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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support is being made available to (a) photographers and (b) other freelancers who work primarily in the wedding, conference, and events sector in response to the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown; and what his Department's long-term strategy is regarding support for people who work in that sector.

We are aware that the wedding, conference and events sectors have been severely impacted by Government measures to control the spread of Covid-19. We have introduced a range of support measures to assist businesses and individuals during this period, including various government-backed loans and business grants. Self-employed individuals can seek support through the self-employed support scheme.

The Chancellor also announced that Local Authorities in England will be given an additional £594 million discretionary funding to support their local businesses. This builds on the £1.1 billion discretionary funding which local authorities in England have already received to support their local economies and help businesses impacted.

It is up to each local authority to determine eligibility for the Additional Restriction Grant based on their assessment of local economic need; however, we encourage local authorities to support businesses which have been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, but which are ineligible for the other grant schemes.

We continue to engage with stakeholders, including through the Tourism Industry Council and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Advisory Panel, to monitor the situation facing the sector and to assess how we can support its long term recovery. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy is engaging with representatives from the wedding industry to discuss the longer-term reopening of that sector.