Evaluation of the Culture Recovery Fund and Publication of Management Data

I am repeating the following written ministerial statement made on 21 April 2023 in the other place by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my noble Friend Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay:

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has today published a report evaluating the impact and delivery of the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF). I will place a copy of the report in the Libraries of both Houses. The report can also be found online. DCMS has also today released aggregated management data from CRF applications and awards. I will place a copy of this release in the Libraries of both Houses. This information can also be found online. As Sir Damon Buffini, chairman of the Culture Recovery Board, says in his foreword to the evaluation, the Culture Recovery Fund has played a vital role in ensuring the long-term success of the sector, and this evaluation details how the fund has supported the sector.

The resilience, adaptability, and creativity of the cultural sectors undoubtedly helped get them through the pandemic. This was bolstered by the unwavering support provided by the Government through the Culture Recovery Fund. This was an unprecedented package of measures encompassing loans, grants, and support for capital works to provide full-spectrum support for organisations in these sectors, and one which we hope will never again be needed.

This evaluation report provides clear evidence that the CRF worked—supporting around 5,000 organisations and protecting thousands of jobs.

The report concludes that CRF met its overall objectives, was efficiently implemented and demonstrated value for money. It strengthened the financial health of organisations awarded funding, improved their resilience, and raised their future survival prospects to a degree that could not have been achieved by just relying on the broader package of Government support.

DCMS and its Ministers regularly meet organisations and individuals in the cultural sectors, and appreciate how important it is not just that they survived the pandemic, but that they are able to meet the challenges of the future. The evidence detailed in this report demonstrates that the CRF has made its recipients better able to face those challenges head on. As set out in recent Budget, and backed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the creative industries are one of this Government’s five strategically important high growth sectors, and I am pleased that the Culture Recovery Fund has played such an important part in setting up the sector for its next chapter, as well as ensuring that it is still there to enrich our lives in so many other ways for decades to come.