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Law360, London (October 19, 2020, 1:41 PM BST) -- The government has officially rolled out its £500 million ($650 million) program to help cover the insurance costs for film producers affected by COVID-19, amid claims that delays in its launch have resulted in people leaving the sector.
The Film and TV Production Restart Scheme was unveiled in July, with the aim of enabling the state to act as a commercial insurer for the industry. Movie producers have been struggling to continue their work because of a lack of pandemic-linked insurance cover.
Productions that are facing difficulties because they do not have insurance against coronavirus-linked setbacks will now be able to go ahead. The scheme will allow film-makers to get compensation for losses linked to the virus, such as filming delays caused by illness among a crew, the government said on Friday.
"I am delighted that this half-a-billion pound scheme will get cast and crews back to doing what they do best,." Oliver Dowden, culture secretary, said. "This move will help support tens of thousands of jobs, provide work for creative freelancers and get cameras rolling across the country."
Tracy Brabin, the opposition Labour Party's speaker for cultural industries, said in response to the launch that the program had taken too long to launch, which was responsible for people quitting the sector.
"This is good news for screen productions large and small, but it should not have taken so long — and we're concerned the delay has led to people leaving the industry," Brabin said in a statement published on the Labour party's website on Friday.
The state should also do more to assist other sectors in the creative industries that are struggling to get back to work, Brabin added. Law360 has tried to get more details from Brabin about her concerns.
A spokesman for the government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said there was "no delay, but we needed to secure European Commission state aid approval for this measure, which has now been granted, so we can proceed.
"The scheme has been accepting applications for two weeks to expedite the process by allowing for early registration, and productions will now be onboarded within days." Claims can be backdated to July 28, the spokesman added.
Law360 also tried to reach the British Film Institute, ITV and PACT, an organization for independent content makers.
After the scheme was announced in July, the government said in September that insurer Marsh Commercial has been appointed the third-party administrator of the fund after a commercial tendering process.
Earlier this month the culture department published draft rules for the scheme, saying that the rules are not legally binding as the formal start is conditional upon the European Commission approving state aid.
The program is expected to support more than 40,000 jobs across the British film and television production industry, which contributes over £12 billion to the economy every year, according to the government.
Eligible productions can backdate claims to Jul. 28, when the scheme was announced. The deadline for the start of production has been extended from Dec. 2020 to Feb. 2021, the department of culture said.
--Additional reporting by Martin Croucher. Editing by Ed Harris.
Update: This story has been updated to add comment from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
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