Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how successful the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme have been in retaining workers in (1) the creative, and (2) the music, sector.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
No estimate is available currently for the impact of Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) on creative and music sector workers specifically.
As of 31 July, a total of 2.6 million people have claimed a SEISS grant with the value of these claims totalling £7.6 billion. More than two thirds of cultural freelancers received support through SEISS.
9.6 million employments have been furloughed through CJRS for at least part of the period between March to June. These claims have been made by 1.16 million employers, with 61% of eligible employers claiming.
We recognise that the music and creative sectors has been severely impacted by Covid-19. We continue to meet with stakeholders to discuss the challenges facing the industry.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimates they have made of (1) job losses, and (2) business closures, in (a) live music venues, (b) the live music supply chain, and (c) the music sector as a whole, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
No estimate is available currently for this but we are continuing to meet with live music stakeholders to understand the specific impacts that Covid is having on the whole industry.
The Chancellor has announced the Winter Economy Plan to protect jobs and support businesses over the coming months, once the existing SEISS and CJRS come to end. From November, the Jobs Support Scheme will provide further support to returning workers, while the extended Self-Employed Income Support Scheme will aid the self-employed who are currently actively trading but are facing reduced demand.
In addition, the Secretary of State provided a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. This support package will benefit the live music sector by providing support to venues and many other organisations to stay open and continue operating.
As part of this support package, £3.36 million has been shared among 136 venues across England who applied for the Emergency Grassroot Music Venues Fund. This funding has supported grassroots venues to survive the imminent risk of collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the proportion of live music venues in England that have re-opened under stage 4 of the phased return to professional performing arts.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We appreciate that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to the live music sector.
No estimate is available currently for this but we are continuing to meet with live music stakeholders to provide support and guidance for venues to re-open and stage live events.
As part of the Government’s 5 stage roadmap to get performing arts and live entertainment sectors back up and running as soon as possible, venues and organisations are able to put on live performances in front of a socially-distanced audience in line with the latest Covid secure guidance.
We recognise that the live music industry and its supply chain has been severely impacted by Covid-19. We continue to meet with the stakeholders to discuss the specific issues facing the industry.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the proportion of live music performances taking place in England in September 2020 in comparison to the same period last year.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We appreciate that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to the live music sector.
No estimate is currently available. However, through our ongoing dialogues with industry, we are aware that there are significantly fewer events taking place when compared to the same period last year.
As part of the Government’s 5 stage roadmap to get performing arts and live entertainment sectors back up and running as soon as possible, venues and organisations are able to put on live performances in front of a socially-distanced audience in line with the latest Covid secure guidance.
We recognise that the live music industry and its supply chain has been severely impacted by Covid-19. We continue to meet with the stakeholders to discuss the specific issues facing the industry.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment, if any, they have made of the proportion of (1) theatres, (2) live music venues, (3) concert halls, and (4) arenas, for which it would be more expensive to open under social distancing restrictions than to remain closed.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of continued engagement with our sectors, DCMS Ministers, and officials have spoken to many organisations in the arts and culture sectors directly, as well as arms-length bodies and sector representatives.
Through this engagement we know that the capacity needed to make a profit varies not just between the sub-sectors, but also between individual organisations and on an even more granular level, what those organisations programme. These considerations, as well as costs relating to staffing, fixed costs, maintenance, production costs, and loans, also impact upon the size of the possible finance gap an organisation may have when considering when and whether to reopen.
Following the establishment of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce, on 23 June the Prime Minister announced that from 4 July theatres will be permitted to reopen for rehearsal, pre-production and broadcast, although not yet for live performance with an audience. Alongside the work that we are doing with representatives of the entertainment and events industry to develop supporting guidance, this represents the first steps in the roadmap to recovery for our nations’ theatres.
The Government remains committed to supporting the cultural sector through this pandemic and getting the curtain up at venues for live performances across the country as soon as it is safe to do so.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they estimate live arts performances to resume (1) with, and (2) without, social distancing restrictions.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of continued engagement with our sectors, DCMS Ministers, and officials have spoken to many organisations in the arts and culture sectors directly, as well as arms-length bodies and sector representatives.
Through this engagement we know that the capacity needed to make a profit varies not just between the sub-sectors, but also between individual organisations and on an even more granular level, what those organisations programme. These considerations, as well as costs relating to staffing, fixed costs, maintenance, production costs, and loans, also impact upon the size of the possible finance gap an organisation may have when considering when and whether to reopen.
Following the establishment of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce, on 23 June the Prime Minister announced that from 4 July theatres will be permitted to reopen for rehearsal, pre-production and broadcast, although not yet for live performance with an audience. Alongside the work that we are doing with representatives of the entertainment and events industry to develop supporting guidance, this represents the first steps in the roadmap to recovery for our nations’ theatres.
The Government remains committed to supporting the cultural sector through this pandemic and getting the curtain up at venues for live performances across the country as soon as it is safe to do so.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) theatres, (2) live music venues, (3) concert halls, and (4) arenas, about the average capacity needed to make a profit.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of continued engagement with our sectors, DCMS Ministers, and officials have spoken to many organisations in the arts and culture sectors directly, as well as arms-length bodies and sector representatives.
Through this engagement we know that the capacity needed to make a profit varies not just between the sub-sectors, but also between individual organisations and on an even more granular level, what those organisations programme. These considerations, as well as costs relating to staffing, fixed costs, maintenance, production costs, and loans, also impact upon the size of the possible finance gap an organisation may have when considering when and whether to reopen.
Following the establishment of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce, on 23 June the Prime Minister announced that from 4 July theatres will be permitted to reopen for rehearsal, pre-production and broadcast, although not yet for live performance with an audience. Alongside the work that we are doing with representatives of the entertainment and events industry to develop supporting guidance, this represents the first steps in the roadmap to recovery for our nations’ theatres.
The Government remains committed to supporting the cultural sector through this pandemic and getting the curtain up at venues for live performances across the country as soon as it is safe to do so.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to announce sector specific support for the commercial arts sector.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
On 5 July, DCMS announced a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. This funding will provide targeted support to organisations across a range of sectors, including performing arts and theatres, museums and galleries, heritage sites, live music venues and independent cinema.
We want this package to support organisations across the cultural, heritage and creative sectors, and will publish further detailed guidance as soon as possible in July.
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 24 April (HL Deb, cols 600–602) on records held by the National Lottery Heritage Fund that the fund took legal advice and that even if it had retained the records, “it would not have been able to make them available”, what was the nature of the legal advice taken; and on what grounds it was argued that such records could not be made available.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The National Lottery Heritage Fund (the Fund) took advice from its professional legal advisors as to the legal status of the Conservation Management Plans, which included advice on copyright and on the implications to the Fund if they were to make the CMPs available to third parties. The advice concluded that if the Fund disclosed the Conservation Management Plans it would risk being in breach of copyright
Asked by: Lord Aberdare (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 24 April (HL Deb, cols 600–602), whether records held by the National Lottery Heritage Fund were digitally recorded before the physical copies were de-stroyed; if so, what form this digitisation took; what facilities the digital version offers; who holds the digitised version; and what access there is for the public and other users.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The National Lottery Heritage Fund (the Fund) digitally recorded documents critical to its grant contracts, and securely destroyed records no longer required for retention. The documents that were retained were scanned in PDF format. The retained records are held by the Fund, and are not accessible to the public because they contain confidential commercial information. Data regarding the Fund’s grant decisions has recently been released as part of its commitment to Open Data.