The government has been accused of consistently failing to recognise and respond to the "existential threat" faced by live theatre, music and other culture venues due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Consistently failed

The House of Commons Culture Select Committee said Ministers, "consistently failed to recognise" the challenges Covid-19 posed, with Chairperson, Julian Knight MP stating that the £1.57 billion support package was "nothing more than an Elastoplast over a gaping wound".

The prime Minster Boris Johnson yesterday stated that there were "open questions"about how the government had responded to the virus and reiterated his promise that an independent enquiry will be set up into the pandemic.

Emergency packages

Meanwhile, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) insisted it had "worked with urgency" to provide support to the arts sector, saying thousands of organisations and hundreds of thousands of jobs had been saved by its furlough and loan schemes.

They stated: "Our £1.57 billion investment is the largest ever one-off cash injection into culture in this country. We have also worked with our arms length bodies on additional emergency packages and provided billions in support to charities to help those most in need."

Evidence cited said that potentially 70% of theatres and production companies could go out of business, with up to 93% of grassroots music venues facing closure4BR

Closures

However, many continue to disagree, with reports that a "significant proportion" of theatres are expected to close due to the crisis with mass redundancies.

Evidence cited said that potentially 70% of theatres and production companies could go out of business, with up to 93% of grassroots music venues facing closure.

Conservative MP Mr Knight told the BBC that the reality of the current situation was that "we are facing a cataclysm in the arts and cultural space"that required, "a long term plan"not "just a bailout".