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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his department is taking to support theatre and the arts in the provinces.

Funding decisions for the arts are made independently of Ministers by Arts Council England. Earlier this year the Arts Council announced an increase in the proportion of spend on regional arts and major partner museums and the Government is committed to achieving a better balance from public funding and Lottery investment across the country.