As we all know, the coronavirus pandemic has put huge strain on our country’s valuable arts sector. Comedy, music, theatre and dance centres have been forced to close their doors and stop all performances to the public. Combined arts, visual arts, museums and many literature organisations have also been affected, putting many people’s careers and livelihoods at risk.
In this article, we explore what financial support has been made available to the arts sector during the coronavirus pandemic, and take a closer look into whether or not this will be enough to save our much-loved arts industry.
Culture Recovery Fund (August 2020)
The government’s Culture Recovery Fund offered what was referred to as a ‘lifeline’ for arts organisations and heritage sites across the country last year. The grants were intended to be used to help organisations operate on a sustainable, low-cost basis, to enable them to reopen at a later date.
The fund, totalling £1.57 billion, was allocated to a variety of arts and culture venues across England. These included famous venues such as London’s Old Vic Theatre, The Royal Exchange and Shakespeare’s Globe. The majority of the grant however, was distributed to venues outside of London, including Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, who received a £2.8 million share of the fund and the Crucible theatre in Sheffield, who’s grant totalled £2.2 million. The deadline for this funding was August 2020, and it’s eligibility criteria can be found on the Arts council website here.
The amount of financial support received in this grant, was based on a variety of factors including how much support the organisation provided to the local community, their current level of employment and their need to close due to the coronavirus pandemic. These recovery grants were designed to provide financial support to these organisations from 1st October 2020 to 31st March 2021. However, many council leaders and arts and culture representatives have expressed their concern that the government’s grants are simply not enough to cover what may be 18 months of disruption and closure.
Second Culture Recovery Fund (January 2020)
In February 2020, Culture Minister Nigel Huddleston responded to concerns about the initial Culture Recovery Fund, stating that £400 million of the fund was held back from the initial round of allocations with the intention of it being used at a later stage to provide more financial support to these institutions.
A second round of funding is now said to be in motion, with England Arts Council being said to have £250 million of new grants of between £25,000 and £3 million to distribute across the country. The eligibility criteria and application information for this second round of funding can be found here. The deadline for applications ended in January and applicants will find out whether or not they have been successful by the end of March 2021.
5% VAT Rate on Tickets (Ending March 2021)
In July last year, the government introduced a tax reduction on the cost of tickets from the standard 20% to just 5%. This temporary reduced rate is set to be in place until the end of March 2021. However, since venues have been forced to close as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, very few organisations have been able to benefit from this reduction.
This reduction currently applies to a range of businesses, such as those running shows, theatres, concerts, cultural festivals and museums, and is believed to be increasing back to it’s initial, post-covid rate at the end of March. The prospect of this policy being reversed has caused even more worry and uncertainty for those in the arts sector, with the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee recommending that this temporary measure should be kept in place for three years.
Developing Your Creative Practice (Deadline 18th February 2021)
The Arts Council England has also put multiple rounds of funding in place to support individual artists and creatives to provide them with the time to develop their ideas, work on new projects and take part in training and mentoring. The latest round of DYCP (Developing Your Creative Practice) funding is still open for applicants, with it’s deadline being on 18th February 2021. More information about this financial support for individuals in the arts sector can be found here.
We hope this has been useful in providing you with an overview of the different types of government funding and financial support available for the Arts Sector during the coronavirus pandemic.