London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (Advertising and Trading) (England) Regulations 2011
Debate between Baroness Billingham and Baroness Garden of Frognal
Baroness Garden of Frognal
My Lords, in 2006, Parliament passed the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act, which provided a number of powers, including the power to regulate advertising and trading in the vicinity of Olympic and Paralympic venues. It was recognised by Parliament that tailored provision was needed for the Games to act as a stronger deterrent to ambush marketing and illegal trading, and because existing powers alone are not adequate for a major, time-critical event like the Games. We need these regulations to protect against ambush marketing as well as ensuring that spectators can access venues safely.
With an expected global audience of up to 4 billion, there is no doubt that there will be concerted attempts to ambush the Games, but in drafting these regulations we have recognised that we need to strike a balance between our objectives and ensuring that regular business can carry on to the greatest extent possible. These regulations must go no further than is necessary.
To ensure that we have got the balance right, we have sent the draft regulations to those who will be affected and we have listened carefully and amended the regulations in light of their views. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport launched a wide-scale consultation in March of this year. More than 600 people or agencies were directly contacted about the consultation and a leaflet was delivered to every letterbox within the proposed regulated zones. In addition, officials have spent the last few years meeting representatives of the advertising and trading sectors. In total, 51 written responses to the consultation were received from a range of stakeholders. The small response is, I believe, a reflection of the extensive informal consultation since 2006. Those who replied generally supported the approach, and any suggestions tended to be technical in nature.
In drafting the regulations, consideration has been given to the fact that ambush marketers will look to find new and innovative ways to associate brands with high-profile events. Accordingly, broad definitions of advertising and trading activity have been crafted, with a number of specific exceptions. Many of those exceptions allow for existing business or activities to continue; so, for example, public protest activity is specifically exempt under these regulations. Advertising or trading activity that is not exempt, and so could present a risk to our objectives, may still be undertaken if it is authorised by the ODA, for trading, or LOCOG, for advertising.
Unlike previous host cities, some of which have regulated a kilometre outside of venues, these regulations apply only to event zones comprising, in most cases, the venue and the area a few hundred metres around it. In a few cases, the event zone goes slightly further so that we can protect key places, primarily for when spectators walk from a major transport hub.
Like the event zones, the event periods are tailored to each Games event, “switching on” the day before and lasting only for the period of an event. The longest the regulations will apply to any one place is 35 days in the areas around the Olympic Park, and that period is not in one block, as the regulations switch off for the period between the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Under the 2006 Act, the regulations may be enforced by the police or by enforcement officers designated by the ODA. With the police’s agreement the ODA will take the lead on enforcement, freeing up the police to focus on safety and security. Police will of course provide back-up as necessary. The ODA is looking to designate enforcement officers from local authorities. They undertake the enforcement of existing laws on street trading and advertising, so the ODA is utilising a knowledgeable and experienced resource. Local authorities will get funding for this resource, which will enable them to backfill their current roles through overtime and cancelled leave. Officers will be trained to take a light-touch approach to most infringements but persistent offenders could face having offending items seized or destroyed. To reassure your Lordships, the ODA’s enforcement strategy has been seen and approved by the Sports Minister, who is keen to ensure that proportionality is the touchstone.
The ODA has recently published detailed guidance on the regulations. This provides simple information about the regulations to ensure that those affected understand what is expected at Games time. Local authorities and advertising and trading bodies are all engaged in the process of reaching those individuals and businesses affected. The IOC requires all bidding cities to commit to take steps to prevent ambush marketing around Games venues. Sydney 2000 was the test case; since then, other host cities have taken similar steps. I believe that the regulations we are debating provide a robust yet proportionate framework for dealing with ambush marketing as well as ensuring safe access to Games venues. I beg to move.
Baroness Billingham
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her clear presentation, reminding us of the background to this SI and the justification of the measures contained in it. As ever she is accurate and persuasive, leaving little room for objection from this side of the Committee. While there are one or two matters which I will raise later, in essence this SI is the completion of the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006. As such, it is a key factor in ensuring the smooth and safe running of the Games.
The scope of the SI encompasses the need for the 2012 Games to be a joyful event—a shop window for the UK of which we can be proud. It is also essential to prevent ambush marketing around the various venues and it has to ensure easy access to those venues. I very much hope, in relation to that last point, that both LOCOG and the ODA will take note of the lessons from the catastrophic shambles at the end of the Nadal match at the O2 on Sunday night. The three-set match, which was begun at 8 pm, finished at 11.30 pm. As a result, 2,000 people were left stranded at the North Greenwich tube station, with the last train leaving before midnight. I am told by friends that the dash for that last train had the potential for disaster and one has to ask whether Boris Johnson could not have foreseen the need to supply later trains. If such a predictable shambles can ensue from one match at one venue, the need for forensic planning could not be clearer.
Part 2 of the regulations deals with advertising activity in the event zones. A light touch is crucial, so the clear guidelines ensuring that legitimate businesses can continue their day-to-day advertising and activities are very welcome. The trading activities parts of the regulation are sensible and, indeed, essential. Enforcement of advertising and trading regulations will require a high level of experience and qualification. LOCOG is approaching local authorities to lease experienced officers to work during the Games.
Despite the Minister’s assurances, some concerns remain. Given the economic climate, with local authority budgets being slashed by the Government, is there now a potential problem that there will be a shortfall of the officers required? We also debated long and hard the effect on travel to and from the Olympic sites. We were assured that the adverse effects would be kept to a minimum, but we on this side are still concerned that local companies unable to trade are being made to close down for that two-week period. Surely this would put their viability at risk, and we hope that LOCOG will come up with some more consensual proposals. With these concerns, I again thank the Minister and the Bill team, which gave us an excellent briefing, and pledge full support from this side of the Committee for an SI which will complete the original aspirations of the 2006 Act for a wonderful and successful Olympic Games.
London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (Amendment) Bill
Debate between Baroness Billingham and Baroness Garden of Frognal
Baroness Billingham
This is another example of things that looked fine on the night, but have subsequently gone seriously wrong, so we have to respond to them as far as the general public is concerned. We all saw awful things on our televisions a few weeks ago: riots in the street. It is not impossible that at the very time when you are looking to have police brought in from other police forces, something similar could be happening outside London, or in London itself.
I am raising this point so that we can make sure that we can reassure the general public that everything that can be done is being done. None the less, we must be realistic and ask ourselves whether any chief constable is going to release members of his force if he has some form of riot on his own doorstep? It is pretty unlikely. We have to look at this realistically. This is something that the general public are beginning to think about because, of course, safety is the absolute priority of these Games. We cannot possibly allow ourselves to miss out on making sure that we have enough force. The Minister said that there will be enough, but with a 20 per cent cut in police numbers already, the police are not particularly happy at the circumstances they find themselves in outside the Olympics. Are we going to face a situation where we find hostility towards the request to bring more police into London in order to facilitate policing the Games? These are questions that the general public would like the Minister to answer.
Baroness Garden of Frognal
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for tabling this amendment. As the noble Baroness, Lady Billingham, has just made so very clear, the safety and security of Games venues, supporting infrastructure and the wider public environment next summer is a paramount priority for the Government and for all concerned.
The noble Lord will be aware that the proposed amendment was considered, before being withdrawn, during the Bill’s passage in the other place. On that occasion, it was moved by the right honourable Member for Dulwich and West Norwood, Tessa Jowell, to whom, of course, we all owe a significant debt of gratitude for her tireless and unstinting commitment to delivering the bid and vision for London 2012. I am sure that all Members of your Lordships’ House will echo my sentiments on this point.
This amendment would require, in the context of such consultations as the Olympic Delivery Authority considers appropriate with relevant police authorities, the same police authorities to provide an estimate of required police deployments in order to enable the ODA to fulfil its responsibilities under Section 6(1) of the 2006 Act. Your Lordships will be aware that, as under the previous Administration, the Government have pursued a policy of maximum transparency in communicating what London 2012 safety and security will look and feel like. This includes public statements from the police on the expected requirement for policing the Games—at current estimates, up to 9,000 officers in London and 12,000 officers nationally on peak days. I am most grateful to my noble friend Lady Doocey for clarifying the position on police availability and numbers. Naturally, those numbers will be flexed up or down as necessary in response to changes in intelligence and the threat environment.
The noble Lord, Lord Rosser, asked whether sufficient police officers will be available. Yes, indeed they will. Planning for policing the Games has been going on for several years, determining the scale and nature of the deployment required to meet this unprecedented challenge. The police are applying their professional judgment for the size and nature of deployment required, including the call on mutual aid. Planning is taking place nationwide to ensure sufficient numbers will be available. The noble Lord also asked whether the military or territorial forces would be used to undertake police duties. There are no plans to use the military to undertake duties that are properly the responsibility of the police service, but the Government, LOCOG and G4S are working together to finalise the requirements for Olympic venue security and discussing with the MoD the likely role in Olympic security for military assets. So it is quite possible that the Armed Forces will provide some specialist support, as they already do in times of need, but the exact nature of this requirement is still to be agreed and a number of options are being explored. In addition, all mutual aid deployment will be by agreement between the lending force and the Metropolitan Police.
Noble Lords may have had an opportunity to read the evidence of Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, the national Olympic security co-ordinator, during the Bill’s passage in the other place. He was very clear that the police have the resources that they need to do their job and that the system of mutual aid that will be used to supplement Olympic policing in London and Dorset with officers from other force areas is robust and fit for purpose. In giving his evidence, he was, of course, fully aware of the budgetary constraints that police authorities, like all parts of the public sector, face and will continue to face next year. The police service conducts periodic reviews of the resources available nationally, particularly in relation to specialisms, and this consistently shows that there will be sufficient numbers of officers available next summer to ensure the safety and security of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is also worth emphasising that forces which lend officers to London and Dorset, or indeed, any other venue, will be reimbursed in line with normal mutual aid arrangements. They will therefore be able to backfill, through the use of overtime, so policing in those areas will not be denuded as a result of the Olympics. I should make it clear that the additional costs of the safety and security operation are coming from the Government and not from local policing budgets. As the Committee may be aware, the Government are making available £475 million for the additional costs of policing and wider security, and that is part of the overall £9.3 billion public sector funding package.
While I welcome the focus of the amendment, its substance would be an unnecessary addition to the 2006 Act because there is nothing in that Act to prevent discussions on police resources between relevant authorities. In practice, there have been and continue to be extensive discussions between all concerned parties—the police, the Home Office, the ODA, DCMS, LOCOG and others—on planned police deployments at London 2012 venues.
Economy: Tourism
Debate between Baroness Billingham and Baroness Garden of Frognal
Baroness Garden of Frognal
My Lords, burgeoning wind farms are slightly outside my remit for this Question, and there are those who think they are rather beautiful in particular circumstances. I will leave that question for another day.
Baroness Garden of Frognal
Once again, I really cannot claim sole responsibility for daylight saving. This issue comes up on various occasions in different contexts. A Private Member’s Bill going through the other place is looking at this. The issue will not go away and is under constant discussion. The one thing the Government have made clear is that they would not wish the four countries of the UK to be on different timescales. We wish all four countries to agree if we make the change.
Olympic Games 2012: Olympic Truce
Debate between Baroness Billingham and Baroness Garden of Frognal
Baroness Garden of Frognal
I thank my noble friend and of course I agree with what he says. He is tireless in his work to achieve successful outcomes for 2012 through the Olympic Truce, which indeed presents a unique opportunity for the UK to lead on proposals for the sort of peace and reconciliation that he suggests. In previous years, these truce agreement proposals have not resulted too often in major outcomes, but that will not prevent us from trying again this year. It will, of course, be for the United Nations to agree policy actions.
Baroness Billingham
My Lords, we must congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Bates, on his tenacity; I think that this is the third or fourth time that we have debated this and we are all becoming much more familiar with it. It is encouraging to hear today a significant change in the Minister’s reply. In the past, however charmingly she has replied, all that she has sent the noble Lord has been a “Dear John”, but maybe things are now changing. Having watched the cricket yesterday, do we not remind ourselves of the potency of sport for peaceful objectives? Having seen Pakistan and India sitting side by side and embracing each other, I wish his project well. I hope that the Minister will continue to use that as an example of sport and peace and the ways in which they can go together.
Baroness Garden of Frognal
I thank the noble Baroness for her kind words in among that. I am not quite sure where the question was, but if it was whether we agree that sport is an excellent forum for international co-operation, the answer is yes, indeed we do. The Government have some major programmes to encourage sport among young people as well as to support our major adult sporting events.
Tourism
Debate between Baroness Billingham and Baroness Garden of Frognal
Baroness Garden of Frognal
A Bill on daylight saving is currently being scrutinised in the other place, so we probably need to await the outcome of that. It has been clear that there is no intention that time should be devolved between the four countries of the UK. We would like to see all four countries agreeing on the same time zone.
Baroness Billingham
As ever, the Minister has given us clear and concise answers and has answered many of the questions that I was going to put to her. I am sure she would agree that the people most at risk in our economy at the moment are young people between 18 and 25. Would she agree that the tourism industry is the one place where they could most easily be accommodated? What action are the Government taking to target more funds and resources on the tourism industry to stop a whole generation being denied their fair chance at employment in future?
Baroness Garden of Frognal
As the noble Baroness will be aware, the Government are making funding available to the tourism and hospitality sector. On encouraging young people, I mentioned the skills competition, but there are programmes, such as FutureChef, which appeal directly to young people to encourage them to come in. This is a two-way trade. Not only do the opportunities have to be there, but young people have to demonstrate commitment and interest in the jobs. The Government will do as much as they can to encourage the jobs and the young people to fit them.
Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012
Debate between Baroness Billingham and Baroness Garden of Frognal(13 years, 9 months ago)
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Baroness Billingham
The decision to ensure that the athletics track remains in the Olympic stadium would undoubtedly be right. No one could question that ethically. That was part of the bid, as has already been said, as was the pledge to hold an annual school sports Olympics in that magnificent stadium. How can the Minister reconcile that promise with the total elimination of sport from the curriculum, as proposed in the new Education Bill? Where is the next generation of Olympians going to come from if it does not get the start in school that it deserves?
Baroness Garden of Frognal
My Lords, as I have attempted to reassure the noble Baroness before, this Government are entirely committed to sport for young people. There has been a review of the arrangements for the school sports partnership and there are other ways in which sport in schools and competitive sport between schools and in schools are being encouraged.
Tourism
Debate between Baroness Billingham and Baroness Garden of Frognal
Baroness Garden of Frognal
I am concerned to hear the noble Baroness's last point. That is something that we would wish to investigate in great detail because, as she rightly says, all those attending the Olympic and Paralympic Games, particularly those who are disabled, will need additional resources and specific information about where appropriate accommodation is and what the events and venues are. Over the years, we have taken strides to ensure that our venues are fully accessible to those who suffer from a whole range of disabilities.
Baroness Billingham
The Question links sport with tourism. Does the Minister agree that both those activities would benefit enormously by having more light at the end of the day rather than at the beginning of the day? We return to that issue time and time again. She might also be well aware, because we have debated it here, that 82,000 new jobs would be provided in the tourism industry if that were enacted at a time when jobs are being lost from every sector of our country. How on earth can her Government refuse to consider this seriously at long last to enable those jobs to be provided—jobs that more than likely would go to young people and women, the very people who are more likely to lose their jobs in a recession?
Baroness Garden of Frognal
The noble Baroness will be aware that a Private Member’s Bill on daylight saving is currently going through the other House. This issue comes up regularly and there seems to be growing enthusiasm for it. It is a matter for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and ultimately a matter that all parts of the United Kingdom need to subscribe to before we can change the system.
Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012: Olympic Truce
Debate between Baroness Billingham and Baroness Garden of Frognal(13 years, 11 months ago)
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Baroness Garden of Frognal
As the noble and gallant Lord says, there have been a lot of fine-sounding words. It is quite difficult to look back for examples of what has happened in countries which have previously declared their support for the Olympic Truce but have found it difficult to achieve particular outcomes to demonstrate it. It is early days at the moment and we welcome ideas on how something positive can come out of our Olympic Games in 2012.
Baroness Billingham
Can the Minister reassure the House about our future Olympians—the young people of today—because we are getting conflicting messages? Can she tell us about the £162 million which was ring-fenced for school sport and about which there was much discussion? We understood that the Prime Minister was to intervene, but now we are told that he is not going to do so. Today we hear that that £162 million has disappeared. Where has it gone? How are we going to produce sportsmen and women in the future without it?
Baroness Garden of Frognal
My Lords, the coalition Government are committed to reviving the culture of competitive sports in schools in ways that achieve real value for the sport. The Schools Olympics is one of the programmes designed to encourage every pupil in the country to get involved in competitive sport and to give them an opportunity to do so; and to harness the power of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to inspire a generation of young people to take part in sport. There are a number of other initiatives which we hope will also contribute to that aim.
World Cup: Football
Debate between Baroness Billingham and Baroness Garden of Frognal(13 years, 11 months ago)
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Baroness Garden of Frognal
I thank my noble friend for that question. It refers back to what I previously said. We would expect the Football Association to put its house in order and we look forward to that being learnt. Quite possibly, the result of not getting the World Cup will mean that football takes another look at the way in which it operates, although in no way would I suggest that football was at fault in our not gaining the World Cup in 2018.
Baroness Billingham
Many people have said that the best antidote to the rebuttal that we have had is to actually get on the pitch and win the World Cup at the next possible opportunity. If it is any help to the Minister, is she aware that there is already the Burns report which did an amazing review of football governance in this country? It may well be time that we looked at the Burns report again and brought it into action.
Baroness Garden of Frognal
My Lords, I entirely agree with the noble Baroness that getting on the pitch and winning some matches would be a very good rebuttal of what has happened with FIFA. On the funding side, the Government remain committed to investing in grassroots football through the money which Sport England provides to the Football Association and, as she says, learning lessons from the Burns review.
Sport: Rugby League World Cup 2013
Debate between Baroness Billingham and Baroness Garden of Frognal
Baroness Garden of Frognal
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that very constructive and helpful question. I assure him that the Government remain fully behind England’s 2018 bid and will continue to support the bid in any way possible in the build up to FIFA’s decision on 2 December.
Baroness Billingham
My Lords, perhaps I may press the Minister further on this matter. We have listened with great interest to her thoughtful replies. Is there not a moral obligation here? We have a situation in which the Rugby League organised sponsorship of £1 million from the RDA and then the RDA is swept away and it is left without support. In those circumstances, I should have thought that the Government, as perpetrator of the sweeping-away, would immediately step in and say, “We will fully underwrite it”—not half of it. I think the Minister must take this back to the DCMS and press much more firmly for fair treatment for a very important sport.