Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will work with Arts Council England to commission a strategic review of opera provision.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I refer the Hon Member for Richmond Park to my previous answers on this matter, including 97388 and 97389 to the Rt Hon Member for Camberwell and Peckham.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support the English National Opera.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I refer the Hon Member for Richmond Park to my previous answers on this matter, including 97388 and 97389 to the Rt Hon Member for Camberwell and Peckham.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to conduct a review into opera provision in England.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, are taken by Arts Council England at arm’s length from the Government. Arts Council England made its decisions in line with its published guidance and its ten-year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’. Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England, and decisions were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector. Any questions about specific funding decisions should be directed to Arts Council England.
Arts Council England’s investment in opera, orchestras and other classical organisations represents around 80% of all investment in music in its 2023–26 Investment Programme. Through this programme, opera will continue to be well funded, with it remaining at around 40% of Arts Council England’s overall investment in music. Organisations such as the English Touring Opera and the Birmingham Opera Company will receive increased funding, and there are many new joiners such as Opera UpClose and Pegasus Opera Company, who are based in South London. It is worth noting that these statistics are likely to underestimate the level of opera activity being funded as some organisations in the 2023–26 Investment Programme will fall into combined arts or non-discipline-specific categories.
The Government will continue to work with Arts Council England to understand the impacts of its investment in arts and culture, including on opera.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Art Council England National Portfolio Organisation funding between 2023 to 2026 on the opera industry.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, are taken by Arts Council England at arm’s length from the Government. Arts Council England made its decisions in line with its published guidance and its ten-year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’. Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England, and decisions were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector. Any questions about specific funding decisions should be directed to Arts Council England.
Arts Council England’s investment in opera, orchestras and other classical organisations represents around 80% of all investment in music in its 2023–26 Investment Programme. Through this programme, opera will continue to be well funded, with it remaining at around 40% of Arts Council England’s overall investment in music. Organisations such as the English Touring Opera and the Birmingham Opera Company will receive increased funding, and there are many new joiners such as Opera UpClose and Pegasus Opera Company, who are based in South London. It is worth noting that these statistics are likely to underestimate the level of opera activity being funded as some organisations in the 2023–26 Investment Programme will fall into combined arts or non-discipline-specific categories.
The Government will continue to work with Arts Council England to understand the impacts of its investment in arts and culture, including on opera.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the London Coliseum is under public (1) ownership, or (2) control; and if so, (a) what is its legal status, and (b) whether Arts Council England or any other public body retain any residual control or ownership rights, including the power to sell the venue.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, through its Investment Programme are taken by Arts Council England at arm’s length from His Majesty’s Government.
Arts Council England has a robust process to determine how funding decisions are made. The decisions were made in line with its published guidance and in response to its ten-year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’. Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England, and decisions were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector.
The London Coliseum is owned freehold by English National Opera and is not under public ownership or control. The property can be used according to the terms as set out in agreements between English National Opera and each of its funders. This includes Arts Council England.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether Arts Council England discussed with English National Opera a plan of transition from their base in London, prior to their decision to withdraw all national programme funding from the organisation.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, through its Investment Programme are taken by Arts Council England at arm’s length from His Majesty’s Government.
Arts Council England has a robust process to determine how funding decisions are made. The decisions were made in line with its published guidance and in response to its ten-year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’. Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England, and decisions were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector.
The London Coliseum is owned freehold by English National Opera and is not under public ownership or control. The property can be used according to the terms as set out in agreements between English National Opera and each of its funders. This includes Arts Council England.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government with whom Arts Council England consulted prior to their decision to withdraw all national programme funding from English National Opera.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, through its Investment Programme are taken by Arts Council England at arm’s length from His Majesty’s Government.
Arts Council England has a robust process to determine how funding decisions are made. The decisions were made in line with its published guidance and in response to its ten-year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’. Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England, and decisions were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector.
The London Coliseum is owned freehold by English National Opera and is not under public ownership or control. The property can be used according to the terms as set out in agreements between English National Opera and each of its funders. This includes Arts Council England.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, or plan to have, with Arts Council England to understand their decision to withdraw all national programme funding from English National Opera; and what plans they have to ask the Arts Council to reconsider this decision.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State, other Ministers, and officials from DCMS all regularly meet Arts Council England – which is an arms-length body of the Department – to discuss all aspects of its work. This includes meetings to discuss Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme.
All decisions on which organisations to fund through the 2023–26 Investment Programme, and by how much, have been taken by Arts Council England. In line with the long-standing principle that the Arts Council makes such decisions at arm’s length from Government, there are no plans to ask it to reconsider these decisions. The Department is keen that Arts Council England and English National Opera work together on the future of the organisation.
Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the potential impact of the Arts Council England funding decision to reduce the English National Opera’s grant on levelling up.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Ministers and officials regularly meet their counterparts across His Majesty’s Government to discuss shared priorities, including how cultural investment and policy can support levelling up. There have been no recent discussions between the Secretaries of State on this issue specifically.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the outcome was of discussions she had with the Chief Executive of English National Opera, Stuart Murphy, on 10 November 2022; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport met Stuart Murphy, the Chief Executive of English National Opera on 10 November at his request. This meeting was to discuss the work of the organisation and its plans for its future.