough and having that money means we can invest in and look after them.

We also want to be more ambitious around generating income in our parks. Included in this is a new proposed events strategy to bring a cultural festival to Lambeth, hold more events across the whole borough and bring noise levels for events into line with the majority of London.

We’ve had thousands of conversations with people over the last few years about libraries, parks, sports facilities and events. These experiences and ideas have all helped shape the proposals being consulted on now.

We’re proposing to work together with local people and partners across Lambeth to transform how cultural services are provided. In some cases the council will do less, stand back, and let others take the lead. Some organisations are already stepping up and taking over, for example SCCOOP (Streatham Common Cooperative) are now managing the Rookery at Streatham Common.

Let us know what you think

You can find the overview booklet, supporting documentation here and at all Lambeth libraries. We’ve also gathered together some additional information that might help you if you want to know more about the background to some of the proposals.

You can let us know what you think in a number of ways. See How to respond below.

If you have any queries about the consultation or difficulty accessing any information please contact culture2020@lambeth.gov.uk

If you would like help accessing the consultation information - for example in large print, in Braille, on audio or in another language, please phone 020 7926 2623.

Consultation documents

Key information

Supporting information

Extra background