Following months of uncertainty as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, that has seen theatres across the country closed, the Government has announced a £1.57bn rescue package for the arts.
Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced late on Sunday night that the Government would be making the ‘biggest, one-off investment in UK culture in history.”
The rescue package will be comprised of:
– £1.15bn of grants and tailored, repayable finance for organisations in England, it is thought around £880m will be in the form of grants
– £100m of targeted support for national institutions and English Heritage
– £120m of capital for heritage projects
– £188m for Wales, Scotland and NI
Over the last week a number of theatres have announced that they have begun redundancy consultations, while others have gone into administration.
Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer said: “Our world-renowned galleries, museums, heritage sites, music venues and independent cinemas are not only critical to keeping our economy thriving, employing more than 700,000 people, they’re the lifeblood of British culture.
“That’s why we’re giving them the vital cash they need to safeguard their survival, helping to protect jobs and ensuring that they can continue to provide the sights and sounds that Britain is famous for.”
Jon Morgan of Theatres Trust said, “ Theatres Trust welcomes the announcement of £1.57bn additional support for the arts and cultural sectors, and the recognition of the importance of these sectors to the UK economy and national life. We will need to know more detail of how this money will be allocated across the different areas to fully assess its benefit – we would hope that a significant proportion will be reserved for the performing arts. Theatres have been amongst the hardest hit industries by the pandemic and are still at risk as they are unable to operate viably while social distancing is in place.
It remains to be seen whether this amount will be sufficient to replace the furlough scheme, as it begins to taper from August and ends in October, at a time when we still do not have timescales for theatres reopening.
We are pleased to see investment in capital projects included in this announcement. Our research has shown that there are more than 100 theatre capital projects worth almost £800m that have been stalled by the pandemic by anywhere between 3 and 18 months at a cost of upwards of £66m.
