5 min read
It is an enormous privilege to be the minister responsible for championing our world-class arts and cultural sector – and a great responsibility to do so in what continues to be a turbulent time for it and the brilliant people who sustain it.
When Covid hit, the sector reacted with great resilience and ingenuity to find innovative ways to keep reaching audiences, entertaining and comforting people during the dark days of lockdown.
It did this despite facing existential threats, as box office income and ticket sales dried up overnight. The government could not allow these brilliant organisations to close their doors forever – which is why Rishi Sunak, then chancellor, stepped in and provided more than £1.5bn of life-support to around 5,000 cultural organisations across the country through the unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund.
That money was distributed through our brilliant arm’s-length bodies – Arts Council England, the British Film Institute, Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund – and a board of cultural leaders who worked urgently and thoroughly to get help to those who needed it.
And those 5,000 organisations have done us all proud by getting quickly back to what they do so brilliantly — welcoming people back to their venues, supporting their fantastic creative staff and the freelancers who are so vital to the sector, and bringing people back together again through the arts.
Having been appointed minister towards the end of the pandemic, I’ve seen some of the good things which came out of those difficult months as well as the huge challenges. The solidarity and support between organisations who helped each other has led to new partnerships and fruitful collaboration. The use of digital technology during lockdown has continued, helping to bring cultural work to…