Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Daniel Zeichner and Ian Murray

Thursday 26th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)]

T5. In Cambridge, like in many other places, many new homes will be built in the coming years, but we need to build communities, not just houses, and a cultural component is absolutely key to that. Will the Minister tell us what he is doing to ensure that happens?

[The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)]

It is not just about building homes and economic drivers; it is about building cultural and heritage communities as well. It is fantastic to see so many infrastructure projects taking shape across Cambridgeshire and Cambridge this year. Cambridge already has a fantastic cultural offer, with Arts Council England’s national portfolio programme already supporting organisations like the New International Encounter and Oblique Arts, both of which work with communities across the region. I encourage my hon. Friend to ask all of his cultural organisations to look at the £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere fund—that record funding was announced last month—and maybe the city or town of culture programme.