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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 18 June (HL680), what assessment they have made of the appropriateness of Arts Council England funding Decolonise Fest.

As stated in my response to HL680, Arts Council England funding decisions are made independently of the government. DCMS ensures that the Arts Council operates within the policy framework and controls set by Government. This reflects the arm's-length principle, under which Arts Council England is established as a non-departmental public body that makes funding decisions independently, and as such, DCMS does not routinely scrutinise individual funding decisions by Arts Council.

The Arts Council aims to fund a diverse range of cultural activity that represents the broad spectrum of views and interests of citizens and communities across the country. Where individuals have concerns about specific organisations supported by Arts Council or the conduct of individual funding recipients, these can be addressed by using Arts Council’s Raising a Concern process online.