Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales.

[1] The Arts Council of Great Britain was created in 1946 by Royal Charter on the initiative of John Maynard Keynes.

[2] This increased responsibility saw the Arts Council of England grow back in size to the point where it was larger than before the 1987 restructuring.

The chief executive of the Arts Council England is appointed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

[15] In 2023, a gender critical woman, Denise Fahmy, won a harassment claim against the Council at an employment tribunal, which ruled that hostile comments about her beliefs at an internal meeting (which followed the Arts Council funded organisation London Community Foundation granting and then suspending a grant to LGB Alliance), and other activity afterward, constituted "an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment" for employees with such protected beliefs.

There was also a series of costly capital projects such as the Royal Opera House and the Lowry Centre that required additional funding.

In the case of the Royal Opera House the select committee found the Arts Council had broken its own procedures.

[21] In May 2015 the Board of Deputies of British Jews released a statement objecting to Arts Council England's funding of The Siege.

The Palestinian play depicts a 2002 incident where armed Hamas fighters sought refuge in Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

[22] The English Touring Opera attributed its firing of white musicians in 2021 to "firm guidance" from the Arts Council.