Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Arts and Culture: Local Government Support

Thursday 26 February 2026 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Minister announced a 20 million museum renewal fund supporting cultural venues in Oxfordshire.
  • The new museum transformation programme includes a 5% funding uplift for ACE national portfolio organisation.
  • 5 billion over the Parliament period is allocated for the arts everywhere fund to support cultural infrastructure nationwide.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Olly Glover Lib Dem Didcot and Wantage
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

The question arises from the need to support local arts and cultural venues that are struggling due to funding issues, particularly highlighting the Vale and Downland Museum's financial difficulties.

Question

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to encourage local governments to support arts and culture. Local councils in my Oxfordshire constituency work hard to secure public arts funding through developer contributions for our growing population. However, some existing cultural venues are struggling. The much-loved Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage is having to rely on one-off grants to plug funding gaps and has had an annual average deficit of £24,000 a year since 2020.

Answer from Ian Murray

Our museum renewal fund, worth £20 million, is supporting three museum groups in Oxfordshire, including Vale and Downland Museum. Our new museum transformation programme, a 5% funding uplift for the ACE national portfolio organisation and the museum development network will further support the museum sector in 2026-27. Museums in difficulty are encouraged to reach out to Arts Council England.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specifics of additional local government funding were not addressed.

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Q2 Olly Glover Lib Dem Didcot and Wantage
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

The question stems from concerns about the financial struggles of cultural venues like the Vale and Downland Museum, which has faced annual deficits since 2020.

Question

Local councils in my Oxfordshire constituency work hard to secure public arts funding through developer contributions for our growing population. However, some existing cultural venues are struggling. The much-loved Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage is having to rely on one-off grants to plug funding gaps and has had an annual average deficit of £24,000 a year since 2020. In that context, what more can the Minister do to help our local councils to provide funding for museums and cultural venues in my part of Oxfordshire?

Answer from Ian Murray

Our museum renewal fund, worth £20 million, is supporting three museum groups in Oxfordshire, including Vale and Downland Museum. Our new museum transformation programme, a 5% funding uplift for the ACE national portfolio organisation and the museum development network will further support the museum sector in 2026-27. Museums in difficulty are encouraged to reach out to Arts Council England.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specifics of additional local government funding were not addressed.

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Q3 Leigh Ingham Lab Stafford
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

The question arises from the success of Stafford Gatehouse Theatre in welcoming a large number of visitors and its economic impact.

Question

Stafford Gatehouse Theatre in my constituency is absolutely smashing it. It welcomed 150,000 people last year and is likely to welcome 170,000 this year. The pantomime alone welcomed 19,500 people—oh yes it did!

Answer from Ian Murray

I thank the hon. Member for being a wonderful champion for Stafford and for culture and arts in Stafford. In February, we announced £1.5 billion over this Parliament for the arts everywhere fund, which is broken down to make sure that we can support infrastructure in every part of the country.

Not addressed: The specifics of additional funding or direct action were not addressed.

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