Asked by: James Grundy (Conservative - Leigh)
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 financial effect of covid-19 on self-employed musicians.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government recognises the significant challenge the current pandemic poses to many individuals and freelancers working in the music industry.
The Government has carried out an assessment of access to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) for individuals’ working in the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Sector:
For SEISS round 1: 76,000 individuals given an average of £2,700
For SEISS round 2: 72,000 individuals given an average of £2,400
For SEISS round 3: 66,000 individuals given £2,700
We are working very hard to help freelancers in those sectors access support, including through the Self Employment Income Support Scheme and funding from Arts Council England.
The Government has and will continue to look for ways to improve the Self Employment Income Support Scheme grant and existing support.
Asked by: James Grundy (Conservative - Leigh)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support the Government plans to provide to rugby league clubs to ensure the safe return of local sport following the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)
To date, the government has provided an unprecedented £300 million Sport Winter Survival Package to give a lifeline to organisations that would otherwise not survive the winter as a result of the restriction on spectators announced from 1 October. This included a provisional allocation of £12 million to support rugby league which is in addition to the £16 million cash injection government announced in May 2020 to safeguard the immediate future of the sport for the communities it serves.
Furthermore, rugby league clubs will have benefitted from the £220m of National Lottery and Exchequer funding committed by Sport England since March 2020 to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic. This sector support was recently boosted by an extra £50million to help grassroots sports clubs and organisations as part of Sport England’s new strategy Uniting the Movement. Further details of Sport England funding including the organisations that have benefited can be found at: https://www.sportengland.org/why-were-here.