Covid-19: Performing Arts

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Monday 13th July 2020 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to provide further assistance to performing arts companies and venues which are unable to resume operations due to the restrictions in place to address the Covid-19 pandemic.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I draw attention to my interests as listed in the register.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Barran) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government recognise how severely the cultural sector has been hit by Covid-19. On 5 July, we announced a £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations, to help them through this pandemic. The funding will provide targeted support to organisations across a range of sectors including performing arts, theatres, museums and galleries, heritage sites, live music venues and independent cinema. It will protect cultural assets of international, national and regional importance, and prevent the loss of the valuable cultural fabric from our towns and regions.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall [V]]

My Lords, I of course acknowledge with gratitude the scale of last week’s announcement, but there is urgent need for further clarity about whether the new funds will do anything to address the plight of freelance workers, including performers, who make up 70% of the sector’s workforce. Many of them have been unable to access current income support schemes. Further, when will funds start being distributed, and when will there be a plan with dates and sufficient notice to allow theatres and other indoor spaces to reopen in an economically viable way? At this perilous time, speed really is of the essence.

[Baroness Barran]

I acknowledge that the Covid-19 crisis has presented a particular challenge for freelancers. The package will support cultural institutions, which means the physical and the human fabric of those institutions. The department is working with our arm’s-length bodies to get the funds out as quickly as possible, and the noble Baroness will be aware that stage 3 of the road map has now been reached, meaning that outdoor socially distanced live performances are now possible.

Charitable and Voluntary Sector

Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall Excerpts

Thursday 30th April 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

My Lords, I remind the House of my registered interests, including as deputy chair of the Royal Shakespeare Company; and that the noble Lord, Lord Addington, said in his excellent opening remarks that many arts organisations are also charities.

Companies such as the RSC, the Roundhouse in Camden and Chickenshed focus their education and outreach efforts on young people who are at economic and/or social disadvantage. The work that they do has been shown to have a significant impact on the attainment of these young people. This work has never been more important than now; it will be even more vital once lockdown is eased and we begin to see clearly the impact that isolation has had on mental health and well-being. The RSC, for example, reports from its youth advisory board and its partner schools that many children and young people are feeling profoundly disconnected, losing motivation and experiencing inconsistent levels of support. The companies I have mentioned, and others like them, are of course doing all they can to develop online programmes to sustain this support and contact. But they are doing so while struggling with enormous threats to their ability to survive, as it seems increasingly likely that theatres will be among the last types of business to be allowed to resume their core activities.

Will the Minister please assure the House that DCMS and the Department for Education will work together to ensure that the vital educational work of arts organisations, which can have such a profoundly positive impact on learning, communication skills, confidence, empathy, agency and resilience, is not lost or forgotten as we recover from this crisis? This generation of children and young people are already losing so much. We owe them special attention over the coming years and months.