Asked by: Laura Farris (Conservative - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish additional details on the £100 million leisure centre fund which he announced on 22 October 2020.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support, which many sport clubs have benefited from. On 22 October, the Government announced a £100m support fund for local authority leisure centres. We will be releasing further information on the scheme and how local authorities with outsourced leisure centre provision can apply in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Laura Farris (Conservative - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to prepare the events industry to hold large scale events again, once covid-19 testing at scale becomes available.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We are aware that many in the sector seek clarity on when the events industry will be able to hold larger scale events.
From 2 December, we will return to a regional, tiered approach to COVID-19 restrictions. In tiers 1 and 2, spectator sport and business events can now resume inside and outside with tight capacity limits and social distancing, providing more consistency with indoor performances in theatres and concert halls.
In tier 3, there should be no public attendance at spectator sport or indoor performances and large business events should not be taking place.
The Government will also introduce spectator capacity limits for sports stadia, business events and live performances in tiers where these are permitted. These limits will vary depending on whether the event is held indoors or out. At tier 1 these will be 50% capacity or 4,000 outdoors and 1,000 indoors, whichever is lower and at tier 2 these will be 50% capacity or 2,000 outdoors and 1,000 indoors, whichever is lower.
We continue to engage with stakeholders - including through the Tourism Industry Council and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Panel - to assess how we can best support the sector’s safe reopening.
The business events pilots we carried out in September will ensure that the correct advice and guidance is put in place to help larger events reopen when it is safe to do so.
Asked by: Laura Farris (Conservative - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether businesses supplying technical and musical kit to live music events and concert venues can access the Culture Recovery Fund.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
DCMS appreciates the important role that the live music sector plays in the UK’s cultural economy, and that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to many businesses operating in these sectors.
The Secretary of State provided a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. This funding will provide targeted support to organisations across a range of cultural and creative sectors. Businesses supplying technical and musical equipment are not eligible to apply for this funding, however this support package will benefit these businesses by providing support to music venues and many other organisations in the Creative Industries that host live events, to stay open and continue operating.
From 15th August, venues and organisations have been able to put on live indoor performances in front of a socially-distanced audience. This is in addition to the earlier announcement that from 11 July we can all enjoy performances outdoors with social distancing. This follows the government’s five-stage roadmap outlining how DCMS will get audiences back into performing arts venues. We are now at Stage Four of the roadmap.
We are committed to continuing to work with the live events sector to understand the difficulties they face and help them access support through these challenging times and through recovery.
Asked by: Laura Farris (Conservative - Newbury)
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 press release entitled, £1.57 billion investment to protect Britain’s world-class cultural, arts and heritage institutions, what the process is for freelancer (a) performers, (b) musicians and (c) third party providers to access that funding; and what the timeframe is for freelancers to apply for that funding.
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.