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 Chancellor of the Exchequer to increase the rate of Theatre Tax Relief.

The Secretary of State and DCMS are committed to supporting the cultural sector through this challenging time and we recognise how severely theatres, theatre companies and live music venues have been hit by COVID-19. The Government is supporting these sectors through unprecedented financial measures, including business rate reliefs, the Job Retention Scheme, Self-Employed Income Support Scheme and the world-leading £1.57 billion support package for culture. DCMS has also worked closely with its arm’s-length bodies to deliver tailored support packages at speed, including the £160m Emergency Funding Package announced by Arts Council England, made possible by Government funding.

In 2018-19, £78 million of theatre tax relief was paid out relating to 3,380 productions, of which 950 were touring and 2,430 were non-touring. Since Theatre tax relief was introduced in September 2014, £208 million has been paid out relating to 8,395 productions. HM Treasury keeps all tax reliefs under review and DCMS continues to engage with these sectors extensively to best understand the challenges they face and consider the additional measures that may be needed to support the long-term recovery of these sectors.