A group of Peers has asked ministers to consider further steps to
support and protect creative industries from the “acute impact”
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The House of Lords Communications
and Digital Select Committee has written to Culture
Secretary to ask what more the
government will do to ease the economic impact of prolonged
closures and to enable the safe return of
employees.
The Committee believes that current Government
advice to avoid large gatherings or those in smaller public
spaces but to return to work if unable to work from home is
“difficult to apply in the context of the creative
industries”.
, Chair of the
Committee, said in a letter to the Culture
Secretary:
“The performing arts, museums and galleries,
and TV and film production all require groups of people in close
proximity. At the same time, they largely require ‘in person’
attendance by workers and performers.
“Consequently, the creative industries will
likely be one of the last sectors able to reopen
fully.”
The Committee is concerned too that the new
Cultural Renewal Taskforce aimed at helping to get the recreation
and leisure sector up and running again may have “limited impact”
without proper resources.
With seven in 10 artists and craftspeople who
support the performing arts being self-employed, the Committee
also wants the Government to consider extending its
Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to include those with
recent second jobs and those who have taken parental or adoption
leave - as well as increasing the scheme’s cap and
duration.
The Committee is concerned too that a prolonged
pandemic may “emphasise” barriers to entering the performing arts
for people from under-represented groups and damage arts
education provision, affecting “the educational and emotional
recovery of children, young people, teachers, parents, and
carers.”
The letter is online here.
Notes to
editor
-
The House of Lords
Communications and Digital Committee is
chaired by and considers the media, digital
and the creative industries.
