Events Industry: Coronavirus

(asked on 15th March 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to encourage local authorities to provide financial support to live event supply chain businesses affected by the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Caroline Dinenage Portrait
Caroline Dinenage
This question was answered on 18th March 2021

The Government has introduced an unprecedented package of support for businesses that are required to close, or which are severely affected by the restrictions put in place to tackle Covid-19 and save lives. Supply chain organisations are recognised as a critical part of our sectors and were eligible to apply for the Culture Recovery Fund.

The discretionary Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) forms part of a wider package of support for businesses that have been mandated to close and also had their trade adversely affected by the Covid-19 Restrictions. The guidance for ARG funding encourages Local Authorities to develop discretionary grant schemes to help those businesses which - while not legally forced to close - are nonetheless severely impacted by the restrictions put in place to control the spread of Covid-19.

This could include - for example - businesses which supply the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors, or businesses in the events sector. The guidance specifically refers to the live events sector.

It is up to each local authority to determine eligibility for the ARG 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.

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