Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the timeframe is for the reopening of the events industry as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Meetings of up to 30 people indoors are now allowed in permitted venues if social distancing can be maintained and the venue can demonstrate that it has followed the Covid-19 guidance. Since 11 July, a range of outdoor events have been able to take place - including agricultural shows, literary fairs and car boot sales.
From 1 August, exhibition and conference centres are allowed to show small groups (of up to 30 people with social distancing requirements) around to view the facilities and plan future events and to enable government-backed pilots to take place. They should not be open fully to host events more widely.
From 1 October, it is expected that events of all types (such as trade shows, consumer shows, exhibitions and conferences) will be allowed if the business has written a risk assessment and has put in place mitigations to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission. As with all aspects of the Government’s response to Covid-19, our decisions have been and will continue to be based on scientific evidence and public health assessments.
We have worked closely with events stakeholders through both the Visitor Economy and Events & Entertainment Working Groups to develop Covid-19 Secure reopening guidance for the business events industry. We continue to meet with the Events Industry Senior Leaders Advisory Panel to discuss the specific issues facing the industry.
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Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he plans to make additional funding available to exhibitions and events businesses that are employing staff to rebuild their business following the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The events industry and its suppliers have been severely hit by the current crisis. My officials and I continue to engage with events stakeholders - for example through the Visitor Economy Working Group and the Events Industry Board - to monitor the ongoing impact on exhibitions and events businesses.
Events businesses and workers can access the Government’s economic support package, including the recently extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme and the Bounce Back Loan scheme. We will continue to engage with stakeholders to assess how we can most effectively support tourism’s recovery across the UK.
We are working closely with events stakeholders, such as the Association of Events Organisers, to develop Covid-19 Secure reopening guidance for conferences and events venues.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) financial and (b) other support his Department provides to the UK events and exhibitions industry.
Answered by Michael Ellis
In order to support our important business visits and events sector, DCMS published the Business Visits and Events Strategy in 2015 which laid out our commitment to the sector. We also created the Events Industry Board, which brings together key stakeholders to discuss opportunities and concerns from the sector, and act as a sounding board between the industry and ministers.
VisitBritain(VB) provides support with two funding streams for the Business Events Growth Programme and increasing awareness and consideration of the UK as a business event destination. VB also provide a Government advocacy programme, using cross-Whitehall contacts to provide Ministerial support to aid cities’ bids for international events and conferences.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the economic value of the events industry to tourism in (a) London and (b) the UK.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Business visits and events are extremely important aspects of the visitor economy. In 2016, the UK welcomed 9.12million inbound visitors for business visits who spent £5.46bn while here. 3.62m of these visits were to London with £3.25bn being spent in the capital.
A report by VisitBritain shows that delegates attending an event in the UK who extended their trip for leisure purposes would spend double the amount of money they would spend than if they went home directly after the event (£1,942 compared to £991).
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) financial and (b) other support his Department provides to the UK events and exhibitions industry.
Answered by Michael Ellis
In order to support our important business visits and events sector, DCMS published the Business Visits and Events Strategy in 2015 which laid out our commitment to the sector. We also created the Events Industry Board, which brings together key stakeholders to discuss opportunities and concerns from the sector, and act as a sounding board between the industry and ministers.
VisitBritain(VB) provides support with two funding streams for the Business Events Growth Programme and increasing awareness and consideration of the UK as a business event destination. VB also provide a Government advocacy programme, using cross-Whitehall contacts to provide Ministerial support to aid cities’ bids for international events and conferences.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
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 a working definition of youth participation in relation to decision-making on youth services; and what steps his Department has taken to promote youth participation in such decisions.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Responsibility for the provision of local youth services lies with local authorities. Many local authorities have youth participation functions, including youth councils, and there are youth service models, such as mutuals, which offer young people a major role in the design and delivery of services.
Nationally, DCMS provides funding to the British Youth Council to run the UK Youth Parliament and other youth voice activities, where young people can have their say about a range of issues. We also actively seek to involve young people in the design and delivery of programmes, such as the Youth Investment Fund and recently involved young people in the consultation of the forthcoming Civil Society Strategy.