The Government additionally approves around 11.5 million francs from the crisis fund for the cultural sector

The Government wants to preserve the quality and diversity of Basel’s cultural creation and cultural offerings beyond the Covid-19 crisis. It has therefore extended the current support measures for the cultural sector until the end of August 2021 and increased funds. It has awarded around 11.5 million francs for this purpose. Furthermore, cultural professionals can now choose to claim loss of income compensation in accordance with the Federal ordinance or daily allowances in accordance with the cantonal ordinance. If they claim daily allowances, the allowance is now 1,000 francs per month.

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit cultural professionals and cultural enterprises hard. Projects and events have been cancelled, businesses temporarily closed and implementation of protective measures is costly and time-consuming, leading to heavy losses. Cultural events are being planned with a great deal of caution at the moment because there is no certainty about whether the re-opening plan set out by the Federal Council can actually be put into action as planned.

The Government therefore intends to extend support measures for cultural professionals and cultural enterprises and is making available additional resources from the crisis fund. For the period from May until the end of August 2021, cultural professionals can either apply for loss of income compensation for cancelled or postponed events and projects in accordance with the Federal regulation or claim daily allowances to secure their livelihood in accordance with the cantonal regulation. The latter initially accommodates cultural professionals who are unable to provide proof of cancelled events and therefore their loss of income as the ban on events has already been in place for a long time. If they claim daily allowances, an allowance of CHF 1,000 per month is now available. The extension of cantonal daily allowances for the months of May until August 2021 is subject to Parliament supplementing the crisis fund.

Funds for support measures also increasing to compensate cultural professionals until the end of August

Applications for the period from 1 January until 30 April can be submitted until the end of May. Applications for the period from May until August can only be submitted at a later date. Loss of income compensation, a proven support measure, compensates cultural enterprises for financial losses sustained from cancellation or postponement of events and projects, or restrictions on events and projects. The maximum amount for loss of income compensation for cultural enterprises is now to be increased to a maximum of 1 million francs per applicant. This applies to all cultural enterprises whether they are commercial or non-commercial. Applications can be submitted again with immediate effect.

Contributions to transformation projects are still being received. They aim to support cultural enterprises in adapting to the new conditions caused by the pandemic and in re-aligning themselves by appealing to new segments of the public or through digitization.

The implementation of federal measures in the Canton of Basel-Stadt, amounting to around 11.5 million francs, is covered by the existing financial resources from the fund for tackling unemployment.

Due to coronavirus, Parliament passed an extraordinary addition to the crisis fund in June 2020. The Government is now applying to Parliament for a second urgent extraordinary supplementation of the fund for tackling unemployment of a total of 50 million francs. This should mean that enough funds are available for the financial aid programme for businesses and establishments. The application for urgent action in Parliament also intends to enable cultural professionals to receive daily allowances to secure their livelihood, quickly and without interruption. The Government passed the corresponding amendment to the ordinance on 27 April 2021. However, it is subject to Parliament’s approval of the exceptional supplementation the crisis fund.

The Division of Cultural Affairs of the Canton of Basel-Stadt is responsible for processing the applications. The deadline for submission of applications for the period from May until August 2021 is 30 September 2021.

Please note:
An overview of the individual measures can be found at: https://www.kultur.bs.ch/COVID-19.html