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 Arts Council England have made an estimate of the (a) number of people employed by the English National Opera and (b) proportion of those employees who would be able to move out of London.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Decisions on issues relating to staff employment and location are always made by organisations independently of both HM Government and Arts Council England. Arts Council England is, however, currently working with the English National Opera on possibilities for 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 (a) Arts Council England, (b) the English National Opera and (c) any other external organisation on funding settlements made by Arts Council England before the announcement of 4 November 2022.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Arts Council England (ACE) provided the English National Opera (ENO) with £12,607,792 of public funding in 2021/22 and 2022/23 through its 2018–22 Investment Programme. Decisions about which organisations to fund in its Investment Programme, and by how much, are taken by Arts Council England alone. As part of its decisions regarding the 2023–26 Investment Programme, Arts Council England has offered the English National Opera £17 million to help it transition from its current model and explore a new future.
I can confirm that all decisions on which organisations to fund through the 2023–26 Investment Programme and their precise allocations have been taken by Arts Council England.
As the Cabinet Minister responsible for arts and culture, the Secretary of State regularly meets Arts Council England, which is an arms-length body of the Department. She met Arts Council England officials to discuss the overall process, outcome and plan for announcement on 2 November. However, the Secretary of State held no meetings with the English National Opera or any other external organisation to discuss this Investment Programme’s funding settlements prior to its announcement.
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 made a recent assessment of the potential impact of opening a new opera house in a town or city outside of London.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Arts Council England (ACE) provided the English National Opera (ENO) with £12,607,792 of public funding in 2021/22 and 2022/23 through its 2018–22 Investment Programme. Decisions about which organisations to fund in its Investment Programme, and by how much, are taken by Arts Council England alone. As part of its decisions regarding the 2023–26 Investment Programme, Arts Council England has offered the English National Opera £17 million to help it transition from its current model and explore a new future.
I can confirm that all decisions on which organisations to fund through the 2023–26 Investment Programme and their precise allocations have been taken by Arts Council England.
As the Cabinet Minister responsible for arts and culture, the Secretary of State regularly meets Arts Council England, which is an arms-length body of the Department. She met Arts Council England officials to discuss the overall process, outcome and plan for announcement on 2 November. However, the Secretary of State held no meetings with the English National Opera or any other external organisation to discuss this Investment Programme’s funding settlements prior to its announcement.
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 plans to undertake a review of the level of funding that will be provided by Arts Council England to the English National Opera between 2023 and 2026.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Arts Council England (ACE) provided the English National Opera (ENO) with £12,607,792 of public funding in 2021/22 and 2022/23 through its 2018–22 Investment Programme. Decisions about which organisations to fund in its Investment Programme, and by how much, are taken by Arts Council England alone. As part of its decisions regarding the 2023–26 Investment Programme, Arts Council England has offered the English National Opera £17 million to help it transition from its current model and explore a new future.
I can confirm that all decisions on which organisations to fund through the 2023–26 Investment Programme and their precise allocations have been taken by Arts Council England.
As the Cabinet Minister responsible for arts and culture, the Secretary of State regularly meets Arts Council England, which is an arms-length body of the Department. She met Arts Council England officials to discuss the overall process, outcome and plan for announcement on 2 November. However, the Secretary of State held no meetings with the English National Opera or any other external organisation to discuss this Investment Programme’s funding settlements prior to its announcement.
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, how much funding Arts Council England provided to the English National Opera in the (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23 and (c) 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Arts Council England (ACE) provided the English National Opera (ENO) with £12,607,792 of public funding in 2021/22 and 2022/23 through its 2018–22 Investment Programme. Decisions about which organisations to fund in its Investment Programme, and by how much, are taken by Arts Council England alone. As part of its decisions regarding the 2023–26 Investment Programme, Arts Council England has offered the English National Opera £17 million to help it transition from its current model and explore a new future.
I can confirm that all decisions on which organisations to fund through the 2023–26 Investment Programme and their precise allocations have been taken by Arts Council England.
As the Cabinet Minister responsible for arts and culture, the Secretary of State regularly meets Arts Council England, which is an arms-length body of the Department. She met Arts Council England officials to discuss the overall process, outcome and plan for announcement on 2 November. However, the Secretary of State held no meetings with the English National Opera or any other external organisation to discuss this Investment Programme’s funding settlements prior to its announcement.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support the arts and culture in London.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Through the unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund (CRF), HM Government supported London's vibrant cultural sector against the impact of COVID-19. London-based groups and venues received just over a third of total CRF funding – £494 million in grants and loans – supporting over 1,200 organisations. That included 21 organisations in Ealing, such as Colour Sound Experiment Ltd (just under £500,000) and Marquee Entec Ltd (£524,000). The Southbank Centre, the Royal Opera House and Historic Royal Palaces were just a few of the many other acclaimed London institutions which received significant amounts of CRF funding, demonstrating our commitment to supporting our iconic cultural and heritage venues through the pandemic.
In addition to this, Arts Council England – the arm’s length body which is responsible for distributing public funding – is committed to supporting arts and culture in the capital. Around a third of its investment through the 2023–26 Investment Programme will be directed to organisations in London, amounting to £143.7 million. The new Investment Programme includes a wider spread of investment to outer London boroughs, meaning more Londoners will benefit from creative and cultural investment. Arts Council England will also continue to prioritise a number of London boroughs in its existing set of priority places (Barking & Dagenham, Brent, Croydon, Enfield, and Newham).
I am pleased that, through this Investment Programme, Arts Council England is supporting 56 cultural organisations in the capital for the first time. These organisations will sit alongside our acclaimed institutions such as the Royal Opera House, London Transport Museum, the National Theatre, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and Southbank Centre, which will continue to receive funding. Organisations leaving the portfolio are eligible to apply for support from Arts Council England’s £12.6 million Transition Programme. This fund will provide those leaving the portfolio with up to 12 months’ funding at the current levels from the point of notification. Both the amount of money available, and the length of transition, have been extended.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to tackle skills shortages in the performing arts technical skills sector.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the creative sectors continue to grow and build back better from the pandemic, the government understands the importance of ensuring that the creative industries do not suffer from skills shortages, including the performing arts technical skills sector. That is why the government has supported initiatives to boost training and employment opportunities in these sectors, such as the industry-led Creative Careers Programme.
Throughout the pandemic, DCMS Ministers and officials have had, and continue to have, regular meetings and discussions with representatives of the theatre sector on a range of issues. The Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay has had a number of meetings with theatres, both one-to-one and collectively. In February, the Minister for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure held a creative apprentices roundtable with industry to mark apprenticeships week - this was attended by apprentices from the Royal Opera House and the National Theatre. We continue to involve the theatre sector in ongoing policy work.
At last year’s Budget, the Chancellor announced a new £7 million pilot fund to test ‘flexi-job’ apprenticeships, which will better suit the working practices of the creative industries and enable more young people to enter the workforce. This builds on the DCMS-funded ScreenSkills Apprenticeship Pilot with Netflix and Warner Media, relaunched last Summer with apprentices working across multiple productions and employers.
DCMS supports the industry-led Creative Careers Programme, which has to date showcased creative career pathways to over 115,000 pupils at over 1,500 schools across England, as well as the Department for Work and Pensions’ Kickstart Scheme through which over 8,000 creative industry placements are now available to young people across the country.
DCMS is also leading on the development of a Creative Industries Sector Vision, due to be published in summer 2022, which will set out our vision for the sector in 2030 and a long-term strategy focused on promoting growth within the sector. This includes considering the skills, workforce and talent pipeline challenges and opportunities for the sector.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the theatre industry about skills and training opportunities in the performing arts technical skills sector.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the creative sectors continue to grow and build back better from the pandemic, the government understands the importance of ensuring that the creative industries do not suffer from skills shortages, including the performing arts technical skills sector. That is why the government has supported initiatives to boost training and employment opportunities in these sectors, such as the industry-led Creative Careers Programme.
Throughout the pandemic, DCMS Ministers and officials have had, and continue to have, regular meetings and discussions with representatives of the theatre sector on a range of issues. The Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay has had a number of meetings with theatres, both one-to-one and collectively. In February, the Minister for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure held a creative apprentices roundtable with industry to mark apprenticeships week - this was attended by apprentices from the Royal Opera House and the National Theatre. We continue to involve the theatre sector in ongoing policy work.
At last year’s Budget, the Chancellor announced a new £7 million pilot fund to test ‘flexi-job’ apprenticeships, which will better suit the working practices of the creative industries and enable more young people to enter the workforce. This builds on the DCMS-funded ScreenSkills Apprenticeship Pilot with Netflix and Warner Media, relaunched last Summer with apprentices working across multiple productions and employers.
DCMS supports the industry-led Creative Careers Programme, which has to date showcased creative career pathways to over 115,000 pupils at over 1,500 schools across England, as well as the Department for Work and Pensions’ Kickstart Scheme through which over 8,000 creative industry placements are now available to young people across the country.
DCMS is also leading on the development of a Creative Industries Sector Vision, due to be published in summer 2022, which will set out our vision for the sector in 2030 and a long-term strategy focused on promoting growth within the sector. This includes considering the skills, workforce and talent pipeline challenges and opportunities for the sector.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much the Arts Council spent on (a) opera and (b) brass bands in each of the last two financial years.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The figures for Arts Council England funding for opera and brass bands in financial years 2019/20, 2020/21 are given below.
The figures for each year are broken down into primary and secondary funding and then a total. Primary classification indicates that, in this case, opera or brass bands, was a major focus of the activity funded with the assumption most of this amount went to funding this activity. Secondary classification indicates this was a minor focus of the activity and so it cannot be assumed this full amount of funding went towards this activity.
A small number of projects are classified under both opera and brass bands, so these figures cannot be added together, as these projects would be double counted.
ACE Opera Funding:
Year | Primary | Secondary | Total |
2019/20 | £59,230,322 | £26,335,477 | £85,565,799 |
2020/21 | £61,920,159 | £37,675,988 | £99,596,147 |
ACE Brass Bands Funding:
Year | Primary | Secondary | Total |
2019/20 | £375,339 | £765,573 | £1,140,912 |
2020/21 | £392,670 | £5,132,587 | £5,525,257 |
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he made of regional inequality when allocating funding from the Cultural Recovery Fund.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Over £1 billion worth of funding from the Culture Recovery Fund has been allocated across all four nations of the UK. This includes over £800 million to almost 3800 arts, culture and heritage organisations in England, helping to support at least 75,000 jobs. Organisations were supported if they were culturally significant, could demonstrate that they are at risk of failure and that they had taken all reasonable steps to support themselves financially.
DCMS has worked closely with its Arm’s Length Bodies, who are delivering the fund to so we can best support the valuable cultural fabric of our towns and regions. Criteria have been applied to allocate funding to ensure we are supporting organisations that have national and local importance. Grants have been awarded to organisations as diverse as the Birmingham Hippodrome, Shakespeare’s Globe, Blackpool Tower Ballroom, Opera North and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, as well as thousands more ranging from internationally recognised cultural institutions to locally cherished organisations.
In the first round, 67% of grants awards worth over £1 million were awarded to organisations outside London. Regions particularly hard hit by the pandemic have felt the tangible impact of the fund. For example, funding is supporting organisations which employ 69% of arts sector employees in the West Midlands and 43% in the North West.
The second round is in progress, and a further £300 million of support was announced by HM Treasury at Spring budget to continue to support key cultural organisations, bridge the sector as audiences begin to return, and ensure a vibrant future for the culture sector, including theatres, as the nation recovers from the pandemic.