By The chancellor is set to announce £408m of help for museums, theatres and galleries in England to reopen when Covid restrictions start to ease.
Rishi Sunak will provide additional support for the badly hit culture sector in his Budget, as a Tory grandee warned taxes would “have to go up”.
The Chancellor is preparing to hand out £408 million to help museums, theatres and galleries in England to reopen once coronavirus restrictions start to ease in the coming months.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng signalled the chancellor would announce a further extension of the furlough scheme, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the focus was on “providing support for business and families”.
He added that there would “perhaps be an extension” of the reduced – 5% – rate of VAT for the hospitality sector beyond the end of this month.
“There’s every chance that the economy can bounce back and see strong growth at the end of 2021,” Mr Kwarteng said.
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Mr Sunak said the culture sector would be a “significant driver” in any recovery, as the country follows the “roadmap” for reducing Covid restrictions.
He is expected to put an extra £300m into the £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund.
England’s museums and cultural bodies will also receive £90m to keep going until they can open their doors on 17 May at the earliest, with £18.8m provided for community cultural projects.
With its takings down during the pandemic, and spending on programmes such as furlough costing tens of billions of pounds, the government is expected to borrow £394bn during the current financial year – the highest figure seen in peacetime.
