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Written Question
Welsh National Opera: Finance
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with Arts Council England on the potential impact of the reduction in funding on the Welsh National Opera.

Answered by John Whittingdale

It is important that people across the country have access to a diverse range of cultural opportunities. Arts and cultural bodies receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including through Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Welsh National Opera will receive £4 million of public funding through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, and was also successful in its application to the Arts Council’s ‘Transform Programme’ through which it will receive an additional one-off payment of £3.25 million. This means the Welsh National Opera will receive over £15 million of public funding between 2023 and 2026.

The decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, is a decision taken wholly by Arts Council England independently of HM Government. This is in accordance with the well established process, which is published on the Arts Council’s website and made clear in the guidance for applicants. How the Welsh National Opera chooses to spend its grant funding with respect to staffing, touring, and community work are matters for the organisation itself.

Cultural organisations such as the Welsh National Opera are also benefiting from the two-year extension to the higher rates of theatre, orchestra, museums and galleries exhibition tax reliefs announced at the last Budget. This extension will continue to offset ongoing pressures and boost investment in our cultural sectors. They will incentivise investment in productions in the UK, support them to tour, drive economic growth, and allow the sector to maintain its international competitiveness and reputation.


Written Question
Welsh National Opera: Finance
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)

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 impact of the reduction in funding from Arts Council England on the Welsh National Opera.

Answered by John Whittingdale

It is important that people across the country have access to a diverse range of cultural opportunities. Arts and cultural bodies receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including through Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Welsh National Opera will receive £4 million of public funding through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, and was also successful in its application to the Arts Council’s ‘Transform Programme’ through which it will receive an additional one-off payment of £3.25 million. This means the Welsh National Opera will receive over £15 million of public funding between 2023 and 2026.

The decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, is a decision taken wholly by Arts Council England independently of HM Government. This is in accordance with the well established process, which is published on the Arts Council’s website and made clear in the guidance for applicants. How the Welsh National Opera chooses to spend its grant funding with respect to staffing, touring, and community work are matters for the organisation itself.

Cultural organisations such as the Welsh National Opera are also benefiting from the two-year extension to the higher rates of theatre, orchestra, museums and galleries exhibition tax reliefs announced at the last Budget. This extension will continue to offset ongoing pressures and boost investment in our cultural sectors. They will incentivise investment in productions in the UK, support them to tour, drive economic growth, and allow the sector to maintain its international competitiveness and reputation.


Written Question
Welsh National Opera: Finance
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)

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 impact of the reduction in funding from Arts Council England on the (a) staffing, (b) touring and (c) community work of the Welsh National Opera.

Answered by John Whittingdale

It is important that people across the country have access to a diverse range of cultural opportunities. Arts and cultural bodies receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including through Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Welsh National Opera will receive £4 million of public funding through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, and was also successful in its application to the Arts Council’s ‘Transform Programme’ through which it will receive an additional one-off payment of £3.25 million. This means the Welsh National Opera will receive over £15 million of public funding between 2023 and 2026.

The decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, is a decision taken wholly by Arts Council England independently of HM Government. This is in accordance with the well established process, which is published on the Arts Council’s website and made clear in the guidance for applicants. How the Welsh National Opera chooses to spend its grant funding with respect to staffing, touring, and community work are matters for the organisation itself.

Cultural organisations such as the Welsh National Opera are also benefiting from the two-year extension to the higher rates of theatre, orchestra, museums and galleries exhibition tax reliefs announced at the last Budget. This extension will continue to offset ongoing pressures and boost investment in our cultural sectors. They will incentivise investment in productions in the UK, support them to tour, drive economic growth, and allow the sector to maintain its international competitiveness and reputation.


Written Question
Welsh National Opera: Finance
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)

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 adequacy of the amount of transition funding offered by Arts Council England’s to the Welsh National Opera.

Answered by John Whittingdale

It is important that people across the country have access to a diverse range of cultural opportunities. Arts and cultural bodies receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including through Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Welsh National Opera will receive £4 million of public funding through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, and was also successful in its application to the Arts Council’s ‘Transform Programme’ through which it will receive an additional one-off payment of £3.25 million. This means the Welsh National Opera will receive over £15 million of public funding between 2023 and 2026.

The decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, is a decision taken wholly by Arts Council England independently of HM Government. This is in accordance with the well established process, which is published on the Arts Council’s website and made clear in the guidance for applicants. How the Welsh National Opera chooses to spend its grant funding with respect to staffing, touring, and community work are matters for the organisation itself.

Cultural organisations such as the Welsh National Opera are also benefiting from the two-year extension to the higher rates of theatre, orchestra, museums and galleries exhibition tax reliefs announced at the last Budget. This extension will continue to offset ongoing pressures and boost investment in our cultural sectors. They will incentivise investment in productions in the UK, support them to tour, drive economic growth, and allow the sector to maintain its international competitiveness and reputation.


Written Question
Welsh National Opera
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)

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 support the Welsh National Opera; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by John Whittingdale

It is important that people across the country have access to a diverse range of cultural opportunities. Arts and cultural bodies receive funding through a wide variety of sources, including through Arts Council England, an arm’s-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Welsh National Opera will receive £4 million of public funding through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, and was also successful in its application to the Arts Council’s ‘Transform Programme’ through which it will receive an additional one-off payment of £3.25 million. This means the Welsh National Opera will receive over £15 million of public funding between 2023 and 2026.

The decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, is a decision taken wholly by Arts Council England independently of HM Government. This is in accordance with the well established process, which is published on the Arts Council’s website and made clear in the guidance for applicants. How the Welsh National Opera chooses to spend its grant funding with respect to staffing, touring, and community work are matters for the organisation itself.

Cultural organisations such as the Welsh National Opera are also benefiting from the two-year extension to the higher rates of theatre, orchestra, museums and galleries exhibition tax reliefs announced at the last Budget. This extension will continue to offset ongoing pressures and boost investment in our cultural sectors. They will incentivise investment in productions in the UK, support them to tour, drive economic growth, and allow the sector to maintain its international competitiveness and reputation.


Written Question
Gambling
Tuesday 20th December 2022

Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had recent discussions with the Gambling Commission on the role of open banking technology in helping to tackle problem gambling.

Answered by Paul Scully

The Government and Gambling Commission are exploring how technology and data can be harnessed in a number of areas to better prevent harmful gambling online. The Government’s White Paper on the Gambling Act Review will be published in the coming weeks.


Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 01 Dec 2022
Oral Answers to Questions

Speech Link

View all Alex Davies-Jones (Lab - Pontypridd) contributions to the debate on: Oral Answers to Questions

Written Question
Charities: Lotteries
Thursday 3rd November 2022

Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to raise the charity lottery annual sales limit.

Answered by Paul Scully

The society lottery annual sales limit was last increased as part of a wider package of reforms in 2020. These were reviewed 12 months after they were implemented, and the results of the review were published in March 2022. It concluded that it was too soon to reach any firm view on the impact of the changes, especially during a time when the effect of the Covid pandemic made any evaluation more difficult, and that more data on annual growth of the sector was required before considering any further changes. My officials will continue working with the Gambling Commission, as part of its regulatory role, to keep the sector under review.


Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 26 Oct 2022
Online Harms

Speech Link

View all Alex Davies-Jones (Lab - Pontypridd) contributions to the debate on: Online Harms

Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 26 Oct 2022
Online Harms

Speech Link

View all Alex Davies-Jones (Lab - Pontypridd) contributions to the debate on: Online Harms