Dawn Airey appointed chair of Arts Council England

Veteran television executive Dawn Airey has been appointed chair of Arts Council England, the arms-length body that distributes over £680m annually to UK cultural organisations. Airey, who will be paid £60,000 a year for a two-day week, previously served as chief executive of Channel 5, managing director at Sky and ITV, senior vice president at Yahoo! for EMEA, and chief executive of Getty Images (2015–2018). She also held board positions at UK Film Council and British Library. The appointment follows an independent review by former minister Margaret Hodge, which recommended maintaining the quango but devolving funding decisions to local and regional boards. The review also led to the scrapping of Arts Council England's ten-year 'Let's Create' strategy, which Hodge criticised for 'stifling artistic innovation and creativity' by prioritising community-engaged arts over critically-acclaimed artists.