MPs to investigate Arts Council England funding decisions

28th November 2022 in News

The ENO welcomes the news that the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has called upon Arts Council England’s Chief Executive Darren Henley to give context to the recently announced funding decisions.

We look forward with keen interest to this taking place on 8 December. Nearly a month on since ACE’s announcements, we are still waiting for clarity as to why the ENO, along with other leading arts organisations, is to no longer be funded as a National Portfolio Organisation. This is despite the ENO meeting or exceeding all of the criteria set out by the Council.

Indeed, the ENO was heralded by Sir Nicholas Serota as “one of the most dynamic and imaginative organisations working in the country.”

The ENO, along with other opera companies, are particularly keen to understand ACE’s strategy for opera and why a relocation of ENO out of London to an as-yet unidentified location only warrants a funding level of less than 50% of that currently received.