U.K. Bails Out Arts With $2 Billion as Sunak Focuses on Jobs

The U.K. will plow 1.6 billion pounds ($2 billion) into theaters, museums and music venues in a bid to rescue the countrys arts and culture sector from the brink of collapse in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown.

“The show must go on,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said in a tweet announcing the plan late Sunday.

The show must go on.

Were introducing a world-leading £1.57 billion rescue package to help cultural, arts and heritage institutions weather the impact of coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/J3KXUOxJEE

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) July 5, 2020

The cash for cultural institutions includes 880 million pounds of grants and 270 million pounds of repayable loans, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said in a statement. Separately, the Treasury announced a 111 million-pound plan to triple the number of traineeships nationwide, as Sunak expands measures to protect jobs.

Ministers are trying to rescue the economy after the pandemic plunged it into what may be the deepest recession in 300 years. Sunak will outline to Parliament on Wednesday the next steps in the government‘s plans to kickstart the economy, adding to Johnson’s pledge last week to “build, build, build,” by bringing forward 5 billion pounds of spending on roads, schools and hospitals.

Homes and Pubs

The Times reported late Sunday that the chancellor is set to unveil a temporary tax holiday for most homebuyers by raising the level at which duty is paid to as much as 500,000 pounds from 125,000 pounds currently. Hell also unveil a temporary cut on value added tax for cafes, pubs and restaurants, the paper said. The Treasury declined to comment.

Sunak plans to deliver a wider package of fiscal measures to boost the economy in a budget in the fall. But with state wage support for more than 9 million private sector jobs due to begin phasing out next month, there‘s been a growing clamor for further assistance for the worst-affected sectors, including the country’s renowned theaters, which have yet to reopen.

“This money will help safeguard the sector for future generations, ensuring arts groups and venues across the U.K. can stay afloat and support their staff whilst their doors remain closed and curtains remain down,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. “The U.K.s cultural industry is the beating heart of this country.”

Galleries, heritage sites and independent cinemas will also be eligible for the cultural grants. The arts funds also included 100 million pounds of targeted support for English national cultural institutions and the English Heritage Trust, 188 million pounds for the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 120 million pounds for infrastructure projects.

Open Letter

Johnson has pledged to publish a timetable this week outlining when theaters and music venues will be allowed to reopen, joining the pubs, hairdressers and museums that were allowed to open their doors this weekend after more than three months of lockdown.

It represents a high-profile win for a part of the economy that‘s contributed hugely to Britain’s international image over the years.

Last week, set designers and other industry workers covered empty theaters nationwide in tape with the message “missing live theater.” And Armando Iannucci, one of the countrys leading political satirists, wrote an open letter to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden last month asking why a chunk of the economy that he says supports 400,000 jobs was being sidelined.

Dear @OliverDowden . Our Creative Industries helped us through this lockdown. Music, film, TV, streaming theatre, books, art: it helped get us through. They pour billions into the economy: they need financial support now, or they simply wont be there when lockdown is over.

— Armando Iannucci (@Aiannucci) June 27, 2020

In other developments:

• The government is preparing to start phasing out the use of Huawei Technologies Co. equipment in the U.K.s 5G telecoms network

• Simon Stevens, chief executive officer of the National Health Service in England, set the government a 1-year target to fix the countrys social care system

• Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there are concerns about employment practices about some clothing factories in Leicester, where local lockdown is in place to stamp out a coronavirus outbreak

After unprecedented state support for private sector wages during the lockdown, Sunaks priority is to protect and create jobs, particularly for the young, who are the most vulnerable to a wave of unemployment caused by the outbreak. Late on Sunday, the Treasury announced plans to triple the number of traineeships, offering businesses 1,000 pounds for each trainee aged 16 to 24 that they take on.

Work Coaches

That follows a Treasury announcement on Saturday of 800 million pounds of new funding to double the number of work coaches in job centers to 27,000 to help benefit claimants back into work, with an initial 4,500 hires by October.

With officials downplaying expectations about Wednesday‘s statement, Sunak is coming under pressure from business groups to ensure he doesn’t just do the bare minimum to revive the economy.

“We really want them to get ahead of the problem rather than be mopping up behind it,” British Chambers of Commerce Director General Adam Marshall said in an interview.

Marshall called for wage subsidies for apprentices, a fund to support jobs for young people and a cut to national insurance payments made by employers. He also suggested the government could issue vouchers for households to spend on retail high streets to get the economy moving again.

Heres What Rishi Sunak Could Do to Stimulate the U.K. Economy

(Adds Times report of stamp duty holiday, VAT cut in fifth paragraph.)