In the absence of a wider insurance scheme for the events
industry, the Government liability that will enable pilot events
to go ahead this summer should be extended to cover a wider range
of events to prevent further cancellations, say MPs.
The DCMS Committee is calling on the Government to broaden the
Events Research Programme, and the liability available to the
pilot events under it, to enable a number of culturally
significant events to take place. In correspondence to the
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, MPs
make the case for targeted intervention that would support the
economic recovery of the events industry and its supply chains,
and build on the work of the pilot programme.
DCMS Committee Chair said:
“Targeted help to enable a larger number of events, both
large and small, to go ahead this summer is better than
nothing.
“To see more festivals cancelled and warnings that other
events could follow is very frustrating, especially when we have
been warning the Government about the urgency of insurance for
months and multiple proposals have been put forward.
“We will continue to voice our support for a
comprehensive Government-backed insurance scheme. The
Government’s roadmap, and the time and effort being invested in
testing the safe return of large events, risk being wasted
without it.
“In the absence of such a scheme, what we’re proposing
could allow people to take part in events of real cultural
significance across the country, with huge benefits to them as we
emerge from lockdown.”
ENDS
Further information:
The DCMS Committee’s Future of UK music
festivals inquiry has examined
what support is needed to allow events to go ahead this year. It
has made repeated calls for a
Government-backed insurance scheme to enable festivals and live
performance events to take place.
Correspondence to Rt Hon MP, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and
Sport, is attached to this email.
