The Arts
	Artskills provides clear evidence of the claims made for the arts in the PAT 10 report to the Government’s Social Exclusion Unit, in that it: • builds individual potential and self-confidence; • develops community identity and encourages collective effort; • encourages positive links with the wider community; • is associated with rapidly growing industries (The Merseyside Objective One SPD – Single Programme Document – identifies Arts, Culture & Tourism and ICT as priority growth areas – Priority 1, Sub Priority 1b and elsewhere in SPD; also the MEA – Merseyside Economic Assessment – cites Arts & Culture and ICT as ‘growth clusters’); • recognises the importance of evaluation with success judged against the express needs of those benefiting; has provided opportunities for innovative approaches using arts to be tried at local level; • has involved young people and those particularly at risk of exclusion in the regeneration process; has illustrated how principles of community development can underpin and build on ways in which culture/leisure strategies and services are developed and provided.		Liverpool’s Arts & Creative Industries Strategy 2000–2010 The Arts & Creative Industries generate employment for 16,000 people on Merseyside and in some sectors employment is likely to increase substantially over the coming ten years. There are very few traditional career routes... Employers are often small in nature and require flexible and multi-skilled staff. This has an impact on how young people may enter these industries. They will need to be prepared with imagination and creative skills and a flexible/dynamic approach to work...Creativity is the raw material of the Arts and Creative Industries Sector and the long term growth of this sector will be dependent on new and existing generations of creatives having the opportunity to experience, experiment, train, develop and refine creative skills...Self-belief and city pride will be crucial components of the regeneration of Liverpool...For the residents, who have been bombarded with negative images of themselves through the media, there must be an opportunity to learn, reinvent and celebrate the unique and diverse culture of Liverpool...The arts & culture are increasingly recognised for their contribution to the economic, physical and social make-up of an area.			They have established an important role in community development, education...social cohesion, countering disadvantage and promoting civic pride. Sections 1.8.2 – Getting local people into jobs – and 2.3 Key Policy Themes: Creativity