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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase access to the arts across England.

The Government is committed to the development of an arts and cultural sector that is representative of modern society and in which there are no barriers to participation. The Secretary of State has named increasing access to arts and culture across the whole country as one of her top priorities for the department.

In February, DCMS instructed Arts Council England (ACE) to enable a £75 million boost to culture and creativity outside of London between 2022 and 2025. As part of this funding, DCMS and ACE have identified 109 Levelling Up for Culture Places where additional investment will be focused. This support will galvanise the potential of the people in these areas that have previously not had sufficient attention and investment. The aim is to generate more opportunities for people across the whole country, and provide better access to cultural activities.

As outlined in Arts Council England’s Let’s Create strategy, all UK Arts Councils alongside the British Film Institute are currently working on a UK wide access scheme for disabled, d/Deaf, neurodivergent people or those that have other access needs. We want this scheme to work alongside existing infrastructure to find a way of best serving audiences and the sector. As part of the very early stages of this process, Arts Council England are inviting people who have access needs when attending arts events to take part in focus groups.