Dan Norris (North East Somerset and Hanham) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)
This Government are prioritising the growth of our creative industries, which are vital to our economy and showcase the best of creativity and culture. In the last few days alone, I have been pleased to announce £13.5 million of funding for two new clusters in Liverpool and the west midlands.
Samantha Niblett
I thank the Secretary of State for her answer, and I just want to expand on it. In South Derbyshire, we have the Melbourne festival of art and architecture, which turns 20 next September, and the brilliant CircularityHUB, where people of all abilities can go to use the media studio. However, when it comes to young people wanting careers in the creative industries, what more can this Government do so that we can thrive in these industries at home, not have to get out to get on.
Lisa Nandy
I am aware of the huge ambition that my hon. Friend has for South Derbyshire, and the contribution that its people can make to our arts and culture and creative industries. This Government are supporting those aspirations with a £3 million expansion of the creative careers programme, so that young people can find those jobs and get access to those opportunities. With the Education Secretary, we are reviewing the curriculum to put arts and music back at the heart of the national curriculum, where it belongs.
Jo Platt
Many individual artists in places such as Leigh and Atherton have great difficulty in accessing funding streams. In many cases, the trickle-down from larger institutions does not work and holds back creative growth. Can the Secretary of State outline how funding will reach grassroots artists, empowering them to thrive and play a central role in growing our local economy?
Lisa Nandy
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. She has done amazing work over the years with the Leigh Film Society and other thriving organisations that are leading the way. From the conversations she and I have had, I am well aware of the importance of grassroots societies and venues in places such as Leigh and Wigan, and we are determined to put rocket boosters under them. We are already working on supporting grassroots music venues and supporting voluntary action around a levy. In addition, we are helping to channel funding to those smaller organisations so that they can create the pipeline of talent that enables people from places such as Leigh to go on and make a national impact.
Dan Norris
“Vengeance Most Fowl” is not just what the public inflicted on the Conservative party at the general election. It is also the name of the Aardman Animations Wallace and Gromit film coming out soon, which will be shown on the BBC on Christmas day and on Netflix around the world. What are the Secretary of State and her wonderful team doing to promote animation not just across the west of England and in my constituency, but across the UK, so that it can get to even better and greater heights in the future?
Lisa Nandy
I thank my hon. Friend for his question, and I am very happy to be the Gromit to his Wallace. This Government have already announced new tax reliefs for British films and special effects, but we are determined to do more. I know that, as the Mayor, he has championed this issue across his region. We are working closely with Mayors and local councils to put rocket boosters under their local growth plans, so that whether it is animation, music, arts, sport or creativity, we ensure that every part of the country benefits from its success.
Dame Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)
Will the Culture Secretary welcome the news that, thanks to levelling-up funding, Malvern theatres in the west midlands will be expanding? Planning permission was granted last week, which will give lots of young people an opportunity to get jobs in the creative industries. When the new theatre has been built, will she come to open it and meet some of those young people?
Lisa Nandy
I would be delighted to do so. I thank the hon. Member for her support for theatres, arts and culture, and for always being a strong voice for them in this place. One reason that we have prioritised expanding the creative careers programme is that we are determined that as many parts of the country as possible play their full part in the growth success story that is our creative industries, and that young people in such communities get access to those opportunities and go on to have flourishing careers. I would be delighted to come and open the theatre when the work is finally done.
Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)
Bath is a city of music, but so many of the musicians in the city and across the UK face enormous bureaucratic barriers when they want to perform in the EU. Can the Secretary of State update me on what progress has been made on this issue?
Lisa Nandy
I thank the hon. Lady for raising that incredibly important issue. We have heard the message loud and clear from the music industry that the deal that was struck on touring is having a difficult effect on many artists from the UK. We are also aware that that works both ways, and we need a much improved agreement with our friends in the European Union to ensure that their artists can come and perform here and our artists can freely go and perform there. My right hon. Friend the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office is currently undertaking those negotiations, and we are determined to resolve the issue.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Secretary of State for her enthusiastic response to the questions. In my constituency, and for Ards and North Down borough council, the creative industries are really important, whether that be arts, metal sculptures or music, and Ulster Scots runs through the veins of all that. May I invite the Secretary of State to come to Northern Ireland and my constituency of Strangford to observe and enjoy all that we have? She will never see anything else like it.
Lisa Nandy
I thank the hon. Gentleman and I am very aware of the enormous contribution that the whole of Northern Ireland makes to our creative industries. I confess that my favourite TV show in the world is “Derry Girls”, so if he can arrange for the Derry Girls to be present, I would be delighted to visit.
Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham) (LD)
Small music venues such as the Frog & Fiddle in Cheltenham are part of the lifeblood of the creative industries, but the Music Venue Trust has warned that after years of economic pressures and the recent Budget, more than 350 venues are on the brink of closure. How are the Government supporting small music venues, and what steps will they take if the voluntary levy on arena and stadium tickets is not agreed by the large venues whose participation is vital?
Lisa Nandy
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that question. My constituency of Wigan is home to The Verve, and it is difficult to know where such a band would now cut their teeth in the industry, because many of the live music venues that they played in as an up-and-coming band have disappeared. I very much recognise the problem that he raises. He will know that this Government have supported the voluntary levy that the industry has backed, but if that levy is not implemented we will be forced to take action. My hon. Friend the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism will be writing to the industry in those terms this week.
Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism (Chris Bryant)
Tourism is vital to our coastal towns, and if we are to reach our target of 50 million international visitors to the UK by 2030, we will need to do far better at improving tourism numbers in our coastal towns.
Luke Myer
The coastal village of Skinningrove is home to a fantastic tourist asset, Land of Iron, which is the leading ironstone mining museum in the country. I am campaigning for it to receive national status as the national ironstone mining museum. Will Ministers consider meeting me to discuss that request, and would they like to visit?
Chris Bryant
My hon. Friend challenges me a bit. The Rhondda has the best mining museum in the UK, but I am prepared to concede that in England he might be right. But there is an important point: our mining heritage is part of understanding the country that we have been, and the country that we can be in future. I am very happy to meet my hon. Friend. Arts Council England has a specific way of giving a national name to museums, and that is one thing that he might want to apply to it for.
James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)
Tourism and hospitality contributes more than £500 million and a fifth of all jobs in North West Norfolk. Why are the Government hitting those businesses with higher business rates and a jobs tax?
Chris Bryant
It would be good, would it not, to have an NHS that works in this country. It would be good to have an economy that works, trains that run on time, and a country that functions so that when tourists come here they have a good experience, rather than sitting on a platform waiting for a train that never turns up on time. I am determined to ensure that we get to 50 million visitors to the United Kingdom. Last year, we had just 38 million visitors. If we are to secure that increase we must have a country that welcomes tourists to every part of the country, not just London and the south-east.
Mr Speaker
With that list of questions, I think the shadow Minister needs a debate.
Chris Bryant
The irony is, we have already had two debates on these issues in the last fortnight—thanks to you, Mr Speaker.
First, I welcome the hon. Member to his place and his new responsibilities. I look forward to working with him.
The truth of the matter is that the tourism industry has really struggled over the last few years, partly because of Brexit and partly because of covid. Under the last few years of the Conservative Government, it did not get back to its pre-covid level of 41 million visitors to the UK—it is now at 38 million. As I said, I want us to get to 50 million by 2030. The only way we are going to do that is if we significantly improve the offer at every stage of the experience of visitors coming to the United Kingdom.
Yes, there are undoubtedly challenges for the hospitality industry—I said this in a speech yesterday afternoon—but the thing that really worries me is that historically we in this country have seen a job in the industry as something that someone has to do when they have not got another job. I want to change that so that it is a career to be proud of; something respectable that someone might do for their whole life.
Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)
As set out in a written ministerial statement yesterday, the Government will introduce a statutory levy on gambling operators, which was a commitment made as part of the gambling White Paper in 2023. Society lotteries will be charged the levy at the lowest rate of 0.1%. I know that they are a vital fundraising tool for many charities, community groups and sports clubs up and down the country.
Wendy Morton
I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. The Minister clearly recognises, as we all do, the contribution that society lotteries make to our constituencies through various organisations. Does she recognise that not-for-profit society lotteries will have to fund any levy due from their charitable return, which the sector, and I think many of us, feel amounts to a charity tax?
Stephanie Peacock
My understanding was that the levy came after the money had gone to good causes, but I am not the Gambling Minister, who sits in the other place. I will happily arrange a meeting for the right hon. Member with the Gambling Minister.
Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)
The Government are committing to ensure that the community wealth fund delivers meaningful benefits across England. That is why we have allocated £87.5 million of dormant assets funding towards it. We will set out our position on the key design principles of the community wealth fund shortly.
Sonia Kumar
Given that Russells Hall in Dudley ranks on the local index in the top 2% of areas with the greatest need and that nearly half of working-age residents rely on benefits, will the Minister confirm what steps the Government will be taking to target places like mine that are doubly disadvantaged?
Stephanie Peacock
I thank my hon. Friend for her question. I know Dudley well, and I know that she is a strong advocate for the area she represents. I reassure her that the Government are committed to supporting those places in need through the community wealth fund. We are working at pace on the details and delivery of the fund and will set out the next steps in due course.
Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) (Con)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)
I know that the hon. Gentleman is a huge champion for horseracing, and the Government are well aware of the value of horseracing to the UK, which supports 85,000 jobs, has an annual economic contribution to the economy of £4.1 billion and is the second-best attended sport in Britain.
Nick Timothy
Mr Speaker, I am not sure if it is in order to raise the travesty of the refereeing decision last night in the Aston Villa-Juventus match, but I thought I would give it a try.
The Secretary of State has been warm about the horseracing industry, and I am grateful for that; it is a vital part of the economy in West Suffolk and nationwide. I have previously raised with her and her ministerial team the need to reform the betting levy and affordability checks. I would be grateful for an update on the timeline for any action on that.
Lisa Nandy
We believe that the horseracing betting levy is vital for the financial sustainability of the sport and its thousands of fans. I can update him that the Minister for Gambling recently met representatives from horseracing and betting to encourage a voluntary deal that fairly reflects the relationship between racing and betting. We expect an update from the British Horseracing Authority and the Betting and Gaming Council on progress by the end of the year.
Mr Speaker
Let’s hope that the shadow Minister will not fall at the first hurdle.
Mr Louie French (Old Bexley and Sidcup) (Con)
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
The horseracing industry has been left in the dark by this Government, following the Chancellor’s disastrous Budget. The Office for Budget Responsibility warned that the national insurance rise would cost, on average, £800 per employee. With 20,000 employed across the country, the Government’s jobs tax could cost the horseracing industry £16 million and the gambling sector up to £100 million, even before the new levies. Will the Secretary of State tell the House whether her Department has made any assessment of the impact of the increase in national insurance contributions on the industry? How many jobs will be lost? How many training yards and courses will close? How many of the 500 independent bookies will shut?
Lisa Nandy
Let me gently say to the hon. Gentleman—who I welcome to his place—that he is well aware that in the decisions that we took in the recent Budget we protected the smallest businesses. More than half of businesses will pay either less or the same as they currently do. We will take no lectures from the Opposition about how to run the economy, after 14 years, given the mess that they left this country in. It really does take some brass neck to stand at that Dispatch Box and attack the Government.
Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Ind)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)
Grassroots sports make a huge contribution to communities up and down the country, providing sport and physical activity opportunities, and a chance to socialise and learn new skills while supporting people’s health and wellbeing. The Government are supporting people to get active through our £123 million multi-sport grassroots facilities programme.
Imran Hussain
Grassroots boxing gyms, like many grassroots sports, offer their local communities unparalleled benefits. They are community hubs, they build skills and confidence and become safe spaces for young people to grow their talent. As chair of the all-party parliamentary group on boxing, I was delighted to launch two reports earlier this year that highlighted its huge social benefits. Unfortunately, these gyms remain very unfunded and rely almost entirely on the goodwill of volunteers. Will the Minister meet me and the all-party parliamentary group to discuss including dedicated grassroots funding in the sports strategy?
Stephanie Peacock
I know the hon. Gentleman is a huge advocate for boxing, and I was pleased to speak with him about it a few weeks ago. I have seen at first hand the impact that boxing can have. England Boxing was given £6.8 million by Sport England in 2022. I would be delighted to meet him to discuss the issue further.
Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)
The Minister knows that grassroots sports provide enormous health, economic, welfare and community benefits. That is why today, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee is launching an inquiry that we are calling “Game On” into community, grassroots and school sports, and the interventions needed to improve them. What conversations is the Minister having with her counterpart in the Department for Education about how to work collaboratively to build a lifelong love and passion for sport, given the benefits for young people’s health and wellbeing?
Stephanie Peacock
I am incredibly grateful to the Chair of the Select Committee for that important question. We work closely with the Department for Education; I chaired a roundtable with the Schools Minister on grass- roots sport and how to get sport into schools. I also convened a meeting on women’s sport, where representatives from the Department for Education were present. I would be delighted to discuss it further, and I know the Secretary of State would, too.
Natasha Irons (Croydon East) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)
The Government are co-producing a new national youth strategy with young people to grip the challenges of the generation. When I entered the Department I was shocked to find no single youth strategy. The last Government funded a lot of good youth work, but I think we can all agree that the challenges facing this generation are immense, and we need to do far more to support them.
Natasha Irons
On Tuesday, I chaired the all-party parliamentary group on youth affairs, where we discussed this Government’s plans for a national youth strategy with more than 80 young people and organisations from across the sector, including grassroots organisations such as Reaching Higher from my constituency, which supports young people and families across Croydon. The national plan for young people is urgent, but the 73% cut to funding for youth services under the previous Government has resulted in 4,500 youth workers leaving the sector over the past decade, according to the National Youth Agency. Can the Secretary of State outline how her national youth strategy will support youth workers and attract more people back to that vital work?
Lisa Nandy
The youth strategy is an opportunity to look afresh at the training, recruitment and retention of youth workers. My hon. Friend will know that my first job before I came to this place was at the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint. I am aware of the vital work of youth workers—they are a lifeline for young people, and those relationships matter disproportionately to whether a young person succeeds or fails. My Department works with the National Youth Agency to fund training bursaries for individuals who may otherwise be excluded due to cost. We are aware that some of the people who make the best youth workers have had those experiences. We are very committed to working with her and her all-party parliamentary group to ensure that we get this right.
Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)
Young Devon provides essential services for young people across Devon, including supported accommodation and mental health provision. When I met Young Devon staff on Friday, they told me the increased employers’ national insurance contributions will cost the charity at least £90,000 just to stand still—that means 100 fewer young people counselled and eight fewer beds offered. What conversations has the right hon. Lady had with the Chancellor to ensure that charities such as Young Devon do not have to reduce their valuable services as a result of the Budget?
Lisa Nandy
It is lovely to hear about the work that Young Devon is doing, which the hon. Lady is supporting in her constituency. The Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley South (Stephanie Peacock), who has responsibility for civil society, has held a number of roundtables with the sector on this issue to ensure that we are providing the right help and support. The hon. Lady will know that in the Budget, the Government announced plans to raise the threshold at which businesses and charities pay contributions, so that half of charities—the smaller charities—will pay either less or the same as they currently do. Charities can also benefit from relief on employer contributions; that is worth around £6 billion a year. This Government are taking action to protect the sector, and when we launched the civil society covenant a few weeks ago, we made it clear that we want a genuine partnership with charities. They are welcome at the heart of Downing Street. That is why my hon. Friend the Minister for civil society will continue that work.
Jodie Gosling (Nuneaton) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)
As set out following the Euro 2024 final, the Government are committed to supporting grassroots football clubs and facilities. The Government are investing £123 million this year to deliver pitches for grassroots football across the UK. Alongside that, the Government are supporting the Football Association’s ambition to double the number of three-star community clubs across the country.
Jodie Gosling
I thank the Minister for her detailed answer, and for all the work the Government are doing to support grassroots football. We have many grassroots football clubs in my constituency, including Nuneaton Town and Nuneaton Griff, and we understand their importance and contribution to the town. Both clubs have struggled recently, especially in securing a ground; they have to share one with their competitors in Bedworth. While we appreciate their hospitality, we would like to meet Ministers to talk about how to bring football home to Nuneaton.
Stephanie Peacock
I recognise the huge contribution to communities made by grassroots clubs such as the ones my hon. Friend has mentioned; I have seen that at first hand in my constituency in Barnsley. I appreciate the number of challenges those clubs face, and I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the options available.
Mr Andrew Snowden (Fylde) (Con)
Grassroots football is supported by medium and large community-based football clubs, such as AFC Fylde in my constituency, Chorley FC in your constituency, Mr Speaker, and Wigan Athletic in the Secretary of State’s constituency. Wigan sadly posted a £13 million loss for the last financial year. How does the Secretary of State think the club can make itself more financially resilient, given the significant impact that the need to pay national insurance contributions will have on their finances?
Stephanie Peacock
The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. That is why we are continuing the work of the previous Government by introducing our own Football Governance Bill to hopefully put football on a sustainable footing.
Rosie Wrighting (Kettering) (Lab)
Kettering Town FC are currently the leading FA cup goal scorers, and are in the second round of the men’s FA cup on Sunday. Will the Minister join me in wishing the Poppies the very best of luck in that game? What steps is she taking to improve the financial resilience of local clubs such as Kettering Town FC?
Stephanie Peacock
I will of course put on record that I wish the team good luck and send them my huge thanks and congratulations. The work that we are doing to support grassroots football, through our multi-sport grassroots facilities programme, will hopefully grow the grassroots game.
Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)
The Minister will be aware that there is a sub-regional stadia strategy in Northern Ireland. Will she have discussions with my colleague, the Minister for Communities in Northern Ireland, to see what assistance, information and additional resources can be deployed to ensure there is widespread development of grassroots football in Northern Ireland?
Stephanie Peacock
I have previously had discussions with my counterpart in Northern Ireland and I will be delighted to do so again. I am hoping to visit Northern Ireland in the coming months.
Ben Goldsborough (South Norfolk) (Lab)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism (Chris Bryant)
Historic England assesses applications for listing. I want that process to be as simple as possible for community groups up and down the land, so they can steer a balance between preserving what is truly valuable and leaving communities with decaying, listed eyesores.
Ben Goldsborough
In Long Stratton, there is a beloved former local authority building called South Norfolk House. It has won numerous awards for its innovative architecture and its ahead-of-its-time design focus on energy efficiency, but it has been refused listed status. This could be a fantastic community asset for the town; it could be an arts hub. Will the Minister meet me to discuss its future?
Chris Bryant
I am very happy to meet my hon. Friend. I always have to be a little bit careful about decisions that might end up coming to me, in case I have queered the pitch. I pay tribute to Councillor Race, who has spent a great deal of time on this matter. Many community groups up and down the land have tried to do precisely the same thing: bring a historical building back into community use. Obviously, we want to support that wherever possible, where it is sustainable in the long term.
Manuela Perteghella (Stratford-on-Avon) (LD)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)
My Department is firing on all cylinders. In the last few weeks, we have launched the national youth strategy; introduced the Football Governance Bill; appointed Baroness Shriti Videra to chair the Creative Industries Council; and launched two new creative clusters, in Birmingham and Liverpool. Also, yesterday I announced a levy to tackle harmful gambling.
Manuela Perteghella
Sports clubs in my constituency such as Shipston rugby club and Stratford sports club are doing fantastic work with young people, but for rural constituencies like Stratford-on-Avon, where sports play a vital role in youth engagement, the impact of extreme weather events means that many sports clubs consistently lose access to their facilities due to flooding throughout the year. Will the Secretary of State confirm whether the new youth strategy will consider the challenges posed by the climate on youth sports activities?
Lisa Nandy
The hon. Lady will know that for young people in particular, the climate crisis is an enormous priority. As she knows, we have announced that we are co-producing and creating the national youth strategy with young people. I would be amazed if the impact of climate change on the things that matter most to them is not an essential part of that strategy.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism (Chris Bryant)
Copyright and the protection of artists’ moral and economic rights is an absolutely essential part of ensuring that they are properly remunerated for their creativity. We will do everything in our power to make sure that the copyright regime remains, is strong, and is strongly enforced.
Stuart Andrew (Daventry) (Con)
Thank you, Mr Speaker, and a very happy birthday to the Clerk of the House.
As we have heard time and again today, and in the past few weeks, the Government’s jobs tax could cost £2.8 billion to the Department’s sectors—to the arts, sport, music, hospitality and tourism. Was the Secretary of State blindsided by the Budget, as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs claims, or was she aware of that? Has she, as we have asked several times, done a sector-by-sector impact assessment? If not, why not? If so, will she publish it?
Lisa Nandy
I gently say to the right hon. Gentleman that unlike the previous Government, we do actually like one another and work together across Government, so I had a number of discussions about the Budget with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor in advance. She is very aware of the importance of creative industries, and of all our sectors, to the UK economy. That is why we have put them at the heart of our industrial strategy and our economic plan. We are working closely with the industries to make sure that they continue to thrive.
Stuart Andrew
So it sounds like the right hon. Lady did know, which is interesting, given that she cares about charities as much as I do. They face a £1.4 billion bill. When they needed help the most, we gave them £100 million. Her Government are now going to take 14 times that amount back from them. We heard yesterday that the Teenage Cancer Trust will have to find an extra £300,000, and Marie Curie reports having to find nearly £3 million. Where does the Secretary of State suggest that such organisations find the money to pay this charity tax, and who will fill the gaps if charities have to scale back on their work as a result of this Government’s decisions?
Lisa Nandy
Under the last Government, charities faced a perfect storm. Not only did they receive very little support from the Government—in fact, they were silenced and gagged, and were told by one charities Minister that they should be “sticking to their knitting”, which, in my view, was deeply offensive—but they had to deal with the rising pressures of the cost of living crisis, and the mess that the right hon. Gentleman’s party was making of running the country. Our Government are determined to take action on this, and we were elected on a pledge to do so. As I have told the right hon. Gentleman’s colleagues previously, we are protecting our charities, as was announced in the Budget, and I will take no lectures from the Conservatives on how to run this country.
Ben Goldsborough (South Norfolk) (Lab)
Lisa Nandy
You can see how eager we are, Mr Speaker. We are champing at the bit to support the creative industries. As my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) will know, we have announced a series of measures over the last few months to support these industries, including tax credits for independent film and special effects. We are broadening the curriculum to ensure that there is a pathway enabling young people to work in the creative industries, and we have held an international investment summit, to which the industries were central. We will be announcing more in due course.
Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage) (LD)
Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)
Lisa Nandy
I thank my hon. Friend for raising an issue that is so important to fans throughout the country. The Government, including my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary, have acted decisively in announcing a consultation in order to consider how best to put fans back at the heart of ticketing, not whether to do it. We will say more about this imminently.
Sir John Whittingdale (Maldon) (Con)
Lisa Nandy
I know that this matter is of huge concern not just to the right hon. Gentleman but to the Chair of the Select Committee, the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage), and to many other Members. As he knows, the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism has responsibilities in both this Department and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and has taken a keen interest in the issue. We have read the report and are considering its recommendations, and I will shortly be in a position to update the right hon. Gentleman on the action that the Government intend to take.
Emma Foody (Cramlington and Killingworth) (Lab/Co-op)
Lisa Nandy
Our Government are acutely aware that there are not enough facilities in communities in the UK to keep pace with demand. We know that these facilities are a visible symbol of whether we value our children and young people, whether we value those communities, and whether we stand with them. We are working with the Football Association and the Premier League to create new state-of-the-art facilities across the country to inspire the stars of the future, and I would be glad to discuss that further with my hon. Friend to ensure that it is of benefit to her.
Siân Berry (Brighton Pavilion) (Green)
In Brighton Pavilion, we love our grassroots music venues, and we often need to make robust use of the “agent of change” principle to protect them when it comes to licensing and planning, but it is hard work to enforce that and ensure that it happens. Is the Minister having any discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government about putting the “agent of change” principle on a statutory footing?
Chris Bryant
Those meetings have already taken place and will continue to take place. The hon. Lady makes a very good point. I have visited Brighton Pavilion many times, so I know that other music venues there can, I hope, come online in the near future. I know that the Secretary of State met Ed Sheeran last week—she has told me about it about 25 times—to discuss precisely that issue.
Gill German (Clwyd North) (Lab)
Lisa Nandy
I was very pleased to visit Blackpool recently to see the incredible work that Blackpool pleasure beach is doing. Coastal communities have an enormous role to play in our creative industries, and we are absolutely determined to do everything we can to support them. They have a very special place in the life of the nation; I think most people holidayed there as children. We hope that they continue to thrive, and I will be in a position to update the House soon.
Paul Holmes (Hamble Valley) (Con)
Mountbatten hospice, which serves my constituency and Hampshire more widely, receives 70% of its income through charitable donations. It has told me and my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight East (Joe Robertson) that its viability is under risk because of the national insurance contributions policy that this Government have brought forward. Can the Secretary of State outline what pressure she will put on the Treasury to make sure that the policy changes? The charitable sector is in real danger because of this Government’s decisions.
Lisa Nandy
My right hon. Friend the Health Secretary and I have already had a discussion about the situation facing hospices. He is acutely aware of it, and is working with the hospice movement in order to provide the best possible support.
Alan Strickland (Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor) (Lab)
Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating Newton Aycliffe youth football club on being runner-up in FA club of the year in Durham, and will she join me in congratulating all the parents, volunteers and young people involved in grassroots sports?
Lisa Nandy
I thank my hon. Friend for being such an outstanding champion of his community, and I extend my warmest congratulations to Newton Aycliffe. He is right to highlight the invaluable contribution that families make to the success of young people. They often pitch in as volunteers and coaches, and take children and young people to matches come rain or shine—I imagine that in his neck of the woods, like mine, it is more often rain than shine. I am really glad that they have such a good champion.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
The Minister with responsibility for sport graciously met me to discuss the future of London Irish in my Spelthorne constituency, and she undertook to ensure that the club would get the meeting with Sport England that it so desperately desired. Can the Minister give us an update?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)
I was grateful to the hon. Gentleman for coming to speak to me about this issue. I will speak to my officials and make sure that we approach Sport England very speedily.
Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby) (Lab)
I would like to highlight the richly deserved King’s award for voluntary service that has been given to the 60 volunteers at Newby and Scalby library in Scarborough. The library’s services are innovative, including a summer reading challenge for children, an IT buddy service and a garden growing produce. Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating Newby and Scalby library on its award, and on the enormous contribution that it makes to our community in Scarborough?
Lisa Nandy
I am very happy to congratulate Newby and Scalby library. I thank my hon. Friend for drawing attention to the enormous work that libraries do in helping to promote children’s literacy in this country, which could not be more important.