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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he is taking steps to ensure that local authorities support public local museums and galleries during the next phases of the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.

Local authority owned museums and galleries, who have exhausted other avenues for funding, were entitled to apply for support through the government’s major £1.57 billion support package for cultural organisations. This funding is designed to support organisations through the coronavirus pandemic, available until spring 2021.

Culture and Heritage are at the heart of communities across the country, enriching the lives of millions and this financial investment is testament to the role this sector plays in our lives.

This fund will protect cultural assets of international, national and regional importance, including supporting the levelling up agenda by preventing the loss of valuable cultural fabric from our towns and regions.

In addition, MHCLG is providing local authorities with an unprecedented package of support, including £3.7bn of un-ringfenced grants. This direct ?financial support ?the government has provided is just part of a comprehensive package of support? which includes cashflow measures as well as grants and business rates reliefs for businesses. The Secretary of State for Communities has also announced a co-payment scheme to cover?irrecoverable losses in sales, fees and charges?income?in 2020/21, such as revenue from cultural assets which have been depressed by the pandemic.

The Government continues to monitor the impact of these and other measures and both my department and Arts Council England, the sector’s development body, are in regular touch with local authority museums to engage them on such issues.