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Written Question
Events Industry: Coronavirus
Monday 12th July 2021

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Events Research Programme, what assessment he has made of the covid-19 viral load people who tested (a) negative before and (b) positive after an event were exposed to.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The risk of COVID-19 transmission at any event will depend on several biological, behavioural and environmental factors including the prevalence of disease at the time, venue design, extent and effectiveness of venue ventilation (including whether events are held indoors or outdoors), numbers and characteristics of attendees, type, nature and purpose of contact, and length of time spent close to others.

Details of the risk of COVID-19 transmission are available in the Events Research Programme: Phase I findings report which was published on Friday 25 June and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/events-research-programme-phase-i-findings

The ERP pilots demonstrated how risk mitigation measures could be put in place to reduce and manage the risks identified for events. Mitigation options include: communications, crowd and audience management strategies, face coverings and ventilation.

It is challenging to generate robust, generalisable evidence of the transmission risk associated with particular events from the first phase of the ERP, including those associated with the event. Phase I pilots were necessarily limited in scale, and took place during a period of low prevalence of the virus. Further, they were insufficient in scale, scope and study designs to generate any direct evidence based on transmission data. Therefore, evidence on case numbers should be treated with caution.

Our independently chaired Science Board agreed that we needed to run more events over multiple dates, in order to gather and generate stronger data that consolidates our evidence base. The third phase of the ERP is currently taking place and will continue to produce additional scientific research and evidence, as well as implementation considerations for government, event organisers, and consumers on reopening events safely with a greater number of attendees.

Public safety is our main priority, and we continue to work closely with the local authorities, DHSC, and PHE to closely monitor attendees. This includes monitoring any potential prevalence of COVID-19 as a result of the events. The Test and Trace team are working closely with the ERP on our pilot events to ensure that any attendee who tests positive for the virus is contacted, and understands the requirement to self-isolate.


Written Question
Events Industry: Coronavirus
Monday 12th July 2021

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of attendees at each of the Events Research Programme pilots reported post-event covid-19 test results.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Details of testing rates and test results for the pilot events in the first phase of the Events Research Programme (ERP) are available in the Events Research Programme: Phase I findings report which was published on Friday 25 June and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/events-research-programme-phase-i-findings

As with the first phase of ERP, scientific studies are led by a number of scientists and the ERP’s research partners, who will publish the results of the second and third phases of ERP in due course.


Written Question
Events Industry: Coronavirus
Thursday 1st July 2021

Asked by: Rosie Cooper (Labour - West Lancashire)

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

What steps he is taking to make further financial support available to the events industry in response to the extension of covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The events industry makes a valuable contribution to the UK economy, and the Government is committed to supporting the sector’s recovery.

We have provided an additional £700 million to support local and national arts, culture and sports institutions as they reopen, that’s on top of the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, bringing our total support for sports and culture to over £2 billion, with around £600 million yet to be distributed.


Written Question
Events Industry: Coronavirus
Tuesday 29th June 2021

Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will introduce a Government-backed insurance indemnity package against the risk of cancellation for the festival industry.

Answered by Caroline Dinenage

This Government recognises the importance of the UK’s live events sector and has provided significant financial support including an additional £300 million to the Culture Recovery Fund, details of which were announced on Friday 25th June.

The DCMS Secretary of State made clear at the DCMS Select Committee in May, the government is aware of the wider concerns around securing indemnity for live events and we continue to assess options to provide further support to the sector within the public health context. He also underlined that the government’s first priority is to remove remaining barriers (such as social distancing) by reaching Step 4 of the Roadmap. Once that point is reached, if events still cannot go ahead because of a failure of the commercial insurance market, the Government will look at intervening as was done for the TV/Film sectors.


Written Question
Events Industry: Coronavirus
Monday 28th June 2021

Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the financial situation of companies in the live events industry supply chain due to the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

DCMS continues to work closely with other government departments, academic institutions and stakeholders to review evidence on the impact of ongoing restrictions within the live events industries.

Most of the financial support schemes do not end until September or after, in order to provide continuity and certainty for businesses.

Throughout this pandemic there has been over £400 billion of economic support, one of the most generous and comprehensive packages in the world.

Although there is no current plan to make a statement on financial situations of individual sectors/settings, our engagements have helped us to understand both the nature and scale of the impact that this particular industry has faced.


Written Question
Events Industry: Coronavirus
Monday 28th June 2021

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

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 Government is not yet in a position to publish the (a) evidence and (b) report on the event research programme.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Events Research Programme report was published on Friday 25 June and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/events-research-programme-phase-i-findings

The Events Research Programme is a joint programme between DCMS, DHSC, and BEIS overseen by an industry-led steering group co-chaired by Sir Nicholas Hytner and David Ross. Evidence from the pilot events is considered by the group to make recommendations to the Prime Minister and the Secretaries of State for DCMS, BEIS and DHSC on how restrictions could be safely lifted at Step 4 of the Roadmap.

The report has been subject to a comprehensive and rigorous coordination and approval process across departments, academic institutions and ERP governance boards, and takes into account the latest public health data.


Written Question
Events Industry: Coronavirus
Monday 28th June 2021

Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish a list all ministers, including the Prime Minister who have received a copy of the Events Research Programme results.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Events Research Programme report was published on Friday 25 June and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/events-research-programme-phase-i-findings

The Events Research Programme is a joint programme between DCMS, DHSC, and BEIS overseen by an industry-led steering group co-chaired by Sir Nicholas Hytner and David Ross. Evidence from the pilot events is considered by the group to make recommendations to the Prime Minister and the Secretaries of State for DCMS, BEIS and DHSC on how restrictions could be safely lifted at Step 4 of the Roadmap.

The report has been subject to a comprehensive and rigorous coordination and approval process across departments, academic institutions and ERP governance boards, and takes into account the latest public health data.


Written Question
Events Industry: Coronavirus
Monday 28th June 2021

Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish the results of the Events Research Programme.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Events Research Programme report was published on Friday 25 June and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/events-research-programme-phase-i-findings

The Events Research Programme is a joint programme between DCMS, DHSC, and BEIS overseen by an industry-led steering group co-chaired by Sir Nicholas Hytner and David Ross. Evidence from the pilot events is considered by the group to make recommendations to the Prime Minister and the Secretaries of State for DCMS, BEIS and DHSC on how restrictions could be safely lifted at Step 4 of the Roadmap.

The report has been subject to a comprehensive and rigorous coordination and approval process across departments, academic institutions and ERP governance boards, and takes into account the latest public health data.


Written Question
Events Industry: Coronavirus
Monday 28th June 2021

Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish all (a) economic and (b) other assessments of the effect of not allowing large events during the covid-19 outbreak in summer 2021.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

We recognise the challenging times facing all sectors currently, and continue to support them in line with the prime minister's roadmap to the full reopening of the economy.

Although we have no plans currently to publish an assessment, the Department has been working closely with stakeholders across large event settings throughout the pandemic, and this has helped us to understand both the nature and the scale of the impact this sector has faced.

Step 4 of The Prime Minister's roadmap allows large events to go ahead in Summer 2021 without restrictions. The roadmap sets out a cautious and gradual approach - led by data, not dates - and while we know there may be loss of some business as a result of the delay to step 4, public health must remain the government’s top priority.


Written Question
Events Industry: Coronavirus
Wednesday 23rd June 2021

Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Government's announcement of 14 June 2021 not to move ahead with Step 4 of the Government's roadmap for the easing of covid-19 restrictions from 21 June 2021, whether his Department has made an estimate of the value of business that will be lost by the events sector as a result of continued limits on capacity for that sector.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

We recognise the challenging times currently facing all sectors, and continue to support in line with the prime minister's roadmap to the full reopening of the economy. Events sectors experienced a 50-60% drop in GVA in Spring 2020, relative to 25% in other sectors. The Department has been working closely with stakeholders across the events sector throughout the pandemic to understand both the nature and scale of the impact that this sector has faced.

Since 17 May, events have been able to reopen subject to capacity caps which vary depending on whether the event is indoors or outdoors. The Government has also launched the Events Research Programme which is looking at how best to mitigate transmission risks across a number of event settings.

We are committed to helping the events sector reopen fully, and while we know that the loss of some business that may occur as a result of the delay to step 4, public health must remain the top priority. The roadmap sets out a cautious and gradual approach, led by data, not dates.

Throughout the pandemic, businesses have had access to an unprecedented £350 billion package of support including cash grants, government-backed loans, the extended furlough scheme and £5 billion for new Restart Grants.

To ensure that people and businesses have time to plan as the economy reopens in line with the easing of restrictions, schemes such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will continue until September 2021. Support for businesses through grants and loans, business rates and VAT relief is also still available.