County Durham: Cultural Opportunities

Nicholas Dakin Excerpts

Tuesday 20th January 2026 Westminster Hall

[The Vice-Chamberlain of His Majesty’s Household (Sir Nicholas Dakin)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairing, Ms Vaz. I am pleased to respond to this debate, and congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham (Mary Kelly Foy) on securing it.

My hon. Friend has spoken with great passion, conviction and authority about the flourishing of the arts and the challenge to the arts in her constituency. She is right that culture should never be just the preserve of people with the deepest pockets; it is in the veins of all of us. She is also right to identify investing in the future with young people and what happens in schools and activities around them, and in the community, to build the culture of the future. She is right to invite the Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley South (Stephanie Peacock) —she was with us for most of the debate, but unfortunately had to leave us—to visit the city of Durham. I am sure that the Minister will put that in her diary as soon as she is back.

We have heard with great passion about the deep-rooted cultural identity of County Durham—a place where the miners historically did not just extract wealth from the ground, but invested it back into the minds of the community through libraries, schools, halls and community events. Many of those survive today and have been alluded to by my hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham in her speech.

The Government are backing the vision for investment in grassroots arts with more than just warm words. Last year, we announced the £270 million Arts Everywhere fund to support our venues, museums and libraries. In 2024-25, we provided over £500 million in grant-in-aid to Arts Council England. I am pleased to confirm we have increased ACE’s core budget for 2025-26 by over £7.6 million.

In County Durham, ACE has invested almost £2.5 million since 2023. That is a massive vote of confidence in local creativity and includes over £2 million of annual funding through ACE’s national portfolio programme, which supports eight organisations in the county—including TIN Arts, which my hon. Friend alluded to in her speech. That organisation is doing vital work in inclusive dance for those with learning disabilities. Beamish Museum, a recent winner of the Art Fund museum of the year, is also a joyous and immersive site shaped by the very community stories my hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham highlighted.

The support for the national story is mirrored in our investment in the physical health of the county, with £2.79 million provided by Sport England in 2024-25. That has funded everything from a leisure centre in Bishop Auckland to walking football initiatives, ensuring that culture and sport remain visible and valued parts of everyday life.

My hon. Friend raised concerns about the closure of community spaces and the future of local celebrations, and she was right to do so. We recognise that local government is the backbone of culture. Durham county council receives more than £500,000 annually from ACE as a national portfolio organisation. That supports the Durham book festival—vital as 2026 is the National Year of Reading—and the Durham brass festival, in its 20th year. Although I understand that last year was Lumiere’s final edition in that format, the council is seeking a “fresh approach”. I wish it luck in building on the legacy of 1.3 million visitors. I commend to it my hon. Friend’s comments in this debate as a purpose and reason for taking things further and ensuring that that legacy is a true one.

The Pride in Place programme is targeting up to £20 million each for neighbourhoods like Spennymoor, Peterlee East, Stanley South and Crook North and Tow Law. Crucially, we are also investing in the next generation. We have invested almost £1 million for better youth spaces in Durham, £900,000 for a Young Futures hub and Local Youth Transformation, and more than £500,000 for five Durham-based charities since 2024 from the enrichment partnerships pilot.

I heard the concerns about local bands lacking rehearsal space. That is a very real issue—not just in my hon. Friend’s constituency but around the country, but she puts her finger on something that needs attention and addressing. Our new industrial strategy includes a music growth package of up to £30 million specifically to support the grassroots sector. We know that a sustainable music scene is the bedrock of the entire industry. Furthermore, through the creative places growth fund, we have provided £25 million to the North East combined authority. That empowers the fantastic local mayor, Kim McGuinness, to turbocharge the creative sector right across the region, including the communities struggling outside the UNESCO site.

Looking to the future and towns and cities of culture, County Durham’s 2025 city of culture bid was a remarkable achievement and we gave it, as a runner-up, £125,000 to sustain that momentum. However, we also want our towns to take centre stage. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has said:

“There is so much for us to be proud of in the towns we’re from—from the rich, local history to unique festivals and celebrations. They have shaped our national story for decades. Now it’s time they take centre stage and showcase the unique stories they have to tell.”

Our new competition for the town of culture is designed for places exactly like Bishop Auckland. My hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) knows well his area’s cultural might—from the Faith Museum to the world’s greatest collection of 17th-century Spanish art outside Spain. The other Minister need not go to Spain—she could simply go to Bishop Auckland. We welcome bids from all towns in the country and County Durham in particular. Expressions of interest are due by 31 March 2026.

My hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham pointed to the fact that culture is sometimes seen through a lens of division. It is to her great credit that she has not done that today. Indeed, she has reminded us of the glue that culture is within our communities. We heard contributions from my hon. Friends the Members for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor (Alan Strickland) and for Bishop Auckland—and, of course, from the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who finds joy in the whole country. I am sure there is something that he particularly enjoys in County Durham.

Areas selected through the Pride in Place programme will receive dedicated support from the communities delivery unit. With the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the CDU will work in partnership with neighbourhood boards and local authorities to provide access to place-specific data guidance and capability support tailored to local needs.

My hon. Friend the Member for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor drew attention to the heritage railway route, the Stockton and Darlington railway, and I understand that he met my colleague Baroness Twycross, the Minister for Museums, Heritage and Gambling, in December to discuss its potential world heritage status. I welcome his advocacy and support for an important component of local heritage, but I must reiterate Baroness Twycross’s explanation that we are not considering adding new sites to our existing tentative list—our pipeline of potential world heritage nominations—outside of the UK’s formal review process. The next review is expected in 2033, and I hope that he will be here to see it.

To conclude, from the £400,000 for emergency repairs at Ushaw to the £2.79 million for Sport England for local leisure, we are investing in this part of the country at every level. The culture of County Durham, with its brass bands, mining banners, railways and art—of course, I loved the mention of its steel heritage as well; I would, wouldn’t I?—has remained the golden thread binding its communities together. The miners of Durham built for the future. Today this Government are doing the same, ensuring that whether we are in the shadow of Durham cathedral or at the heart of a former coalfield, we have access to a rich, vibrant and inclusive cultural life.

In this debate, we have heard many examples of the vibrancy of that culture in 2026. The opportunities to be seized by the cultural and creative industries across the north-east are vast. County Durham, as my hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham reminded us and as was reinforced by colleagues’ contributions, is a cultural powerhouse that is open for business. We stand ready to work with local leaders and communities to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to experience and participate in arts and culture across County Durham.

[Valerie Vaz (in the Chair)]

I thank you again for stepping in, Sir Nic—what a talented person you are.

Question put and agreed to.