Richard Holden MP called for the results of the Government's Events Recovery Program to be published, speaking in the House of Commons today after Nigel Huddleston MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, announced the Government was delaying a decision on whether to let more people attend major sporting and cultural events.
Covid has devastated arts and culture across North West Durham. For months theatres, nightclubs and other venues have not been able to open up, holding back North West Durham's proud cultural life and putting thousands of jobs at risk. No-one wants this to go on any longer than necessary which is why the Government, ever cautious in its unlocking, introduced the Events Recovery Program, making way for venues to re-open safely and steadily. Publishing the details of this report will prove conclusively if venues in North West Durham can open fully. The sooner this is done the better for museums, football clubs, nightclubs which are so important to North West Durham
Richard Holden said "During the last eighteen months arts and culture business has suffered greatly and the work DCMS has done getting cash into business in my community is great but getting people into venues is now what is required, as highlighted to me last weekend when I visited the recently renovated Empire theatre in Consett, and at a national level, by great organisations such as UK Music. I welcome the Events Research Programme and what it is doing to look at reopening. It sounds like it is good news. Publishing it soon will be vital for the sector, so that they can get on with planning to reopen. If it is good news, it is also going to be vital for public confidence in booking." (You can see more of Richard's visit to the Empire Theatre visit here)
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