Covid-19: Live Music Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet) (Con): What
steps he is taking to help the live music sector respond to the
economic effect of the covid-19 outbreak. The Minister for Digital
and Culture (Caroline Dinenage): In addition to more than £100
billion of general business support, our unprecedented investment
of £1.57 billion in the culture recovery fund has seen more than
£500 million handed out to organisations across England to date, a
fifth of which has gone to the...Request free trial
Covid-19: Live
Music
(Chipping
Barnet) (Con): What steps he is taking to help the
live music sector respond to the economic effect of the covid-19
outbreak.
The Minister for Digital and Culture (): In addition to more than £100 billion
of general business support, our unprecedented investment of £1.57
billion in the culture recovery fund has seen more than £500
million handed out to organisations across England to date, a fifth
of which has gone to the music sector. Those funds are providing
valuable protection to live music venues and festivals, and to all
the valuable jobs that rely on them.
:
I know the whole sector is very grateful for the support it
has received from the Government, but if we are going to get music
festivals and major events on again from the spring and summer,
businesses need to be signing contracts and spending money now.
Will the Minister give serious consideration to Government support
for an indemnity or insurance scheme so that they can make those
decisions in the confidence that, if there is a third wave, their
losses will be mitigated?
: I thank my right hon. Friend for that
question. I am well aware of the concerns about and the challenges
of securing insurance for live music events. It is something we are
looking at very carefully, but the key is for the industry to build
an evidence base that demonstrates that insurance coverage is the
only barrier to events being able to take place. That is what we
managed to prove with the film and TV production restart scheme. In
the meantime, the remaining £258 million of the culture recovery
fund will very shortly be made available to provide extra
support.
(Solihull) (Con) [V]: On a similar theme,
the UK is the world leader in music and arts festivals. The sector
is worth £12 billion and supports many thousands of highly skilled
jobs, as well as being the financial lifeblood of the
nation’s musicians However, there will be
no festival season next year unless insurance is underwritten in
case of covid disruption. First, will the Minister meet with me and
MPs from across the House to see how that reinsurance can be put in
place? Secondly, noting her answer to the previous question, does
she recognise that with a minimum lead time of six months, the
reinsurance needs to be in place now before the likes of
Glastonbury can commit and, if it is not, those festivals
effectively cannot be put in place? We need them to be able to sign
those contracts today, rather than to wait several months and then
have an insurance scheme in place.
: I know this is something that my hon.
Friend cares deeply about and that he met the Secretary of State
recently to discuss it. Festivals are a vibrant and integral part
of our creative community and our economy, and I am well aware that
many will take decisions very soon about whether they can go ahead
next year, so this is an urgent situation. There is a sub-group of
my entertainment and events working group looking specifically at
how we can get festivals reopened. I have met in the past few weeks
with representatives from festivals in Edinburgh, and only
yesterday with representatives from festivals on the Isle of
Wight.
Creative Industries:
Support to Work in the EU
(Bristol
East) (Lab): What plans he has to support the creative
industries to work in the EU when the transitional arrangements
with the EU come to an end.
The Minister for Digital and Culture (): The Government continue to engage with
creative sectors so that they know how to prepare for changes at
the end of the transition period. We are seeking a reciprocal
arrangement with the EU that would allow UK citizens to undertake
some business activities in the EU without a work permit on a
short-term basis. We cannot comment on the details of those
arrangements at the moment, as the negotiations are still
ongoing.
:
As the least musically talented member ever of the
musicians Union,
I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of
Members’ Financial Interests. I am sort of pleased that the
Minister gave that answer, although it does mean that I am slightly
floundering as to what question to ask her now, because that was
what I was going to ask. musicians really need that
reciprocal exemption. I know she says that what is important is
that they are ready and prepared for when they can resume touring
again, but it is really late in the day to leave this, and
Ministers told the musicians Union
that it would be quite an easy thing to do. Is it possible to get
some reassurance to them now, rather than later?
: I pay tribute to the hon. Lady; she may
not have musical talent, but she has some of the best musical taste
in this House. The cultural and creative sectors are, as she knows,
some of the UK’s greatest success stories and produce talent that
is recognised the world over. Being outside the EU will not change
that, but it does mean that we need practical changes on both sides
of the channel. That will not come as a big surprise; DCMS has been
engaging for very long time with the relevant trade and membership
bodies, which cover a membership of approximately 150,000
businesses and freelancers. We have also had “Get ready for Brexit”
and “Check. Change. Go.” public information campaigns, so we have
been keeping people updated every step of the
way.
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