Minister of State for Media and Data (): I am repeating the following
Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 April 2023 in the other
place by my Noble Friend, the Minister for Arts and Heritage,
of Whitley Bay:
Publication of the Culture Recovery Fund Evaluation and
Release of Management Data
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has today
published a report evaluating the impact and delivery of the
Culture Recovery Fund (CRF). I will place a copy of the report in
the Libraries of both Houses. The report can also be found
online(opens in a new tab).
DCMS has also today released aggregated management data from CRF
applications and awards. I will place a copy of this release in
the Libraries of both Houses. This information can also be found
online. As Sir Damon Buffini, Chairman of the Culture Recovery
Board, says in his foreword to the evaluation, the Culture
Recovery Fund has played a vital role in ensuring the long-term
success of the sector, and this evaluation details how the Fund
has supported the sector.
The Culture Recovery Fund
The resilience, adaptability, and creativity of the cultural
sectors undoubtedly helped get them through the pandemic. This
was bolstered by the unwavering support provided by the
government through the Culture Recovery Fund. This was an
unprecedented package of measures encompassing loans, grants, and
support for capital works to provide full-spectrum support for
organisations in these sectors, and one which we hope will never
again be needed.
This evaluation report provides clear evidence that the CRF
worked - supporting around 5,000 organisations and protecting
thousands of jobs.
The report concludes that CRF met its overall objectives, was
efficiently implemented and demonstrated value for money. It
strengthened the financial health of organisations awarded
funding, improved their resilience, and raised their future
survival prospects to a degree that could not have been achieved
by just relying on the broader package of government support.
Looking forward
DCMS and its ministers regularly meet organisations and
individuals in the cultural sectors, and appreciate how important
it is not just that they survived the pandemic, but that they are
able to meet the challenges of the future. The evidence detailed
in this report demonstrates that the CRF has made its recipients
better able to face those challenges head on. As set out in
recent budget, and backed by the DCMS Secretary of State - the
creative industries are one of this government’s five
strategically important high growth sectors - and I am pleased
that the Culture Recovery Fund has played such an important part
in setting up the sector for its next chapter, as well as
ensuring that it is still there to enrich our lives in so many
other ways for decades to come.
