Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that the Council, at its meeting on 1st October, had passed the following motion on Funding for the Arts and Creative Industries, which had been proposed by Councillor Mulholland:

“This Council acknowledges the contribution of those employed in the Arts, Events and Creative Industries. It understands the impact that lockdown has had on these sectors; on theatres, museums, live music venues, comedy clubs, freelancers and individual artists and all other creative outlets that have been in the dark since March, with most having no finite indication of when their activities can recommence safely. 

The Council welcomes the allocation of £29million by the Northern Ireland Executive to the Arts, Culture and Heritage sectors, as part of a £1.57 billion investment from the UK Government, purposefully designed to protect these world class industries across the UK.

The Council agrees to write to the Communities Minister, Carál Ní Chuilín, in support of the direct allocation of funds to those within these industries who have been most impacted. The Council agrees also to write to the Finance Minister, Conor Murphy, to encourage any further measures that can be taken to support and protect the creative sectors going forward.” 

            Mr. J. Ball, Head of Arts Branch, who had responded on behalf of the Minister for Communities, had stressed that the Minister placed great value on the role of arts and culture and that she had been engaging with representatives from across the sector and was fully aware of the significant impact which the Covid-19 restrictions were having on them. The Minister had welcomed the £29m of funding which had, in September, been allocated by the Northern Ireland Executive across the arts, language, culture and heritage sectors and the wider creative economy. On 28th October, she had allocated the first £3m of that to the Individual Emergency Resilience Programme, which was administered on her Department’s behalf by the Arts Council for NI. This, Mr. Ball had pointed out, had built upon the Department’s earlier investment in the Fund and had allowed for further grants totalling £3.85m to be made to 1,089 people in the sector who contributed significantly to the economy and the lives of many people here. The Programme was open to all those working across the creative economy and in many other categories and he had provided examples of those who had benefitted from it.

            Mr. Ball had concluded by providing details of a series of further allocations from the Executive’s funding package and by confirming that the Minister would announce shortly how the remaining £8m would be distributed.

            The Minister of Finance, within his response, had referred to his lead role in liaising with the Treasury, and had addressed also another motion which had been passed by the Council on 1st October, calling upon the Minister for the Economy to undertake an investigation into how the Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme could be retained at pre-October 31st levels, including the earmarking of funds to minimise the impact of job losses.

            He had stressed that he fully recognised the significant pressures which many workers and businesses, including those from the arts and creative industries sector, were facing and accepted that those had increased further following the introduction by the Executive on 16th October of new restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19.

            He had pointed out that, like the Council, he too was concerned about the shortcomings and gaps in the aforementioned schemes and that he had raised his concerns directly and repeatedly with the Chancellor, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Michael Gove M.P. However, he had stressed those were Treasury schemes and, given the extent of the wage support involved and the fact that they were administered via the tax system, only the Treasury could put them in place. He had added that the Executive itself had implemented other steps to support those affected by Covid-19 through the rating system and a number of grant schemes which had been established.

            The Minister had proceeded to point out that the new Job Support Scheme and an extension to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme had been announced on 24th September, as part of the Treasury’s Winter Economy Plan. There had been further announcements on the Job Support Scheme since then and he referred to the fact that it had been enhanced for businesses which had been forced to close or which had been significantly restricted, known as the JSS Closed. Until November, businesses which had previously used the furlough scheme could continue to do so. However, there were significant concerns that, in the transition between the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme coming to an end and the Job Support Scheme opening at the start of November, many would not receive the wage support which they desperately need. Therefore, he had written to the Chancellor to urge him to bring forward the start of the JSS Closed scheme till 16th October but, disappointingly, he had not heeded that call. As a result, wage support for those new employees who were ineligible under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme would not be available until the JSS Closed scheme began on 1st November.

            In addition, the Chancellor had, on 22nd October, announced some further changes to the JSS Open scheme, where there would now be a reduction in the employer contribution to employee wages and in the time required for an employee to be in work since the scheme had been first announced. This, the Minister had stated, was welcome and would ensure that employees would continue to receive at least 73% of their normal wages, where they earned £3,125 per month or less and where employers would now have to contribute 5% of employees’ wages for hours not worked. Further to that, the Chancellor had announced a doubling of payments under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme extension from 20% to 40% of average monthly profits, up to a total of £3,750, although the Minister had recognised that it remained lower than the levels provided previously.

            The Minister, in conclusion, had stressed that the Executive would continue to examine ways in which to support businesses moving forward, including those from the arts and creative industries sector, which he pointed out had recently received an additional allocation of £29m for cultural recovery. He accepted that there were many businesses who had not benefitted from previous or current support schemes and confirmed that he had encouraged Executive colleagues to bring forward proposals for those sectors within their area of responsibility, with a view to supporting businesses and protecting livelihoods.

            The Committee noted the information which had been provided.