Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to widen access to culture and heritage.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to ensuring as many people as possible can access our world-class museums, galleries and heritage sites, regardless of their background or where they live. Our Arm’s-Length Bodies deliver much of this good work.
For example, following a request from HM Government to ensure that the taxpayer subsidy it allocates is more equitably spread around the country, Arts Council England will be investing £446 million each year in 2023-2026 to support 990 organisations across the whole of England. This is more than ever before, and in more places than ever before.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress her Department has made on the consultation on the introduction of a Tourist Accommodation Registration Scheme in England.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Prior to Covid-19, we had been planning to explore the merits and feasibility of introducing a Tourist Accomodation Registration Scheme.
The Government intends to publish a call for evidence on matters associated with short term holiday lettings in early 2022.
This will assist in developing proportionate, evidence-based policy options for a subsequent consultation.
The Government is committed to hearing the views of all interested parties as part of this call for evidence.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2020 to Question 128274, what support allocated to the cinema sector remains unallocated as at 25 January 2021; and how his Department plans to distribute the remaining funding.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The government recognises the significant cultural and economic value of cinemas, and has supported them through both sector-specific and economy-wide measures during the COVID-19 crisis.
In the first round of the £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund, more than 200 independent cinemas have so far received funding. As of 25 January 2021, £16.6m has been awarded from the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas, managed by the British Film Institute on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. This is from the £30m pot allocated as part of the Fund’s first round.
We have agreed a thorough and robust assessment process for the Fund and are confident in the process established to support the sector. The BFI are continuing to process and assess a small number of outstanding applications, so we cannot confirm the final round one award total at this stage.
Further to this funding, we announced in December that cinemas will be able to apply to a pot of up to £14 million in grants as part of the second round of the Culture Recovery Fund in 2021. This will support cinemas as they transition back to a viable and sustainable operating model from April to June 2021.
In addition to the Culture Recovery Fund, cinemas have also benefited from economy-wide measures including the VAT cut on tickets and concessions, a business rates holiday, access to Bounce Back Loans, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Local Restrictions Support Grants.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much of the £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund has yet to be allocated; to what programmes and projects funding has already been allocated; and when he plans to announce the mechanism for allocating the remaining funding.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
As of 11 December, £1 billion worth of funding from the Culture Recovery Fund has been allocated across all four nations of the UK. That includes:
Direct support to national institutions and the Devolved Administrations, who have received £188 million through the Barnett formula;
Over £500million in recovery grants to almost 3000 arts and heritage organisations in England;
Over £100million in capital grants;
And over £160million in generous repayable finance to some of our most iconic national institutions
Some capital awards and independent cinema recovery grant awards are still to be allocated - this will happen over the coming weeks.
Additionally, a second round of funding was announced on 11 December, which utilises the remaining Culture Recovery Fund funding. There will be over £300m available in grants delivered by DCMS’ delivery partners, and £100m of repayable finance delivered by Arts Council England specifically.
Further information on this will be available shortly.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
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 (a) effectiveness and (b) equity of the distribution of the grants awarded under the Culture Recovery Fund; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Culture Recovery Fund has so far awarded grants to over 2000 cultural organisations, both big and small, with more funding to be awarded in the coming weeks.
This is public money, so rigorous criteria have rightly been applied to ensure we are supporting organisations that have national and local importance, and those that play a key role in the levelling up agenda. Criteria included applicants being able to show that they have a sustainable, viable plan and that this funding would help them to continue trading. The Arm’s Length Bodies delivering the funding (Arts Council England, British Film Institute, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England) are confident they have applied them in all decision making.
In addition, the independent Culture Recovery Board, chaired by Sir Damon Buffini, was created to increase assurance over the delivery of the Culture Recovery Fund programme, and to bring a range of external expertise across culture, heritage, creative industries and museums sectors to support decision making. The board members' role is to offer regional, sectoral and commercial expertise and to bring rigour to decision-making.
The split of organisations who have already been allocated funding demonstrates a balanced picture across regions. The last round of funding was announced on 7 November and allocated over £33 million to 170 arts and heritage organisations, of which 70% was allocated outside London.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) campaigners for a Government-backed insurance scheme for the UK live events industry and (b) representatives of the Let LIVE Thrive campaign.
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 Treasury colleagues are 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.