Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to provide (a) long-term financial support and (b) guidance to the travel and tourism sectors in (i) Edinburgh West and (ii) the UK to help those sectors recover from the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has provided over £35 billion in support to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors over the course of the pandemic in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks.
The government also cut the rate of VAT for certain UK-wide supplies in the tourism and hospitality sectors to 5% in July 2021, with this significantly reduced rate remaining until the end of this month. To help businesses manage the transition back to the standard rate, a 12.5% rate will then apply for a further six months until the end of March 2022.
VisitBritain, the national tourist board, worked in collaboration with the tourist boards of the devolved administrations to develop the UK-Wide ‘Good to Go’ COVID-19 Secure Industry Standard, currently in use by over 45,000 tourism businesses.
The Tourism Recovery Plan points to a number of UK-wide initiatives, like the £10 million National Lottery Days Out campaign due to launch in October. This will stimulate demand for more off-season day trips to tourist sites across the UK this autumn.
The plan also announced a new rail pass launching later this fiscal year to help make it easier and more sustainable for domestic tourists to get around. The pass is planned to be available in Scotland, England and Wales.
I will continue to work together with my devolved counterparts to assess how we can most effectively support the tourism sector’s recovery.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support Edinburgh Festival Fringe venue producers and production companies, who are unable to access support from either Scottish or English funding sources as they are registered in one nation of the UK but operate in another.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We recognise that the Edinburgh Festivals, and all organisations and venues associated with it, play a central role in the cultural, social and economic lives of many in Scotland and across the UK.
Arts Council England guidance states that the lead organisation submitting an application to one of its funding sources must be based in England, and is focused on activity that benefits people in England. However, applicants who are based in England but primarily work internationally can also be considered eligible, if they can evidence cultural significance and benefit to England.
As culture policy is a devolved matter, we would also recommend that the issue is raised with Scottish Government Ministers and Creative Scotland.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that the arts support package is fairly distributed to (a) smaller organisations, (b) arts practitioners and (c) art support workers, including the (i) smaller-scale theatre and live performance sector, (ii) smaller year-round independent venues, (iii) community-based organisations and (vi) freelancers.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
On 5 July, the Government announced a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. Guidance has been published by Arts Council England, the British Film Institute, Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund for applicants to the Culture Recovery Grants application rounds, and by Arts Council England for applicants to the Repayable Finance Scheme. Further details on eligibility and application processes are available in the published guidance.
This funding will provide targeted support to organisations across a range of sectors, with one of our core objectives being to support the cultural organisations that are crucial to places across the whole country. We will ensure that funding is distributed fairly, and that smaller organisations and cultural venues that are at the centre of their communities are protected.
We also recognise the crucial role that individuals play in making our arts and creative industries world-leading. As a result of these grants and loans, organisations will be more able to resume cultural activity, albeit in a socially distanced way, which will increase employment opportunities for freelancers.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
What steps the Government is taking to support (a) Edinburgh West constituency and (b) other communities whose economies are reliant on (i) cultural and (ii) sporting events during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government recognises the devastating impact of COVID-19 and that's why we’ve introduced the unprecedented package of support including the Job Retention Scheme, Self-Employed-Income-Support-Scheme, and loans tailored to the needs of businesses large and small.
Arts and Culture are devolved, but in England we are also working with cultural and sporting organisations to produce guidance to get these sectors up and running again as soon as safely possible.