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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she plans to take to support orchestras.

HM Government is proud to champion our world-class orchestras and musicians, and help them to thrive. Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, more money is going to more orchestral organisations in more parts of the country than ever before.

The Arts Council’s new national portfolio is supporting 139 organisations classed as ‘music’ by investing c.£65 million of public funding. The Arts Council’s investment in classical music remains high, in particular in orchestral music organisations, with 23 such organisations being funded – an increase from 19 in the last round; and at around £21 million per annum, which is around £2 million more than previously. Moreover, these numbers are likely to underestimate the level of music activity being funded as some organisations will fall into combined arts or non-discipline-specific categories. The Arts Council’s investment in orchestras, opera, and other classical organisations through the new portfolio constitutes nearly 80% of all its investment in music.

Organisations such as the Multi-Story Orchestra, Orchestras for All, ParaOrchestra, The People’s Orchestra, and Pegasus Opera are joining the National Portfolio for the first time – bringing down barriers to classical music, celebrating the power it can have in people’s lives, and inspiring the next generation of performers – while long-established organisations such as the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia, and the Hallé Orchestra continue to receive funding.

Furthermore, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at Spring Budget 2023 that the Government will extend the current headline rates of relief for the Theatre and Orchestra Tax Relief for two years. The rates for Orchestra Tax Relief will remain at 50% for expenditure taking place from 1 April 2023, reducing to 35% from 1 April 2025 and returning to 25% from 1 April 2026.