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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to provide additional financial support for people working in the creative industries in response to the covid-19 lockdown.

We recognise that the new national restrictions will have a significant impact on individuals working in the creative industries sector.

The Secretary of State announced an unprecedented £1.57 billion support package for the cultural sector which will benefit the creative industries by providing support to venues and many other cultural organisations to stay open and continue operating. So far, over £500m has been announced from the Culture Recovery Fund for over 2,000 organisations across England including venues, festivals and theatres. The Cultural Recovery Fund is devolved, Wales has received £59 million from the Fund under the Barnett formula.

The majority of cultural organisations applied to the Culture Recovery Fund setting out plans to deliver some activity before March 2021. Whilst most of that activity has been disrupted, we know many hope to restart this once the national restrictions end.

We have confirmed that there will be a full package of financial support in place, with the Job Retention Scheme extended until March 2021. Businesses can continue to apply for government-backed loans, and self-employed individuals can access the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, which has been extended until April 2021. The CJRS and SEISS support has been made more generous, with individuals able to receive 80% of their current salary for hours not worked/average trading profits respectively.

We are continuing to meet with creative industries stakeholders to provide support and guidance for the sector during this time.