Arts: Finance
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what budget her Department has allocated to local government arts financing for (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27.
Answered by Chris Bryant
Local authorities play a vital role in supporting arts and cultural institutions, but they operate independently of central government and make their own decisions about expenditure on the arts.
The Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25. The majority of funding in the Local Government Finance Settlement is not ringfenced, recognising that local leaders are best placed to identify local priorities.
The Arts Council England, which is supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, also has multiple funding programmes where Local Authorities can apply on behalf of their cultural assets, including the National Portfolio Investment Programme, National Lottery Project Grants and the Museum Estate and Development Fund.
Spending decisions beyond 2025-26 are a matter for the upcoming Spending Review.
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