Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how the £1.57 billion support package for the arts and culture sectors has been allocated.

On 22nd August, the £3.36 million Emergency Grassroot Music Venues Fund was shared among 136 venues across England who applied for support to survive the imminent risk of collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The first independent cinemas to be funded by the BFI grants were also announced on 2nd October. In total, 42 independent cinemas across England received a share of £654,883 in funding to preserve the local cultural offer and rescue organisations at risk of insolvency. As this is a rolling fund, more funding decisions regarding cinemas will be announced over the coming weeks. Awards for cinemas can include £10k to help with safety improvements and up to £200k available for business sustainability.

On Friday 9th October 445 heritage organisations were awarded £103 million from the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage. Grants of up to £1m will deliver a lifeline for the heritage sector in England with further support to follow and larger grants for capital projects awarded through the Heritage Stimulus Fund.

On Monday 12th October Arts Council England awarded £257 million to over 1,300 organisations which applied for less than £1 million. The funding goes to theatres, galleries, performance groups, arts organisations, museums and local venues facing the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic to ensure they have a sustainable future.

Further announcements of how the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund will be allocated will be made in the coming weeks.