Last night, government announced a £1.57 billion investment to protect Britain’s world-class cultural, arts and heritage institutions
- Cultural and heritage organisations are to be protected with £1.57 billion support package
- The future of Britain’s museums, galleries, theatres, independent cinemas, heritage sites and music venues will be protected with emergency grants and loans
- Funding will also be provided to restart construction work at cultural and heritage sites paused as a result of the pandemic
This is a very welcome and much needed intervention by government. The Creative Industries Federation, have been working extremely hard in tandem with all their members to advocate, not just to shine a light on the perilous position our brilliant creative organisations and individuals find themselves in, but to also represent the future opportunity for growth that the creative industries offers the UK: growing at 5 times faster than any other industry pre-lockdown.
The package includes funding for national cultural institutions and investment in cultural and heritage sites to restart construction work paused as a result of the pandemic in England, and an extra £188 million for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This will be a big step forward to help rebuild our cultural infrastructure:
- £1.15 billion support pot for cultural organisations in England delivered through a mix of grants and loans. This will be made up of £270 million of repayable finance and £880 million grants.
- £100 million of targeted support for the national cultural institutions in England and the English Heritage Trust.
- £120 million capital investment to restart construction on cultural infrastructure and for heritage construction projects in England which was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This package is a seismic step forwards for our industry, which is teetering on the brink of cultural collapse, with a potentially much wider impact on our communities. We all know that the creative and cultural sectors bring huge benefits to public life: supporting national and local economies, attracting tourism, creating job opportunities, boosting health and wellbeing, and bringing communities together to enjoy themselves and feel pride in where they live.
But there will be much to do to ensure that our world-beating creative sector can thrive once more. This support will rescue many, but so much has changed during the pandemic; there won’t necessarily be an easy return to ‘normal’. It’s particularly heartening to see the reference to supporting freelancers who are a phenomenally important part of the creative industries ecosystem.
If you would like any further information on the above please get in touch with a member of the creatives team.
