Thank you for contacting me about live music venues.
Live music venues contribute significantly to our community by bringing people together and celebrating the music of people from all backgrounds and ages. Furthermore, they create jobs and help strengthen local economies.
In March 2022, the recipients of the £48 million first round of funding from the Cultural Investment Fund were announced. This funding is going to more than 60 organisations, including those whose focus is on arts and music.
The Cultural Investment Fund will invest up to £128.4 million of further capital in innovative cultural and creative projects, libraries, and museums across the country over the Spending Review period (2022/23–2024/25).
Alongside this, the Cultural Development Fund represents the Department's largest existing ring-fenced funding explicitly for culture-led regeneration projects outside London, in line with the Government's Levelling Up work. The successful applicants to the £30.2 million third round of the Cultural Development Fund will be announced in spring 2023, and will help to unlock economic growth in towns and cities across England through investment in cultural and creative activities, using creativity as a catalyst to make places more attractive to live, work and visit.
In addition, Arts Council England recently announced the outcome of its 2023-2026 Investment Programme, which will be investing £446 million each year in arts and culture across England. This funding will support a record 990 organisations across the whole of England and will give people across the country more opportunities to access high-quality arts and culture on their doorstep.
Arts Council England has also extended the Supporting Grassroots Live Music ‘time-limited priority’ until 31 March 2023, with a ring-fenced fund of £1.5 million. The fund is designed to support organisations across the country – including venues and promoters – with little or no prior experience of public funding applications.
Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector will also receive a tax cut worth almost £1.7 billion in 2022-23. Eligible properties receive 50 per cent off their business rates bill, up to a maximum of £110,000 per business. Combined with Small Business Rates Relief, this means over 90 per cent of retail, hospitality and leisure businesses will receive at least 50 per cent off their rates bills in 2022-23.
The Government also committed to freezing the multiplier for 2022-23, which is a tax cut worth £4.6 billion to businesses over the next 5 years.
Finally, the Government is continuing to support businesses through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS). Under the EBRS, the Government is providing a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic customers whose current gas and electricity prices have been significantly inflated in light of global energy prices.
In April 2023, when the EBRS has ended, the Government will replace it with the Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) which will run until March 2024. The EBDS will support businesses and other non-domestic customers by providing a discount on gas and electricity unit prices. Further information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-bills-discount-scheme.
More broadly, I will continue to support live music venues in Derby North and the wider arts sector.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.