Arts Council England must change or face ‘disaster’, culture department is told

Margaret Hodge, who led report into arts funder, tells DCMS committee that grant recipients have lost confidence in the body Arts Council England requires a “radical” overhaul so it can to respond to the challenges of the culture sector, according to Margaret Hodge, who said it would be a “disaster” if ACE leaders did not heed her warnings. The Labour peer, who led a wide-ranging and critical report into ACE, made the comments at a Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee, where she reiterated her calls for the organisation to embrace change. Lady Hodge said: “I think there has to be a radical review in the way that the Arts Council works; how they use the money, their role in relation to the organisations that they support, and also their role in the wider arts landscape.” She said a significant shift in approach was needed because of the “loss of confidence in how ACE serves its own communities”, caused in part by the perception of political interference in decision-making. The decision to force the English National Opera to move from London to Manchester was a “raw experience” for some of the 700 people she spoke to as part of her revie

Mar 17, 2026 → Mar 17, 2026