Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to allocate the remaining funds in the Culture Recovery Fund.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The majority of the CRF funding is now being deployed with over £500 million allocated so far across both capital and recovery grants. A further £188 million has been allocated to the devolved administrations as part of the Barnett formula and £100 million has been directly allocated to national cultural institutions and English Heritage Trust.
Repayable finance awards (which made up £270m of the Fund) are currently under negotiation, with outcomes expected to be announced in the coming weeks, and part of the £120m capital funding is still to be allocated.
Additionally, DCMS has held back a substantial amount of CRF funding with a view to offering critical support when needed - we do not know what will happen next with this pandemic, and this government wants to support these sectors over the long term.
DCMS and its Arms Length Bodies are working closely to identify the ongoing needs of these sectors, and will make decisions as soon as possible about how best to use the contingency funding left within the CRF to provide further support to the sector.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
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 improve internet infrastructure in (a) Batley and Spen constituency and (b) Kirklees local authority area.
Answered by Matt Warman
Good progress has been made in the Batley and Spen constituency, with over 98% of premises able to access superfast broadband according to Thinkbroadband - up from 41% in January 2012. Furthermore, over 68% of premises have access to ultrafast services (greater than 100Mbps) and over 21% have access to gigabit services (1,000Mbps). Virgin Media are currently upgrading their network and the department estimates that over 67% of the constituency will have access to gigabit speeds by the end of 2021.
In the Kirklees metropolitan area, over 98% of premises have access to superfast broadband, which is up from 59% in January 2012. Furthermore, over 72% have access to ultrafast services (greater than 100Mbps) and over 23% have access to gigabit services (1,000Mbps). Virgin Media are currently upgrading their network and the department estimates that over 65% of Kirklees will have access to gigabit speeds by the end of 2021.
For those rural premises in Batley and Spen and wider Kirklees that are still suffering from slow speeds, DCMS runs the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) that can be used by rural communities across the UK to reduce the cost of installing gigabit-capable connectivity. This provides a voucher worth up to £3,500 for eligible small businesses and vouchers worth up to £1,500 for residents. More details are available here: https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/. To date across West Yorkshire, homes and small businesses have requested 1,133 vouchers totaling £2.8 million, including 30 from constituents in Batley and Spen.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
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 effect of Tier 2 covid-19 restrictions on (a) choirs, (b) singing groups, (c) acting groups and (d) other amateur creative organisations.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
In Medium Local Covid Alert Level areas (Tier 1) it is against the law to gather in groups of more than 6, unless everyone is from the same household and support bubble. In High (Tier 2) and Very High (Tier 3) areas, it is against the law to gather indoors in groups which do not consist only of the same household and support bubble. A number of exemptions apply. For example, some activities - such as those organised for under-18s including education or training supervised activities provided for children, including wraparound care, youth groups and activities - are exempt.
In addition, in a COVID-secure venue or public outdoor place, non-professional performing arts activity, including choirs, orchestras or drama groups can continue to rehearse or perform together where this is planned activity in line with the performing arts guidance and if they can do so in a way that ensures that there is no interaction between separate and distinct groups of no more than 6 (In Medium areas and outdoors) or individual households (in High and Very High areas) at any time (depending on Local Covid Alert Level restrictions). If an amateur group is not able to ensure that no mingling takes place between these sub-groups (depending on Local Covid Alert Level restrictions) - including when arriving at or leaving activity or in any breaks or socialising - then such non-professional activity should not take place. Local Covid Alert Level guidance (Medium, High, Very High) provides details on group size.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
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 effect of Tier 3 covid-19 restrictions on (a) choirs, (b) singing groups, (c) acting groups and (d) other amateur creative organisations.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
In Medium Local Covid Alert Level areas (Tier 1) it is against the law to gather in groups of more than 6, unless everyone is from the same household and support bubble. In High (Tier 2) and Very High (Tier 3) areas, it is against the law to gather indoors in groups which do not consist only of the same household and support bubble. A number of exemptions apply. For example, some activities - such as those organised for under-18s including education or training supervised activities provided for children, including wraparound care, youth groups and activities - are exempt.
In addition, in a COVID-secure venue or public outdoor place, non-professional performing arts activity, including choirs, orchestras or drama groups can continue to rehearse or perform together where this is planned activity in line with the performing arts guidance and if they can do so in a way that ensures that there is no interaction between separate and distinct groups of no more than 6 (In Medium areas and outdoors) or individual households (in High and Very High areas) at any time (depending on Local Covid Alert Level restrictions). If an amateur group is not able to ensure that no mingling takes place between these sub-groups (depending on Local Covid Alert Level restrictions) - including when arriving at or leaving activity or in any breaks or socialising - then such non-professional activity should not take place. Local Covid Alert Level guidance (Medium, High, Very High) provides details on group size.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on what date applicants to the Arts Council England administered Cultural Recovery Fund who applied for less than £250,000 in support will receive detailed explanation for the reasons that their application was unsuccessful.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Each arms length body, in this case Arts Council England, has the delegated authority over allocating grant funding.
Their decision-making processes have been designed to balance limited resource with the urgent need to award funds, and process a very high number of applications, as soon as possible. This means that they do not have the resources to provide tailored feedback to applicants who applied for grants of under £250k. These applications were assessed and considered within area-based panel meetings, with recommendations passed on to a National Investment Panel for final decision.
We know that some applicants will be disappointed with the outcome and both the Arts Council and DCMS will continue to do all we can to support creativity and culture in England. Arts Council have published resources on their website both for organisations and individuals which include alternative sources of support and wellbeing resources.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many independent cinemas have made applications to the Cultural Recovery Fund; and how many and what proportion of those applications have been (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
On July 5 the Government announced the Culture Recovery Fund, a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them preserve their local cultural offer and rescue organisations that are at risk of insolvency this financial year. This is the biggest ever one-off investment in UK culture. Within this, the British Film Institute (BFI) is allocating up to £30 million in grants on behalf of my department to support independent cinemas in England.
As of Friday 2 October 2020, the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas has received 72 applications from 109 individual cinema sites (one application can be made on behalf of a small cinema chain), amounting to grant requests of just over £4.5million. From this, 28 grants worth over £650,000 have been awarded to 42 cinema sites across England. This means almost 40% of applications received have been successfully awarded funding so far. The fund is being awarded on a rolling basis and will continue to assess and accept applications through to 30th October. For those organisations which have not yet had decisions, BFI are continuing to assess the evidence provided in line with the eligibility criteria and are working with them to explore their needs.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much financial support independent cinemas applied for through the Cultural Recovery Fund; and how much of that funding was granted.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
On July 5 the Government announced the Culture Recovery Fund, a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them preserve their local cultural offer and rescue organisations that are at risk of insolvency this financial year. This is the biggest ever one-off investment in UK culture. Within this, the British Film Institute (BFI) is allocating up to £30 million in grants on behalf of my department to support independent cinemas in England.
As of Friday 2 October 2020, the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas has received 72 applications from 109 individual cinema sites (one application can be made on behalf of a small cinema chain), amounting to grant requests of just over £4.5million. From this, 28 grants worth over £650,000 have been awarded to 42 cinema sites across England. This means almost 40% of applications received have been successfully awarded funding so far. The fund is being awarded on a rolling basis and will continue to assess and accept applications through to 30th October. For those organisations which have not yet had decisions, BFI are continuing to assess the evidence provided in line with the eligibility criteria and are working with them to explore their needs.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many applications have been received for the Emergency Grassroot Music Venues Fund; and how many of those applications were unsuccessful.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
236 eligible applications from grassroots music venues were submitted for the Emergency Grassroot Music Venues Fund. £3.36M was distributed to 136 successful applicants and 100 venues that applied did not receive funding.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
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 scheme to support theatres similar to the Film and TV Production Restart Scheme.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We are working closely with the sector to understand any issues they may have on reopening and looking at ways to address these, including the issue of insurance cover. Socially distanced indoor performances can now take place and we encourage people to support venues that are opening up by booking tickets and visiting our wonderful theatres once again.
The government’s £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund – the largest ever one-off investment in culture – will help our arts institutions and organisations through these challenging times.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
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 potential effect of the ending of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on levels of employment in the (a) digital, (b) culture, (c) media and (d) sport sectors.
Answered by John Whittingdale
DCMS has undertaken a survey and review of the impact of coronavirus on businesses and organisations. The second round of findings on this was published on 23rd September. This review found that the proportion of organisations with over 50% of employees furloughed is 38% for digital, 24% for culture, 25% for media and 28% for sport.
46% of respondents to the DCMS business survey said they have furloughed at least one employee in response to the Coronavirus outbreak. 42% of respondents with at least one employee currently furloughed reported that they expected to make further redundancies once the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) ends.