The Government recognises the challenge the current pandemic poses to our arts and culture sectors and to the many freelancers working across these industries. As the sector reopens, we continue to keep our cultural recovery policy under constant review.

Freelancers have been supported through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). which has so far helped 2.8m self employed. Details on future SEISS support were announced by the Chancellor in his Budget Statement in March, with an extension of the scheme to September 2021. Around 500,000 additional people have been brought into scope who filed a tax return in 2019-20, or were previously ineligible, who now may be able to claim the fourth grant.

However, it is also the case that the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) had significant indirect benefits for freelancers. In Round 2, organisations were asked to estimate how many FTEs and freelancers were protected by the fund until the end of June. Collectively, applicants reported that 52,000 full time staff and almost 100,000 freelancers would be supported until the end of June. And ALBs were able to complement SEISS with their own interventions i.e. over £51m from ACE to individuals.

Additionally, the third round of the Culture Recovery Fund was announced on 25 June. This third and final round of funding will provide further support as the cultural, heritage and creative sectors reopen at full capacity, underlining the government’s commitment to help them build back better as life returns to normal.

DCMS and Arms Length Bodies categorise organisations by discipline, rather than position within the supply chain, and so we cannot provide the data requested.

We appreciate that grant payment delays can cause confusion and concern, however as of 24 June, 88% of CRF recipients have now received first round funding, and 72.6% have received second round funding. Culture Recovery Fund grant payments are typically made in multiple tranches, a first payment at the start of the grant period, followed by a final payment at the end of the period.

The Government recognises the significant challenge the current pandemic poses to our arts and creative sectors and to the many freelancers and supply chain businesses working across these industries and keeps cultural recovery policy under constant review.

Freelancers have been supported through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). SEISS has so far helped 2.8m self employed. Details on future SEISS support were announced by the Chancellor in his Budget Statement in March, with an extension of the scheme to September 2021. Around 500,000 people were brought into scope who filed a tax return in 2019-20, or were previously ineligible, who now may be able to claim the fourth grant.

However, it is also the case that the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) had significant indirect benefits for freelancers. In Round 2, organisations were asked to estimate how many FTEs and freelancers were protected by the fund until the end of June. Collectively, applicants reported that 52,000 full time staff and almost 100,000 freelancers would be supported until the end of June. And ALBs were able to complement SEISS with their own interventions i.e. over £51m from ACE to individuals.

Similarly, supply chain organisations were eligible for the first and second rounds of the CRF and are recognised as a critical part of the sector. Many organisations have been funded through the CRF, including: Production Park, Wakefield and Adlib Audio Limited, Knowsley.

Additionally, the third round of the Culture Recovery Fund was announced on 25 June. This third and final round of funding will provide further support as the cultural, heritage and creative sectors move towards reopening at full capacity, underlining the government’s commitment to help them build back better as life returns to normal.

The ‘COVID-19 Response - Spring 2021’ announced by the Prime Minister on the 22 February provides a roadmap out of the current lockdown in England, including for live events. Once theatres and live entertainment venues are able to reopen, we want the public to show their support by attending events, and we will continue to review all viable options to ensure the successful reopening of the live entertainment sector.

DCMS continues to engage with HM Treasury to ensure the needs of our sectors are factored into the developing economic response, and that DCMS sectors, including the music sector, are supported throughout this time. The Government recognises the significant challenge the current pandemic poses to many individuals and freelancers working in the music industry, and we are working very hard to help freelancers in this sectors access support, including through Arts Council England and the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) which 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.

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.

The Government recognises the significant challenge the current pandemic poses to many individuals and freelancers working in the music industry.

The Government has carried out an assessment of access to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) for individuals’ working in the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Sector:

• For SEISS round 1: 76,000 individuals given an average of £2,700

• For SEISS round 2: 72,000 individuals given an average of £2,400

• For SEISS round 3: 66,000 individuals given £2,700

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.

The Government has and will continue to look for ways to improve the Self Employment Income Support Scheme grant and existing support.

This Government recognises the importance of the UK’s thriving cultural industries, and that is why it pushed for ambitious arrangements to make it easier for performers and artists to perform across Europe as part of the negotiations on our future relationship with the EU.

This Government proposed to the EU that musicians, and their technical staff, be added to the list of permitted activities for short-term business visitors in the entry and temporary stay chapter of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. This would have allowed musicians and their staff to travel and perform in the EU more easily, without needing work-permits. These proposals were rejected by the EU.

As with legal text shared in confidence with trading partners, elaborating on discussions between departments related to the development of legal text for trade agreements would not be appropriate as these discussions took place in confidence.

The Government recognises the significant challenge the current pandemic poses to our world-beating cultural and creative industries and to the many individuals and freelancers working across the sector. We are working very hard to help freelancers in those sectors access support.

According to the latest statistics (published on the 25th November), over two thirds of all those who are self-employed in the country have been eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme. Those statistics showed that 76,000 self employed people in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector got SEISS support in phase 1 earlier this year, and 72,000 in phase 2.

Of the £119m available through Arts Council England as part of their Covid emergency support, over £26m has been distributed to individuals, including freelance workers, and organisations via the Emergency Relief Fund and Project Grants Funding (as of 5 November 2020).

Within the £26m, £17m has been distributed to individuals via ACE’s Emergency Response Fund (now closed) and c.£9m has so far been distributed to both organisations and individuals via Project Grants (out of a total of c.£80m available until April 2021).

In addition to the two Funds above, the £119m also includes the following:

• £6 million distributed by a series of Benevolent Funds focused on self employed individuals; and

• £18 million available through their Developing Your Creative Practice Fund

The £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) is also benefiting freelancers. Around 40% of CRF awards have gone to non-building based companies (and building based companies are also likely to employ significant numbers of contracted employees), and it is estimated that around 12.5% of business costs by CRF recipients will go to freelancers, artists and casual events staff.

Under the new Tiers which came into force in England on 2 December live audiences are permitted in indoor covid secure venues in Tiers 1 and 2 in line with the capacity caps now in place and provided social distancing is maintained in line with the Performing Arts Guidance.

The government has taken active steps to support the self-employed. We’ve supported the self-employed with over £13 billion in grants and the Chancellor has doubled the generosity of the self-employed grant extension scheme from 20% to 40% of people’s profits. The expanded Jobs Support Scheme, announced by the Chancellor on 22 October, will include more generous and frequent cash grants, and more help for the self-employed.

DCMS continues to engage with HMT to feed into their assessment of the potential impacts of Government support. We will ensure the needs of our sectors are also factored into the developing economic response, and that DCMS sectors, including the live music industry, are supported throughout this time.

The Arts Council England has made £119 million available to individuals (including freelancers and self-employed), with £23.1 million already distributed and £95.9 million currently available to apply for via open funds.

The £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund will benefit freelancers, because it will invest in organisations and help them to reopen, and restart performances.

Over two thirds of eligible people in the cultural sectors have benefitted from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). We’ve supported the self-employed with over £13 billion in grants and the Chancellor has doubled the generosity of the self-employed grant extension scheme from 20% to 40% of people’s profits. The expanded Jobs Support Scheme, announced by the Chancellor on 22 October, will include more generous and frequent cash grants, and more help for the self-employed.

DCMS continues to engage with HMT to feed into their assessment of the potential impacts of Government support. We will ensure the needs of our sectors are also factored into the developing economic response, and that DCMS sectors, including the live music industry, are supported throughout this time.

The Arts Council England has made £119 million available to individuals, with £23.1 million already distributed and £95.9 million currently available to apply for via open funds.

The £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund will benefit freelancers, because it will invest in organisations and help them to reopen, and restart performances. So far, over £500m has been announced from the Culture Recovery Fund to protect cultural organisations across England, almost a fifth of which has gone to the music sector.

We recognise the crucial role that freelance individuals play in making our arts and creative industries world-leading.

We recognise the crucial role that individuals play in making our arts and creative industries world-leading. As a result of these grants and loans, organisations will be more able to resume cultural activity, albeit in a socially distanced way, which will increase employment opportunities for freelancers. Each organisation that receives money will know what best they can do to support their workforce, including their freelance workforce.

And the culture recovery fund will benefit freelancers, because it will invest in organisations and help them to reopen, and restart performances. It will help many put on cultural activity within this Financial Year which wouldn’t have been possible without this funding.

The government has taken active steps to support the self-employed. Over three quarters of eligible people in the cultural sectors have benefitted from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

The Arts Council England has made £119 million available to individuals, with £23.1 million already distributed and £95.9 million currently available to apply for via open funds. This includes:

• £17.1 million distributed through the Emergency Response Fund for individuals;

• £6 million distributed by a series of Benevolent Funds focused on the self employed.

• £18 million available through their Developing Your Creative Practice fund;

• £77.9 million available through National Lottery Project Grants (available to both individuals and organisations).

And the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund will benefit freelancers, because it will invest in organisations and help them to reopen, and restart performances. It will help many put on cultural activity within this Financial Year which wouldn’t have been possible without this funding.

The 1,385 successful arts recipients that were announced on Monday 12 October set out in their applications that this support would enable them to deliver over £150million of cultural activity before the end of March 2021. As organisations prepare for this activity, they will likely increase their employment of cultural freelancers.

We continue to engage with the sector to discuss the on-going challenges facing the industry.

We recognise the crucial role that individuals play in making our arts and creative industries world-leading.

Arts Council England (ACE) has already distributed £104m through its Emergency Response Package to ensure the immediate resilience of this vital sector. The package included £80.7 million of support for cultural organisations, and £23.1 million of financial support for individuals, including freelancers. More than 9000 organisations and individuals were successful in applying for this emergency funding.

To complement Government Funding, ACE have made over £115m of funding available for individuals, including freelancers, to apply for. This includes:

• £17.1m through the Emergency Response Fund for individuals;

• £18m through their Developing Your Creative Practice fund;

• £75m through National Lottery Project Grants (available to both individuals and orgs); and

• £6m distributed by a series of Benevolent Funds focused on the self-employed.

The Secretary of State announced an unprecedented £1.57 billion support package for the cultural sector which will benefit the live events sector by providing support to venues and many other cultural organisations to stay open and continue operating. £333 million was awarded to 1973 arts organisations which had applied for grants less than £1 million from Arts Council England. Funded organisations included venues, festivals, theatres, museums and cultural organisations. Over the coming weeks further Culture Recovery Fund awards will be announced - including grants over £1 million, and the Capital Kickstart and Repayable Finance programmes.

The Chancellor has announced the Winter Economy Plan to protect jobs and support businesses over the coming months, once the existing Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme come to end. We are also offering businesses who face a drop in demand for their services and possible cash flow issues generous terms for the repayment of deferred taxes and government-backed loans.

We continue to engage with the sector to discuss the on-going challenges facing the industry.

We recognise the crucial role that individuals play in making our arts and creative industries world-leading. As a result of the £1.57 billion Culture Renewal Fund, organisations will be more able to resume cultural activity, albeit in a socially distanced way, which will increase employment opportunities for freelancers.

Each organisation that receives money will know what best they can do to support their workforce, including their freelance workforce.

To complement Government Funding, ACE have made over £115m of funding available for individuals, including freelancers, to apply to. That includes:

• £17.1m through the Emergency Response Fund for individuals;

• £18m through their Developing Your Creative Practice fund;

• £75m through National Lottery Project Grants (available to both individuals and orgs); and

• £6m distributed by a series of Benevolent Funds focused on the self employed.

We recognise the crucial role that self-employed individuals play in making our arts and creative industries world-leading. The Secretary of State has announced a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. This funding will provide targeted support to organisations across a range of cultural and creative sectors. By preserving many arts and cultural institutions, the self-employed and freelance workers will benefit with increased employment opportunities as these organisations resume cultural activities.

To complement the funding for organisations made available by Government, Arts Council England have also announced £95m of additional support for individuals, including freelancers. This involves:

• An additional £75m in project grants. These will be focused on applications that maximise employment opportunities and those from under-represented groups. Freelancers are eligible to apply directly. National Portfolio Organisations can also apply to create new work with bids that create employment opportunities prioritised.

• A further round of the ACE programme ‘Discover Your Creative Practice’ will open in the autumn. This will make approximately £18m available for individuals looking to develop new creative skills that will help them to further develop their career.

• ACE will also be adding £2m into relevant benevolent funds to support those less well supported by the programmes outlined above, including stage managers and technicians.

The government remains committed to supporting our prestigious and internationally renowned arts and cultural sector and is clear on the vital importance the Arts contribute to the well being of the nation at this time. We are committed to continuing to work with these sectors to understand the difficulties they face and help them access support through these challenging times and through recovery.

We recognise the crucial role that self-employed individuals play in making our arts and creative industries world-leading. The Self-Employed Income Support Scheme has helped millions of people across the UK, with those eligible receiving a cash grant worth 80% of their average monthly trading profit over the last three years. This has covered 95% of people who receive the majority of their income from self-employment.

In addition to this scheme designed to support the self-employed, the Government announced an unprecedented £1.57bn support package for organisations in the Arts and Culture sectors. This funding will help preserve and resume cultural activity, initially with socially distanced audiences and subsequently kick start employment opportunities for freelancers.

To complement the funding for organisations made available by Government, Arts Council England have announced £95m of additional support for individuals, including freelancers. This involves:

• An additional £75m in project grants. These will be focused on applications that maximise employment opportunities and those from under-represented groups. Freelancers are eligible to apply directly. National Portfolio Organisations can also apply to create new work with bids that create employment opportunities prioritised.

• A further round of the ACE programme ‘Discover Your Creative Practice’ will open in the autumn. This will make approximately £18m available for individuals looking to develop new creative skills that will help them to further develop their career.

• ACE will also be adding £2m into relevant benevolent funds to support those less well supported by the programmes outlined above, including stage managers and technicians.

The government remains committed to supporting our prestigious and internationally renowned arts and cultural sector and is clear on the vital importance the Arts contribute to the well being of the nation at this time. We are committed to continuing to work with these sectors to understand the difficulties they face and help them access support through these challenging times and through recovery.

DCMS recognises the crucial role that individuals play in the UK’s entertainment and events industry, and that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to many individuals operating in these sectors.

The Secretary of State announced a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. This funding will provide targeted support to organisations across a range of cultural and creative sectors which will benefit self-employed and freelance workers by providing support to music venues and many other organisations in the Creative Industries that host live events, to stay open and continue operating.

To complement the funding for organisations made available by Government, Arts Council England (ACE) have announced £95m of additional support for individuals, including freelancers. This involves:

• An additional £75m in project grants. These will be focused on applications that maximise employment opportunities and those from under-represented groups. Freelancers and National Portfolio Organisations are eligible to apply.

• A further round of the ACE programme ‘Discover Your Creative Practice’ will open in the autumn. This will make approximately £18m available for individuals looking to develop new creative skills that will help them to further develop their career.

• ACE will also be adding £2m into relevant benevolent funds to support those less well supported by the programmes outlined above, including stage managers and technicians.

We are committed to continuing to work with the entertainment and events sectors to understand the difficulties they face and help them access support through these challenging times and through recovery.

DCMS recognises the crucial role that individuals play in the UK’s events industry, and that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to many individuals operating in this sector.

The Secretary of State announced a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. This funding will provide targeted support to organisations across a range of cultural and creative sectors. This support package will benefit freelancers by providing support to cultural venues and many other organisations in the Creative Industries that host live events, to stay open and continue operating.

To complement the funding for organisations made available by Government, Arts Council England (ACE) have announced £95m of additional support for individuals, including freelancers. This involves:

• an additional £75m in project grants. These will be focused on applications that maximise employment opportunities and those from under-represented groups. Freelancers and National Portfolio Organisations are eligible to apply.

• A further round of the ACE programme ‘Discover Your Creative Practice’ will open in the autumn. This will make approximately £18m available for individuals looking to develop new creative skills that will help them to further develop their career.

• ACE will also be adding £2m into relevant benevolent funds to support those less well supported by the programmes outlined above, including stage managers and technicians.

Government has also provided additional support for freelancers by extending the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme.

We are committed to continuing to work with the events sector to understand the difficulties they face and help them access support through these challenging times and through recovery.

On 5 July, the Government announced a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. Guidance has been published by Arts Council England, the British Film Institute, Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund for applicants to the Culture Recovery Grants application rounds, and by Arts Council England for applicants to the Repayable Finance Scheme. Further details on eligibility and application processes are available in the published guidance.

This funding will provide targeted support to organisations across a range of sectors, with one of our core objectives being to support the cultural organisations that are crucial to places across the whole country. We will ensure that funding is distributed fairly, and that smaller organisations and cultural venues that are at the centre of their communities are protected.

We also recognise the crucial role that individuals play in making our arts and creative industries world-leading. As a result of these grants and loans, organisations will be more able to resume cultural activity, albeit in a socially distanced way, which will increase employment opportunities for freelancers.