DCMS ministers were answering questions in the Commons today.
The following two may be of particular interest.
Live Events and Cultural Festivals: Government-backed Insurance
Scheme
(Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)
If he will hold discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer
on the potential merits of introducing a Government-backed
insurance scheme for the live events sector.
(Richmond Park) (LD)
What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer
on establishing a Government-backed insurance fund to help
support the return of live events and cultural festivals during
the covid-19 outbreak.
The Minister for Digital and Culture ()
The Government are aware of the concerns that have been raised
about the challenge of securing indemnity cover for live events,
and my officials and the rest of the team at the Department for
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport continue to work closely with
the affected sectors to understand all the barriers to reopening,
including financial support, certainty around the public health
situation and the potential challenges of insurance.
Insurance providers, live music venues, promoters and artists
have jointly called on the UK Government to support an insurance
fund to get live cultural events back up and running, with
assurance that covid flare-ups will not ruin their chance at a
recovery. Will the Minister meet with representatives from the
live music industry to discuss those proposals?
Yes, I meet representatives from the live music industry all the
time, and the Government road map sets out a clear plan that will
allow events to return quickly and safely. That is being backed
up by the events research scheme, which will give the evidence to
provide the how and the when. We really understand how vital it
is to get people back to doing the things they love as quickly as
is safely possible, and we understand the huge benefits to our
economy in allowing that to happen.
[V]
I was pleased to hear the Minister’s report of meetings with
industry stakeholders and insurance bodies. Will she release all
documents relating to those discussions, to allow proper scrutiny
of the decision making around insurance for live events this
summer?
Where appropriate, of course we can publish documents, but
sometimes we have to have conversations behind closed doors, so
that people can get off their chest how they are feeling and we
can do our best to tackle it. We understand that there are a
number of obstacles for our sectors at the moment, and the
culture recovery fund has been fantastic at supporting them to
keep going through this really difficult time. The hon. Lady will
be delighted to know that her Richmond Park constituency has
benefited to the tune of over £1 million from the culture
recovery fund, which has supported so many incredible
organisations, such as the Orange Tree theatre.
(Ochil and South Perthshire) (SNP) [V]
As if the Government’s refusal to underwrite live music insurance
was not bad enough for the industry, the UK Government rejected a
deal with the EU that would have allowed artists and their crews
to tour without visas, as they did pre Brexit. At her recent
Select Committee appearance, the Minister said that as far as she
knew, no negotiations with individual states were taking place to
resolve these arrangements, but she promised to strain “every
sinew” to resolve this Brexit disaster. That was over a month
ago. Have the Government finally engaged in bilateral talks over
visa agreements for artists? If so, with which countries? What
progress has been made? Artists are waiting to hear.
The hon. Gentleman knows that not all of what he said is 100%
true. The Treasury has always said that it would look at
indemnity if it was the only obstacle to events being able to
take place, and in the current public health situation there is
huge uncertainty, which is clearly another major obstacle. He
also knows that we did not turn down an excellent visa option
from the EU. He knows that the visa option that was on the table
would not have permitted touring; it was just for ad hoc events
and would not have supported all the support crews that
necessarily go with a tour. With regard to international
discussions, I met my colleagues in the Foreign, Commonwealth and
Development Office only yesterday.
Work Permit-free Travel: Musicians and
Performers
(Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab)
What assessment he has made of the effect of the removal of work
permit-free travel between the UK and EU for musicians and
performers on the UK's creative industries.
(Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)
What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on work
permit-free travel for musicians and other performers to and from
the EU. [913610]
The Minister for Digital and Culture ()
The Government recognise the importance of international touring
for our creative and cultural sectors. The DCMS-led working group
on creative and cultural touring, which involves sector
representatives and other key Government Departments, is working
through the issues to ensure that the sector gets both the
clarity and the support that it needs.
[V]
Musicians are eager to get back to work when restrictions allow,
but for those who would normally tour Europe that will require a
mountain of paperwork to be negotiated both for themselves and
their instruments. This is increasingly urgent as we approach the
lifting of lockdown restrictions, with little time left to
negotiate bilateral agreements. Can the Minister confirm that
Ministers are talking to their EU counterparts about securing
visa waivers to allow our musicians to tour Europe freely when
restrictions are lifted?
The hon. Lady is right: the end of freedom of movement has
inevitably had some consequences for touring artists. We want our
cultural and creative professionals to be able to work easily
across Europe, in the same way that EU creatives are able to work
flexibly in the UK, and we are working very closely with the
sector to consider all the available options. I have said right
from the start that our door will always be open if the EU is
willing to reconsider its position, but we are also working with
colleagues across Government and members of our working group on
our engagement with different member states. I met FCDO
colleagues only yesterday once again to discuss this, and we want
to ensure that touring can resume as easy as possible for UK
artists.
[V]
My constituent George Jackson is a conductor. He has told me that
in order to be able to fill last-minute jobs in the EU he would
previously have needed just to get on a plane or train and been
ready to be with the orchestra the next day, but he says that now
he faces expensive and time-consuming paperwork just to achieve
the same as before. It seems that the Government have managed to
unite artists and creatives across the country in wanting to see
the Government sort this out. Even Sir Elton John was urging the
Government to fix this mess, so in that spirit can the Minister
commit to keeping our creative industries standing rather than
letting the sun go down on them?
I thank the hon. Lady for her question, and we understand the
strength of feeling on this. The Secretary of State met Sir Elton
John recently as well to discuss the issue. We care passionately
about finding a solution to this, which is why we set up the
DCMS-led working group on creative and cultural touring. It
involves representatives from across the creative and cultural
touring sectors and all the key Government Departments that have
a handle on this, and we are working through all the issues and
all the options to help the sectors resume touring as easily as
possible when it is safe to do so, but, as the hon. Lady said,
the priority is getting touring performers the information and
support they need to tour, and, crucially, working bilaterally to
ensure the process is as smooth and seamless as possible when
they are able to do so.
