Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support a greater role for (a) music and (b) the arts in the UK's recovering from the covid-19 pandemic.

The Government recognises the huge contribution arts and music make, not only to the economy and international reputation of the United Kingdom, but also to the wellbeing and enrichment of its people and communities.

As such, the government has increased tax reliefs for theatre, orchestras, museums and galleries until 2024. This is a fantastic boost for arts and music in this country, to keep producing the talent and content we are world famous for.

The Government recently announced plans to increase and better distribute arts funding to previously overlooked or neglected areas. An additional £75 million will be provided by 2025 to make sure places which have been culturally under-served in the past get a better distribution of arts funding, generating more opportunities, jobs and better access to cultural activities. A new National Plan for Music Education will also be published later this year.

We are also developing a Creative Industries Sector Vision which will set out our ambition for the sector up to 2030. As part of this, the government announced £50 million of growth support for creative businesses - including those within music - across the country.