Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many of the successful applicants in Phase 1 of the Culture Recovery Fund have received all of the funds awarded to them.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The attached table provides figures addressing the questions asked.
Payments through the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) are typically made in multiple tranches. Final payment is typically made at the very end of the grant period, once activities and costs have been reported.
In both rounds of the CRF revenue grants programme, DCMS has been able to give recipients the flexibility to extend the grant period. For CRF1 awardees, they have been able to extend until 30 June 2021, and for CRF2 awardees until 31 December 2021.
As such, a significant number of CRF 1 awardees have only very recently concluded the grant period, and many CRF 2 awardees have not concluded the grant period yet.
Accordingly, final payment requests are still outstanding from both CRF1 and CRF 2 recipients. Only when final payment requests have been made will DCMS Arms Length Bodies make final payments.
In addition, payment schedules can be impacted by a number of factors, such as the provision of bank details and activity reports from applicants, as well as assurance processes undertaken by distributing arms-length bodies, in order to ensure best use of tax-payers’ money.
As the numbers show, over 83% of all awarded CRF funding has been paid.
Figures include revenue grants, capital grants, and loans from within the Culture Recovery Fund.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many applications were made in Phase 1 of the Cultural Recovery Fund.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The attached table provides figures addressing the questions asked.
Payments through the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) are typically made in multiple tranches. Final payment is typically made at the very end of the grant period, once activities and costs have been reported.
In both rounds of the CRF revenue grants programme, DCMS has been able to give recipients the flexibility to extend the grant period. For CRF1 awardees, they have been able to extend until 30 June 2021, and for CRF2 awardees until 31 December 2021.
As such, a significant number of CRF 1 awardees have only very recently concluded the grant period, and many CRF 2 awardees have not concluded the grant period yet.
Accordingly, final payment requests are still outstanding from both CRF1 and CRF 2 recipients. Only when final payment requests have been made will DCMS Arms Length Bodies make final payments.
In addition, payment schedules can be impacted by a number of factors, such as the provision of bank details and activity reports from applicants, as well as assurance processes undertaken by distributing arms-length bodies, in order to ensure best use of tax-payers’ money.
As the numbers show, over 83% of all awarded CRF funding has been paid.
Figures include revenue grants, capital grants, and loans from within the Culture Recovery Fund.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what private companies are contracted to provide security services at his Department’s buildings that contain ministerial private offices; and whether there are closed circuit television cameras in any ministerial private office within his departmental estate.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
As has been the case under successive Administrations, it is not government policy to comment on security procedures in government buildings.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether a risk assessment has been carried out on the secure holding of CCTV footage within his Department.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
As has been the case under successive Administrations, it is not government policy to comment on security procedures in government buildings.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his departmental IT systems routinely allow officials, advisers and ministers to access private email accounts from their office desktop computers, department-issue laptop computers and mobile phone devices.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
I refer the Hon. Member to the Cabinet Office guidance to departments on use of private emails.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether any departmental business has been conducted on private email addresses; and what mechanisms are in place to ensure that full records are kept of that business.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
I refer the Hon. Member to the Cabinet Office guidance to departments on use of private emails.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether any departmental business has been conducted on private email addresses; and what mechanisms are in place to ensure that full records are kept of that business.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
I refer the Hon. Member to the Cabinet Office guidance to departments on use of private emails.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what impact assessment was carried out on the effect of the delay to lifting lockdown restrictions on 21 June 2021 on (a) theatres, (b) music venues and (c) cultural organisations.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Prime Minister has always said that we would be led by data, not dates. The government has looked at the data very closely and assessed it against the four tests set out in our roadmap. It is on the basis of worsening data that we have taken the difficult call not to proceed with this reopening at this point, but to pause for four weeks.
There is uncertainty on test 3. The Delta variant is already driving the growth we are seeing in infection rates and hospitalisations, and at the same time non-COVID emergency demand on the NHS is the highest it has been since the start of the pandemic. We have assessed that we have not met test 4. Our assessment of the risks has been altered by the Delta variant: the latest data suggests the Delta variant is between 40% and 80% more transmissible than the Alpha variant.
Therefore, the Government announced a four-week pause at Step 3. We will use this time to get more vaccinations in arms, both first and second doses, and to learn more about the Delta variant. We anticipate that a four-week pause of this kind could significantly reduce the number of hospitalisations and deaths.
We recognise the challenging times facing all sectors currently, the Department has been working closely with stakeholders across the theatre industry, music venues and cultural organisations throughout the pandemic to maintain a complete picture of the financial impact of Covid-19 to ensure they survive this difficult period wherever possible.
Many of these organisations have benefitted from the significant cross-economy support available throughout this pandemic, including the generous employment schemes, grants, loans, a reduction in VAT to 5%, and business rates relief. And some businesses may further be eligible for the unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund - the largest one-off investment in UK culture - as we look to provide support for a wide range of cultural institutions including galleries, theatres, museums, music venues, comedy clubs and festivals, as audiences begin to return.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has referred any Freedom of Information requests received by his Department to the central Cabinet Office Clearing House on Freedom of Information requests for advice on handling, in the last two years.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Freedom of Information requests are referred to the Clearing House in line with the published criteria available on gov.uk. The Clearing House, which has been in existence since 2004, provides advice to ensure a consistent approach across government to requests for information.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he or his ministers have had with theatres, music venues and other cultural operators ahead of the decision to delay the easing of the roadmap on 21 June 2021.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government has engaged extensively with stakeholders from all DCMS sectors throughout the pandemic through regular roundtables and ministerial calls with industry representatives.