The government has announced a £270m fund for arts venues, museums, libraries and heritage organisations in a bid to boost growth in the arts and culture sector.
Hundreds of arts venues, museums, libraries and heritage buildings will receive a share of more than £270m as part of an Arts Everywhere Fund, the government announced today.
The fund will be aimed at organisations in urgent need of financial support to keep them running, carry out vital infrastructure work and to improve long-term financial resilience, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said.
The initiative is part of the government’s Plan for Change and will be announced by the culture secretary Lisa Nandy in a lecture at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Nandy’s speech marks the 60th anniversary of the first arts white paper, introduced by the former minister Jennie Lee, which set out a vision of “arts for everyone, everywhere”.
The culture secretary will say that funding for the next financial year, beginning in April, will include a new £85m Creative Foundations Fund to support urgent capital projects to keep venues running across the country.
It will also include a fifth round of the Museum Estate and Development Fund worth £25m, which will support museums to undertake infrastructure projects and tackle maintenance backlogs. The 29 recipients of this fund are expected to be announced in Nandy’s lecture.
A new £20m Museum Renewal Fund will help keep civic museums open, while an additional £15m for Heritage at Risk will provide grants for repairs and conservation to at-risk heritage buildings, Nandy is expected to say.
She will also announce a fourth round of the Libraries Improvement Fund, worth £5.5m; a new £4.9m Heritage Revival Fund to help community organisations revive neglected heritage buildings; an additional £120m to continue the Public Bodies Infrastructure Fund; and a 5 per cent increase to the budgets of all national museums and galleries.
Nandy is also expected to confirm that DCMS will provide £3.2m in funding for four cultural education programmes over the next financial year to preserve increased access to arts for children and young people.
Before her speech, Nandy said: “The funding we are announcing today will allow the arts to continue to flourish across Britain, creating good jobs and growth by fixing the foundations in our cultural venues, museums, libraries and heritage institutions.
“As a government that is on your side, our Plan for Change will ensure that arts and cultural institutions truly are for everyone, everywhere.”
Nandy is also expected to confirm the advisory panel of experts who will support Baroness Margaret Hodge with her independent review of Arts Council England and will lay out the scope of the review.
Darren Henley, chief executive of Arts Council England, said: “Today’s a good news day for arts organisations, museums and libraries. For years to come, this new investment will help more people in more places to flourish by finding joy and connection with high-quality culture close to home.
He added: “Baroness Hodge’s review gives all of us at the Arts Council the chance to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to serve audiences right across England – and that we’re nurturing an environment where artists, arts organisations, museums and libraries can create their best work for those audiences.”
Kate Varah, executive director and co-chief executive of the National Theatre, said: “The support announced today shows that, like the visionary Jennie Lee, this government keenly understands the arts ecosystem and its leading role in boosting the economy, enriching local communities and enhancing soft power.
“Today’s announcement is further proof that the government sees the benefit of working long term, in deep partnership with our sector, to break down barriers to growth and opportunity. Capital isn’t about bricks and mortar, it’s about making space for creativity to flourish.”