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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to support touring theatre (a) companies and (b) productions.

Touring plays an important role in sharing diverse and high-quality productions with audiences across the UK, and the Government has invested in theatres across the country to enrich our cultural offering.

As announced at the most recent Budget, theatres will be able to benefit from the Government's extension of the higher rates of theatre and orchestra tax relief for a further two years. The rate of higher relief will be 45% for non-touring productions and 50% for touring productions until 31 March 2025. This extension will boost investment in our cultural sectors, as well as supporting many productions to tour.

Our arm’s-length body, Arts Council England, supports touring and encourages National Portfolio Organisations it funds to tour productions across the country. For 2023/24 the Arts Council has recently confirmed a flexible allocation of £12 million for touring within its overall National Lottery Project Grants programme. As an example of previous support, the National Theatre’s Theatre Nation Partnerships received a £1.2 million grant to support touring in a number of areas with low levels of cultural engagement, including Levelling Up for Culture Places. Between November 2021 and February 2023, there were 75 awards from this budget totalling over £8.5 million to support touring across the country.

Arts Council England works with organisations on plans for touring, and is due to launch refreshed guidance in October 2023 which will outline how it has improved its Touring Fund to support relevant organisations.