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

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the number of music venues which have closed down in (a) Sheffield, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) England in each of the last four years.

No such estimate has been made. Music venues play a vital role in giving artists the opportunity to hone their craft and enabling them to emerge and flourish. We believe these spaces must be allowed to prosper, which is why we have undertaken a number of measures to support the sector, including reforming licensing and planning guidance and, this year, extending business rates relief to live music venues for the first time.

Arts Council England has recently confirmed an extension of its Supporting Grassroots Live Music Fund, making an additional £1.5 million available over two years from 2019-21. Sheffield’s Abbeydale Picture House and The Wardrobe in Leeds are just two of the venues benefitting from this support so far.

UK Music published the Sheffield City Region Music Report in 2019 which showed that in 2017, £92m was generated by music tourism and 832,000 people (locals and music tourists) attended music events in the region.