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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps her Department has taken to provide funding for community-run projects with cultural significance; and how organisations can access this funding.

DCMS provides funding to community arts projects in England through a number of our arm’s-length bodies.

Arts Council England is committed to supporting community arts projects, and has identified "Cultural Communities" as a key focus of its 10 year strategy “Let’s Create”.

One example of Arts Council's investment in communities is through their Lottery-funded Creative People and Places programme. There are 41 CPP programmes covering 58 local authority districts across the country. This programme targets the least engaged places in England and has recently joined the national portfolio. Arts Council have invested over £38 million for the period 2022-25.

As the largest dedicated funder of the UK’s heritage, the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) is equally committed to making a lasting difference to heritage, people and communities. NLHF provides National Lottery grants from £3,000 up to £5million for projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. The relevant regional office should be contacted for further information on how to apply for this funding.

The DCMS arm's-length body Historic England have successfully launched their Working-class grants, receiving over 200 applications and doubling their funding pot. The grants recognise and celebrate Working Class Histories that link people to overlooked historic places.

The National Lottery Community Fund is the arm’s-length body of DCMS which gives grants to organisations in the UK to help improve their communities. In 2021-22, as part of the National Lottery Community Fund Awards For All programme, 12,000 awards were made, reaching 90% of all UK wards, and includes support for a range of arts and cultural activities.

The National Lottery Community Fund also made available £22 million towards the Platinum Jubilee to fund impactful community projects and to help people celebrate the Jubilee.