Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Art Council England National Portfolio Organisation funding between 2023 to 2026 on the opera industry.

Decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, are taken by Arts Council England at arm’s length from the Government. Arts Council England made its decisions in line with its published guidance and its ten-year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’. Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England, and decisions were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector. Any questions about specific funding decisions should be directed to Arts Council England.

Arts Council England’s investment in opera, orchestras and other classical organisations represents around 80% of all investment in music in its 2023–26 Investment Programme. Through this programme, opera will continue to be well funded, with it remaining at around 40% of Arts Council England’s overall investment in music. Organisations such as the English Touring Opera and the Birmingham Opera Company will receive increased funding, and there are many new joiners such as Opera UpClose and Pegasus Opera Company, who are based in South London. It is worth noting that these statistics are likely to underestimate the level of opera activity being funded as some organisations in the 2023–26 Investment Programme will fall into combined arts or non-discipline-specific categories.

The Government will continue to work with Arts Council England to understand the impacts of its investment in arts and culture, including on opera.