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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, steps his Department is taking to support the cultural sector in the north of England.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has taken steps to ensure unprecedented levels of support has been provided to the cultural sector in the North of England. In 2020/2021, over £350 million has been invested in over 900 organisations based in the North via Arts Council England and the introduction of the Culture Recovery Fund.

The £300m additional funding for the Culture Recovery Fund announced at Budget 2021 will continue to support key cultural organisations up and down the country to help the sector as audiences begin to return, and to ensure a vibrant future for the culture sector as the nation recovers from the pandemic. This support is in addition to the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and the continued reduction in VAT, which has supported many creatives and organisations across the North of England.