Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 55644 on Arts and Cultural Heritage: South Northamptonshire, what discussions she has had with (a) Arts Council England and (b) National Lottery Heritage Fund on evaluating the potential long-term impact of arts grants on levels of local (i) cultural participation and (iI) economic development in South Northamptonshire constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State has not carried out an assessment of the funding allocated for arts and heritage in the South Northamptonshire constituency specifically, however, the Department has carried out an initial review of publicly funded arts, culture and heritage sectors, including looking at national and local government funding. This work ensures any future policy development is evidence driven.
Ministers have also launched a review of Arts Council England, our arms-length body who are responsible for the distribution of arts funding across England. The review will examine everything from funding mechanisms to community engagement. Baroness Hodge of Barking is leading the review and will provide government with her report and recommendations in the autumn of 2025. The government will then publish the conclusions of the review along with the government’s response in 2026.
Details of Arts Council England funding since 2021 can be found on the Arts Council England website here https://culture.localinsight.org/#/map
The Secretary of State has a range of discussions with Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund across the whole of her portfolio, and DCMS officials regularly discuss support for arts, culture and heritage with their counterparts at our arms-length bodies.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2025 to Question 55644 on Arts and Cultural Heritage: South Northamptonshire, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the funding allocated for arts and heritage in (a) South Northamptonshire constituency, (b) rural and semi-rural communities and (c) urban areas since 2021.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Secretary of State has not carried out an assessment of the funding allocated for arts and heritage in the South Northamptonshire constituency specifically, however, the Department has carried out an initial review of publicly funded arts, culture and heritage sectors, including looking at national and local government funding. This work ensures any future policy development is evidence driven.
Ministers have also launched a review of Arts Council England, our arms-length body who are responsible for the distribution of arts funding across England. The review will examine everything from funding mechanisms to community engagement. Baroness Hodge of Barking is leading the review and will provide government with her report and recommendations in the autumn of 2025. The government will then publish the conclusions of the review along with the government’s response in 2026.
Details of Arts Council England funding since 2021 can be found on the Arts Council England website here https://culture.localinsight.org/#/map
The Secretary of State has a range of discussions with Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund across the whole of her portfolio, and DCMS officials regularly discuss support for arts, culture and heritage with their counterparts at our arms-length bodies.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support is available for (a) local heritage and (b) arts organisations in South Northamptonshire constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
In the South Northamptonshire constituency, Arts Council England has provided over £600,000 of funding between 2021-2025.
This includes 11 awards across combined arts, music and theatre, totalling more than £290,000. “The Play’s The Thing” Theatre Company received £39,366 for their biennial ‘Taking the Stage’ symposium, celebrating the role of women in the performing arts.
Arts Council England’s Developing Your Creative Practice has also supported four individual artists with a total of £47,113 across theatre and visual arts. ItsCreative People and Places funding stream has awarded £321,703 per annum to ‘Made with Many’ for 2022-25 – to produce events and activities that put the community at the heart of commissioning artists and producing new and exciting events, through conversations with local people and community decision-making panels.
Since 1994, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded more than £18.2m to 95 projects in South Northamptonshire. Examples of organisations and projects they have supported include £11.6m in support of Silverstone Heritage and a grant of £233,800 supporting much needed repairs to the roof of the Grade I listed All Saints' Church, Middleton Cheney.
Since 2020, Historic England provided £56,000 towards re-roofing the Brewhouse at Sulgrave Manor. They also provided financial support for the Peterborough Diocese Places of Worship Support Officer for 10 years up to 2024 and £4,000 for Weedon Lois Castle site.
The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme provide grants towards VAT paid on repairs and maintenance to the nation's listed places of worship. Since August 2022, a total of £228,640.15 has been awarded to 33 Listed Places of Worship in the South Northamptonshire constituency area.
This year, the Secretary of State also announced a new £270 million Arts Everywhere Fund. This will include support to museums, heritage, arts and music venues across the country and is a critical step that this Government is taking to help create jobs, boost local economies, and expand access to arts, heritage and culture for communities.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to increase funding levels for grassroots sports facilities in market towns.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that communities across the UK benefit from high-quality sports facilities, removing barriers to participation and enabling as many people as possible to be active.
The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions.
In March, DCMS confirmed an additional £100 million investment in new and upgraded facilities across the UK as part of our Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme. Our delivery partner for the programme in England is the Football Foundation, who plan their investment pipeline using Local Football Facility Plans (LFFPs), which are developed in partnership with local authorities so as to understand the needs of each community. These plans are being updated to better reflect current demand.
Future funding is subject to the ongoing Spending Review process, with further details to follow in due course.