Subsidy Control

About the Subsidy Control Act 2022

The Subsidy Control Act 2022 came into force on 4 January 2023, replacing previous EU State aid regulation for awarding subsidies.

To ensure that all awards we make are legal, Arts Council England needs to undertake compliance work to minimise any negative effects on competition or investment between the UK and a country or territory outside the UK.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT), has issued guidance on the Act. This guidance helps public authorities, such as Arts Council England, to award subsidies in a way which minimises any negative effects on competition and investment, as well as promoting the effective and efficient use of public money.

If you have been awarded a subsidy, DBT has issued guidance you may find helpful here.

For a subsidy to be permitted it has to comply with seven principles, as set out on the guidance on the UK government website.

Public authorities may set up ‘Subsidy Schemes’ which meet these seven principles.

Subsides above a certain financial threshold (currently £100,000) must be published on a database held by DBT.

What this means for applicants

It is Arts Council England’s responsibility to comply with the rules, though we may ask applicants or grant recipients to help us during the process.

If we believe your award is a Subsidy as defined by the Subsidy Control Act, we will inform you of this. There may be additional conditions as part of your funding agreement to ensure we maintain compliance.

If you award is classed as a subsidy and is for over £100,000 or above, we will also need to publish its details on the UK Subsidies Transparency Database.

For further support we’ve put together some Frequently Asked Questions.

Read the FAQs

Subsidy Schemes

A subsidy scheme is a set of rules that describes the eligibility, terms, and conditions for any number of possible subsidies of a similar type.

Subsidy schemes allow public authorities to make multiple awards without needing to complete individual assessments.

We will share details of Subsidy Schemes here as they are announced.

Legacy Subsidy Schemes

Legacy schemes are subsidy schemes that were in existence prior to the Subsidy Control Act 2022 coming into force.

Legacy subsidies and schemes are exempt from the subsidy control requirements of the Act but, depending on value, they may still have to be reported on the Government’s Transparency Database.