Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department are working in roles supporting musicians to secure visas to tour overseas.

As a department, we have worked with a number of others (including DCMS, DBT and DfT) to support touring musicians. The majority of Member States (24 out of 27) have now confirmed that UK musicians and performers do not need visas or work permits for some short-term touring. To help businesses across sectors navigate the visa and work permit rules of EU countries, DBT has published guidance on GOV.UK on the entry requirements for EU Member States, as well as for Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.