Correspondence: Chair to Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

27 April 2021 - Press release

Extend Government-backed pilots to allow more events to go ahead, say MPs

In the absence of a wider insurance scheme for the events industry, the Government liability that will enable pilot events to go ahead this summer should be extended to cover a wider range of events to prevent further cancellations, say MPs.

The DCMS Committee is calling on the Government to broaden the Events Research Programme, and the liability available to the pilot events under it, to enable a number of culturally significant events to take place. In correspondence to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, MPs make the case for targeted intervention that would support the economic recovery of the events industry and its supply chains, and build on the work of the pilot programme.

 

DCMS Committee Chair Julian Knight MP said:
“Targeted help to enable a larger number of events, both large and small, to go ahead this summer is better than nothing.

“To see more festivals cancelled and warnings that other events could follow is very frustrating, especially when we have been warning the Government about the urgency of insurance for months and multiple proposals have been put forward. 

“We will continue to voice our support for a comprehensive Government-backed insurance scheme. The Government’s roadmap, and the time and effort being invested in testing the safe return of large events, risk being wasted without it. 

“In the absence of such a scheme, what we’re proposing could allow people to take part in events of real cultural significance across the country, with huge benefits to them as we emerge from lockdown.”