DBT introduces two new subsidy control streamlined routes for arts and culture, community and regeneration

Under the UK’s Subsidy Control Act 2022, Streamlined Routes are pre-approved subsidy schemes made by Government for use by any UK public authority. They are designed to enable quick, low-risk awards for common types of subsidy without a separate assessment against the statutory subsidy control principles each time. This reduces administrative burden and provides legal certainty to both subsidy givers and recipients. Notably, subsidies given under a Streamlined Route do not require to be individually assessed against the subsidy control principles. Awards under a Streamlined Route are also not subject to challenge in the CAT in the same way as standalone subsidies.

Streamlined Routes are subject to Parliamentary scrutiny and must be laid before Parliament for 40 days; within that period either House may resolve not to approve the scheme, after which no further awards can be made under it (without affecting awards already granted). Once the short limitation period for challenge lapses following database publication, the scheme—and awards made under it—are protected from subsidy control challenges, although general public law grounds remain available.

The two new Streamlined Routes

On 12 January 2026, two new Streamlined Routes were laid before Parliament:

• The Arts and Culture Streamlined Subsidy Scheme, which focuses on sustaining the cultural ecosystem and supporting delivery of arts and culture activity.; and
• The Community and Regeneration Streamlined Subsidy Scheme, which aims to strengthen community infrastructure and drive economic growth through redevelopment of brownfield land and underused buildings.

The Arts and Culture scheme supports a broad range of revenue, capital and project costs for art and culture, including funding all relevant sites, spaces and activities from development and creation to exhibition, distribution, conservation and education. The three categories are:

• Arts, Creativity and Culture (Category 1) including visual arts, music, theatre, dance, literature, linguistic culture and combined arts;
• Screen (Category 2) including film, TV, digital media and video sharing, extended reality (XR) and video games; and
• Cultural Heritage (Category 3), including museums, archives, historic sites, libraries, collections and artefacts, and intangible heritage.

The Community and Regeneration scheme is structured as two “strands”:

• Community (Strand 1) for supporting non-profit distributing organisations (such as charities, social enterprises, community interest companies and local authorities) investing in community infrastructure (physical facilities, spaces and places).
• Regeneration (Strand 2) for supporting any enterprise in the redevelopment of brownfield land and repurposing underused buildings into productive uses.

The two new routes both allow for fairly significant subsidies and interventions, particularly in comparison to the existing streamlined routes. The Arts and Culture Scheme provides for intervention rates ranging from 50% to 100% of eligible costs, depending on the category and the size of the enterprise and the project. The Community strand allows for 80% to 100% of capital costs, as well as tapered operational support for three years following a capital project. The Regeneration strand allows a maximum subsidy value of £12 million per project, with the amount capped by the project’s viability gap rather than a fixed subsidy ratio.

Why these routes matter for public authorities and beneficiaries

The new routes provide a practical, lower-risk way to award subsidies for routine interventions aligned to strategic national priorities without the time-consuming process of considering the subsidy control principles on a case-by-case basis. This is particularly attractive for time-sensitive cultural programming, heritage conservation, community asset transfers, and shovel-ready regeneration schemes.

Businesses operating in the relevant sectors will be interested in these schemes, as they offer a clear route to public support. Whether it is film production or urban regeneration, administrative burden and delay while seeking public support can have significant impact on project timescales and even deliverability. These schemes should help to avoid that.