Dame Caroline Dinenage, MP for Gosport and Former Minister at the Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, spoke in a debate on the funding decisions of Arts Council England.
Drawing on her experience as the Minister responsible for the Cultural Recovery Fund over the covid-19 pandemic, which supported cultural institutions to the tune of £2 billion, Caroline spoke about the importance of allocating funding fairly in the governments ambition to level up the cultural sector across the UK.
She welcomed the latest round of Arts Council England funding, which invests £446 million per year to 990 organisations between 2023-26. One of those organisations is the Hampshire Cultural Trust, who are to receive £500,000 per year. This will have a profound impact in Gosport as they invest in Gosport Museum and Art Gallery. It will also help fund Gosport heritage spaces, such as Fort Brockhurst, Priddy’s Hard and Royal Clarence Yard, as well as community based festivals like Arts in the Parks.
Caroline acknowledged that Arts Council funding has excessively focused on London in the past and welcomes the aspiration to improve cultural facilities and endeavours across the nation. She did, however, caution against harming London’s cultural scene, and disrupting cultural eco-systems in other parts of the country.
Speaking in the debate, Caroline said:
“I do not envy the Arts Council, allocating limited funds is always a challenge - doing so in such desperate economic times against a backdrop of a Government driven who are passionate about the potential of arts and culture to drive economic prosperity and Levelling up to all corners of the UK.”
“In Hampshire we have two incredible organisations which are due to receive National Portfolio funding for the first time. One of these is Hampshire Cultural Trust who will receive £500,000 per year. I see the impact of this first hand into my patch, Gosport.”
“Arts council funding has been focused on London for far too long, and we need to ensure culture is thriving in every pocket of England. But we don’t level up the rest of the country by levelling down London. We need to harness the potential of the great cultural power houses in London to spread their tentacles, sprinkle their magic across the country.”
The responding DCMS Minister, Stuart Andrew MP, said:
“Access to high quality arts and culture needs to be more fairly spread, which is why we asked Arts Council England to ensure that funding is distributed more equally right across the country.”
“Arts Council has fulfilled these ambitions, and we’re not apologetic about delivering on our policy commitments.”
“This funding round will support a record number of organisations, standing at 990, meaning we will be able to reach more people in more places than ever before. Every region in England beyond London is seeing an increase in funding. For the avoidance of doubt, that also includes the South East.”
