Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and Philippa Whitford

Thursday 24th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dr Philippa Whitford (Central Ayrshire) (SNP)]

What steps he is taking to help maintain access to international funding for the culture sector after the transition period.

[The Minister for Digital and Culture (Caroline Dinenage)]

By taking back control of our money, we are able to focus on spending that reflects the needs and ambitions of UK artists and creative professionals. This includes considering alternatives to former international funding programmes. We are committed to supporting our world-leading culture sector to continue to grow and flourish.

[Dr Whitford]

As we have already heard from Members in this Chamber this morning, the culture sector has been hit hard by the covid pandemic and many organisations are struggling to simply survive. EU membership is not a requirement of the programme, so why are the Government ending the UK’s membership of Creative Europe?

[Caroline Dinenage]

Creative Europe funds co-operation across cultural and audio-visual sectors, as the hon. Lady knows. The value of it is roughly £4 million a year. The Government decided that the UK would not continue to participate, but UK beneficiaries will continue to benefit from the programmes for the lifetime of their project, which in many cases runs beyond 2020. In the meantime, we are working in partnership with the devolved Administrations on domestic alternatives, which will be considered as part of the forthcoming spending review.