Entertainment Venues:
Covid-19 Support
(Newton Abbot) (Con)
What steps he is taking to support entertainment venues that are
unable to operate as a result of local covid-19 restrictions.
[908259]
The Minister for Digital and Culture ()
We are continually engaging with the entertainment sector about
the ongoing challenges to venues up and down the country. Our
unprecedented £1.57 billion cultural recovery fund is helping to
preserve the cultural fabric of the country, from museums to
music venues, from cinemas to theatres.
[V]
Pavilions, a performing arts venue in Teignmouth, in my
constituency, did not apply for the original round of funding
from the cultural recovery fund, as at that time it was in an
acceptable financial position, and that was very responsible of
it. Unfortunately, a huge decline in business is now affecting
it, so will the Minister consider a new round of funding for the
arts and entertainment industry that Pavilions might apply for?
My hon. Friend is right to bring this issue to our attention. We
understand that this remains a challenging period for many
organisations in the arts and entertainments sector. Some £258
million of the cultural recovery fund has been held back with a
view to offering further support based on evidenced need later in
the financial year. Meanwhile, organisations can, of course, take
advantage of the financial support measures that were made
available by the Government and recently extended, including the
various business grant and loan schemes, and the furlough scheme.
Public Singing:
Covid-19
(New Forest West) (Con)
What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for
Health and Social Care on the criteria for allowing singing in
public during the covid-19 outbreak. [908260]
The Minister for Digital and Culture ()
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has engaged
extensively with Public Health England to provide clear guidance
on singing. The development of the guidance enabled both
professional and non-professional activity to take place in a
covid-secure manner in a range of settings and contexts over
recent months. However, in line with new restrictions coming into
force today, amateur activity can no longer take place.
I am glad that my hon. Friend has confirmed that at least
professionals can continue to rehearse and perform. When will the
rest of us be allowed to sing again without some marshal or other
agent of her totalitarian state seeking to prevent us?
I am sure that, like me, Mr Speaker, you are holding your breath
until the day that we can both enjoy my right hon. Friend’s
impressive falsetto once again, but in the meantime I am pleased
to confirm that performing arts professionals may continue to
rehearse, train and perform for broadcast, recording or
livestream purposes. Of course, the intention after this
four-week period is for an easement of restrictions back into the
tiered system that previously operated throughout the country, in
which case my right hon. Friend will be able to be in fine tune,
to all our great delight, once more.
Creative Freelancers:
Income Support Scheme
(Hornsey and
Wood Green) (Lab)
What plans his Department has to support creative freelancers who
are not eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
[908261]
(Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)
What plans his Department has to support creative freelancers who
are not eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
[908262]
(Ogmore)
(Lab)
What plans his Department has to support creative freelancers who
are not eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
[908272]
The Minister for Digital and Culture ()
Our world-beating cultural and creative industries are absolutely
nothing without the people who work in them. We are working hard
to help freelancers in those sectors to access support,
particularly if they do not qualify for the self-employed income
support scheme. Arts Council England has made available £119
million to individuals, of which £23 million has already been
distributed. Around £96 million is currently still available to
apply for.
Many of the staff who work in creative venues are very low-paid.
What provisions will the Government make if venues remain closed
after the beginning of December, which is very likely?
The hon. Lady will know that the £1.57 billion cultural recovery
fund will benefit freelancers because it enables the assisting of
organisations to reopen and restart performances, perhaps in a
digital or livestream capacity. It will help many organisations
to put on cultural activity in this financial year, which they
would not otherwise have been able to do. I am sure the hon. Lady
will be delighted that in her own constituency of Hornsey and
Wood Green, for example, the recovery funding has enabled the
sharing out of more than £571,000 between six organisations. I am
sure it will be a lifeline for many of them.
I thank the Minister for her answer, but the reality is that the
number of performances will be a fraction of what it would
normally be. I have been contacted by constituents who are
performers, make-up artists, instrumentalists and other
freelancers in the creative sector who work in the west end; they
have been excluded from all Government support. In west London,
universal credit barely covers or fails to cover even the cost of
rents, meaning that people now face going through lockdown with
no additional support, adding to the queues at food banks. What
will the Minister do to help them?
The hon. Lady is right to highlight the plight of freelancers,
without whom, of course, our cultural institutions are simply
bricks and mortar. We know that what they want to do more than
anything is to get back to doing what they love, which is why I
am so delighted that nearly 1,400 of the successful culture
recovery fund recipients announced on 12 October set out in their
applications how the support would enable them to deliver more
than £150 million-worth of cultural activity before the end of
March 2021, which they would not otherwise have been able to do.
As the hon. Lady will know, well over half a million pounds of
that money is being spent in her constituency.
No one is disagreeing with the Minister that additional money has
been put into the arts and culture sector. That amount of money
is always welcome, but the Minister must understand that the
reality is that there are growing numbers of freelancers,
musicians and performance artists who are
excluded from getting any support from Government and are not
benefiting from the individual grants to cultural centres in any
part of the UK. There are growing numbers of organisations
calling for more support specifically for
musicians, whether it is ExcludedUK, the
Incorporated Society of Musicians or the
Musicians’ Movement. What is the Minister or,
indeed, the Secretary of State doing to lobby Treasury Ministers
to ask them to change their mind to ensure that these freelancers
get support so that we have some sort of cultural society left
after the pandemic is over?
As I have already articulated, there is £119 million-worth of
Arts Council England funding for which freelancers can bid, and I
am sure that the Welsh Government are doing something similar
with their share of the cultural recovery fund. It is also all
about protecting opportunities for freelancers. Even in the
latest restrictions that come into force today, we have ensured
that there are exemptions for professional
music, recording studios, film and TV production
and live stream and digital performances. It is all about
enabling those opportunities for people to keep doing the jobs
that they love and that they are so brilliant at.
(Ochil and South Perthshire) (SNP) [V]
The hard-hit creative industries face not only the challenge of
covid, but the looming threat of Brexit. The live music industry
contributes more than £1 billion annually to the economy. EU
nationals, are, of course, a vital part of this picture, with
750,000 music tourists visiting the UK. Barriers
to travel—inevitable after Brexit—could lead to many of them
going elsewhere in Europe. Brexit is not only a problem for those
attending festivals from the EU, but a threat to those who
perform at or work for festivals. There is endless red tape in
the form of ATA carnets and the necessity for individual work
visas. The Government are yet to come up with a viable solution
to any of these problems. Given that, does the Minister accept
that disruption to the ability of essential EU industry
professionals and European visitors coming to the UK will harm
this sector and damage the economy at a time when its success
could not be more important?
No, I do not accept that. My Department has been regularly
engaging with a range of creative industries, including the live
music and cultural sectors, to make sure that
the support is put in place for businesses, freelancers, visitors
and the creative and artistic economy as we move towards the
transition period.
