Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussion he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on support for people working in the live event supply chain with previous operating profits of over £50,000 per year who are excluded from the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government recognises the significant challenge the current pandemic poses to the arts and creative sectors and to the many businesses, individuals and freelancers working across these industries. We are working very hard to help freelancers in those sectors access support, including through the Self Employment Income Support Scheme and funding from Arts Council England.
Live Event Supply chain organisations have benefitted from economy-wide support that the Government has provided, such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
The Government has announced that the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will continue until September, with a fourth and fifth grant. Individuals will be able to qualify for the new grants based on their 2019-20 tax returns. This means that over 600,000 self-employed individuals may be newly eligible for the SEISS, including many new to self-employment in 2019-20.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
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 Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to encourage local authorities to provide financial support to live event supply chain businesses affected by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government has introduced an unprecedented package of support for businesses that are required to close, or which are severely affected by the restrictions put in place to tackle Covid-19 and save lives. Supply chain organisations are recognised as a critical part of our sectors and were eligible to apply for the Culture Recovery Fund.
The discretionary Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) forms part of a wider package of support for businesses that have been mandated to close and also had their trade adversely affected by the Covid-19 Restrictions. The guidance for ARG funding encourages Local Authorities to develop discretionary grant schemes to help those businesses which - while not legally forced to close - are nonetheless severely impacted by the restrictions put in place to control the spread of Covid-19.
This could include - for example - businesses which supply the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors, or businesses in the events sector. The guidance specifically refers to the live events sector.
It is up to each local authority to determine eligibility for the ARG based on their assessment of local economic need; however, we encourage local authorities to support businesses which have been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, but which are ineligible for the other grant schemes.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on Gross Value Added in the event that festivals and other mass participation events cannot take place in summer 2021 due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We appreciate the important role that the festival sector plays in the UK’s economy, and that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to this sector. We have been working closely with the festival sector to understand the challenges it faces and to keep the situation under review.
The festival sector has estimated the total GVA for festivals to the UK economy is £1.76bn. The industry has also estimated that widespread cancellation of festivals in the summer could lead to a drop in GVA of £1bn (between June and August 2021).
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will provide sector-specific support to (a) events and festivals and (b) companies in the events supply chain where covid-19 restrictions and guidance remain in force.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We are aware that COVID-19 and related restrictions have severely impacted these sectors and their supply chains. We continue to engage with stakeholders through the Tourism Industry Council, the Festival and Outdoor Events Working Group and the Venues Steering Group. These groups include representatives from leading sector organisations and other experts to develop action plans for how we can best support the sector’s safe reopening. Pilots will run as part of the Events Research Programme to examine how such events can take place without the need for social distancing using other mitigations such as testing.
The live events and festival sectors have been eligible to access Government COVID-19 support. This includes various government-backed loans, business grants, reduction in VAT and the extended furlough and self-employed support schemes. The recently announced discretionary Local Restrictions Support Grant and Additional Restrictions Grant provides local authorities with funds to support businesses that meet the eligibility criteria. On 5th January the Chancellor announced one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring.
These sectors have also benefited from the Cultural Recovery Fund (CRF). Over £1 billion worth of funding has now been allocated across the UK, including over £800 million to almost 3800 arts, culture and heritage organisations and sites in England. Supply chain organisations were eligible for the CRF. They are recognised as a critical part of the sector. An additional £300 million was announced at Budget on 3 March for the CRF.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) advice and (b) guidance provided by the (i) Chief Medical Officer and (ii) Public Health England on the reopening of nightclubs and staging of large scale events from 21 June as outlined in Step 4 of the roadmap of exiting lockdown restrictions.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Chief Medical Officer and Public Health England did not provide specific advice on the reopening of nightclubs and the staging of large events.
It is not possible to say what the restrictions on 21 June will be as they will be subject to a further review of the data.
Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Budget 2021 statement on 3 March 2021, whether the support packages for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses extend to the events and exhibitions sector.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government understands this is a difficult time for the events and exhibitions sector who have been acutely impacted by the pandemic.
From April business rate paying businesses in these sectors may be eligible for restart grants of up to £18,000 per business premises. Guidance for Local Authorities (LA) on the eligibility for these grants will be published shortly. In addition, the Government has announced LAs in England will receive a top-up worth a total of £425 million to their allocation from the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), which has already provided LAs with £1.6 billion. This funding is at the LAs discretion and is intended to support businesses which are not eligible for restart grants, but which are nonetheless experiencing a severe impact on their business.
The events and exhibitions sector will also benefit from the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), the Self Employments Income Support Scheme (SEISS), the UK-wide Recovery Loan Scheme, and may also benefit from the £300m extension to the Culture Recovery Fund announced at Budget. This is in addition to the £1.57 billion provided in July 2020.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to create a Government-backed insurance scheme to prevent the cancellation of festivals, live music and events in summer 2021.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
On 22nd February, the Prime Minister announced the Government’s roadmap to cautiously ease lockdown restrictions in England, including an ambition to lift restrictions on large events in Step 4, subject to the outcome of the Events Research Programme.
Officials are considering the most appropriate way to support the events sector, informed by the findings of the scientific programme in the Spring.
We will continue to engage closely with insurers and the events sector to understand the barriers faced by the sector as we recover from the pandemic. Any changes would be communicated to the sector with suitable notice.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of whether the time taken to create a Government-backed insurance scheme for the live events industry will lead to the cancellation of live events in summer 2021.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
On 22nd February, the Prime Minister announced the Government’s roadmap to cautiously ease lockdown restrictions in England, including an ambition to lift restrictions on large events in Step 4, subject to the outcome of the Events Research Programme.
Officials are considering the most appropriate way to support the events sector, informed by the findings of the scientific programme in the Spring.
We will continue to engage closely with insurers and the events sector to understand the barriers faced by the sector as we recover from the pandemic. Any changes would be communicated to the sector with suitable notice.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that the live events industry receives ample notice of the implementation of any Government-backed insurance scheme during the covid-19 outbreak due to long lead times inherent in the production of large live events.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
On 22nd February, the Prime Minister announced the Government’s roadmap to cautiously ease lockdown restrictions in England, including an ambition to lift restrictions on large events in Step 4, subject to the outcome of the Events Research Programme.
Officials are considering the most appropriate way to support the events sector, informed by the findings of the scientific programme in the Spring.
We will continue to engage closely with insurers and the events sector to understand the barriers faced by the sector as we recover from the pandemic. Any changes would be communicated to the sector with suitable notice.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether a negative covid-19 test result will be required for admitting spectators to the pilot projects for re-opening major events which are referred to in the Government's roadmap for lifting covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Prime Minister set out in the roadmap, the Government will run a scientific Events Research Programme over the Spring. The pilots will run from April onwards across a range of settings.
The series of pilots will use enhanced testing approaches and other measures to run events with larger crowd sizes and reduced social distancing to evaluate the outcomes.
Further details regarding the Events Research Programme will be published in due course.