ACE Sir Nicholas Serota Open Letter

Sir Nicholas Serota, CH, An open letter from Arts Council England’s Chair, Sir Nicholas Serota, and members of National and Area Councils, Arts Council England, 8 April 2025

We welcome the news last week that, from 2026, the Wigmore Hall will no longer require the support of public investment. We congratulate its leader, John Gilhooly, for raising £10m in private donations in the space of a year, and wish him every success as he charts a new path for his organisation, and its outstanding work.

But Wigmore Hall’s achievement at fundraising in a wealthy part of central London cannot and must not be used as an argument against public funding for culture, which remains essential, especially in the current economic climate.

Over the past 30 years, arts organisations in England have achieved creative success that is admired around the globe. They have delivered joy and opportunity in communities across the country, and at the same time they have played an irreplicable role in the talent pathways that can take artists to the world stage – and to stages all around the world. They have done all of this via a funding model built on a foundation of public investment, income earned at the box office or through commercial income streams, and money raised from companies, trusts and individuals.

But that model is currently threatened by the pressures on local authority funding, the steady reduction in the real value of national investment, and rising costs. Remove public funding, and many of these organisations may not survive. The privileged few will be all we have left. As members of Arts Council England’s National and Area Councils, it is our view that this isn’t good enough.

We understand that Wigmore Hall based its decision no longer to take public funding in part on a dissatisfaction with our strategy, Let’s Create. It is our view that the principle that underpins this strategy – that everyone in this country, no matter what their background or where they come from, deserves access to the very best of creativity and culture in the places where they live and work – is both just and justifiable. Every audience member, every performer or artist, every child who dreams of growing up and earning a living from their creativity: all are deserving of the public provision of exceptional culture.

We’re proud of our strategy, which was developed in consultation with the public, artists and the cultural sector, and which sets out a balanced commitment to inclusion and access, and to the support and realisation of ambition and artistic excellence. Since its launch in 2021, we have seen the way in which it has enhanced opportunities for people and communities across England. We will continue to champion it, and the creative individuals and organisations that sustain culture in this country.

With thanks,

Sir Nicholas Serota CH, Chair, Arts Council England

Co-signed by:

Ajay Chhabra, South West Area Council member, CEO & Co Artistic Director, Nutkhut, Aldershot

Andrew Lovett OBE, National Council member, Chief Executive, Black Country Living Museum, Dudley

Andrew Miller MBE, National Council member, UK Arts Access Champion, All In, Northamptonshire

Annabel Turpin, National Council member and North Area Chair, Chief Executive, Storyhouse & Co-Director, Future Arts Centres, Chester

Anne Mullins, London Area Council member, Cultural leader, London

Britannia Morton, London Area Council member, Executive Director and Co-Chief Executive, Sadler’s Wells, London

Carlos Pons Guerra, North Area Council member, Choreographer, Leeds

Cherylee Houston MBE, North Area Council member, Co-founder, TripleC, Manchester

Ciaron Wilkinson, North Area Council member, Head of External Relations, Manchester Museum

David Bryan CBE, National Council member and London Area Council Chair, Founder and Director, Xtend UK Ltd, London

Deborah Shaw, National Council member, Chief Executive, Marlowe Theatre Canterbury

Edenamiuki Aiguobasinmwin, North Area Council member, Creative Director, Elevate Young Minds Clc, Manchester

Emily Bowman, Midlands Area Council member, Managing Director, Junction Arts, North Derbyshire

Gurvinder Sandher MBE, South East Area Council member, Artistic Director, Cohesion Plus Kent, Gravesham

Cllr Harry Doyle, North Area Council member, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing & Culture, Liverpool City Council

Helen Birchenough, National Council member and South West Area Council Chair, Deputy Lieutenant Wiltshire, Salisbury

Hilary Carty OBE, South East Area Council member, Executive Director, Clore Leadership, Luton

Jaivant Patel, Midlands Area Council member, Artistic Director, Jaivant Patel Company, Wolverhampton

Javaad Alipoor, North Area Council member, Artist, writer and director, Manchester

Cllr Jayne Francis, Midlands Area Council member, Cabinet Member for Digital Heritage Culture and Tourism, Birmingham City Council

Cllr Jemima Laing, South West Area Council member, Deputy Leader, Plymouth City Council

Cllr Jenny Williams BEM, South East Area Council member, Cabinet Member, Culture, Heritage and Seafront, Eastbourne Borough Council

Cllr John Beesley, South West Area Council member, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council

Julie Caplin Grey, South West Area Council member, Deputy Chief Executive, Hall for Cornwall, Truro

Julie Finch, Midlands Area Council member, CEO, Hay Festival Foundation, Hay-On-Wye

Julie Gilhespie, North Area Council member

Lloyd Coleman, South West Area Council member, Associate Music Director, Paraorchestra, Bristol

Louise Blackwell, South East Area Council member, Creative Director, Creative Crawley

Louise Mitchell CBE, South West Area Council member, former Chief Executive, Bristol Music Trust

Lucy Kennedy, London Area Council member, Chief Executive, National Saturday Club, London

Cllr Marina Strinkovsky, South West Area Council member, Cabinet Member for Placemaking and Planning, Swindon Borough Council, Swindon

Cllr Mark Durham, South East Area Council member, Cabinet Member for The Arts, Heritage & Culture, Essex County Council

Mark Wallace, South West Area Council member, Director, Beaford Arts, North Devon

Matt Steinberg, London Area Council member, Artistic Director and CEO, Outside Edge Theatre Company, London

Cllr Matt Taylor, Midlands Area Council member, High Peak Borough Council, Buxton

Natalie Adams, South West Area Council member, Executive Director & Joint CEO, Trigger, North Somerset

Pamela Roberts, South East Area Council member, Creative Producer

Parminder Dosanjh, Midlands Area Council member, Creative Director, Creative Black Country

Patrick Chapman MBE, North Area Council member, Chair, Northern Print, Northumberland

Paul Stacey, South East Area Council member, Artistic Director, Reading Rep Theatre, Berkshire

Pawlet Brookes MBE, Midlands Area Council member, CEO and Artistic Director, Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, Leicester

Phil Stokes, National Council member, Chair of Performance and Audit Committee and Chair of Remuneration Committee, London

Professor Bambo Soyinka, South West Area Council member, CEO, Paper Nations, Bath

Riley Mathers, South West Area Council member, freelance artist, Artsite, Swindon

Saad Eddine Said, Midlands Area Council member, Chief Executive and Artistic Director, New Art Exchange, Nottingham

Sally Shaw MBE, National Council member and South East Area Chair, Director, Firstsite, Colchester

Cllr Sam Martin, London Area Council member, Deputy Leader, Sutton Council, London

Sarah Barrow, South East Area Council member, Professor of Film and Media, University of East Anglia

Sean Lawless, North Area Council member, Darlington

Shahina Johnson MBE, South West Area Council member, CEO & Artistic Director, Create Studios, Swindon

Shawab Iqbal, London Area Council member, CEO, Leeds Playhouse

Sho Shibata, South East Area Council member, Director, OutdoorArtsUK

Cllr Simon Myers, North Area Council member, Executive Member for Culture, the Arts, Leisure and Housing, North Yorkshire Council

Sook-Kyung Lee, North Area Council member, Director, The Whitworth, Manchester

Steve Miller MBE, South East Area Council member, Director of Culture & Heritage, Norfolk County Council

Cllr Steve Pitt, South West Area Council member, Portsmouth City Council

Sukhy Johal MBE, National Council member and Midlands Area Chair, Director, Centre for Culture and Creativity, University of Lincoln

Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, North Area Council member, Leader, Bradford Metropolitan District Council

Tom Ryalls, London Area Council member, freelance playwright and strategist, London

Victoria Dela Amedume MBE, London Area Council member, Creative Director and Joint CEO, The Albany, Deptford, Artistic Director and CEO, Upswing, London

Cllr Victoria Harvey, South East Area Council member, Central Bedfordshire Council

Vijay Patel, South East Area Council member, Associate Director, Colchester Arts Centre

Cllr Vince Maple, South East Area Council member, Leader, Medway Council

William Bush CBE, National Council member, former Executive Director, Premier League, London

YolanDa Brown OBE DL, National Council member, Saxophonist, Broadcaster, Author