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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has to help increase (a) participation in and (b) access to dance in local communities.

Improving access to the arts is a priority for this Government. Dance plays a central role in our country’s cultural ecology, from organisations like the English National Ballet and Rambert through to the community clubs across the country that ensure the talent pipeline for dancing of all styles continues to thrive.

The government supports the arts financially, including dance, through its arm’s-length body Arts Council England. Arts Council England has provided over £58 million to 153 organisations across England over 2024/25 to support dance. For instance, the Royal Ballet and Opera’s initiative “The Bridge” provides funding for working with schools and community groups nationwide to involve individuals in opera and ballet.

ACE also provides £450,000 in funding to the National Youth Dance Company, which offers high-quality training and performance opportunities through outreach to communities with higher proportions of young people from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds.