I’m sorry I can’t join you in person for the launch of the SCL’s Culture Offer today in Hull, the UK’s City of Culture 2017.

At the end of September I marked 100 days in this post as Libraries Minister – and in this time I have visited a number of libraries across England, including Manchester and Salisbury, to find out about the challenges, successes and possibilities that exist in the sector.

The range of services delivered by public libraries is impressive, as is the contribution the sector makes to local communities and the positive impact it has on so many people’s lives.

Libraries bring people together. They provide practical support and guidance. This includes health and social care, digital literacy, jobs and business support, or the enjoyment and wellbeing that literature and cultural activities bring. Libraries offer support at every stage of a person’s life.

They are places of aspiration and inspiration as people come to learn, study, write, and research. And many are destinations in their own right, like the amazing library you are in today.

But what role do libraries play in culture? Well, I believe they are uniquely placed to act as hubs of exploration and inspiration. They are able to reach people in rural communities and areas of deprivation where there are few other easily accessible cultural opportunities.

I’ll just mention two out of the many brilliant cultural partnerships libraries are forming across England.

The first is the Cultural Hubs project delivered by St. Helens library service. This project is engaging local young people, supporting neighbourhood development and community cohesion, investing in skills and learning opportunities and promoting an environment that supports health and wellbeing. It did this by being creative with its resources and challenging the boundaries of how library spaces can be used.

Then there’s Create Gloucestershire’s Art of Libraries programme run in partnership with Gloucestershire Libraries, introducing arts and culture to children and young people – particularly those who currently don’t take part in this sort of activity. Artists, cultural organisations, library staff, schools and communities are working together in new ways to achieve this. Events so far include a new lego club, illustration and graffiti workshops and a skate film competition.

So these examples show how libraries are using arts and culture to introduce people to new ideas and offer enriching experiences because, as we know, culture takes many diverse forms.

And as well as traditional events held in libraries, such as book talks and reading groups, there is also a rapidly expanding range of digital activities that provide a great option for libraries to engage with new and existing users. This builds on the rich history of libraries championing important programmes and events including World Book Day and the Summer Reading Challenge.

So what’s the role of the Cultural Offer?

It complements and builds on the positive work already taking place in libraries. It underlines the importance of libraries as cultural hubs and gateways to wider cultural activities.

And it should help people to develop and express their creativity through cultural experiences and events.

So I look forward to seeing and hearing more about how the Culture Offer will boost all this positive activity through libraries and to seeing the offer being put into practice. Thank you.

Note: John Glen was unable to attend the launch in person, so a video of him giving this speech was shown at the event.

John Glen launches the SCL Culture Offer

Pupils at a primary school in Hull are a step closer to understanding what to do in a flood following a visit from the Environment Agency.

Year five students at Stoneferry Primary School took part in an interactive workshop where they engaged in a range of flood-related activities where they were taught which household objects can be the most useful in a flood and saw them using a geographic model to better understand how rivers flow.

The sessions were led by staff from the Environment Agency, which provides Hull with flood warnings and alerts when the risk of flooding from rivers and the Humber Estuary is high.

Ninety-five per cent of Hull stands on a flood plain and it has the highest number of properties at risk of flooding in a single urban area outside London.

Over the years the city has been affected by numerous significant river and coastal flood events and on 25 June, 2007, Hull City Council reported more than 9,000 homes and businesses were flooded when heavy rains covered the city. The floods resulting from this caused many millions of pounds of damage and 95 of the city’s 98 schools were closed.

Jo Harrison, head teacher at Stoneferry Primary School said:

We’re very grateful to the Environment Agency for coming to see us. The children thought it was great fun and it taught them valuable lessons that they’ll hopefully pass onto their parents.

Thankfully ours was one of the luckier schools to have escaped the floods of 2007, however, we couldn’t overlook the damage it caused.

We believe it is important for our students to fully appreciate their environment and understand that nature has the potential to be both beautiful and dangerous.

Through government funding and partnership contributions, the Environment Agency is investing more than £200million in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire to help reduce the likelihood of flooding for thousands of properties by 2021. Part of this investment includes £35.5million of remedial works on the River Hull’s flood defences, which will see the repair and replacement of 39 sections of river defence identified as being at the greatest risk of failure.

Brendan Sharkey, Environment Agency project manager on the River Hull Defences Scheme said:

Over the years we have seen how destructive flooding in Hull can be. While we are investing a lot into the city, much of the devastation caused by flooding can be prevented by making sure people are prepared.

We’re working closely with schools in the area as we believe the next generation will be key to making Hull one of the world’s most flood resilient cities and we have loved the enthusiasm shown by the students of Stoneferry Primary School.

Work on the River Hull Defences Scheme started in April this year and is being delivered by contractor BMM JV – a joint venture between BAM Nuttall and Mott MacDonald.

Varying levels of improvements to the River Hull defences are needed across the sites and work at different locations across the city is likely to progress at the same time.

Brendan continued:

While we are progressing the work along the river as smoothly and efficiently as we can, due to limited access at some of the sites, traffic from some roads and public pathways may need to be re-directed for short periods of time.

Any road closures will not happen until the New Year and we are doing our utmost to reduce the level of inconvenience caused to the public.

A quarter of the total length of works is now complete, and the Environment Agency expects a substantial amount of the work to be underway by the end of the year.