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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made, as part of their loneliness strategy, with the Arts Council to promote the role that arts and culture can play in addressing loneliness and to promote examples of best practice in reducing social isolation.

In 2018’s Loneliness Strategy, Arts Council England (ACE) and DCMS committed to ensuring arts and culture are included in the development of social prescribing and we and ACE are working with DHSC and NHS England to ensure that the cultural sector is well represented in this work. ACE and DCMS are members the Social Prescribing Taskforce, and are working with NHS England and others.

ACE also continue to promote best practice for the role that arts and culture has in improving people’s wellbeing through case studies and programmes such as Celebrating Age, and Creative People and Places. The Celebrating Age programme has funded 32 projects that seek to increase engagement of older people with the arts, some of which focus specifically on tackling isolation. Likewise, the Creative People and Places programme also includes projects that incorporate these issues. Research from the programmes , and individual projects, is regularly published.

ACE recently partnered with the APPG for Arts, Health and Wellbeing and others to support the Southbank Centre's Creative Health conference in June, which highlighted the role arts and culture can play in wellbeing, including in tackling social isolation. he Southbank Centre - one of ACE’s largest National Portfolio Organisations - announced its intention to address loneliness as part of their health and wellbeing programming.

ACE also seeks to address loneliness through its investment in libraries and library-based projects. These initiatives bring people together through reading, promote learning new skills, and encourage participation in clubs, among several others.

To continue to promote best practice to tackle loneliness and social isolation, ACE continue to participate in the APPG on Arts, Health and Wellbeing, and now sit on the APPG for Loneliness; and has proposed the convening of a joint session between these two groups.