Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will introduce a Government-backed insurance indemnity package against the risk of cancellation for the festival industry.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
This Government recognises the importance of the UK’s live events sector and has provided significant financial support including an additional £300 million to the Culture Recovery Fund, details of which were announced on Friday 25th June.
The DCMS Secretary of State made clear at the DCMS Select Committee in May, the government is aware of the wider concerns around securing indemnity for live events and we continue to assess options to provide further support to the sector within the public health context. He also underlined that the government’s first priority is to remove remaining barriers (such as social distancing) by reaching Step 4 of the Roadmap. Once that point is reached, if events still cannot go ahead because of a failure of the commercial insurance market, the Government will look at intervening as was done for the TV/Film sectors.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish data on the number of (a) freelancers and (b) supply chain businesses that are awaiting payments from the Culture Recovery Fund that were due from January 2021.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
DCMS and Arms Length Bodies categorise organisations by discipline, rather than position within the supply chain, and so we cannot provide the data requested.
We appreciate that grant payment delays can cause confusion and concern, however as of 24 June, 88% of CRF recipients have now received first round funding, and 72.6% have received second round funding. Culture Recovery Fund grant payments are typically made in multiple tranches, a first payment at the start of the grant period, followed by a final payment at the end of the period.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the eighth report of the Public Accounts Committee, COVID 19: Culture Recovery Fund published on 23 June 2021, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of the challenges experienced by (a) freelancers and (b) supply chain businesses in accessing the Culture Recovery Fund.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government recognises the significant challenge the current pandemic poses to our arts and creative sectors and to the many freelancers and supply chain businesses working across these industries and keeps cultural recovery policy under constant review.
Freelancers have been supported through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). SEISS has so far helped 2.8m self employed. Details on future SEISS support were announced by the Chancellor in his Budget Statement in March, with an extension of the scheme to September 2021. Around 500,000 people were brought into scope who filed a tax return in 2019-20, or were previously ineligible, who now may be able to claim the fourth grant.
However, it is also the case that the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) had significant indirect benefits for freelancers. In Round 2, organisations were asked to estimate how many FTEs and freelancers were protected by the fund until the end of June. Collectively, applicants reported that 52,000 full time staff and almost 100,000 freelancers would be supported until the end of June. And ALBs were able to complement SEISS with their own interventions i.e. over £51m from ACE to individuals.
Similarly, supply chain organisations were eligible for the first and second rounds of the CRF and are recognised as a critical part of the sector. Many organisations have been funded through the CRF, including: Production Park, Wakefield and Adlib Audio Limited, Knowsley.
Additionally, the third round of the Culture Recovery Fund was announced on 25 June. This third and final round of funding will provide further support as the cultural, heritage and creative sectors move towards reopening at full capacity, underlining the government’s commitment to help them build back better as life returns to normal.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the pricing of landline phone calls during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Matt Warman
In March 2020 the Government and Ofcom worked with the UK’s major broadband, landline and mobile providers to develop a package of voluntary industry measures to support consumers, especially those who are vulnerable. Providers agreed to give their customers new and generous offers on mobile and landline services. This includes some providers who gave effect to this commitment by giving free and low cost data boosts, and free calling allowances on landline packages.
Ofcom has also recently published a vulnerability guide for providers, setting out its expectations and good practice on how vulnerable telecoms consumers should be supported. This includes treating those in financial distress fairly, providing them with payment support options, such as payment holidays, and only disconnecting consumers as a last resort option. More broadly, Ofcom is reviewing affordability issues in the communications market, and intends to publish its findings later this year.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the availability of insurance for the live events and festivals industry to cover the loss of income during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We are aware that concerns have been raised over the challenge of securing insurance for live events and festivals.
We are working with the sector to better understand the nature and scale of the issue before considering whether Government intervention would be necessary or desirable.
We continue to meet with stakeholders to provide support and guidance for venues to re-open and stage live events.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a Government-backed insurance scheme for live events.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We are aware that there are calls for a Government backed insurance scheme for live events. I am grateful for the evidence provided and I know DCMS and HMT colleagues are closely monitoring the situation together with the sector.
We are continuing to meet with live events stakeholders to provide support and guidance for venues to re-open and stage live events.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will provide sector-specific support to the cinema sector following the closure of Cineworld venues; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The government deeply regrets the unfortunate news of Cineworld’s temporary closure and is in direct and regular contact with the screen industry, including distributors and exhibitors, as well as through the BFI Screen Sector Task Force.
The government has supported cinemas through the VAT cut on tickets and concessions, business rates holiday and Bounce back loans. Independent cinemas are also eligible for a share of £30m from our unprecedented £1.57bn Culture Recovery Rund, and funding has started to be allocated already.
We recognise that cinemas need an incoming stream of new releases to show and we are supporting production by establishing a £500 million in a UK-wide Film and TV Production Restart Scheme to help get productions back up and running again. This will support the creation of new content which can be released into cinemas of all sizes.
Cinemas up and down the country are open for business and Covid secure - we urge the British public to support their local cinema and save jobs by visiting and enjoying a film in accordance with the guidance.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the economic effect of Cineworld's decision to close its cinemas affecting up to 6,000 UK jobs.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The government deeply regrets the unfortunate news of Cineworld’s temporary closure and is in direct and regular contact with the screen industry, including distributors and exhibitors, as well as through the BFI Screen Sector Task Force.
The government has supported cinemas through the VAT cut on tickets and concessions, business rates holiday and Bounce back loans. Independent cinemas are also eligible for a share of £30m from our unprecedented £1.57bn Culture Recovery Rund, and funding has started to be allocated already.
We recognise that cinemas need an incoming stream of new releases to show and we are supporting production by establishing a £500 million in a UK-wide Film and TV Production Restart Scheme to help get productions back up and running again. This will support the creation of new content which can be released into cinemas of all sizes.
Cinemas up and down the country are open for business and Covid secure - we urge the British public to support their local cinema and save jobs by visiting and enjoying a film in accordance with the guidance.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if the Government will adopt a list of specific high-value datasets similar to the European Commission’s Directive on open data and the re-use of public sector information which was entered into force on 16 July 2019.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The UK Government Licensing Framework is designed to support our drive to open up access to publicly held information and datasets, promoting transparency and enabling wider economic and social gain.
The Framework mandates the Open Government Licence, a set of terms and conditions which facilitate the re-use of a wide range of public sector information free of charge, as the default licence for Crown bodies, and recommends it for other public sector bodies. It is our policy that public sector information should be licensed for use and re-use free of charge under the Licence, with only a few exceptions.
In the global recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, open data and sharing of best practice will be more vital than ever. Data will underpin our future resilience and future economy, and further detail will be set out in our National Data Strategy, which we are aiming to publish later this year.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to publish the National Data Strategy for the UK in 2020.
Answered by John Whittingdale
This government is committed to delivering an ambitious, pro-growth National Data Strategy. In the global recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, data will be more vital than ever, underpinning our future resilience and future economy. We aim to publish the strategy in 2020.