Covid-19 and the arts and culture sectors
A short briefing paper on Covid-19 and the arts and culture sectors. Includes data on the contribution of arts, entertainment and culture industries to the UK economy.

The Environment Bill 2019-21 has completed it Committee Stage in the House of Commons. This paper is a summary of what happened in the Committee and how the Bill has changed. It considers key Government and Opposition amendments. It is prepared in advance of the Bill's next stages scheduled for 26 January 2021.
Environment Bill 2019-21: Report on Committee Stage (2 MB, PDF)
*Latest news (26 January 2021): The remaining stages (Report and Third Reading) of the Environment Bill in the House of Commons have been programmed to take place over two days. The first of those days will be 26 January 2021. The second day will be on a date to be determined in the next Parliamentary session. A carryover motion means that the Bill can commence in the next session from day two of its Commons remaining stages. A Defra in the Media Blog, 26 January 2021 sets out the Government’s reasoning, its commitment to the Bill, and provides an update on the expected timetable.*
The Environment Bill 2019-21 was considered during 22 sittings of the Public Bill Committee between 10 March and 26 November 2020. There was a pause in the Committee’s sittings during this period due to Coronavirus pandemic related restrictions. The Bill’s remaining stages in the Commons are scheduled for 26 January 2020. Full background on the Bill, and its provisions as originally presented, can be found in Library Briefing Paper, Commons Library Analysis of the Environment Bill, 6 March 2020.
The aims of the Bill
The Government describes the main purposes of the Bill are to:
Government amendments and new clauses
A number of Government amendments and new clauses were accepted during the Committee stage. A number of them related to the establishment and functions of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP). The Government argued that these amendments would bring greater clarity about the OEP’s role and consistency with other legal mechanisms. These included:
New Government clauses will provide powers for Natural England to implement species conservation strategies and protected site conservation strategies, and changes to how wildlife conservation licences are granted.
The Government also introduced a new clause into the Bill on the use of forest risk commodities in commercial activities, with the aim to reduce deforestation in the UK caused by agriculture. Businesses will be prohibited from using “forest risk commodities” produced on land that was illegally occupied or used. Examples of the commodities include soya, palm oil, and cocoa. Businesses will be required to establish a due diligence system for regulated commodities to ensure that their supply chains do not support illegal deforestation, and will have to report annually on that exercise. If businesses do not comply, they would be subject to fines.
Opposition amendments and new clauses
No Opposition amendments or new clauses were added to the Bill. Labour moved a number of similar amendments across the committee proceedings to change the Bill’s phrasing where the Bill states that the Secretary of State “may” make secondary legislation, to “must”. Shadow Minister Dr Alan Whitehead said that he wanted to ensure that it was a strong Bill for future generations, and he did not want the Government to have a choice about whether it implements or commences the accompanying environmental secondary legislation.
Labour also opposed many of the Government amendments in relation to the Office for Environmental Protection, amid concern that they would curtail its freedom to act and its independence. Of particular concern were the Government amendments relating to the OEP’s abilities to intervene in and initiate judicial review action.
Many Opposition amendments across the Bill were pushed to division but defeated. Some of these included:
The Opposition also moved a number of new clauses which were pushed to division across a range of policy areas including: non-regression of environmental standards, fracking, a clean air duty, smoking related litter, the waste hierarchy, environmental and human rights due diligence, reservoirs and flood risk, a state of nature target and reduction of lead poisoning from shot. None of these were added to the Bill.
Environment Bill 2019-21: Report on Committee Stage (2 MB, PDF)
A short briefing paper on Covid-19 and the arts and culture sectors. Includes data on the contribution of arts, entertainment and culture industries to the UK economy.
Business and Consumer Confidence: Information on business and consumer confidence surveys, which is generally released ahead of official statistical data and can indicate changes to the economic outlook as well as turning points in the economic cycle.
Please note: for information on accessing food banks and food parcels during the pandemic please see our briefing Coronavirus: Support for household finances. For an account of developments in food bank activity over the crisis period see section 2 of this paper, Food Banks in the UK. Recent research means we have increasing amounts of data on food banks, giving us a fuller picture of their provision across the UK, and providing a more detailed picture of the characteristics of food bank users.