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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing theatres to open in socially distanced conditions in tier 3 areas.

The Government fully recognises the disruptive impact that Coronavirus and restrictions has on the performing arts and particularly for theatres which have had to close to public performance. The Government continues to work with all its sectors to assess the impact of the tiers and to develop proposals for how venues can reopen when it is safe to do so.

We recognise the impact that closures across the country will have on our vital cultural sector and remain committed to supporting it as it suffers the impact of this virus. The remaining £400m of Culture Recovery Fund grants and loans announced on Friday 11th December will support significant cultural organisations who now face financial distress as a result of closure, as well as helping them transition back to fuller opening in the spring.

More than 440 theatres across the country have received more than £183 million from the Culture Recovery Fund, which is nearly 30% of the funding awarded by Arts Council England so far.