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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) policies and (b) grant and funding programmes his Department has introduced to provide support to individuals and organisations in response to the covid-19 outbreak; and what funding has been allocated to each of those programmes in the 2020-21 financial year.

DCMS has provided a range of financial support schemes in response to the Covid-19 outbreak and the challenges it has presented. In July 2020 the Secretary of State announced the Culture Recovery Fund to support arts organisations, heritage sites and independent cinemas through £1.57 billion worth of loans and grants. So far over £1 billion of this has been allocated and a second round of funding including £300 million grants and £100 million in repayable finance was announced in December 2020, and launched in January. This scheme has supported more than 75,000 jobs and has assisted cultural institutions such as the National Theatre, and the Royal Albert Hall, as well as thousands of other organisations across England.

The Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support. On 19th November 2020, the government announced a £300 million Sport Winter Survival Package to provide a lifeline to organisations that would otherwise not survive the winter as a result of the restriction on spectators announced from 1 October. Beyond elite level sport, on the 22nd October 2020, the government announced a £100 million support fund for local authority leisure centres. Sport England are also providing £220million directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic, including their £35 million Community Emergency Fund. Sport England’s new strategy, ‘Uniting the Movement’, dedicated £50 million to support grassroots sports clubs and organisations.

In addition, DCMS has made available an unprecedented £750 million package of support, specifically for charities, social enterprises and the voluntary sector. This has ensured that charities and other civil society organisations, including those at risk of financial hardship, could continue their vital work during the Covid-19 outbreak. This includes the £7.5m Loneliness Covid-19 Winter Fund targeting loneliness and bringing people together through libraries, arts services and radio, as well as the £16.5m Youth Covid-19 Support fund for grassroots youth clubs, uniformed youth groups and national youth organisations. In order to increase the community support given to vulnerable people affected by Covid-19, we also delivered the £200m Coronavirus Community Support Fund. This funding has helped to maintain and enhance services for vulnerable people affected by the current Covid-19 crisis, where delivery organisations are experiencing income disruption and/or increased demand.