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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the number of people employed in the creative industries.

DCMS conducted a business impact survey earlier this year with results published in June and the next set of results are due later in the Autumn. Since the start of the crisis, the department has engaged extensively with stakeholders across the Creative Industries and we are aware of the difficulties organisations and individuals face.

We appreciate that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to the creative industries which is why the Government announced an unprecedented £1.57 billion support package specifically for the cultural sector to help them through this crisis. This funding will provide targeted support to many organisations in the Creative Industries, to stay open and continue operating. This substantial sector-specific package is in addition to economic wide measures such as the furlough scheme, and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, both of which were designed to protect as many jobs as possible.