PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Arts: Disadvantaged (8 February 2024)

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with Arts Council England on funding for art and cultural activities in deprived areas not identified as priority places.

Asked by:
Dr Kieran Mullan (Conservative)

The arts are for everyone, and His Majesty’s Government has made it a priority to ensure that funding for the arts is fairly distributed across the country. Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 National Portfolio, increased funding of £444.6 million per annum will fund a record 985 organisations in more parts of the country than ever before. This is an increase from the £410 million per annum going to 828 organisations under the previous portfolio. Of the 275 new organisations joining the funding portfolio, 214 are outside London.

The Secretary of State, other Ministers, and officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport all regularly meet Arts Council England to discuss all aspects of its work. As well as the Arts Council’s existing Priority Places, DCMS and the Arts Council also agreed 109 Levelling Up for Culture Places, which partially overlap with the Priority Places, and which were identified as places of historically low investment and engagement in arts and culture. These places are targeted for additional engagement and investment.

In the Cheshire East local authority area, Arts Council England is providing £160,000 per annum of funding through the 2023–26 National Portfolio programme. The Arts Council's National Lottery Project Grants programme has also made awards totalling over £85,000 in the Cheshire East local authority area in 2022/23, which includes support for the Lindow Ensemble, and funding for Luminate, a project in Cheshire East libraries. In 2023/24, so far project grants totalling £113,982 have been awarded in Cheshire East, including for the LY2 – a project to transform Lyceum Square in Crewe.

In addition, in February DCMS launched the fourth round of the Cultural Development Fund, which is open to every part of England, and not just Priority Places. In this round we are particularly keen to fund activity in areas of low cultural investment. To date, the Cultural Development Fund has provided £76 million of capital investment to 20 transformative, place-based creative and cultural initiatives across the country.

Answered by:
Julia Lopez (Conservative)
23 February 2024