National Arts Bank

Baroness Wheatcroft Excerpts

Thursday 4th June 2026 Grand Committee

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Gill, and I agree with everything she said. The impact that something like this could have on NEETs, for instance, has had no attention but really deserves it. I applaud the suggestion of the noble Lord, Lord John of Southwark. It is a great idea and something we should go ahead with. It is something that this House could support and would cost us nothing, so what is not to like?

London benefits at the moment, but this Question talks about outside London as well, which is important. Let us not forget that London has quite recently had the benefit of two new theatres, which has happened because of commerce, not because of anything other than money being lent commercially. The most recent is @sohoplace, which has come about on the site of the old Astoria music hall and is there because it is part of the magnificent new development around Crossrail, the revamped Tottenham Court Road. Without a far-sighted developer in the shape of Derwent, @sohoplace would not be there.

Conversely, the Bridge Theatre over at Tower Bridge, which has produced some fantastic work, is an entirely private sector operation—but do not let anybody think that this is easy. The Bridge Theatre is currently seeking outside investors because it needs more money. Being involved in the arts does not come cheap. Although the suggestion from the noble Lord, Lord John, is an excellent one, let nobody be persuaded that every arts organisation can make a profit and pay back money. It is important that we put this in context. It would have a really useful role, but those who borrow from it would need to look, in many cases, to philanthropy to fill the gap that would enable them to pay back the money that they have been loaned.

The fact is that underfunding has undermined the arts in the UK for the last decade—actually, much more than that. Although we all know the importance of the arts, not just in creating a healthier, happier society but in building a thriving economy, this is a difficult time to argue the case for a big increase in government spending on what, in some quarters, is still regarded as unnecessary, bordering on the frivolous. We can only look at the fact that the Government are apparently currently considering cutting down the amount of money they dictate to defence spending in the defence spending review that we have been waiting a long time for. If we cannot afford the money that we should be spending on defence, public pleas for money for the arts will find it very hard to succeed, even though we know the long-term benefits.

We should be very grateful not just to the noble Lord, Lord John, but to the noble Baroness, Lady Hodge—already quoted by the noble Baroness, Lady Gill—who has produced a report that is not full of whinging about the future of arts funding and has come up with some really positive ideas. They are all worth taking note of. Wonderfully, the Government have adopted every one of her recommendations. Let us not be fooled: adopting recommendations is not quite the same as doing anything, but one lives in hope and I am sure some things will result. It is a positive start, at least. The noble Baroness, Lady Hodge, came up with some very positive ideas, not least about the importance of philanthropy and what the Government might do to encourage more of that into the sector. We have already heard about France’s novel ideas on funding the arts, but it has also done some really good things in encouraging philanthropy. Tax breaks of 60% might not be acceptable in this country but, nevertheless, it has made a huge difference and the money that has flowed from corporate giving as a result, much of it into the arts, would certainly go down well here.

We need to do more. The Government have agreed to look at it, but there are innovative ideas for encouraging philanthropy that are well worth examining. At the moment, the Arts Council does not have the benefit of donations but it could, if one looked at it, have means of activating that. For instance, if it had the endowment fund that the noble Baroness, Lady Hodge, is suggesting should come its way, with the benefit of the £250 million that Nesta is not spending, there is a suggestion that the Arts Council would have to match every pound of that endowment fund with money that it raises. That could be a really positive move for the arts. We need to look at other things. We need to give the Arts Council a trading arm; that would make a huge difference. Some publicly funded bodies have made a lot of money by doing great productions that go commercial. Some of that money could go back to the Arts Council, if there were a means of getting it there. We need to find a way of doing that. The Arts Council could do much more to encourage philanthropy, particularly outside London.

The other thing that the noble Baroness, Lady Hodge, bravely said—I think it is something we all ought to take note of—is that we need to get braver about standing up to boycotts. If the arts are to flourish in this country and if money is to be available to pay back the loans to the new bank, which we all want to support, we will have to look to the commercial sector and be braver about who is tolerated—and indeed encouraged—to become a sponsor. I should declare an interest as a former deputy chairman of the British Museum, and I have to say I was disappointed when it decided that BP should no longer be allowed there. BP is looking for alternatives to just oil, and the money was very useful.