The Salford City Council cabinet was scheduled to meet on 9 September 2025. According to the agenda, the cabinet was due to discuss match funding for The Lowry, and to review the minutes from a previous meeting.

Creative Foundations Fund

The cabinet was scheduled to consider a report from the Lead Member for Culture, Heritage, Equalities, Sports and Leisure regarding the Creative Foundations Fund (CFF). The report noted that The Lowry ¹ had been invited to apply for £8.5 million from the Arts Council England Creative Foundations Fund, but that they would need to provide £1.5 million in match partnership funding.

The report stated that Arts Council England requires a minimum of 15% partnership funding for bids exceeding £1 million. It also noted that Arts Council England anticipates high demand for the fund, and that confirmed partnership funding from the local authority would significantly strengthen applications.

The report requested that the City Mayor, Paul Dennett, in consultation with the cabinet:

• Note that The Lowry had been invited to apply for £8.5 million from the Creative Foundations Fund, provided they meet the £1.5 million match partnership funding requirement.
• Note the request to allocate £1.5 million from earmarked reserves as match partnership funding to enable The Lowry's application to the Arts Council England Creative Foundations Fund.
• Support The Lowry's bid for £8.5 million from the Creative Foundations Fund to meet the mandatory partnership funding requirement and improve the application's chances of success.
• Endorse investment in The Lowry's infrastructure to enable critical upgrades to the building and equipment, ensuring its continued operation, sustainability, and adaptability for all its communities and evolving audience and visitor needs.
• Recommend to full council that a commitment of £1.5 million match funding conditional on The Lowry being successful in their application for £8.5 million of Creative Foundations Funding - is confirmed to enable The Lowry to submit a full application to Arts Council England before 31st October 2025.

According to the report, if the application was successful, the funding would be used to:

• Replace two obsolete escalators with modern passenger lifts, improving accessibility and visitor experience.
• Replace outdated boilers and chillers, reducing disruption, maintenance and energy costs and reducing CO₂ by 142 tonnes annually, increasing environmental sustainability.
• Renew fire alarms, smoke curtains, fire doors, sprinklers and smoke pressurisation systems, improving safety and compliance.
• Strengthen organisational sustainability, allowing The Lowry to fulfil its role as an anchor institution and deliver its charitable outcomes and community outreach programmes across Salford.

The report also noted that The Lowry provides notable benefits for Salford, including fostering community wellbeing, enhancing Salford Quays as a vibrant cultural hub, and driving economic growth.

The report stated that Salford City Council had carried out an initial assessment of the proposed award of £1.5 million of council grant funding to The Lowry and determined that it would qualify as a Salford City Council Subsidy for the purpose of the Subsidy Control Act 2022². The council had assessed the proposed subsidy against the seven subsidy control principles and determined that it complied with all of them and would be a lawful council subsidy under the act.

The report also noted that the allocation of £1.5m from reserves was not within the existing approved budget and exceeds the City Mayor's delegated authority for use of reserves, and therefore the decision must be referred to full council for approval.

Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 26th August 2025 were scheduled to be approved.