Guidance

UK City of Culture 2025 Expression of Interest: guidance for bidders

Updated 8 June 2021

Ministerial foreword

Coventry has long been known as a symbol of rebirth - a city that rebuilt from the rubble of the Second World War. This year, as the nation recovers from the pandemic, it will be reborn again as it takes up the mantle of UK City of Culture 2021. The opening moment - the epic, city-wide ‘Coventry Moves’ - will herald the beginning of a year of fantastic cultural events and activities with communities at its heart, signalling a period of optimism and recovery for the entire country. Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture is expected to fuel an economic boost of £211 million, with an additional 2.5 million visitors to the region. I look forward to being one of them as I join audiences to celebrate the city, its residents and its place on the global stage.

Since Derry/Londonderry won the title in 2013, the UK City of Culture programme has demonstrated the power of culture and creativity to transform communities and spread opportunity across the UK. Hull’s title year included over 2,800 events, and more than nine-in-ten residents took part in at least one cultural activity. Over 2,400 volunteers, at least one from every single street in the city, contributed 337,000 hours of social action during the year - the equivalent of 38.5 years.

I’m now delighted to launch the search for Coventry’s successor. The competition for the UK City of Culture 2025 title is a unique opportunity for you to explore and articulate culture’s role in your future growth. I want as many places as possible across the UK to take up this opportunity - which is why I am very pleased to announce that for the first time we will award small grants to longlisted bidders to support their long applications.

We know that culture makes a vital contribution to our lives and where we live. But it can also provide a powerful stimulus to recovery and renewal. Culture is a catalyst for attracting investment and new and returning tourists, bringing people together, and defining and reaffirming a sense of place and local pride. In short, culture is a vital tool in this government’s central mission: to unite and level up the country. Those opportunities for the bidders and winner of UK City of Culture 2025 are more important than ever as we build back better from the pandemic. For these reasons, I am also delighted to confirm that the UK City of Culture competition will now officially be a permanent quadrennial event, which gives even more places in the future the opportunity to bid for and win this prestigious title.

I would like to see innovative, inclusive and exciting proposals that showcase your great local culture, heritage and open up access to culture in your area, empowering communities to shape the place where they live in 2025 and beyond. Thank you in advance for your interest in this competition.

Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP

Secretary of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport

Introduction

This guidance has been produced by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) to assist the cities, areas or places that wish to express their interest in bidding for the title of UK City of Culture 2025.

UK City of Culture is a UK-wide programme, developed in collaboration with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The competition is run by DCMS, inviting places across the UK to set out their vision for culture-led regeneration. Derry/Londonderry was the inaugural UK City of Culture 2013 and the competition has been run every four years since. Alongside launching the search for UK City of Culture 2025, DCMS is also committing to running a competition for the UK City of Culture 2029 title.

The new expression of interest (EOI) stage of the competition this year is designed to be a lighter touch first step asking places to demonstrate that they meet the core criteria of a UK City of Culture bid and have the potential to make a significant contribution to the aims and objectives of the programme.

Bidding for the title in its own right can have a hugely positive impact on a place - helping to bring partners together and develop strategic cultural leadership, showcasing and opening up access to your local heritage, art and culture, and articulating your ambitions for the future. We want as many places as possible to have the opportunity to benefit. This is why we have introduced the EOI stage and for the first time, we are very pleased to be able to award small grants to longlisted bidders successful at the EOI stage to support and strengthen their full application.

A maximum of six places that submit an EOI will be invited to be part of a longlist of bidding places. Each will be awarded a small grant to support them to develop their long application. Following the assessment of the long application, three shortlisted places will be visited by the expert advisory panel and invited to present its plan. The panel will then submit its recommendation for the winner of UK City of Culture 2025 to DCMS ministers, and the Secretary of State for DCMS will make the final decision.

Key dates

Expression of Interest deadline: 19 July 2021

Announcement of longlist: early September 2021

Long application deadline: January 2022

Visits to shortlisted places: March/April 2022

Winner announced: May 2022

Guidance

UK City of Culture aims and objectives

UK City of Culture is a transformational moment in a place’s growth and this year’s competition is an opportunity for places and communities to put culture and creativity at the heart of their recovery and growth plans. The success of previous winners Derry/Londonderry, Hull and now the exciting and ambitious year unfolding in Coventry, demonstrates how the programme can drive positive economic and social outcomes, develop lasting local, national and international partnerships, and bring people together. It can also strengthen communities, build a sense of place and inspire local pride, celebrating and boosting local and grassroots arts and culture, and attract new investment and tourism.

The UK City of Culture competition is a key part of the DCMS’s broader offer to level up opportunity across the UK - using culture as the catalyst for investment in places to drive economic growth and regeneration, promoting social cohesion and instilling pride in places and making them more attractive to live and work in and visit.

The assessment criteria for the EOI phase of the UK City of Culture 2025 competition has been developed to reflect the below aims and objectives.

The UK City of Culture 2025 will need to:

1. Articulate a vision which uses culture to transform a place through social, cultural and economic regeneration, making it more attractive to live, work, visit and invest in.

2. Drive growth

• Create a sustainable economic impact from the programme, through investment and innovation in culture and creativity

• Develop sustained local, regional, national and international partnerships and attract investment to unlock inclusive growth

3. Innovate

• Demonstrate cultural and artistic excellence and innovation, including using cutting-edge technology to exhibit and enable creativity and cultural engagement to flourish across the UK

• Create a cultural programme that exemplifies best practice in the UK and showcases cultural excellence though the UK’s art, heritage and creative industries

• Develop new cross-sector partnerships, including exploring collaborations between science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics

4. Reach out across the UK and abroad

• Include and work with a broad range of local, national and international partners

• Strengthen and celebrate links and relationships with places across the four nations of the UK

• Actively contribute to the UK’s global reputation for high quality programmes, artistic development, and international collaboration

• Enhance the profile of the area and the UK to domestic and international audiences as a place to live, visit, work or invest in

• Promote the city as a cultural destination, attract new and returning visitors and boost tourism across the region, emphasising its particular place in the UK

• Deliver a high quality cultural programme that builds and expands on local strengths and assets and also showcases shared connections and characteristics with places in the UK and abroad

• Foster leadership and ambition in the globally competitive cultural and creative industries.

5. Maximise the social benefits of investing in culture

• Empower local communities to shape the bid and the programme, co-creating projects and legacy plans with local communities, grassroots artists and creatives, and regional and local leaders

• Promote social cohesion, engaging and inspiring local communities to volunteer

• Increase inclusive opportunities for the development of creative skills and for routes into creative and cultural careers

• Explore how culture can contribute to health and wellbeing targets

• Bring people together, build a sense of place and inspire local pride

• Develop place-based leadership, governance and partnerships that are representative and diverse

• Develop innovative ways to open up access to culture, engaging a wide range of audiences, visitors and participants

6. Maximise the legacy, and have capacity to deliver

• Present realistic and credible plans for managing, funding and delivering the programme and its legacy

• Strengthen local leadership, partnerships and capability

• Foster the development of a strong ecosystem of cultural and creative organisations rooted in the community with links to other major partners and a long term cultural strategy for the city

• Demonstrate a clear evidence-based and robust approach to maximising the legacy and evaluating the impacts of UK City of Culture, including through increased and improved data generation and capture

7. Embed environmental sustainability

• Develop realistic plans to embed sustainable practices in creative and practical programming and legacy

• Promote and inspire environmental responsibility.

What do we mean by culture?

We expect applicants to showcase the strengths of the cultural offer in the area, acknowledge its weaknesses, and its ambition and potential to improve. We do not want to prescribe what constitutes culture and we encourage each bidder to define their own culture. It will be up to you to make the case for which activities are included in your proposed cultural programme and articulate the step changes you aim to achieve. We expect programmes to be able to appeal to a wide range of audiences and to increase participation in cultural activities as well as contributing to economic growth, regeneration, community cohesion, health and wellbeing.

Applicants are encouraged to include activities encompassing a broad definition of culture and its creative industries. This includes but is not limited to: visual arts, literature; music; theatre; dance; combined arts; architecture; crafts; design; heritage and the historic and natural environment; museums and galleries; libraries and archives; film, broadcasting and media; video games; animation, visual and special effects; photography, and publishing.

Which places can bid?

We welcome bids from across the UK. We will adopt a flexible approach to agreeing which areas can bid. There is no minimum population requirement but there must be a clear central focus and identity to the area, with sufficient existing cultural and digital infrastructure (or credible plans to develop them) to make a compelling case, and provide the critical mass for a year-long programme to be successful. This could be a city or large town, or a cohesive area made up of two or more neighbouring or closely linked cities or towns. However, part of the programme can be delivered in a wider hinterland, including rural areas and bidders are encouraged to consider how their longer-term strategy will engage and benefit surrounding communities. This impact should be realised in the surrounding area, urban or rural, which will stand to benefit from inclusive growth.

Areas must be able to deliver a substantial programme of cultural activity to run throughout 2025 that can demonstrably lead to regeneration in the area concerned. The only areas precluded from bidding are London as a whole or any part of London. However, this does not prevent London, parts of London or London-based organisations being partners in a bid for an area outside London.

Which organisations can bid?

We expect bids to be from a partnership for the area and include the relevant local authorities. There will need to be a lead organisation for information and communication purposes during the competition process, and, if successful, be the accountable body for any grant. Lead applicants must be a formally constituted organisation but they do not need to be the local authority.

The partnership should demonstrate commitment to work collaboratively and include a wide range of partners from different sectors such as: local businesses, industry and civic leaders, higher education institutions, cultural bodies, voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations and be aligned to other regional strategic bodies.

‘UK City of Culture 2025’ title, trade mark and branding

The successful applicant will be designated as ‘UK City of Culture 2025’. While we will award small grants to longlisted cities successful at the EOI stage, the title itself does not come with automatic funding. However, DCMS is keen to maximise the winner’s success and impact and will provide advice, support and convening power. This includes brokering relationships with DCMS teams, other government departments, arms-length and other government bodies. A memorandum of understanding will be put in place outlining the partnership between DCMS and the winning city.

Due to COVID-19, Coventry’s year in the spotlight will run from May 2021 - May 2022. There will be a handover ceremony at the end of Coventry’s year in May 2022 and the new winning bidder will be able to use the title and trade mark of ‘UK City of Culture’ from May 2022 until the next winner claims it at the end of the 2025 title year. Winning places usually have three years to prepare for their title year and therefore, UK City of Culture 2025 may wish to have the flexibility to start their cultural programme at any point between January and May 2025 and continue into 2026 accordingly.

We will issue branding guidance to all registered bidders to outline how bidding, winning and legacy places are able to use the title and trade mark in the years running up to and after 2025.

Media and publicity

We expect there to be significant publicity associated with the selection process, with coverage at a local and national level. We will issue press releases on who has submitted an EOI and on the results of the longlisting, shortlisting and final selection processes. All the bidding places will be listed on the DCMS website (with links to their respective bid website if one exists).

Data sharing and transparency

We want the UK City of Culture 2025 competition process to be as transparent as possible and encourage you to think about how you consult, engage and communicate with residents throughout the bidding.

The UK City of Culture programme and its evaluation is crucial to our developing understanding of the social and economic impacts of cultural investment. Every four years we receive an incredible volume of information and data. Once the 2025 title has been awarded next year, we will deposit all bids (initial EOIs and long applications) in the National Archives, the official public archive of the UK Government, to allow researchers and the public free access to this wealth of detail. We understand that some data may be commercially sensitive, so we will work with all bidders to provide redacted versions as necessary.

We want all bidders to benefit from the process and we know that many previous bidders have gone on to realise elements of their bids despite being unsuccessful in this competition. DCMS will work with unsuccessful bidders, DCMS arms-length bodies and other key organisations involved in the UK City of Culture programme to identify areas where we can collectively support.

Funding

We realise that there are costs associated with developing and submitting a bid and that COVID-19 has put significant pressure on local resources. We want as many places across the UK as possible to feel able to bid and to benefit from the bidding process. The process itself is a valuable exercise in defining a place’s ambitions, developing ideas and partnerships and setting out an integrated cultural strategy.

The lighter touch, word limited EOI phase has been designed to ensure costs can be kept to a minimum at the outset. For the first time we will award grants of £40,000 to up to six bids able to demonstrate at the EOI stage that they meet the core criteria and show potential to make a significant contribution to the aims and objectives of the UK City of Culture programme. These successful longlisted places will then have 4 months to develop a robust economic analysis, a credible delivery and governance plan, particularly for any capital project plans, undertake research and consultation, and gather data. The long applications should be scalable so that elements can be taken forward and impacts realised to a certain extent regardless of success in this competition. We will publish further guidance on how to prepare the long bid in due course, including our expectations for data submission.

You will be asked in the EOI online form how you would spend the £40,000 grant. It is intended to provide a flexible source of funding that can be deployed in a place-specific way, which will demonstrably strengthen your long application and help to develop a scalable plan, for example on:

• R&D
• Consultation
• Human resources
• Data gathering
• Commercial expertise for capital plans.

At this time, we are not able to guarantee automatic national funding (‘prize money’) from the UK Government for the winning bid. Rather, we expect the successful place will need to bid into existing pots. We recognise that this may shape the bids, and there may need to be a phased approach to the programme, dependent on a successful fundraising campaign. We would expect you to align your own local resources and budgets to deliver your programme, and you will need to consider how to make best use of other potential sources of funding.

Learning from previous UK Cities of Culture

The UK City of Culture programme was developed by the UK government in consultation with the devolved administrations to build on the success of Liverpool as European Capital of Culture 2008. Since then its positive impact has been felt in Derry-Londonderry, Hull and now Coventry. Many other places have been involved in this competition and in other initiatives like Liverpool, as European Capital of Culture in 2008, the Borough of Culture competition in London and the more rotational Borough of Culture initiative across the Liverpool City Region. The organisations and individuals supporting the UK City of Culture programme have indicated their willingness to support the bidding process, but they will need to operate in an even-handed way and will not be able to make a firm or exclusive commitment to any one city or area. You can expect to receive consistent, strategic advice from these organisations.

We are working with Coventry to convene all those with experience and expertise in bidding, organising and driving culture-led change over the past decade to share their knowledge and advice. Two workshops will be held throughout the bidding process, one for all interested bidders on 1 and 2 July and the second for longlisted bidders in the autumn of 2021. Details to follow, please contact ukcityofculture2025-competition@dcms.gov.uk with any questions. You may also be interested in attending the Coventry Cultural Policy and Evaluation Summit, which is being held online on 24-25 June, run by theAHRC Cities of Culture Networkin partnership with the Coventry City of Culture Trust and Warwick, Coventry and Hull universities. See full programme and how to register if interested.

Contributing to our Net Zero and environmental objectives

This government’s Net Zero ambitions represent a key pillar in our commitment to build back better. We are focused on delivering the kind of growth that levels up, reduces emissions, and cements our status as Global Britain.

Tackling climate change is the one of the most urgent shared endeavours of our lifetimes, demanding bold action from us all. Our towns and cities are on the front line of climate change and culture is a powerful tool in tackling environmental challenges. Bids for UK City of Culture 2025 should be able to demonstrate a contribution to net zero objectives or wider environmental considerations. Programming should be based on low or zero carbon best practice, adopt and support innovative clean tech where possible and support the growing skills and supply chains in support of Net Zero where possible.

To support green growth, bids should also consider how the programme can work with the natural environment to achieve its objectives, and - at a minimum - consider the programme’s impact on our country’s natural assets and nature.

We want all bidders for the UK City of Culture 2025 title to connect cultural and environmental policy and strategy, and embed environmental sustainability in their plans - from events and transport to creative programming and promoting environmental responsibility. Julie’s Bicycle, partner of Arts Council England, has collaborated on a range of resources, reports and case studies showcasing cities across the world becoming more sustainable with culture as their driver.

Alignment with other government initiatives

The competition complements other UK government place-based initiatives, such as the Levelling Up Fund, the UK Community Renewal Fund,as well as the England-only programmes like the Towns Fund and the Cultural Development Fund, to create opportunity in all parts of the UK and help cities and their surrounding areas build back better.

We encourage bidders to demonstrate how their bid aligns with, builds on or prepares for other funds and initiatives as well as how it is integrated in wider local and regional inclusive growth plans. Bids should actively complement, rather than duplicate or compete with funding already delivering or set to deliver in their areas. Areas should not consider the UK City of Culture competition as an opportunity to plug any gap in funding not realised by other government Funds. Nor should places that did or do not receive support through the other Funds feel that they are at a disadvantage for applying to the UK City of Culture competition.

We want to support all bidders to realise culture’s contribution to recovery and renewal. The Cultural Cities Enquiry Recovery Plan examines the impact that Cultural Compacts have had and demonstrates the benefits of developing strategic leadership and coordinated action.

The bidding and selection process

The selection process is intended to ensure that the best possible bid from across the UK is selected for UK City of Culture 2025. The selection process should lead to the selection and designation of an area that has an ambitious and unique vision for what it will achieve in 2025 and afterwards; but also one that has credible and realistic plans to be able to turn its vision into reality.

The process itself will bring wider benefits. Although only one area will be designated for 2025, the process of developing the bids will foster the development of ideas and partnerships that can, and often will, carry on irrespective of whether a bid is successful. We encourage you to think about how you will build on the process and which elements of your bid you will be able to take forward, even if you are not selected as UK City of Culture 2025.

Stage 1

1. Register as a bidder for the UK City of Culture 2025 title by emailing ukcityofculture2025-competition@dcms.gov.uk, providing contact details for the bid team and basic information about the area covered by the bid. This information will allow us to contact you quickly if we need to, send the branding guidelines and information about the workshop for prospective bidders.

Stage 2

2. This year we are inviting applicants to first submit a light touch EOI online form.

3. The EOI phase is an opportunity, at a high level, to demonstrate your ability to fulfil the core criteria of a UK City of Culture bid and to show your potential to make a significant contribution to the aims and objectives of the programme. The EOI form is strictly word limited. We do not expect detailed economic data, research, branding visuals or in depth fundraising or delivery plans at this stage.

4. An expert advisory panel will assess the EOIs, score them against the criteria in Table 1 below and recommend a longlist of up to six applicants to the Secretary of State for DCMS for decision. We aim to announce the longlist in September 2021.

Stage 3

5. The places on the longlist will proceed to the second stage and be awarded a grant of £40,000 each to strengthen their long application. We will publish the long application guidance in the summer.

6. Up to six places will be asked to complete a long application, which will ask questions in more depth and require data relating to social, cultural and economic impact as well as a credible, detailed delivery and fundraising plan, particularly for any capital project plans. Applicants will have up to four months to complete the long application.

7. The panel will assess the applications of the six longlisted places against the same core criteria in Table 1 and recommend a shortlist of three places to the Secretary of State for DCMS for decision.

Stage 4

8. The panel will visit the shortlisted places, who will be invited to present to the panel and engage in detailed discussions about their plans.

Stage 5

9. The panel will submit their recommendation for the winner of UK City of Culture 2025 to DCMS ministers, and the Secretary of State for DCMS will make the final decision. We will provide feedback to all six longlisted places.

10. DCMS aim to announce the UK City of Culture 2025 at the end of Coventry’s programme in May 2022.

How to bid

Please email ukcityofculture2025-competition@dcms.gov.uk to register as a bidder for the UK City of Culture 2025 title. Complete the online EOI form. The deadline to complete the EOI is 23:59 on 19 July 2021.

Summary timetable

Stage	Dates
EOI	Launch: 29 May 2021 Deadline: 19 July 2021
Workshop for bidders	1-2 July 2021
Longlist	Announced: September 2021 Deadline for long application: 10 January 2022
Shortlist	Announced: March 2022 Visits expected: March-April 2022
Winner announced	May 2022

Assessment criteria

The EOIs will be assessed by the expert advisory panel against the criteria set out in Table 1. The criteria has been developed on the basis of the aims and objectives of the UK City of Culture programme above. The score range below is a guide to help the assessment. It will be based on the information set out in your online form and supplemented where necessary by responses to any clarification questions that may be asked. The panel will make recommendations to the Secretary of State for DCMS, who will make the decision at all stages. Feedback will be provided to all long listed bids.

The core criteria for a successful UK City of Culture bid can be summarised as follows:

Eligibility: A clear central focus and cohesive identity to the area, with sufficient existing cultural, digital and social infrastructure (or credible plans to develop them) to provide the critical mass for a year-long programme to be successful.

Placemaking: A strong and unique vision, which celebrates heritage and uses culture to bring communities together, build a sense of place and inspire local pride.

Recovery and growth: Investment in culture and creativity to stimulate recovery and renewal and to unlock sustained local inclusive growth.

Levelling up: Bids should demonstrate the need for social and economic regeneration and how the UK City of Culture seeks to address it, making a place somewhere people want to live, work, visit and invest in.

Innovation: Cultural and artistic excellence and innovation, including using cutting-edge technology to exhibit, enable creativity and reach new audiences.

UK and international collaboration: Where possible, a celebration of the links between places across the four nations of the UK as well as abroad, and the active pursuit of new partnerships and collaborations.

Partnership: A partnership of local government, cross-sector organisations and individuals supporting and contributing to the bid, including across science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

Opening up access and participation in culture: Strategic, place-based leadership, governance and partnerships that are diverse and empower local communities to shape the bid and the programme. Develop innovative ways to open up access to culture, engaging a wide range of audiences, visitors and participants.

Legacy: An ambitious and credible plan to sustain the impact of the programme beyond 2025.

Sustainability: Realistic plans to embed environmentally sustainable practices in programming and legacy, demonstrate contribution to the UK’s net zero objectives, as well as publicly inspiring environmental action.

Score range

Score range	Description
Met (strong) - 4	The application meets the criteria and shows potential to make a significant contribution to the aims and objectives
Met - 3	The application meets the criteria
Partially met - 2	Only some of the criteria met
Potential - 1	The application does not meet the criteria but shows potential to do so
Not met - 0	The application does not meet the criteria

EOI questions

Answer the questions below by completing the online EOI form.

Question	Assessment criteria prompts
Where 1. Describe the geographical area covered by the bid	- Does the area have a clear identity, or the potential to establish one? - Does the chosen area meet the requirements set out in the ‘Which places can bid’ section of the guidance? - Is the chosen area cohesive, with a central focus and credible as host of a focused, year-long programme of cultural events?
Who 2. Who is leading your bid? 3. Who else is involved in developing and supporting the bid? 4. What steps will be taken to broaden the diversity of leadership, governance and partnerships? [Applicants will have the option to upload letters of support]	- Is there a designated accountable organisation leading the bid? - Is there clear evidence of a range of cross-sector organisations and individuals supporting and contributing to the bid, including the local authority? - How will the bid ensure it represents the residents of the area - What role will the community and third sector have in shaping and delivering the programme for their area? - Does the bid align with existing culture or growth strategies for the area? - Is it clear how the bid will open up access by ensuring the diversity of leadership, governance and partnerships?
Why 5. Why do you want to compete for the title of UK City of Culture?	- Is the vision distinctive and clearly linked to the heritage, nature and character of the area? - Does the vision encompass ambitions for the longer-term future beyond 2025?
What 6. What are the main themes and components of your UK City of Culture programme? 7. Which local, national and international cultural organisations, networks and partnerships will be involved in delivering your programme? 8. Which local, national and international artists and cultural practitioners will be invited to participate in your programme? 9. Describe your plans to embed environmental sustainability in your activities.	- Do the themes and components provide sufficient scope for a varied programme with broad appeal to a wide range of audiences? - What is distinctive about the plans? - How do they demonstrate innovation, including using cutting-edge technology, and cultural excellence across a range of arts forms, creative industries and cultural activities? - Are there plans to champion the role of culture on a national level and deliver moments of national attention, connecting citizens and audiences across the UK? - Has the bid identified links with places across the four nations and is there a credible plan for celebrating and strengthening them? - Have a range of cross-sector partnerships been identified, including across science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics?
Impact 10. At a high level, what economic, social and cultural step changes will UK City of Culture help you to achieve in your area? We are not expecting detail at this point. In the long application you will have the opportunity to go into more detail, present research and be asked to submit your baseline data and projections for social, cultural and economic impact.	- Does the bid demonstrate why the area needs the UK City of Culture title and how it could benefit from it? - Does the current cultural and creative economy in the area provide a sufficient base on which to build? - Is the bid using this opportunity to put culture at the heart of their mid to long-term economic and social recovery from COVID-19? - Is it clear how culture will contribute to overall economic growth in the area during the year and beyond? For example: stimulating tourism demand; increased opportunities for experimentation and innovation; skills exchange; creating opportunities for strategic skills programmes and local talent; growth through interaction with other sectors like hospitality; creating and safeguarding jobs; growth in creative businesses. - Are there examples of the positive impact UK City of Culture would have on the cultural and creative sectors? For example on the strength and diversity of place-based leadership; increased private investment, including social investors, in the creative and cultural sectors; enhanced collaborative networks of organisations; development of creative talent. - Are there plans to develop innovative ways to open up access to culture, engaging a wide range of audiences, visitors and participants? - How will the power of culture and creativity be harnessed to lead to lasting social change? For example, will plans improve the attractiveness of a place and its physical fabric; increase social and community cohesion; pride/satisfaction in an area; or civic activity and cultural engagement? - How will culture contribute to the environmental, health, and wellbeing targets of the place and surrounding region? - Is the bid building on a demonstrable track record of achievement in using culture to deliver regeneration, community cohesion, health and well-being? - Is the anticipated impact credible and deliverable? (For example, is there evidence or a theory of change to support it?)
Legacy 11. What are your legacy aspirations and how are you planning for that legacy impact? 12. How will you measure and evaluate the impact of the programme?	- What evidence can you provide to demonstrate a clear understanding of where you are, where you intend to be in 2026 and a commitment that you and your partners have clear plans to commit resources not only to maintain but also to respond to the cultural growth likely to be generated by your tenure as UK City of Culture in the subsequent years? - Are plans and expectations for legacy ambitious, credible and realistic? - Is a reasonable evaluation budget identified and is there a high-level monitoring and evaluation plan? -Are there timely plans to put a team in place to develop and deliver the legacy strategy?
Readiness to become the UK City of Culture 13. Is your UK City of Culture bid included in any local or regional strategies? 14. Do you have the capacity to deliver the UK City of Culture? 15. What are your key risks and mitigations?	- Is the bid integrated in local growth plans? - Does the bid outline how proposed activity aligns with other government funds and initiatives that are focused on place-making? - Is there a well connected cultural sector, existing partnerships and, clear leadership? Or plans to improve? - Is the digital infrastructure in place or in development to realise ambitions? - Are there plans to put a team in place quickly to prepare and deliver the strategy? - Are there clear project management and governance arrangements? - Has the process for developing the programme been thought through clearly? - Have the key risks been identified? - Are the proposed mitigation measures realistic and credible?
Funding and budget We are not expecting a high level of detail but welcome an indication of costs relating to activity. Bid: 16. How would you spend the seed funding if you were longlisted? Programme: 17. How much do you expect it to cost to deliver your proposed programme? 18.Where do you expect to get additional funding from and how much do you expect to raise from each source (e.g. public bodies, individual and corporate sponsorship and donations, sales revenue for events)? [Applicants will have the option to upload spreadsheets]	Bid: - Is it clear how a £40,000 grant would strengthen the long application in line with the City of Culture objectives? Programme: - Is there evidence of a development plan which includes a mixture of fundraising sources? - Are there any secured funds or commitments in place?

Expert advisory panel

The expert advisory panel will be made up of a Chair and Deputy Chair (Sir Phil Redmond CBE and Claire McColgan MBE), a representative for Northern Ireland (Lynne Best), Wales, Scotland and England and five other members with a broad and diverse range of sector experience and expertise. This year we are running an open application process for the eight panel members yet to be appointed, which will provide critical and objective assessment of bids and make recommendations to the Secretary of State for DCMS at each stage of the competition. The panel will also undertake visits to successful shortlisted places in 2022 and act as a critical friend to the winning city.

See the role specification and details on how to apply to be a member of the panel.

Biographies

Sir Phil Redmond (Chair)

Sir Phil Redmond (Chair) was knighted for services to broadcasting and the arts in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours. Creator of ground-breaking drama series including Grange Hill, Brookside and Hollyoaks, Phil is a great advocate and ambassador for the culture and the creative industries. Through his promotion of arts and culture, he is a driver for positive change across the nation. In 2008 Liverpool was European Capital of Culture where Phil used his high profile to build support for the year-long event, not only within the city itself, but across the UK and internationally. A member of the Liverpool Culture Company Board since 2006, he became Deputy Chair in 2007 and also Creative Director. The year was an outstanding success, attracting over 10 million visitors within the first quarter alone and cultural organisations such as the Tate were recording a 200% increase on 2007 visitor numbers. Following the success of European Capital of Culture, he became Chair of National Museums Liverpool and was the primary mover in establishing the Institute of Cultural Capital, a joint initiative between the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University, which he also chaired.

The UK City of Culture programme was directly inspired and driven by him during his term as Creative Director of Liverpool European Capital of Culture in 2008. His work on UK City of Culture and all his contributions to the public sector have been entirely voluntary and he has supported many charitable and public sector causes, including Liverpool John Moores University and National Museums Liverpool.

Claire McColgan (Deputy Chair)

Claire McColgan (Deputy Chair) is Director of Culture Liverpool, responsible for Major Events, Liverpool Film Office, Cruise Liverpool, Tourism, City Halls and Cultural Policy - she received the MBE for services to the arts in 2009 and was responsible for developing and producing the successful participation programme (Creative Communities).

Claire has led the legacy program in Liverpool supporting and funding 35 cultural organisations, she sits on the City Region’s Cultural Partnership and the Visitor Economy Board and is a Town Centre commissioner for the City Region.

Claire is a respected and frequently sought national and international advisor and speaker on best practice in Culture and is an experienced executive producer of award winning events currently leading on the recovery for Liverpool which includes Without Walls and the recently announced pilot events programme.

Lynne Best (representative for Northern Ireland)

Lynne Best (representative for Northern Ireland) is Director of The Fourth Pillar, a company established to support creators and be a champion for the creative industries. She was previously Head of Communications for the music licensing company PPL and Director at Well Red Music and Media, which provided corporate communications and policy advice to a range of global media and music companies. She has also held the role of Head of PR at BPI, the UK’s representative body for record labels and music technology companies and organiser of The BRIT Awards and Mercury Prize.

Prior to working in music, she started her career at the European Parliament in Brussels following the completion of her degree in Strasbourg, France. She is Vice Chair of the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast and Chair of the Board of the Americana Music Association UK. She is also on the Advisory Panel of the all-Ireland mental health initiative, Minding Creative Minds. She does not hold any other public appointments and has not undertaken any political activity in the last five years.

For further information please contact ukcityofculture2025-competition@dcms.gov.uk.