Here’s a list of useful local strategies, reports, statistics and datasets providing demographic, social, economic, health, and cultural data about Lancashire and its districts. This list is designed to help artists, arts and cultural organisations, local authorities, and funding bodies make a strong case for investment by evidencing community need, sector capacity, and strategic alignment.

 

Population & Demographics

Why this matters for funding bids: Understanding population size, age distribution, diversity, and local needs helps demonstrate audience potential, inclusivity priorities, and community context.

• Lancashire Insight (County Overview) – key population figures, life expectancy and census summaries from multiple themes.
• ONS Census data: Ethnic Group Breakdown – detailed ethnic group data for Lancashire (useful for inclusivity statements).
• Nomis Labour Market Profile – current population estimates and age bands.

 

Social Indicators & Deprivation

Context about communities, deprivation and need strengthens arguments around cultural investment and levelling-up.

• Indices of Deprivation 2025 – official measure of relative deprivation, including areas with high needs across Lancashire districts.

 

Economic Data & Labour Market

Why this matters for funding bids: Culture funding bids often need to speak to economic impact, need for jobs, creative careers and local prosperity.

• Labour Market Population Estimates – shows working age population and employment context.
• Unemployment & Benefit Claimant Count Figures – up-to-date unemployment/benefit claims data across districts.
• Lancashire Skills & Employment Hub Evidence Base – labour market, skills and employment analysis across sectors.
• Lancashire Adult Skills Plan

 

Economic Strategy & Visitor Economy

Why this matters for funding bids: Demonstrating the economic and creative context shows how culture contributes to jobs, skills, tourism, and local regeneration.

• Lancashire Growth Plan 
• Visitor Economy Statistics (Marketing Lancashire / Visit Lancashire) – shows number of visitors and economic value (66+ million visitors and £5.4bn impact).
  (Visit Lancashire tourism report). Read a summary in Marketing Lancashire news.
• Lancashire Innovation Plan – an ambitious five-year economic development and inward investment strategy for the whole of the county.
• Night Time Economy 2024 Report – a comprehensive analysis championing the significance of the NTE and its indispensable role within the UK’s broader economic framework.
• Invest 2035: UK Industrial Strategy

 

Cultural Strategy & Local Plans

Why this matters for funding bids: Including local and county cultural strategies shows decision makers that culture is a strategic priority, aligns with other public services, and already benefits from investment.

County-Wide Cultural Research, Strategies, Mapping and Guides

• Lancashire Cultural Services Strategy 2024–2028 – libraries, museums, archives, music services, cultural development
• Lancashire (Re)Made Cultural Investment Strategy – countywide investment priorities and sector support
• Holding Our Breath Report – research into the impact of Covid on grassroots singing in Lancashire
• Lancashire Community Singing Map – a map of all of the grassroots choirs and singing groups across Lancashire
• Lancashire Green Festival & Events Guide – a sustainability guide and checklist for planning outdoor cultural events in Lancashire

Where a district-specific cultural strategy is not in existence, links to the relevant Local or Corporate Plan have been provided instead.

Blackpool

Cultural Strategy 2024 – 2030

Blackburn with Darwen

Cultural Investment Plan (Place Partnership)

Blackburn With Darwen Corporate Strategy 2024 – 2027

Burnley

Our People, Our Culture Burnley Cultural Strategy

Chorley

A cultural strategy has been commissioned but is not yet published

Chorley Council Corporate Strategy

Fylde

Fylde Corporate Plan

Hyndburn

Culture & Heritage Strategy 2025 – 2030

Lancaster

Lancaster City Council Corporate Plan

Pendle

Pendle Culture Strategy

Preston

Something’s Brewing – 12 Year Cultural Strategy

Ribble Valley

Ribble Valley Council Core Strategy

Rossendale

Rossendale Council Valley Plan

South Ribble

Awaiting Link to Culture Strategy – expected March 2026

South Ribble Council Corporate Strategy

West Lancashire

The Spark! Culture, Heritage & Engagement Programme

Wyre

Wyre Council Heritage and Culture Statement

 

Creative Economy & Sector Evidence

Why this matters for funding bids: Data on creative businesses, workforce challenges, and participation illustrates sector capacity, economic contribution, and potential for growth.

• Creative Lancashire Reports Library – various sector reports
• Arts Lancashire Sector Overview – sector profile including number of arts professionals, NPOs, CPP projects and creative businesses tied to Lancashire’s cultural ecosystem.
• Lancashire County Council Cultural Services Annual Report – county-wide report on cultural programmes, participation, learning and service impact.
• Creative Industries Sector Plan  – the UK government’s strategic framework for supporting the creative industries through targeted investment, innovation, skills development, and regional growth.
• Creative PEC Report Mapping Arts Culture & Heritage Careers – recent report on sector workforce challenges and participation patterns (e.g., retention issues in culture sector).

 

Literacy & Educational Attainment

Why this matters for culture bids:
Good literacy correlates with cultural engagement, confidence in accessing information about events, and long-term learning outcomes – useful when discussing community capacity and barriers to participation.

In Lancashire -12 (the main county area), about 60% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2, roughly on par with the North West average but slightly below the England average (61%). There are local variations – e.g., Hyndburn ~50%, Blackpool ~53% – showing pockets of educational challenge. Below you’ll find data for each level of school attainment:

• Early Years & Key Stage 1
• Key Stage 2
• Key Stage 4
• Not In Education, Employment or Training (NEET)
• This Lancashire Insight page provides data on 16 – 17 year-olds who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET) across the county and its districts, with recent figures showing the percentage in this grouping and how it varies locally. It includes breakdowns by district and trends over time, which can support funding bids by highlighting workforce participation challenges among young people and the need for targeted cultural and skills engagement programmes to improve outcomes.
• Lancashire Insight Special Education Needs & Disabilities Dashboard
• This SEND dashboard offers interactive data on the prevalence and characteristics of special educational needs and disabilities among children and young people, including numbers with SEN support or Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), and the types of needs across local areas. For funding applications, this resource is valuable for evidencing service need, barriers to participation, and the importance of inclusive cultural programming that supports children and families with SEND.

UK Adult Literacy Rates

• • In England as a whole, about 18% of adults aged 16 – 65 have very poor literacy skills, meaning difficulty with everyday reading tasks. While this isn’t Lancashire specific, it reflects structural challenges in adult literacy likely mirrored locally.

 

Health, Wellbeing & Social Context

Why this matters for funding bids: Health inequalities, social isolation, and literacy levels impact access to culture and community engagement. Demonstrating need strengthens arguments for arts-based interventions that improve wellbeing.

• Lancashire Health Literacy
• Lancashire Health Hub highlights that low health literacy – difficulty understanding health information and navigating services – impacts many residents, influencing health outcomes and self-care. Local maps and tools show where prevalence is higher.
• Lancashire Public Health Outcomes Framework
• An interactive tool offering a wide range of local health and wellbeing indicators, including life expectancy, disease prevalence, hospital admissions, and risk factors. This is valuable for bids to demonstrate documented health challenges, inequalities, and opportunities where cultural engagement can contribute to improved wellbeing outcomes.
• Lancashire JSNA (Joint Strategic Needs Assessment) Annual Commentary
• The JSNA annual commentary provides a strategic overview of population health, social needs and service pressures across Lancashire, drawing together evidence from multiple sectors. It can be cited in applications to situate cultural interventions within broader public health priorities and community needs assessments recognised by health and statutory partners.

Mental Health

• Lancashire Insight Mental Health & Wellbeing Dashboard
• This interactive dashboard visualises a range of health and wellbeing indicators for Lancashire, including mental health metrics, social participation measures, and local trends across neighbourhoods. It can be used in bids to demonstrate documented local need around mental health challenges and opportunities for cultural activity to support wellbeing and social inclusion.
• Lancashire Self Harm and Suicide Prevention Strategy 2024 – 2029
• This strategy sets out the county’s multi-agency approach to reducing self-harm and suicide over five years, with priorities, actions, and community engagement commitments to address stigma and improve support pathways. It can be cited in applications to evidence serious local mental health concerns and demonstrate alignment of proposed arts and cultural programmes with public health priorities for prevention and community wellbeing.

Long-Term Illness & Disability

• Lancashire has a higher proportion of people with limiting long-term illness than the national average, and a growing older population more likely to live alone or require care.
• Lancashire & South Cumbria Dementia Strategy 2024 – 2029
• This strategy sets out priorities for improving support, diagnosis, care and quality of life for people living with dementia and their carers across Lancashire and South Cumbria. In bids, it can be referenced to evidence local health needs related to cognitive impairment and to justify culturally-tailored engagement programmes that support wellbeing, social connection, and quality of life for affected individuals and families.
• Parkinson’s UK Dashboard
• This Parkinson’s UK dashboard provides prevalence and incidence statistics for Parkinson’s disease at local authority level, enabling comparisons across areas and identification of populations with higher need. It can be useful in funding narratives to highlight neurodegenerative health challenges locally and support proposals for arts and movement-based programmes that benefit people living with Parkinson’s.
• Lancashire Carers Strategy 2024 – 2027
• This strategy outlines Lancashire County Council’s priorities and planned actions to support unpaid carers between 2024 and 2027, including local needs, service commitments, and outcomes. In bids, it can be used to evidence strategic recognition of care responsibilities, highlight pressure on informal support networks, and justify the role of cultural activities in improving wellbeing for carers and care-dependent households.
• Access Social Care Data Portal – Unpaid Carers
• This profile presents subnational statistics on unpaid carers in Lancashire, including prevalence by age group and comparison with national figures. It is useful for demonstrating the scale of caring responsibilities locally, the demographic context of carers, and the potential importance of community and cultural interventions to support social connection and health outcomes.

Loneliness & Social Isolation

Why this matters for culture bids:
Arts and cultural activity are often cited as social connectedness drivers, directly addressing isolation and improving wellbeing – compelling for funding focused on inclusion and community health.

• In 2016 public health analysis estimated around 35,000 people in Lancashire are lonely or socially isolated, with households in areas like Wyre, Lancaster, Fylde and Preston showing higher numbers.
• Hidden From View – Tacking Social Isolation & Loneliness in Lancashire Report
• This public health report provides an in-depth examination of social isolation and loneliness across Lancashire, including the evidence base, contributing factors, what is already happening locally, and what works in responding to these challenges. It is useful in bids and strategy applications to demonstrate documented need for community-building initiatives and justify arts and cultural programmes that reduce isolation and strengthen social connections.
• Access Social Care Data Portal
• This interactive social care data portal presents a range of social care indicators for Lancashire, including information on population care needs, carers, service provision, quality improvement, and finances, all contextualised with narrative summaries. It can be cited to evidence the scale of social and care needs in the local population and support the case for inclusive cultural activities that contribute to wellbeing and community support systems.

• The most recent Adult Social Care survey found that 51% of adult social care users in Lancashire reported not having as much social contact as they wanted – a key indicator of loneliness and isolation.

• A recent National survey show about 7% of adults report feeling lonely often or always (England 2024/25), with indirect loneliness measures also indicating ongoing issues with companionship and isolation.

Learning Disability and Autism

• Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB Learning Disability Strategy

Miscellaneous Data Tools

Why this matters for funding bids: Open and visual data sources help present tailored evidence of need, participation, and impact in creative proposals.

• Lancashire Open Data (data.gov.uk)
• This open dataset hub provides a wide range of local Lancashire datasets covering community indicators, trends, and administrative data that can be downloaded and visualised. It is useful for bids and research to create maps, charts, and bespoke evidence packages showing local patterns in areas such as population, health, deprivation, and service usage, strengthening arguments about need and impact.
• LG Inform (Local Government Association tool)
• LG Inform is a benchmarking platform that offers hundreds of indicators on demographics, economy, education, health, and social outcomes for local areas across England (registration may be required). For funding applications, it can be used to benchmark Lancashire or specific districts against regional and national averages, illustrating comparative strengths or challenges that support evidence-led decision making.

 

Help Us Make The Case For Lancashire –  What are we missing?

If you know of any Lancashire specific research, strategies, plans that should be on this list, please email details to artslancashire@gmail.com