Asked by: Harpreet Uppal (Labour - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding her Department provides to help support local cultural (a) events and (b) awards that seek to celebrate the (i) heritage and (ii) creativity of (A) Huddersfield and (B) similar towns.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The department primarily funds such aspects through Arts Council England (ACE) which supports organisations through their National Portfolio (NPOs) programme which provides funding of over £450 million a year to arts organisations across the country, many of which provide programmes that celebrate creativity and heritage. In addition, ACE’s open funding programme, National Lottery Project Grants, is currently accessible to organisations and individuals across the country, including those in Huddersfield and similar sized towns. This programme provides over £100 million of support annually to individuals and organisations.
In Huddersfield for example, ACE supports a number of NPOs such as the annual Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Lawrence Batley Theatre which hosts a wide ranging year-round programme which includes dance shows, dramas and top comedians. ACE is also supporting Kirklees council in the creation of a new Cultural Strategy.
Historic England and National Lottery Heritage Fund also distribute funding on behalf of the department aimed at enabling communities to celebrate their heritage and champion historic places. Historic England delivers grant schemes such as Everyday Heritage Grants and History in the Making which focuses on projects that celebrate working class histories and enables communities to celebrate their local history. The National Lottery Heritage Fund funds a broad range of projects that connect people and communities to the UK's heritage. Their funding can be used for a range of heritage projects including commemorations and celebrations of communities, places or events, and exploring cultural traditions within a place.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2025 to Question 47850 on Cultural Heritage: Export Controls, what the total value was of objects in export licence applications received in each month for the same period.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The total value of objects in export licence applications received by the Export Licensing Unit, run by Arts Council England, between May 2020- April 2025 was £46,224,886,566
A monthly breakdown is also available, see attached.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to take steps to modernise (a) heritage and (b) community protection schemes to support (i) nightclubs, (ii) grassroots music venues and (iii) other contemporary cultural venues.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is working closely with the music and nightclub sectors, to strengthen the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. Cultural venues, like nightclubs and music venues, provide enjoyment to many thousands of people as the opportunity to hear live music up close is an essential part of our cultural life.
We are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) Supporting Grassroots Music Fund by providing £2.5 million funding in 2025-26. This provides grants to grassroots music organisations, including those that host or promote electronic music.
Earlier this year we announced the Arts Everywhere Fund, a £270 million investment for arts venues, museums, libraries and the heritage sector, including the £85m Creative Foundations Fund. This fund will support arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates. Not-for-profit and grassroots music venues will be eligible, and Arts Council England will release more details in due course. We expect the fund may be over-subscribed, so are not intending to extend its scope.
Buildings that are nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces may already be considered for designation as Listed Buildings, where they meet eligibility criteria for special architectural or historic interest. Applications for listing specific nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces can be made to the Secretary of State via Historic England.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure (a) listing and National Portfolio programmes and (b) other heritage and community protection schemes reflect (i) nightclubs, (ii) music venues and (iii) other contemporary cultural spaces.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is working closely with the music and nightclub sectors, to strengthen the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. Cultural venues, like nightclubs and music venues, provide enjoyment to many thousands of people as the opportunity to hear live music up close is an essential part of our cultural life.
We are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) Supporting Grassroots Music Fund by providing £2.5 million funding in 2025-26. This provides grants to grassroots music organisations, including those that host or promote electronic music.
Earlier this year we announced the Arts Everywhere Fund, a £270 million investment for arts venues, museums, libraries and the heritage sector, including the £85m Creative Foundations Fund. This fund will support arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates. Not-for-profit and grassroots music venues will be eligible, and Arts Council England will release more details in due course. We expect the fund may be over-subscribed, so are not intending to extend its scope.
Buildings that are nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces may already be considered for designation as Listed Buildings, where they meet eligibility criteria for special architectural or historic interest. Applications for listing specific nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces can be made to the Secretary of State via Historic England.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including (a) nightclubs, (b) electronic music and (c) other contemporary night-time culture in (i) Cultural Sector Plans, (ii) Growth and Innovation Funds and (iii) other Government-funded schemes.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is working closely with the music and nightclub sectors, to strengthen the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. Cultural venues, like nightclubs and music venues, provide enjoyment to many thousands of people as the opportunity to hear live music up close is an essential part of our cultural life.
We are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) Supporting Grassroots Music Fund by providing £2.5 million funding in 2025-26. This provides grants to grassroots music organisations, including those that host or promote electronic music.
Earlier this year we announced the Arts Everywhere Fund, a £270 million investment for arts venues, museums, libraries and the heritage sector, including the £85m Creative Foundations Fund. This fund will support arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates. Not-for-profit and grassroots music venues will be eligible, and Arts Council England will release more details in due course. We expect the fund may be over-subscribed, so are not intending to extend its scope.
Buildings that are nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces may already be considered for designation as Listed Buildings, where they meet eligibility criteria for special architectural or historic interest. For example, The Crown Hotel, Station Street, Birmingham was listed at grade II in 2024. The music venue has special historical interest for its importance in the 1960s folk music revival, and in the late 1960s as the venue where Black Sabbath created their sound which shaped a new internationally popular genre of music; heavy metal.
Applications for listing specific nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces can be made to the Secretary of State via Historic England.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) listing, (b) National Portfolio programmes and (c) other (i) heritage and (ii) community protection schemes include (A) nightclubs, (B) music venues and (C) other contemporary cultural spaces.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is working closely with the music and nightclub sectors, to strengthen the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. Cultural venues, like nightclubs and music venues, provide enjoyment to many thousands of people as the opportunity to hear live music up close is an essential part of our cultural life.
We are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) Supporting Grassroots Music Fund by providing £2.5 million funding in 2025-26. This provides grants to grassroots music organisations, including those that host or promote electronic music.
Earlier this year we announced the Arts Everywhere Fund, a £270 million investment for arts venues, museums, libraries and the heritage sector, including the £85m Creative Foundations Fund. This fund will support arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates. Not-for-profit and grassroots music venues will be eligible, and Arts Council England will release more details in due course. We expect the fund may be over-subscribed, so are not intending to extend its scope.
Buildings that are nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces may already be considered for designation as Listed Buildings, where they meet eligibility criteria for special architectural or historic interest. For example, The Crown Hotel, Station Street, Birmingham was listed at grade II in 2024. The music venue has special historical interest for its importance in the 1960s folk music revival, and in the late 1960s as the venue where Black Sabbath created their sound which shaped a new internationally popular genre of music; heavy metal.
Applications for listing specific nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces can be made to the Secretary of State via Historic England.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of modernising (a) heritage and (b) community protection schemes to include (i) nightclubs and (ii) grassroots music venues.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is working closely with the music and nightclub sectors, to strengthen the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. Cultural venues, like nightclubs and music venues, provide enjoyment to many thousands of people as the opportunity to hear live music up close is an essential part of our cultural life.
We are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) Supporting Grassroots Music Fund by providing £2.5 million funding in 2025-26. This provides grants to grassroots music organisations, including those that host or promote electronic music.
Earlier this year we announced the Arts Everywhere Fund, a £270 million investment for arts venues, museums, libraries and the heritage sector, including the £85m Creative Foundations Fund. This fund will support arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates. Not-for-profit and grassroots music venues will be eligible, and Arts Council England will release more details in due course. We expect the fund may be over-subscribed, so are not intending to extend its scope.
Buildings that are nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces may already be considered for designation as Listed Buildings, where they meet eligibility criteria for special architectural or historic interest. For example, The Crown Hotel, Station Street, Birmingham was listed at grade II in 2024. The music venue has special historical interest for its importance in the 1960s folk music revival, and in the late 1960s as the venue where Black Sabbath created their sound which shaped a new internationally popular genre of music; heavy metal.
Applications for listing specific nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces can be made to the Secretary of State via Historic England.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will extend the Arts Everywhere Fund to include (a) nightclubs, (b) electronic music and (c) other core contemporary culture.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is working closely with the music and nightclub sectors, to strengthen the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. Cultural venues, like nightclubs and music venues, provide enjoyment to many thousands of people as the opportunity to hear live music up close is an essential part of our cultural life.
We are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) Supporting Grassroots Music Fund by providing £2.5 million funding in 2025-26. This provides grants to grassroots music organisations, including those that host or promote electronic music.
Earlier this year we announced the Arts Everywhere Fund, a £270 million investment for arts venues, museums, libraries and the heritage sector, including the £85m Creative Foundations Fund. This fund will support arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates. Not-for-profit and grassroots music venues will be eligible, and Arts Council England will release more details in due course. We expect the fund may be over-subscribed, so are not intending to extend its scope.
Buildings that are nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces may already be considered for designation as Listed Buildings, where they meet eligibility criteria for special architectural or historic interest. For example, The Crown Hotel, Station Street, Birmingham was listed at grade II in 2024. The music venue has special historical interest for its importance in the 1960s folk music revival, and in the late 1960s as the venue where Black Sabbath created their sound which shaped a new internationally popular genre of music; heavy metal.
Applications for listing specific nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces can be made to the Secretary of State via Historic England.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to provide support to theatres in Gloucester.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government primarily supports theatres predominantly through Arts Council England (ACE). Through their main funding programme, the 2023-2027 National Portfolio Investment Programme, ACE is providing over £100 million in grants per year to around 195 theatres across the country. Across all their funding programmes, including lottery schemes, for the financial year 2024-25, ACE awarded around £300 million to theatres/theatre based organisations.
From 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2025, ACE will have invested a combined total of £455,613 across two 'Theatre' awards in the constituency of Gloucester - to Complicite, an internationally renowned touring theatre company who have recently relocated to Gloucester, and Strike a Light, a theatre organisation homegrown in Gloucester.
Theatres also benefit from the support that the government provides the sector through Theatre Tax Relief, and has also recently announced over £270 million investment for our arts venues, museums, libraries and our heritage sector.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps her Department has taken to support the development of local arts and cultural organisations in (a) Buckinghamshire and (b) Milton Keynes.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Secretary of State announced a new £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund on 20 February. This will include support to museums, arts and music venues across the country and is a critical step that this Government is taking to help create jobs, boost local economies, and expand access to arts and culture for communities.
This is in addition to steps already being taken to support arts and culture via Arts Council England (ACE). In Buckinghamshire, ACE has provided over £19 million of funding between 2021-2025, of which over £11 million has gone to organisations in Milton Keynes.
For example, organisations receiving ACE funding include local 2023-2026 ACE National Portfolio Organisations, such as the Milton Keynes islamic Arts Heritage and Culture Organisation (£195,000 per annum), Milton Keynes Arts Centre (£99,803 per annum) and Milton Keynes Gallery (£390,360 per annum).
The Museum Estate and Development Fund is also part of the support provided by ACE: Bletchley Park received just under £3m from the fund between 2021-2025 towards building modernisation works.
Separately, DCMS has directly supported Discover Bucks Museum through the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund, awarding grants totalling £260,000 between 2018-2024.