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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much public funding the English National Opera received in each of the last 15 years; and what discussions his Department had with Arts Council England on funding that organisation (a) over the next three years and (b) in the long term; and if she will make a statement.

Records of the level of public funding for English National Opera are available in its annual accounts, which are published online on the Companies House website.

Following Arts Council England’s decisions relating to English National Opera and its 2023–26 Investment Portfolio, which are taken at arm’s length from the Government, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is helping to convene relevant parties and support them to find a way forward. I am keen that Arts Council England and English National Opera work together on the future of the organisation.

All decisions on which organisations to fund through the 2023–26 Investment Programme, and by how much, have been taken by Arts Council England in line with the long-standing principle that Arts Council England makes such decisions at arm’s length from the Government. The Chief Executive of Arts Council England, Darren Henley, answered questions from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on these issues on 8 December 2022.