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 plans to take to support organisers of (a) small music venues, (b) festivals and (c) other live music events (i) directly and (ii) indirectly effected by the covid-19 outbreak.

The Chancellor announced additional measures worth £330 billion to support businesses. Measures include increasing the amount available to borrow through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme from £1.2 million to £5 million and ensuring businesses can access the first 12 months of that finance interest free. Measures that will have a direct impact on music venues and festivals include a 100% business rates holiday for 12 months, increasing grants to businesses eligible for Small Business Rate Relief from £3,000 to £10,000 and providing a further £25,000 grants to those with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000.

The Chancellor also confirmed that the advice for people to avoid the likes of pubs and venues will be sufficient for businesses to claim on their insurance where they have appropriate business interruption cover for pandemics in place.