At a glance//

Culture and Sport in Local Government

Culture and sport are important and valued services provided by local government and their partners for their communities. These services help to define who we are, what we want to do and what we aspire to be. Local authorities spend £3.2 billion on culture and sport every year across the country. From leisure centres to libraries, art galleries to the local sports development officer, museums to arts development officers there are a whole range of services and built facilities which support our communities to participate in their area.

Importance of Self-Improvements, Journey of local authorities

External assessment of the services provided by local authorities has been a long established method of checking the quality and value for money of them for local communities. There is now a much stronger focus on self assessment and self improvement i.e. continuous improvement of services is supported from within. This is described as a ‘journey’ because self-improvement and the pursuit of providing excellent services to local communities is an ongoing process rather than a process with a defined destination.