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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to promote (a) youth arts and (b) cultural festivals in Surrey Heath Constituency.

The government promotes and supports the arts predominantly through Arts Council England (ACE).

ACE’s open funding programme, National Lottery Project Grants, is currently accessible to organisations and individuals across the country, including those in Surrey Heath. This programme provides over £100 million of support annually to individuals and organisations. Since 2019, ACE has allocated over £280,000 of funding to individuals and arts organisations based in the Surrey Heath constituency. Last November, Surrey Youth Arts and Culture Festival received £13,311 of funding. The festival, based at Camberley Library and Camberley Theatre was a Surrey County Council partnership led project which aimed to raise aspirations and break down barriers to engagement for young people accessing creative skills development pathways in Surrey.

In addition, Local Authorities remain one of the largest supporters of arts and culture in England, and DCMS will continue to advocate and help local decision-makers understand and recognise the benefits that the arts can bring for young people.