Music Venue Trust says Culture Recovery Fund delay has "caused a great deal of anxiety"

The UK government's £1.57billion Cultural Recovery Fund distribution was due to be announced from 5 October, and grassroots music venues in England, Scotland and Wales were set to find out if they'll receive funding by 16 October.

The emergency funding distribution announcements have since been pushed back a week to 12 October, and Music Venue Trust shared a statement responding to the delay, revealing that grassroots music venues that are "already in very precarious financial situations, now face a further seven days of uncertainty".

Music Venue Trust - who have been working with Arts Council England to "seek to manage the delay to the decisions" - noted that despite the UK government's decision to notify applicants about the delay just 72 hours before the deadline, the organisation can "appreciate why such a delay may have been necessary".

The response continued, "A week delay may seem, at first glance, relatively immaterial, but the previously announced hard deadline of 5pm on Mon 5 Oct for decisions on this essential funding, support which is the mainstay of the government’s approach to prevent permanent closures, has resulted in time limited agreements, both verbal and contractual, between venues and their landlords, breweries, suppliers and staff. MVT will be working with venues throughout the weekend to try to renegotiate those agreements, and to provide confidence to all concerned that the Cultural Recovery Fund process still presents the opportunity to save a large number of grassroots music venues from permanently closing."

Music Venue Trust added, "This is an extremely stressful and difficult situation for venue owners, their staff and teams. We are aware that this additional delay has caused a great deal of anxiety, loading extra challenges on to people who were already struggling to cope with the extraordinary situation the crisis has left them in."

The organisation also reiterated the bleak future that most music venues face at this current time, "Governments, to control the virus, are forced to restrict the ability of grassroots music venues to trade. Activities are banned. The 10pm curfew reduces trading hours by 50%. Social distancing capacity drops their audiences by 75%. Result: Most venues cannot open. Those that can, trade at 12.5% of their normal income. The limitations governments have temporarily placed on those venues present a very real threat that they will permanently close."