Recommendation 11

The Department had considered that the end of September 2020 represented a cliff- edge for the sector, with many organisations in the sector likely to run out of money and close permanently if support was not available by then.27 We therefore questioned the Department about its timetable and whether it had been over-optimistic in trying to distribute funding by September. The Department accepted that it had made changes to its plans “mid-flight”, and acknowledged that it had revised its target for making decisions 19 Q 37; C&AG’s Report, para 2.16 20 Qq 43, 44 21 Qq 38, 39 22 Q 45 23 Q 38 24 Qq 36, 39 25 Qq 31, 36, 72 26 Q 72 27 Q 24, C&AG’s Report, para 8 COVID 19: Culture Recovery Fund 11 and awards to October.28 It said it had been concerned about some sectors that needed funding much more quickly, and pointed to its scheme supporting 136 grassroots music venues which opened, closed and paid out funding in August 2020. It told us that its arm’s-length bodies had also offered emergency support for organisations that could not wait. It said the main reason not all of the funding for round one had gone out was that payments were made in instalments.29