In late December 2025 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published the report of Dame Margaret Hodge’s review of Arts Council England. The report makes a series of recommendations for how the Arts Council can fulfil its mission of supporting creativity and culture across the country. The report covers a range of topics and focuses on a variety of art forms and cultural institutions, but among the recommendations are a handful of proposed measures that could directly support Comic UK’s mission to grow the UK comics industry as a core part of the UK’s creative industries.
First, it is obvious but important that Hodge restates the continued fundamental value of the Arts Council itself. The subsidised sector that it plays a major part in facilitating is important not only to the cultural life of the country but in underpinning the creative industries that the Government has rightly recognised as a national strength. This is particularly true for comics. Our own Vision for Growth rests in large part on the communities of comics readers, creators and entrepreneurs that emerge from the spaces and programmes supported by bodies like the Arts Council.
This is why it is very encouraging that the Review explicitly acknowledges the need to incentivise growth. As the review states, funding for the arts – as with many other parts of the public sector – has dropped over recent years, reflecting the country’s poor economic performance since the 2008 financial crisis . The only viable way that this will be addressed for the long-term is through economic growth. It’s therefore vital that every part of the UK’s creative economy – comics included – is supported to reach its full potential.
Hodge’s recommendation for the Arts Council to form a trading arm and reap returns of commercial success for the organisations it funds could be a game changer in this regard. Implemented effectively, the measure could open the door for small comic companies to access the support they need to get up and running, providing avenues for emerging creators to take their work to the next level, without having to limit the scope of their ambition. Similarly, the recommendation to incentivise philanthropic and corporate giving to the arts through the tax system could open the door to new social investment that accelerates the growth of comic creative practices and sustains the work of sector support bodies.
The Review’s recommendation to reform the way the funding is awarded to individual creators could also be a boon for comics. Transitioning the current DYCP system of relatively small project grants to a targeted package of £30,000 a year and mentoring support could benefit individual creators and the wider industry alike. Creators would have longer term security, and importantly support, to develop as creative professionals; while the industry would ultimately gain from a wider, deeper talent pool. Targeting that follows potential and excellence as well as diversity priorities would also ensure that the investment in individuals has maximum impact. Comic Book UK, working with partners like LICAF, is ready to support emerging comics creators to be in the strongest possible position to be included in this reformed programme of funding – should the recommendation be taken forward.
The Government is expected to formally respond to Baroness Hodge’s Review in the coming weeks. We strongly encourage them to seriously consider the proposals mentioned here. Working alongside the Creative Industries Sector Plan, investment vehicles like the Creative Places Growth Fund, and indeed our own Vision for Growth, they offer routes through which the UK’s comic industry can grow as a major driver of growth in the UK’s creative economy.
