A recent MPs request to find how much grant money Arts Council England has provided to brass bands in the last three years compared to opera, has been published.

As reported in Hansard, the official Parliamentary record, a written question was asked on 26th February to Ian Murray, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, by Esther McVey, Conservative MP for Tatton.

The Minister replied on 5th March with an accompanying pdf which set out the amounts paid by Arts Council England in various grants to opera and brass bands for the years 2022/2023, 2023/2024, and 2024/2025.

Opera and brass bands

It showed that opera received a total of over £226 million, whilst brass bands received just over £31.5 million.

For opera, this was made up of over £123 million 'primary funding' through National Lottery Project Grants, National Portfolio Organisation payments, Investment Fund and Strategic Development Fund payments.

In addition, over £102 million came in 'non-primary classifier' funding for the same period through the funding initiatives Creative People and Places; Music Education Hubs; National Lottery Project Grants, National Portfolio Organisation payments, Investment Fund and Strategic Development Fund payments.

Brass band funding

For the same three year period period, it was stated that brass bands received a total of £31,597,407.

It was a figure that may have come as a surprise to many — although as the Minster pointed out in his written reply.

"Please note that the distinction between Primary and Non-Primary Subclassifiers is important. It clarifies the difference between organisations primarily focused on opera or brass bands, and those for whom the disciplines form only part of their wider work."

Primary funding

This explained why on further investigation, only £1,632,267 actually came through 'primary funding' of National Lottery Project Grants, National Portfolio Organisations, Strategic Development Funds and Cultural Education payments.

This included Brass Bands England receiving just over £210,000 in 2022/23 and £405,000 in both 2023/24 and 2024/2025 per year, and the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, around £120,000 per year over the same period.

Extra money

The extra £30 million or so came in the category described as "which brass bands is a non-primary classifier".

This saw ACE give over £25.7 million to Music Education Hubs (£25 million in 2024/25 alone), as well as over £958,000 as Creative People and Places payments.

Nearly £650,000 came through National Lottery Project Grants, over £2.25 million to National Portfolio Organisations, £375,000 in Cultural Education payments, £45,000 in Investment Funds and £10,004 in Strategic Development funding.

the distinction between Primary and Non-Primary Subclassifiers is important. It clarifies the difference between organisations primarily focused on opera or brass bands, and those for whom the disciplines form only part of their wider workMinister

Reality

4BR recently looked at the reality of the funding challenges faced by the brass band movement and the bodies that receive funding such as BBE and the NYBBGB.

In a wider context, in just one state in Germany, its Senate Department for Culture and Europe allocates around Euro 600 million (£525 million) annually to cultural funding — more than the combined annual budgets of Arts Council England for its entire National Portfolio and the Mayor of London's culture programme combined.

Please read:

Beware shifting sands: The need for banding to read the warning signs
https://4barsrest.com/articles/2026/2126.asp

The Baroness Hodge Arts Council England Report: A possible ACE hand for banding?
https://4barsrest.com/articles/2025/2120.asp