Fiscal Support for Events Industry: Covid-19

I beg to move,

That this House has considered fiscal support for the events industry during the covid-19 outbreak.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies. There are plenty of events happening these days, but unfortunately they are not the kind of events that we want. Ever-changing political events related to the global pandemic have devastatingly disrupted our ability to take part in the more fun kind of events and our ability to mix and gather safely. Usually, the UK has a truly world-beating, year-round programme of cultural activities: music, theatre, arts and outdoor festivals, as well as conferences, ceremonies and shows—events that happen thanks to the collective efforts of a diverse, trained and skilled workforce that employs around 1 million people. Those events bring us together, inspire us and lift our spirits. Sadly, since March 2020, the cultural map of events has been all but wiped out, and those events have been held only via computer screens. This vibrant sector has been brought to its knees.

I support the need to take action to tackle the increasing spread of the virus. Balancing public health against economic damage is clearly very tricky, although there is no single step more important than controlling the virus when it comes to getting things running again properly in the events sector. Not only are professionals in the events industry keen to follow the rules, but they could help to frame future solutions. The British Events Industry Coalition has members who have expertise in planning and running safe events of all shapes and sizes. They would be delighted to lend their health and safety knowledge and industry experience to help frame future regulation. They have innovative ideas, such as a formal BEIC safety kitemark system, by means of which events could demonstrate adherence to standards, boosting public confidence and getting people back through the gates when guidance allows. I hope that the Minister will be willing to work with industry on that, and I look forward to his response.

Last month, I asked the Prime Minister what to tell constituents in successful, viable businesses whose jobs rely on live events, and he said that it was better that they “get back into work”. I am sure that they would all agree; everyone in the events industry is itching to get back to doing what they are so brilliant at doing, and to pursue careers that they worked so hard to achieve. However, I have to say that the Prime Minister’s response was somewhat puzzling, given that my constituents still cannot do what they want under the Government’s restrictions, which either prevent events from running altogether or allow them merely to limp along in a financially unviable way.

Recently, the Chancellor made it clear what the Prime Minister meant by getting back into work: that people from all walks of life should retrain. To press that message, a Government-backed poster is doing the rounds featuring a young ballet dancer and rather gloomy text, which says that her next job could be in cyber but she does not know it yet. Forget the dedication, blood, sweat and tears and years of professional training for a career in the arts, and forget following passions—get stuck behind a computer. It is a worthy job, no doubt, but is that really the message we want to send to our aspiring young talent? Having tried unsuccessfully to get clarity from the Prime Minister on what he meant by “get back into work”, I hope the Minister can perhaps shed some light on this conundrum.

For those who are not sure what to retrain to do, the UK Government provided a handy quiz to help people find a suitable new career. It is a bit like one of those personality quizzes in glossy magazines that might be found in a dentist’s waiting room, and the results are equally ridiculous. On social media, I saw a choir conductor who was not too happy when advised to consider colon hydrotherapy as an alternative career. I had a go myself, and it suggested that I could perhaps be a football referee, although taking a second job that has something to do with football is clearly not something that a serious politician would consider—except, of course, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, the hon. Member for Moray (Douglas Ross), who clearly has too much time on his hands. My hon. Friend the Member for Gordon (Richard Thomson) suggested to me yesterday that if the Prime Minister were to take the quiz, it might suggest that he retrain as a Prime Minister.

The UK Government’s response to the crisis faced by the events industry has been crass, to say the least. They showed a real lack of understanding of the value of the sector and the far-reaching consequences of letting these jobs simply vanish. These are skilled professionals in viable careers that form the backbone of the UK’s cultural and economic life. Why on earth would the Government give up on them?

In my constituency, and in my council area of Ards and North Down, culture and the arts are vital. It is a core issue for the council, to promote jobs and help things go forward. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that, when it comes to events, whether in partnership with the National Trust or events companies, the council has a key role to play?

I absolutely agree. Local government across the islands plays a critical role in making sure events can take place, and in supporting events—particularly community events, which I will come to later.

It may be that, as some have suggested—I could never be so cruel as to do so—those in the Treasury do not actually value the arts, but they must surely respect the billions of pounds the arts bring into the coffers. If they do not understand the value of that income, perhaps they need to take the retraining website quiz themselves. Let us consider outdoor events alone. I thank the incredible volunteers at the “We Make Events” campaign for compiling the figures. Across the UK, 141.5 million people attended outdoor events in 2018, spending £39.5 billion and supporting 589,000 jobs, with a gross value added of £30.4 billion.

We are very good at running events. In these challenging times, we need to look at what we are good at, to support, encourage and protect those jobs. The great thing about this massive economic generator is that it is the opposite of London-centric. It meets the Government’s proclaimed levelling-up agenda and it provides jobs right across these isles, no more so than in my Midlothian constituency, which not only has a proud tradition of community events and gala days, but is home to many businesses and freelancers who work in the world’s most fabulous and famous global events right on our doorstep in Edinburgh.

In Scotland, prior to the pandemic, the creative industry was among the fastest growing sectors, supporting around £9 billion worth of activity in the Scottish economy. With its contribution growing by 62% from 2008 to 2017, across the UK the creative industries were growing at five times the rate of the economy as a whole, contributing £111.7 billion in gross value added, and creating jobs at three times the rate of the UK average in all parts of the country.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies. I congratulate the hon. Member for Midlothian (Owen Thompson) on securing this important debate. It is the second or third occasion that we have encountered each other in this forum. He raises significant issues that I will try to deal with forensically. I draw attention to the presence of the Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Nigel Huddleston), who has responsibility for sport, heritage and tourism, which also covers the events industry. We are working with my colleague the Exchequer Secretary to deal forensically with the challenges that the hon. Member for Midlothian set out in his excellent speech.

As the hon. Gentleman powerfully highlighted, the past months have been intensely difficult for the businesses and workers in the events industry. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) mentioned the challenges in his local authority area, which are mirrored across the country. Local authorities are trying to work constructively with the sector in a very difficult set of circumstances. The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Chancellor both recognise the energy that the industry devoted to the pilot tests in early September to explore how individual events could be run safely. I acknowledge how frustrating it must be that, despite the success of those tests, they have been overtaken by circumstances.

The hon. Member for Midlothian mentioned the We Make Events campaign a couple of times. I am sure my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary will be keen to engage with that campaign, if he has not done so already. I recognise the innovative work that different sectors of the economy are doing to try to overcome the different challenges and how they affect different sectors.

Last month, in the light of rising covid-19 cases, the Prime Minister had to pause the reopening of business events, and yesterday he set out how we will further simplify and standardise local rules by introducing a three-tiered system of local covid alert levels in England. Given the challenges facing the sector, it is imperative that we fully understand the long-term impact of covid-19 upon it. Contrary to the hon. Gentleman’s prompts, I will not reiterate all the Government support schemes for the arts, but I will say that, as a former Arts Minister, I still communicate a lot with the arts sector. Indeed, I received a message at the weekend from Darren Henley, the chief executive of the Arts Council, and I feel passionate about the sector’s concerns. We are committed to continuing to reappraise what has happened so far. That is why the Treasury has been working intensively with employers, delivery partners, industry groups and other Departments to gain a deeper insight into the conditions that would make it financially viable for the events industry to reopen in a covid-secure way.