Competition Markets Authority
Administrative timetable
| Date | Action |
| 19 March 2024 | SAUs report to be published |
| 20 February 2024 | Deadline for receipt of any third party submissions (submissions after 5pm on this date cannot be taken into account) |
| 6 February 2024 | Beginning of reporting period |
Request from Arts Council England
6 February 2024: The SAU has accepted a request for a report from Arts Council England concerning a proposed subsidy to the English National Opera. This request relates to a Subsidy of Particular Interest.
The SAU will prepare a report, which will provide an evaluation of the Arts Council England assessment of whether the subsidy complies with the subsidy control requirements (Assessment of Compliance). The SAU will complete its report within 30 working days.
Information about the subsidy provided by Arts Council England
The Arts Council of England (the Arts Council) proposes providing a subsidy of 24m to the English National Opera (ENO).
The subsidy will be directed towards costs which ENO is expected to incur between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2026. Following the announcement that ENO will be moving operations to Greater Manchester, the Arts Council wishes to subsidise some of the initial costs relating to the ENOs transition to a new operating model, with activities and operations in both London and Greater Manchester.
The majority of the funding however is to enable Arts Council to continue to support ENOs public facing arts activity in line with the Arts Councils 10-year Strategy Lets Create.
This proposed subsidy of 24m is considered to be separate to the subsidy of 11.46m to the ENO which the Subsidy Advice Unit reported upon in May 2023. This is because that funding of 11.46m, and the activities it supported, ended on 31 March 2024. However, the Arts Council recognises that this latest subsidy partly represents a continuation of operational funding that ENO has previously received from the Arts Council from 1994 to date as set out in the Arts Councils annual accounts.
Information for third parties
If you wish to comment on matters relevant to the SAUs evaluation of the Assessment of Compliance concerning Arts Council Englands proposed subsidy, please send your comments before 5pm on the date stipulated in the timetable above. For guidance on representations relevant to the Assessment of Compliance, see the section on reporting period and transparency in the Operation of the subsidy control functions of the Subsidy Advice Unit.
Please send your submissions to us at: sau-aceeno2024@cma.gov.uk copying the public authority: enquiries@artscouncil.org.uk
Please also provide a contact address and explain in what capacity you are making the submission (for example, as an individual or a representative of a business or organisation).
Notes to third parties wishing to make a submission
The SAU will only take your submission into account if it can be shared with Arts Council England. The SAU will send a copy of your submission to Arts Council England together with its report. This is to allow the public authority to take account of the submission in its decision as to whether to grant or modify the subsidy or its assessment. We therefore ask that you provide express consent for your full and unredacted submission to be shared. We also encourage you to share your submission directly with Arts Council England using the email address provided above.
The SAU may use the information you provide in its published report. Therefore, you should indicate in your submission whether any specified parts of it are commercially confidential. If the SAU wishes to refer in its published report to material identified as confidential, it will contact you in advance.
For further details on confidentiality of third party submissions, see identifying confidential information in the Operation of the subsidy control functions of the Subsidy Advice Unit.
Contacts
SAU project team: sau-aceeno2024@cma.gov.uk
CMA press team: 020 3738 6460 or press@cma.gov.uk