UK Music Industry hits back at government’s spring budget statement: “A reckless dereliction of duty”

nme.com:

Sky News, it’s predicted that cuts to welfare will mean 250,000 more people will be pushed into poverty by 2030.The health element of Universal Credit will be cut in half for new claimants and then frozen.

There will also be a renewed focus on taking action against tax evaders, and an increase in defence spending, with The Ministry of Defence getting an additional £2.2bn next year.Elsewhere, there were assurances that the cuts announced today would be offset by billions of pounds in long-term investment to grow the economy, with focus on building new homes and supporting higher spending on defence.

Reeves said disposable income will “grow this year at almost twice the rate expected in the autumn”, adding that “households will be on average over £500 a year better off under this government”.Responding to today’s Statement, Music Venue Trust’s (MVT) External Affairs Manager Sophie Brownlee said that while reform to business rates were welcomed, “the gap created by the reduction in rate relief until this rate reform comes into effect has been to create a demand for £7 million in additional premises taxes”.Brownlee noted this is asked from a sector that last year returned an entire gross profit – across all 810 such venues in the UK – of just £2.5 million.

At the NME-supported Venues Day last month celebrating 10 years of the Music Venue Trust, the charity laid out the situation that the gig spaces across the UK face.