Glasgow’s cultural and sporting assets are important for our shared wellbeing. A thriving cultural sector, and a city which provides ample opportunities for sport and recreation, can create jobs, break down barriers and enrich lives. This should be the backbone of the city’s plans to recover from the pandemic and build towards a zero carbon future. The Council must protect and invest in the city’s existing cultural and sporting assets, including making them accessible to all our communities. Investment now will lead to long-term benefits for our communities, our economy and our climate.
Rebuild trust and accountability
We will:
- Consult on options to reform Glasgow Life’s arms-length model, which Green councillors opposed from the start, including returning some or all of its functions to direct Council control, and give workers and communities a stronger voice in decision making.
- Lobby for tax changes so decisions to bring services in-house do not come at an unfair cost.
- Pause the People Make Glasgow Communities programme and implement a new approach which enables genuine community empowerment but does not confuse it with stripping of public assets.
Invest in a culture-led recovery
We will:
- Work with cultural organisations to understand how best the Council can support the whole sector, rather than 'picking winners' from competitive funding rounds.
- Support the repurposing of derelict commercial properties into studios, venues, cinemas, workshops and production facilities
- Use powers to implement a Transient Visitor Levy as in other major cities, which could raise up to £6 million a year to invest in Glasgow's culture sector.
- Ensure that the city's growing reputation and capability for screen production results in workforce and training opportunities for the local area, as well as small business opportunities in their supply chain.
- Encourage collaborative working between arts organisations and the health and wellbeing sector.
Museums and galleries
We will:
- Protect and enhance Glasgow’s museums, which are the most visited outside of London, and make them relevant for more people.
- Keep general admission to all museums and galleries free for all visitors whilst exploring new ways to raise funding and enhance people's experiences.
- Prioritise the People's Palace and Winter Gardens and other glasshouses for capital investment
- Work closely with civil society partners to inform how the city’s museum collections are made most relevant for contemporary audiences.
- Continue to support CRER’s call for a new national museum of slavery, colonialism, migration and empire, and the ongoing strategic work to both recognise Glasgow’s history, and to tackle the legacy of white supremacy and racism that continues today.
- Support the repatriation of items in Glasgow’s collections which have been acquired illegally or unethically.
A new and lasting future for libraries
We will:
- Guarantee funding for libraries for the life of the Council term and that no decisions will be made to change core library services without full local consultation.
- Harness the energy of local campaigns to launch a large-scale public engagement exercise on the future of public libraries, so they have a long-lasting future serving the whole community. We will also establish a library users forum to advise on the ongoing development of library services across the city.
- Explore the potential for libraries to develop as local climate action hubs, providing access to repair skills training, tool sharing and other sharing services, recycling advice, wildflower seed banks.
- Prioritise Carnegie and other heritage libraries for future building and refurbishment works.
- Scrap overdue library fines.
Increase opportunities to take part in sports
We will:
- Reopen all Council-owned swimming pools and sports facilities as soon as possible, prioritising those used most for accessible and family sports.
- Implement access, affordability and inclusion policy across sports and leisure facilities and apply these same standards to any council-owned facilities which are managed by third parties.
- Commit to the renewal of Whitehill Pool which provides unique services for particular groups, including disabled people, and continue to support the Govanhill Baths Community Trust.
- Assess provision of indoor and outdoor sports facilities as part of planning for 20 minute neighbourhoods. Working in partnership with clubs, communities and governing bodies, we will fill identified gaps in sports facilities at a city level, including opportunities for skating, basketball, open air swimming, a permanent 200m indoor athletics track, ice-skating, curling and other winter sports.
- Develop targeted programmes to encourage participation in sports, including free access to sport and physical activity for children and young people, offering protected time for workers to engage in physical activity during their working day, and encourage and support older people, women and trans & non-binary people to participate in sport.
Championing the Gàidhlig culture
We will:
- Increase support for Gàidhlig inclusive tourism, culture and events.
- We will support cultural ventures in all the languages of Scotland, and encourage the use of Gàidhlig, Scots and Doric as well as the languages of those from minority ethnic backgrounds.
- Provide full access to council services in Gàidhlig and other community languages, including phone lines and translated web pages.
- Support Gàidhlig signage across the transport network, including road signs, on trains and buses and at transport hubs.
Nurture grassroots venues and independent festivals
We will:
- Work in partnership with grassroots cultural venues to ensure planning proposals do not pose a risk to their operation.
- Support independent festivals that pay and treat workers and artists fairly.