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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will review the decision taken earlier this year not to award funding to the Wellington Orbit from the Creative Foundations Fund.

The Creative Foundation Fund, announced in 2025 as part of the Arts Everywhere Fund, is being delivered by Arts Council England. The Arts Council makes decisions about which organisations and projects to fund independently of government and Ministers, which means there is no question of any political involvement in arts funding decisions. It would, therefore, be inappropriate for Ministers to ask Arts Council England to revisit their decision on the application made by Wellington Orbit. Demand for this fund in its first round was extremely high, with a large number of applicants demonstrating the ability to meet the programme aims. As a result, the Arts Council had to make very difficult decisions about which applicants to invite to the full application stage. This was to ensure that applicants did not spend time and resources completing an application with very limited chance of success in that round.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has recently announced a new round of the Arts Everywhere Fund, including up to £340 million of new funding for the Creative Foundations Fund, which will be invested from 2026/27 up to and including 2029/30. Wellington Orbit may wish to submit an application. Arts Council England will announce further details regarding the application process and eligibility criteria in due course.