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.
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 effect of recent changes to covid-19 restrictions on youth theatres.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
A number of exemptions to the Rule of Six have been published and the exceptions where groups can be larger than 6 people include: registered childcare, education or training supervised activities provided for children, including wraparound care, youth groups and activities, and children’s playgroups
Venues such as theatres, concert halls and other entertainment venues that are already able to host larger numbers, and are Covid secure in line with the relevant guidance, will continue to be able to do so - as long as groups of more than one household are limited to six and do not mix with one another.
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, when he plans to publish further information on the allocation of the remaining £258 million in funding from the Cultural Renewal Fund.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Culture Recovery Fund will provide targeted support to critical cultural, arts and heritage organisations to help them survive and recover through the coronavirus pandemic. In the first round of funding, £622 million will be distributed, the remaining £258 million has been reserved for funding later in the financial year. The distribution of this £258 million will be dependent on the outcome of the first round of funding so that it can best meet the developing needs of organisations.
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 he plans to announce the names of organisations receiving support from the Cultural Recovery Fund.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Our priority is to ensure that organisations get the funding they need as swiftly as possible. Our Arms Length Bodies made emergency funding available in the spring and this package builds on that. We expect funding to start flowing to organisations in September with further details to be announced after that.
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 workers in the digital, culture, media and sport sectors have been recipients of support from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by John Whittingdale
It is estimated that the number of workers furloughed across DCMS sectors (including tourism) peaked at 1.5 million on 31st May 2020. This represented 37% of the total DCMS workforce. The estimated number of furloughed workers in these sectors has since declined to 812,000, or 20% of the workforce, as of 9th August.
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 estimate the Government has made of the number of job losses in digital, culture, media and sport sectors since April 2020.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The latest ONS Business Impacts of Coronavirus Survey data, recorded from 27th July to 9th August, suggests that 1.9% of Accommodation and Food Services Activities workers have been made redundant as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, along with 1.0% of Arts, Entertainment and Recreation workers. Across the UK economy as a whole, the figure stands at 1.1%.
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 his Department is taking to monitor the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the number of people employed in the creative industries.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
DCMS conducted a business impact survey earlier this year with results published in June and the next set of results are due later in the Autumn. Since the start of the crisis, the department has engaged extensively with stakeholders across the Creative Industries and we are aware of the difficulties organisations and individuals face.
We appreciate that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to the creative industries which is why the Government announced an unprecedented £1.57 billion support package specifically for the cultural sector to help them through this crisis. This funding will provide targeted support to many organisations in the Creative Industries, to stay open and continue operating. This substantial sector-specific package is in addition to economic wide measures such as the furlough scheme, and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, both of which were designed to protect as many jobs as possible.