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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason the covid-19 guidance for amateur choirs issued by his Department was revised on 18 May 2021.

The Performing Arts guidance was updated on 18 May to reflect the arrangements for Step 3 of the roadmap.

Non-professional groups of up to six people can now sing indoors, in line with the rule of 6 applying to many other indoor activities and gatherings, and can perform or rehearse in groups of up to 30 outdoors. In addition, multiple groups of 30 can now sing outdoors, provided the groups are kept separate throughout the activity, in line with other large events that follow the organised events guidance for local authorities.

This is an important step forward in the return of non-professional performing arts activity from Step 2. We will continue to keep guidance and restrictions under review, in line with the changing situation. Further detail on step 4 will be set out as soon as possible.