Arts Council England: Racial Discrimination
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of whether there are potential racial disparities in Arts Council England's Post Event Assurance withdrawal recommendations; and whether she will request that Arts Council England publish disaggregated data on these outcomes by demographic group and region.
Answered by Ian Murray
DCMS has not carried out an assessment specifically of any racial disparities in Arts Council England’s (ACE) Post Event Assurance grant-withdrawal recommendations. Arts Council England publishes data on counter-fraud grant withdrawals in its annual report (see p. 108 in its 2025-26 Annual Report https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/arts-council-england-grant-aid-and-lottery-distribution-annual-report-and-accounts-202425 ).
We will raise the possibility of this being published in a more granular breakdown with Arts Council England, but it is likely that due to small numbers of withdrawals (16 in 2024-25), this may not provide meaningful insights, or may prove disclosive.
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