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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department and its non-departmental public bodies are taking to support poetry, creative writing and community drama.

The Government is committed to making sure that everyone has the opportunity to experience and participate in all forms of arts and culture, and has protected funding for the arts in England over the life of this Parliament, which will support poetry, creative writing and community drama.

In addition, Arts Council England's Creative Writing in Schools provides funding for the charity First Story, which has been able to bring professional writers into secondary schools serving low-income communities to help students find their voices and raise their aspirations.

The Poetry Society will receive over £1 million in funding by 2018, which will help it continue to be one of Britain’s most dynamic arts organisations, representing British poetry both nationally and internationally.

Community drama which delivers a number of arts and cultural programmes to the local community, and theatre companies such as Kendal Community Theatre, who provide workshops and training for aspiring actors remain important initiatives that benefit from public funding.

Ultimately poetry, creative writing and community drama are underpinned by excellent English teaching, which since 2010 we have worked tirelessly to support.