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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the allocation of public funding exclusively to National Portfolio Organisations on non-national portfolio organisations.

The government’s support for culture is not exclusively for National Portfolio Organisations (NPO). In particular, Arts Council England (ACE) capital funding in the current Spending Review period is not limited to NPOs. For example, the Government launched the £425 million Creative Foundations Fund, an open-access capital programme supporting arts and cultural organisations across England to address urgent estate and infrastructure needs. The first £85 million round was open to any eligible organisations, with a further £340 million to be allocated by ACE in due course.

The government has also decided to invest additional funding in ACE to support the NPO Programme within the wider context of large-scale open-access funds. As this programme is periodically open to competition, it allows opportunities for new entrants while supporting around 1,000 key cultural institutions across England. The extra funding will help address cost pressures and provide greater stability.