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 support the fairs and showmen industry.

The government strongly believes in the benefits that the arts and creative industries bring to the UK, including the commercial entertainment industry of which fairs and show people are a key part. The cultural and creative industries are some of the fastest growing sectors of the UK economy and government is committed to assisting them to continue to grow.

Arts Council England also funds a number of local festivals and circus arts, which covers some performing arts organisations as well as individuals who practice circus-related skills. For example, in 2018/19 ACE provided almost £4 million of funding to projects and organisations whose primary sub-discipline was circus related activity.