COVID-19: Culture Recovery Fund
Public Accounts Committee
Closed
Inquiry
The covid-19 pandemic meant that museums, galleries, cinemas, music venues, nightclubs, theatres, arts centres, archives and heritage sites were required by law to close their doors on 23 March 2020, with many remaining closed for most of the following year and not all due to fully reopen until summer 2021. …
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10
Recommendations
17
Conclusions
1
Report
1
Oral session
3
Letters
1
Event
Activity timeline 6 events
28 Oct
2021
2021
25 Oct
2021
2021
23 Jun
2021
2021
Report published
19 May
2021
2021
27 Apr
2021
2021
26 Apr
2021
2021
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
26 Apr 2021
View on parliament.uk
COVID-19: Culture Recovery Fund
Darren Henley · Arts Council England
Emma Squire · Historic England
Sarah Healey · Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Sir Damon Buffini · Culture Recovery Fund
Reports 1 report · click to expand
| Title | HC No. | Published | Items | Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture Recovery Fund | HC 340 | 23 Jun 2021 | 27 | Responded |
Recommendations & Conclusions
27 results
2
Recommendation
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We are concerned about the Department’s and Arts Council England’s ability to manage the significant...
We are concerned about the Department’s and Arts Council England’s ability to manage the significant and ongoing loan book commitments created by the Culture Recovery Fund. As a result of repayable finance awarded under the Culture Recovery Fund, Arts Council …
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Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation, agreeing to set out how it will ensure resources are in place for managing loans and draw on cross-government learning, with a target implementation date of December 2021 and a commitment to provide further updates then.
HM Treasury
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3
Recommendation
Rejected
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
In implementing the fund during the pandemic, the Department’s need to act quickly to provide...
In implementing the fund during the pandemic, the Department’s need to act quickly to provide funding to applicants while also protecting taxpayers’ money meant some applicants’ experiences could have been better. The Department announced the fund in July 2020, with …
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Government Response
The government rejects the recommendation, arguing that streamlining processes would have risked propriety during rapid fund delivery, and that extensive feedback to unsuccessful applicants would have caused delays.
HM Treasury
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4
Recommendation
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
The Department lacks a comprehensive understanding of the coverage and impact of its funding on...
The Department lacks a comprehensive understanding of the coverage and impact of its funding on parts of the sector which found themselves without funds. The Department and its arm’s-length bodies have distributed around £1.2 billion to 5,000 organisations and the …
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Government Response
The government agrees to write to the Committee by mid-September 2021, outlining its intentions to support under-represented groups, but disputes the Committee's assertion that it lacks understanding of funding impact.
HM Treasury
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5
Recommendation
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
It remains to be seen whether the Department has achieved its objectives for the Culture...
It remains to be seen whether the Department has achieved its objectives for the Culture Recovery Fund and secured longer-term value for money. The Department and its arm’s-length bodies are looking to build on the new relationships they have made …
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Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation and states that its externally commissioned evaluation of the Culture Recovery Fund, due by March 2022, will assess performance against objectives using various metrics including cultural output, financial health, trading status, employment, and a cost-benefit analysis for value for money.
HM Treasury
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6
Recommendation
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
The taxpayer’s investment in the sector, and the Department’s future role in overseeing it, present...
The taxpayer’s investment in the sector, and the Department’s future role in overseeing it, present a huge opportunity for the Department to step up its support and advocacy for the sector. The Department has gained a lot of new information …
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Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation and commits that the DCMS Permanent Secretary will write to the Committee by December 2021, outlining key challenges, advocacy opportunities, and how future cultural and economic impacts, including for export, will be realised from the Culture Recovery Fund.
HM Treasury
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1
Conclusion
Not Addressed
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (the Department), Arts Council England (ACE) and Sir Damon Buffini, chair of the Culture Recovery Board, …
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Government Response
The government's response serves as an introductory statement to its full response, confirming the basis and timeline of the Committee's report, rather than addressing any specific observation within this introductory conclusion.
HM Treasury
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7
Conclusion
Not Addressed
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
The Department acknowledged that the changing pandemic scenarios around issues such as the return of...
The Department acknowledged that the changing pandemic scenarios around issues such as the return of international visitors, reopening and social distancing had changed the economics for organisations in receipt of grants or repayable finance.12 It told us that the fund …
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Government Response
The government's response is irrelevant, referring to reports on the English Rail System rather than engaging with the Culture Recovery Fund conclusion.
HM Treasury
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8
Conclusion
Deferred
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
The Department wrote to us to explain that ACE was now responsible for managing £252...
The Department wrote to us to explain that ACE was now responsible for managing £252 million in loans.16 Although the take-up of loan funding was lower than the Department originally predicted, it forms part of the £92 billion total of …
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Government Response
The government acknowledges the committee's point, stating that DCMS officials are working to establish the most appropriate long-term mechanism for managing the loan book and will provide further updates in December 2021.
HM Treasury
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9
Conclusion
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We questioned the Department about its assessment of the profile for default on loans and...
We questioned the Department about its assessment of the profile for default on loans and what plan it and ACE had to tackle organisations defaulting on their loans. The Department told us that it had developed a profile of default. …
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Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation to outline how it will manage loan book commitments, confirming officials are working to establish the appropriate mechanism and ensure sufficient resources by December 2021.
HM Treasury
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10
Conclusion
Not Addressed
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We asked the Department about its long-term plans for the loan book, as our experience...
We asked the Department about its long-term plans for the loan book, as our experience has been that Government has generally had issues at times managing loan books.24 The Accounting Officer confirmed her accountability for the fund’s loans but said …
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Government Response
The government's response directly addresses a separate, related recommendation about managing the loan book, committing to establish mechanisms and provide updates by December 2021, but does not engage with the observations made in this specific conclusion.
HM Treasury
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11
Conclusion
Rejected
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
The Department had considered that the end of September 2020 represented a cliff- edge for...
The Department had considered that the end of September 2020 represented a cliff- edge for the sector, with many organisations in the sector likely to run out of money and close permanently if support was not available by then.27 We …
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Government Response
The government rejects the committee's implied criticism regarding the pace and streamlining of the Culture Recovery Fund, asserting that the fund was delivered quickly while balancing proper allocation of taxpayer money and reducing fraud risk.
HM Treasury
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12
Conclusion
Rejected
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We asked the Department what it had learned about setting and communicating realistic deadlines.
We asked the Department what it had learned about setting and communicating realistic deadlines. It considered that what mattered to organisations was knowing that they were going to get funding. It acknowledged that it had given advance notice about when …
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Government Response
The government rejects the committee's implied criticism about setting and communicating realistic deadlines, arguing that the Culture Recovery Fund's processes were made as streamlined as possible while maintaining propriety.
HM Treasury
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13
Conclusion
Rejected
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We asked the Department whether in retrospect it had struck the right balance between applying...
We asked the Department whether in retrospect it had struck the right balance between applying due diligence and how quickly funding reached organisations. The Department and ACE assured us that they were not aware of any organisation that had fallen …
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Government Response
The government rejects the committee's implied criticism regarding the balance between due diligence and funding speed for the Culture Recovery Fund, stating that further streamlining would have risked the fund's propriety.
HM Treasury
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14
Conclusion
Rejected
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We asked about the low level of fraud in the fund and whether the Department’s...
We asked about the low level of fraud in the fund and whether the Department’s focus on due diligence had led to this low level. ACE explained it had a dedicated counter-fraud resource and had so far identified no fraudulent …
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Government Response
The government states it disagrees with the committee's (implicit) recommendation regarding streamlined funding processes, defending its stringent counter-fraud measures as essential for proper allocation of taxpayer money and stating further streamlining would risk the fund's propriety.
HM Treasury
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15
Recommendation
Rejected
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We received good evidence from a number of bodies about their experience of the fund...
We received good evidence from a number of bodies about their experience of the fund and the challenges they had faced. For example some had struggled with the language of the grant form, which seemed to be geared to the …
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Government Response
The government rejected the recommendation, stating that streamlining funding processes would risk propriety and providing detailed feedback to all unsuccessful applicants would cause delays and significant opportunity cost. They noted some adjustments were made to feedback provision after CRF1.
HM Treasury
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16
Recommendation
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We asked the Department whether some organisations had been excluded from the support offered by...
We asked the Department whether some organisations had been excluded from the support offered by the fund and whether certain regions or sectors had been under- represented in the applications.43 We also asked whether it should have a relationship manager …
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Government Response
The government accepted the recommendation and committed to writing to the Committee by mid-September 2021 to set out its intentions for supporting under-represented groups like freelancers and festivals, though it disagreed with the premise that it lacked understanding or failed to support these sectors.
HM Treasury
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17
Conclusion
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
The Department considered that the regional breakdown of all the success rates in awards for...
The Department considered that the regional breakdown of all the success rates in awards for the applications it had received suggested that there were parts of the country that had less ‘cultural and heritage fabric’ than others. It asserted that …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee, with a target implementation date of mid-September 2021 for DCMS to write to the Committee on the matter, though it disagrees with the notion that it lacks understanding of funding coverage or impact.
HM Treasury
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18
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We challenged the Department and ACE on what they had done to support parts of...
We challenged the Department and ACE on what they had done to support parts of the sector including freelancers, commercial organisations, supply chain businesses delivering the technical aspects of the sector’s activity (for example, sound and lighting for events) and …
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Government Response
The government agrees to write to the Committee by mid-September 2021 on the matter, but it rejects the committee's suggestion that it lacks understanding of its funding's impact or has not supported the identified sectors (freelancers, commercial organisations, etc.).
HM Treasury
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19
Recommendation
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We questioned the Department about the assessments it had made of the long-term impact on...
We questioned the Department about the assessments it had made of the long-term impact on supply chain organisations.51 It told us that supply chain organisations had been eligible to apply for the fund where they were culturally significant, but we …
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Government Response
The government explicitly agrees with the recommendation to ensure the supply chain is represented and commits to writing to the Committee on this matter by mid-September 2021, though it disagrees with lacking understanding or support for the identified sectors.
HM Treasury
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20
Conclusion
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We asked the Department what the obstacles were to setting up a Government-backed insurance scheme...
We asked the Department what the obstacles were to setting up a Government-backed insurance scheme for live events, given that many festivals, in particular outdoor ones, were struggling because they were unable to get insurance this year and would have …
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HM Treasury
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21
Conclusion
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We asked the Department to tell us how it would be evaluating the success of...
We asked the Department to tell us how it would be evaluating the success of the fund and its value for money, for example measures of the impact on jobs, freelancers and supply-chain organisations. The Department told us that it …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation to set out evaluation metrics for the Culture Recovery Fund, detailing that an external evaluation will assess impact, process, and value for money, concluding by March 2022.
HM Treasury
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22
Recommendation
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
The Department said it wanted to satisfy itself that organisations in need were supported and...
The Department said it wanted to satisfy itself that organisations in need were supported and that it achieved its objective of supporting a significant proportion of the cultural sector through a very difficult time. It also told us it wanted …
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Government Response
The government accepted the recommendation and will prepare a policy paper for publication in Spring 2022, in parallel with the Culture Recovery Fund's evaluation, to set out lessons learned and how they will be applied to achieve value for money.
HM Treasury
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23
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We queried whether the Department ought to have set its value for money criteria for...
We queried whether the Department ought to have set its value for money criteria for the evaluation earlier in the process. The Department told us that it had been assured of the value for money of its spending at all …
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Government Response
The government confirms that the Culture Recovery Fund evaluation will assess value for money using a Treasury Green Book compliant methodology, including cost-benefit analysis of economic and social impacts.
HM Treasury
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24
Conclusion
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We asked ACE what it had learned about the sector.
We asked ACE what it had learned about the sector. It told us that for round one of the fund, about 40% of those organisations it funded were new to it, and for round two of the fund, 23% were …
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Government Response
The government commits to preparing a policy paper, to be published alongside the Culture Recovery Fund evaluation, detailing the lessons learned from the fund's process.
HM Treasury
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25
Conclusion
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We questioned the Department about the future of the sector and what it saw as...
We questioned the Department about the future of the sector and what it saw as emerging risks, given the pandemic situation exceeded the worst-case assumptions when it set up the fund. The Department replied that it did not want to …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's implied recommendation and commits the DCMS Permanent Secretary to write to the Committee by December 2021 to outline key challenges and future cultural and economic impacts from its investment.
HM Treasury
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26
Conclusion
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
We asked what plans ACE had for its funding in future years and how its...
We asked what plans ACE had for its funding in future years and how its future funding could build on innovation, given the effect of the pandemic on the sector. ACE told us that it was very interested in the …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's implied recommendation and commits the DCMS Permanent Secretary to write to the Committee by December 2021 to outline key challenges and future cultural and economic impacts from its investment.
HM Treasury
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27
Recommendation
Accepted
Eighth Report - COVID 19: Culture …
Nationally, the sector contributed £34.6 million to the UK economy in 2019.67 We therefore challenged...
Nationally, the sector contributed £34.6 million to the UK economy in 2019.67 We therefore challenged the Department about its role in overseeing the business aspects of the sector and what it was doing to build the sector including exploiting its …
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Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation and commits to having the DCMS Permanent Secretary write to the Committee by December 2021, outlining how the department will achieve future cultural and economic impacts, including for export.
HM Treasury
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Correspondence 3 letters
25 Oct 2021
Correspondence from Sarah Healey, Permanent Secretary, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, re Eighth Report of Session 2021-22 - Covid 19: Culture Recovery Fund, dated 30 September 2021
Parliament page
19 May 2021
Correspondence from Sarah Healey, Permanent Secretary, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, re Public Accounts Committee Oral evidence: COVID-19: Culture Recovery Fund, HC 1291 Monday 26 April 2021, dated 7 May 2021
Parliament page
27 Apr 2021
Correspondence from Sarah Healey, Permanent Secretary, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, re Update on progress made in the delivery of the Culture Recovery Fund, dated 23 April 2021
Parliament page