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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on generating new funding streams for arts and culture initiatives in (a) Staffordshire and (b) the United Kingdom.

On top of significant public investment such as the £444 million per year of funding via Arts Council England’s National Portfolio, and the approximate £100 million per year through their National Lottery project grants, on 20th February the SoS announced an additional package of investment of over £270 million through the Arts Everywhere Fund for arts venues, museums, libraries and the heritage sector to boost growth and cement Britain’s place as a cultural powerhouse.

The Arts Everywhere Fund includes, for example, £85 million of support via the Creative Foundations Fund to support urgent capital works; a fifth round of the Museum Estate and Development Fund worth £25 million; and a fourth round of the Libraries Improvement Fund worth £5.5 million. This investment will support organisations across the country, including those based in Staffordshire.

Alongside investment, we are looking at the way the arts and culture sector receives support to help strengthen it further, by reviewing Arts Council England and exploring how we can better encourage philanthropy to attract more funding to the places that need it most. We want to ensure that the UK has the best framework for philanthropy and that partnerships between government, philanthropists, businesses and civil society are maximised. DCMS will continue to work closely with our partners in the philanthropy sector, and with colleagues across government, including HMT, HMRC and the Office for Investment.