North East

The Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) has from its inception been keen to promote strong performance in conjunction with social inclusion.  As it was put in Chris Smith’s Local Authority guidance document in 2000, the Department’s task was ‘to improve the quality of life for all through cultural and sporting activities…to champion the creative and leisure industries…[and] bring quality and excellence in the fields of culture, media and sport…available to the many, not just the few.’ 

A key element of the DCMS pursuit of excellence and access came to be the measurement of social impact: to what extent were the activities supported by them generating social value? In his paper, Professor Roy Boyne of the School of Applied Social Sciences at Durham University examines the administrative and methodological relationship between cultural policy and social outcomes in the UK and the North East of England, and compares this with the situation elsewhere in the world. A copy of the report is available below.