Let Us Dance - Support nightclubs, dance music events and festivals
The Parliament petitions site records 146,188 signatures for this petition, which closed on 30 January 2021. The Government responded on 14 October 2020. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 9 November 2020.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Let Us Dance - Support nightclubs, dance music events and festivals
Extend funding to nightclubs, dance music events and festivals as part of the £1.57bn support package announced by the government for Britain's arts and culture sector to survive the hit from the pandemic. #LetUSDance
The government has failed to provide specific support to UK festivals, dance venues and nightclubs. Covid-19 has hit hard on the nightlife sector having a major impact due to the suspension of mass gatherings. Followed by unclear guidelines and a lack of commitment from the government, this has contributed to growing uncertainty within the arts sector, putting at risk millions of jobs. The government must make clear its commitment to ensuring the dance community survives the pandemic. #LetUSDance
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 14 October 2020. Its summary:
On 12th Oct, we announced the recipients of £257M of the £1.57B Cultural Recovery Fund package to support cultural organisations. More than 1,300 are benefitting from this vital financial boost.
The opening 320 words of the 564-word response:
On 5 July, the Government announced a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. This funding is providing targeted support to organisations across a range of cultural and creative sectors. This support package will benefit cultural sector services by providing support to venues and many other cultural organisations that host live events, to stay open and continue operating.
Music venues which create, present or support genres of music including “house, electronica, drum & bass, dubstep, experimental”, as well as “hip-hop, R&B, grime, rap and jungle” are eligible for the grant.
As part of this support package, £3.36 million has been shared among 136 venues across England who applied for the Emergency Grassroot Music Venues Fund. This funding has supported grassroots venues to survive the imminent risk of collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Funded venues include Motion (Bristol); Night People (Manchester); and Village Underground (London) which are also nightclubs or venues which host club events.
On Monday 12 October, the Government announced an investment of £257 million in 1,385 venues, theatres, museums and cultural organisations, through the first tranche of Culture Recovery Fund: Grants programme, (https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/news/Culturerecoveryfundawards) administered by the Arts Council. As part of this funding some festivals, dance venues and nightclubs received grants including Ministry of Sound and MADE Festival. Over the coming weeks further Culture Recovery Fund awards will be announced - including round two of Grants under £1 million, grants over £1 million, and the Capital Kickstart and Repayable Finance programmes.
The Chancellor has announced the Winter Economy Plan to protect jobs and support businesses over the coming months, once the existing Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme come to end. From November, the Jobs Support Scheme will provide further support to returning workers, while the extended Self-Employed Income Support Scheme will aid the self-employed who are currently actively trading but are facing reduced demand.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 1,682, came from Bristol West.
145,354 of the signatures were from the UK and 834 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Bristol West | 1,682 |
| Hackney South and Shoreditch | 1,097 |
| Hackney North and Stoke Newington | 1,064 |
| Bethnal Green and Bow | 1,008 |
| Brighton, Pavilion | 952 |
| Manchester Central | 900 |
| Liverpool, Riverside | 832 |
| Camberwell and Peckham | 752 |
| Lewisham, Deptford | 738 |
| Hove | 710 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| London | 26,327 |
| South East | 20,433 |
| North West | 18,962 |
| South West | 14,197 |
| East of England | 12,588 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 10,381 |
| Scotland | 9,716 |
| West Midlands | 9,245 |
| East Midlands | 7,324 |
| Wales | 5,504 |
| North East | 5,016 |
| Northern Ireland | 1,616 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 9 November 2020. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/332789.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
3433603eb0bd1a59… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.