Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with voluntary and community organisations on their future resilience in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Ministers and officials are in regular contact with the voluntary sector and are establishing mechanisms to collate robust and ongoing insights into the overall health of the sector.
We are aware that many charities continue to face a significant loss of income due to Covid-19, through reductions in fundraising, trading and investment income.
Support measures such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme can assist with easing the burden placed on organisations that are unable to operate due to social distancing restrictions. The £750 million package of support for charities announced by the Chancellor on 8 April provides targeted support to organisations providing frontline services to vulnerable people affected by the pandemic.
We will continue to work closely to identify further support charities require through this time of financial instability.