Oliver Dowden Denies Claims That Beneficiaries of Culture Recovery Fund Grants Were Asked to Thank to Government

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden has denied that recipients of this week's Culture Recovery Fund grants were told to thank the government publicly, The Stage reports.

The statements were made when Dowden was questioned by MPs from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee about the process of allocating the grants, which occurred earlier this week.

Dowden assures that it was "certainly not the case" that praising the government was a condition of getting the money. He said that the department was in contact with the beneficiaries and encourages them to publicize the information.

"It was the case we encouraged people to publicise it. This is taxpayers' money being spent. It is perfectly reasonable to alert people to the fact that it is there," Dowden said. "It is perfectly normal, as part of awarding funds, for there to be publicity associated with it, whether that is private sector, public sector or government. Actually, I think you will have seen that many people have completely independently welcomed it and rightly so."

Read more on The Stage.