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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how her Department plans to ensure that the Arts Everywhere programme delivers long‑term improvements not dependent upon continued external funding.

Over the course of this parliament £1.5 billion will be invested across arts, cultural and heritage providing support to arts venues, museums, libraries and heritage buildings across England. It aims to keep venues open, finance urgent repairs and infrastructure projects, bolster long-term resilience, and widen access to arts and culture in communities that have faced under-investment. The funding is made up of:

• £600 million infrastructure funding, which will support national museums and DCMS sponsored cultural organisations, and £160 million to our local and regional museums.

• £425 million Creative Foundations Fund which will support approximately 300 capital projects in arts venues across the country.

• £230 million for heritage, which includes:

• £75 million for at risk heritage which provides grants towards repairs and conservation of historic buildings;

• £46 million for the Heritage Revival Fund; and

• a new £92 million fund called the Places of Worship Renewal Fund

• £27.5 million for the Libraries Improvement Fund.

• £80 million capital funding over four years to benefit National Portfolio organisations that receive regular investment from Arts Council England, part of a 5% uplift next year for these organisations. This is the biggest uplift for an existing National Portfolio in decades and will directly support NPOs in your constituency, such as the Mercury Theatre and the Colchester Arts Centre.

The £600 million for DCMS sponsored cultural bodies is allocated through the Public Bodies Infrastructure Fund (PBIF) which is delivered directly by DCMS and allocated to eligible organisations.

The grant recipients for the £425 million Creative Foundations Fund, the £160 million investment for local and regional museums, and £27.5m Libraries Improvement Fund will be determined through competitive application processes, which will be administered by Arts Council England (ACE). The £230 million investment in heritage will be administered by Historic England and the Architectural Heritage Fund.

We are clear that this investment package will particularly support organisations in underserved areas. ACE currently prioritises funding to underserved places via their priority places strategy. Historic England has been using a place-based approach, with the current Heritage At Risk Capital Fund having a clear emphasis on delivering funding to the places that need it most. They will continue this approach with the new Places of Worship Renewal Fund.

The detailed criteria for individual funds will be announced in due course and we encourage arts and cultural organisations in the South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency and Essex to apply for the competitive funds.

ACE and DCMS regularly assess the adequacy of national cultural infrastructure within England and identify places with higher need for cultural investment. As part of their Delivery Plan for 2021-24, ACE identified 54 places across England in which investment and engagement is too low, and opportunity for ACE to effectively increase investment and engagement is high. As part of this exercise Tendring and Basildon were prioritised for additional support and funding.

DCMS will monitor the impact of Arts Everywhere Funding via a series of independent evaluations of each funding programme. The department will procure these evaluations over the next year to assess the funding's impact on cultural organisations in England. Since the impacts of these capital programmes will only be measurable after this parliament ends, the department will work with contractors to develop interim monitoring measures for project completion.

Support for arts and culture in England depends upon a successful mixed funding model, in which external funding from individuals and business, trusts and foundations, plays a crucial role alongside earned income and public investment. This significant investment will help cultural organisations, up and down the country, fix long term issues and renovate their spaces allowing them to continue their creative programming attracting increased ticket sales and donations. It will help alleviate financial difficulties, supporting organisations to reach their communities, including children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

This funding will also support community-led initiatives by maintaining and improving buildings, ensuring affordable spaces and improved facilities while enabling community arts groups to create, collaborate, and engage local audiences more widely. In addition, following the recent ACE Review, we are committed to ensuring that a repurposed Arts Council will be shaped around communities and local areas. DCMS is now working through these recommendations in detail with relevant departments, as well as ACE.