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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to support freelancers working in the creative sector who are ineligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

Arts Council England (ACE) has already distributed £104m through its Emergency Response Package to ensure the immediate resilience of this vital sector. The package included £80.7 million of support for cultural organisations, and £23.1 million of financial support for individuals, including freelancers. More than 9000 organisations and individuals were successful in applying for this emergency funding.

To complement Government Funding, ACE have made over £115m of funding available for individuals, including freelancers, to apply for. This includes:

• £17.1m through the Emergency Response Fund for individuals;

• £18m through their Developing Your Creative Practice fund;

• £75m through National Lottery Project Grants and

• £6m distributed by a series of Benevolent Funds focused on the self-employed.

An unprecedented £1.57 billion support package for the cultural sector has benefitted the live events sector by providing support to venues and many other cultural organisations to stay open and continue operating. £333 million was awarded to 1973 arts organisations which had applied for grants less than £1 million from ACE. Each organisation that receives money will know what best they can do to support their workforce, including their freelance workforce.