The comments made by Tracy Brabin, the Shadow Minister for the Cultural Industries, on 16 October 2020.
This is good news for screen productions large and small, but it should not have taken so long and we’re concerned the delay has led to people leaving the industry.
The Government should also do more to help other areas of our creative industries that simply cannot get back to work, and freelancers who have been locked out of meaningful support for months.
The statement made by Caroline Dinenage, the Minister for Digital and Culture, in the House of Commons on 13 October 2020.
I am pleased to inform the House that yesterday we announced 1,385 cultural organisations will share over £257 million from the culture recovery fund to help support arts and culture organisations through the coronavirus pandemic.
This represents the biggest award to date of the culture recovery fund and means we have now provided over £360 million to support cultural and heritage institutions across England.
This vital Government funding is a vital boost for the theatres, music venues, museums and cultural organisations that form the soul of our nation. It will protect these special places, save jobs and help the culture sector’s recovery.
These funds are supporting cultural beacons the length and breadth of the country—from the Beamish museum in County Durham to the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Bristol Old Vic.
The theatre by the Lake, in Keswick, for example will receive over £800,000 in support which recognises its importance as the biggest employer in the area, the devastating impact coronavirus has had on it and theatres more widely, and the importance of safeguarding this wonderful cultural institution for the future.
Or, to take another example, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield: this cherished organisation will receive £804,000 to help the park to adapt its buildings to new regulations and help it reopen safely. Yorkshire Sculpture Park shows work by British and international artists including Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
This is good news not only for these organisations but for towns, cities and workers in these sectors across the country—it will help to protect jobs and ensure our beloved local arts venue can remain afloat and support culture in many communities.
On top of this investment the culture sector has benefited from the job retention scheme, self-employment income support scheme, the bounce back loan scheme, a reduction in VAT from 20% to 5% for tourism and hospitality firms for six months.
I want to reaffirm that we recognise the crucial role that individuals play in making our arts and creative industries world-leading.
The culture recovery fund will benefit freelancers, because it will invest in organisations and help them to reopen, and restart performances which will provide more opportunities for freelancers to be engaged again.
It will also help many put on cultural activity within this financial year which would not have been possible without this funding.
Additionally, to complement this funding for organisations, this year, the Arts Council has made over £115 million of funding available for individuals, including freelancers, to apply to, including £18 million for the Developing Your Creative Practice programme which will open for applications this Thursday.
Regarding next steps, we are working flat out to support these sectors and to get the remainder of the funding and support out to those who need it most as quickly as possible.
There will be further announcements about hundreds of millions of pounds of allocations in the coming weeks to support the UK’s incredible culture, heritage, arts and creative industries.
The Government are here for culture. Help is on its way with more to come in the days and weeks ahead so that the cultural sector—the soul of our nation—can bounce back strongly.
The comments made by Jo Stevens, the Shadow Culture Secretary, on 24 September 2020.
Labour shares the Committee’s concerns about the perilous state of the cultural sector – a sector that has made every effort to adapt and find new ways of working.
The snail’s pace of processing applications for funding is not good enough and as we’ve consistently said the Chancellor needs to provide targeted support for struggling sectors.
Culture is a key part of our national identity as well as an economic success story. Although it is temporarily unable to make any money during the pandemic, it could boom again with the right support at the right time.
Text of the comments made by Jo Stevens, the Shadow Culture Secretary, on 29 July 2020.
While our world-beating creative industries have been clear about the crisis that is overwhelming them, the Government’s focus has been on creating commissions and taskforces rather than getting money to where it’s urgently needed.
Theatres, music venues and other organisations have been desperately waiting for nearly four weeks to hear if they are eligible to apply for the £1.57bn but this announcement still leaves many in the dark.
It’s welcome that the Government has finally taken steps to address the issue of insurance to help get TV and film production up and running, but there are still questions about the detail.
The missing piece in the jigsaw remains freelancers – some of whom have not had a penny from the Government. We’re four months on from the start of the crisis, we need to know when this money will actually get to the frontline.
The comments made by Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 25 July 2020.
Without our grassroots music venues, we wouldn’t have The Beatles, Adele or Elton John. Nearly all of our globally successful music stars started out at UK clubs and live music venues – and we must make sure those organisations weather the Covid storm.
The first £2.25 million of our unprecedented cultural rescue package is targeted at their survival. We’re working to deliver the rest of the £1.57 billion emergency package as quickly as possible, so that we can protect and preserve our precious culture, arts and heritage for future generations.