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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress he has made on promoting greater access to the arts for young people from all backgrounds.

TheGovernmentbelievesthatchildrenfromall backgrounds should haveaccessto the very best artsandculture in and out of school.

We supportthe Arts Council's recently launched CulturalEducation Challenge (details can be found at:http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/news/arts-council-news/arts-council-england-launches-cultural-education-c/)which ensures that all children and young people of all backgrounds have access to great arts and culture, and that every child can create, compose, and perform; visit, experience and participate in the arts.

The Government is also supporting music and cultural education programmes with an investment of £460 million between 2012 and 2016 and is working closely with Arts Council England to promote diversity across the country; Arts Council England has allocated £6m of strategic funds to a new diversity fund for 2015-18.