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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to support charities during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government made a £750 million package of support available, specifically for charities, social enterprises and the voluntary sector. This 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. To date, over 15,000 charities have received funding. This includes household names such as St John Ambulance, NSPCC, Age UK, Barnardo’s and the British Red Cross as well as over 8,000 small organisations.

On top of this, the Government continues to make an unprecedented multi-billion-pound package of support available across the economy to enable organisations to get through the months ahead. Charities continue to access these schemes, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, grants for organisations that have been required to close, including retail and leisure facilities, deferral of VAT bills to the end of June, and government backed loan schemes.