Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provided by Arts Council England for cultural activities in the East Midlands.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting access to high-quality arts and culture across the country, including through public funding to organisations in the East Midlands via Arts Council England.
Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 National Portfolio, public funding is being provided to 72 organisations (an increase from 54 in the 2018–22 portfolio) in the East Midlands, encompassing theatre, dance, museums, visual arts, literature and libraries. The total investment in the East Midlands through the national portfolio is currently £22.6 million per year – an increase of more than £5.4 million per year compared to the last portfolio.
Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, Arts Council England will have invested over £198 million in arts and cultural organisations in the East Midlands. This includes £8.7 million of public funding through the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, Libraries Improvement Fund and Museum Estate and Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England. Arts and cultural organisations in the East Midlands also benefited from over £43 million through the Culture Recovery Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provided by Arts Council England for cultural activities in the North East.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting access to high-quality arts and culture across the country, including through public funding to organisations across the North East via Arts Council England.
Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 National Portfolio, public funding is being provided to 56 organisations (an increase from 47 in the 2018–22 portfolio) in the North East, encompassing theatre, dance, museums, visual arts, literature and libraries. The total investment in the North East through the national portfolio is currently £24.4 million per year – an increase of more than £2.5 million per year compared to the last portfolio.
Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, Arts Council England will have invested over £181 million in arts and cultural organisations in the North East. This includes £8.5 million of public funding through the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, Libraries Improvement Fund, and Museum Estate and Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England. Arts and cultural organisations across the North East also benefited from over £36 million through the Culture Recovery Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to promote the English folk music tradition in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
HM Government has a strong commitment to all forms of music, including folk traditions from around the UK and beyond. This Department’s support for folk music is delivered primarily through Arts Council England, which has engaged with the development of the English folk music scene over recent years.
The Arts Council’s primary investment in English folk music is via its National Portfolio. This programme supports organisations like Soundroots (£300,000 per annum) which runs the English Folk Expo (the annual showcase for folk, roots and acoustic music in England), and the English Folk Dance and Song Society (£96,748 per annum), which promotes English folk music and folk dance. In addition, one of Arts Council England’s new Investment Principle Support Organisations, Making Music, also supports a range of folk music ensembles.
Arts Council England has also invested £47,803 in music in Romford since 2018 through its National Lottery Project Grants. There have been no successful applications for Arts Council investment in Romford from organisations focused on English folk music, but there is an active folk scene including Haverfolk and the Romford Folk Club as well as the Romford and Brentford Folk Dance group. As these groups meet at public houses in Romford, the venues would be eligible, should they wish, to apply for funding via Arts Council England’s DCMS-supported ‘Supporting Grassroots Music’ programme. These groups could also apply for support via National Lottery Project Grants.
HM Government has also announced the intention to ratify the UNESCO 2003 Convention for Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which could help promote folk music traditions across the UK. A public consultation on the first stage of implementation is running until 29 February.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provided by Arts Council England for cultural activities in Lincolnshire.
Answered by John Whittingdale
His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting access to high-quality arts and culture across the country, including through public funding to organisations in Lincolnshire via Arts Council England.
Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 National Portfolio, public funding is being provided to 11 organisations in Lincolnshire (an increase from 6 in the previous, 2018–22 portfolio) encompassing theatre, dance, museums, visual arts, and literature and libraries. The total investment in Lincolnshire through the national portfolio is £2.4 million per year – an increase of over £1 million per year from the last portfolio.
Funding offered or administered by the Arts Council in the previous financial year and the current financial year to date totals £14.2 million. This includes £5 million through the third round of the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England, for East Lindsey District Council to support partners in transforming the Embassy Theatre and regenerating Skegness Pier and the surrounding public space. Arts and cultural organisations in Lincolnshire also benefited from over £15 million through the Culture Recovery Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are three Arts Council England ‘Priority Places’ in Lincolnshire: Boston, East Lindsey, and North East Lincolnshire. There are six DCMS ‘Levelling Up for Culture Places’ in Lincolnshire: Boston, East Lindsey, South Holland, North Kesteven, North Lincolnshire, and North East Lincolnshire. Levelling Up for Culture Places were agreed between DCMS and Arts Council England, and will be the focus for additional Arts Council England engagement and investment to strengthen cultural and creative opportunities in the areas and for the people who live there.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) girls and (b) boys who play (i) football and (ii) other sports at (A) primary and (B) secondary school.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not routinely collect data about which sports pupils participate in during the school day. It is up to schools to decide which sports they offer, so that they can meet the needs of their pupils. Factors influencing which sports schools may offer include the space and equipment available.
The department asked what types of sports were available to Year 7 to Year 11 pupils in the Parent, Pupil and Learner Panel, covering the 2021/22 academic year. Girls reported that they were less likely to have football, basketball, cricket and rugby available to them during PE lessons in comparison to boys. By contrast, girls did report that they were more likely to have rounders, netball, badminton, dance, gymnastics and volleyball available to them. Further information can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parent-pupil-and-learner-panel-omnibus-surveys-for-2021-to-2022. Schools can and do separate sporting experiences for boys and girls on the grounds of safety and fairness, but they should take the time to reflect on how this affects girls and boys accessing the same sports equally.
The Active Lives Children and Young People Survey data for the 2022/23 academic year was published by Sport England on 7 December 2023 and shows a significant increase of 4 percentage points of girls in Years 1-11 playing football over the last week compared to the baseline data collected in the 2017/18 academic year. This data is accessible at: https://sportengland-production-files.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-12/Active%20Lives%20Children%20and%20Young%20People%20Survey%20-%20academic%20year%202022-23%20report.pdf?VersionId=3N7GGWZMKy88UPsGfnJVUZkaTklLwB_.
On 8 March 2023, the department announced over £600 million in for the primary PE and sport premium in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, and £57 million up to March 2025 for the Opening School Facilities programme. Schools can use this funding to increase their sport provision, raise overall quality of PE and improve the opportunities for all boys and girls to access sports.
In July 2023, the government published the School Sport and Activity Action Plan, which set out the expectation for schools to provide girls and boys with the same access and opportunity to play sports in PE and wider school sport. To encourage this, the government has overseen a change to the School Games Mark, which is delivered by the Youth Sport Trust. From September 2023, schools must demonstrate how they are overcoming gender barriers faced by girls and boys in PE and wider school sport as part of their planning and delivery.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provided by Arts Council England for cultural activities in the North West.
Answered by John Whittingdale
His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting access to high-quality arts and culture across the country, including through public funding to organisations in the North West of England via Arts Council England.
Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 National Portfolio, public funding is being provided to 120 organisations (up from 97 in the 2018–22 portfolio) in the North West across theatre, dance, museums, visual arts, literature and libraries.The total investment in the North West through the national portfolio is currently £49.7 million per year – an increase of more than £7.5 million per year compared to the last portfolio.
Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, Arts Council England will have invested over £428 million in arts and cultural organisations in the North West of England. This includes £13,651,486 of public funding through the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, Libraries Improvement Fund and Museum Estate and Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England. Arts and cultural organisations in the North West of England also benefited from over £120 million through the Culture Recovery Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provided by Arts Council England for cultural activities in the South East.
Answered by John Whittingdale
His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting access to high-quality arts and culture across the country, including through public funding to organisations in the South East of England via Arts Council England.
Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 National Portfolio, public funding is being provided to 139 organisations (an increase from 105 in the 2018–22 portfolio) in the South East of England across theatre, dance, museums, visual arts, literature and libraries. The total investment in the South East through the national portfolio is £45.6 million per year – an increase of over £5 million per year from the last portfolio.
Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, Arts Council England will have invested over £360 million of public money in arts and cultural organisations in the South East of England. This includes £12,439,377 through the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, Libraries Improvement Fund, and Museum Estate and Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England. Arts and cultural organisations in the South East also benefited from over £106 million through the Culture Recovery Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is steps taking to ensure the adequacy of funding for cultural activities in Nottingham.
Answered by John Whittingdale
His Majesty’s Government is committed to ensuring that everyone has access to high-quality arts and cultural opportunities and activities, no matter where they live. We have supported culture in Nottingham in a variety of ways.
Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, Arts Council England will have invested over £30 million in arts and cultural organisations in Nottingham. As part of its 2023–26 National Portfolio, public funding is being provided to 14 organisations in Nottingham encompassing theatre, dance, museums, visual arts, literature and libraries. This funding includes over £1.2 million per year to New Art Exchange, the highly successful visual arts centre.
As part of the above funding, Nottingham City Council’s museum service was reconfirmed as a National Portfolio Organisation in the latest round of funding, meaning it will receive £1.4 million over the next three years. A number of the local projects which it directly funds are aimed at encouraging more people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods and diverse backgrounds to engage with the city’s heritage. The independent National Justice Museum is also part of the Arts Council’s National Portfolio and will receive £733,000 of support over the period 2023–26.
Another of the City Council Museums, Wollaton Hall, has this year received £470,000 from the Government’s Museum Estate and Development Fund for assistance with maintenance, whilst Nottingham libraries have received funding through both rounds 1 and 2 of the Government’s Libraries Improvement Fund.
Nottingham Castle Museum’s recent transformation was funded in part by a £13.9 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grants programme also remains open for funding bids from anyone operating arts and cultural organisations in England.
The recent announcement of the third round of the Government’s Levelling Up Fund included support for Bulwell, which will be receiving almost £20 million of public investment for Bulwell town centre – including a new marketplace, and aiming to improve the look and feel of hidden heritage by reinstating original features.
Organisations in Nottingham also benefited from the Culture Recovery Fund to protect them during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 39 organisations sharing over £10.5 million of funding.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure all academy trusts offer opportunities for pupils to (a) learn and (b) participate in (i) music, (ii) sport and (iii) art activities.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The government believes in a high-quality education for all pupils. Integral to this is learning and participation in music, the arts and sport. This is reflected in the National Curriculum, which includes the following subjects: music, art and design, English which incorporates literature and drama, and physical education which incorporates dance.
Whilst academies are not required to follow the National Curriculum, they must provide a broad and balanced curriculum in accordance with Section 1 of the 2010 Academies Act, which can be found at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/32/section/1. This means that academies are required to teach a curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school.
Academies are also subject to the Ofsted education inspection framework which came into effect in September 2019. The framework has a strong emphasis on ensuring that schools provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils; and building pupils’ cultural capital informs Ofsted’s judgement about the quality of education. This applies equally to academies and maintained schools, and to special schools.
Finally, in the School Sport and Activity Action Plan update published in July 2023 and the National Plan for Music Education published in June 2022, the government sets the same expectation on academies as it does maintained schools. The same will be the case for the forthcoming Cultural Education Plan.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that all schools provide opportunities for students to undertake dance classes.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The government wants all pupils to be healthy and active. A positive experience of sport and physical activity at a young age can create a lifelong habit of participation.
Physical education (PE) is a foundation subject at all four key stages, and it is a vital part of a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils to access. Dance features specifically in the content of the PE national curriculum at key stages 1 to 3. The PE curriculum is designed to ensure that all pupils develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities, are physically active for sustained periods of time and lead healthy and active lives.
Schools are free to decide how to offer dance as part of an ambitious PE curriculum, and what extra-curricular activity they provide for their pupils.
Through the primary PE and sport premium, the government has invested over £2 billion of ring-fenced funding to primary schools to improve PE and sport since 2013. The premium should be used by schools to make additional and sustainable improvements, and schools are able to use this to enhance their dance offer.
In addition, the department’s Opening School Facilities programme supports schools to increase their extra-curricular offer by encouraging them to open their facilities beyond their usual operating hours. This means schools can provide more opportunities to young people to become physically active, including through dance.