Queen’s Speech

Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury Excerpts

Monday 21st October 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (LD)]

My Lords, in his wonderful speech, the noble Lord, Lord Heseltine, talked about being wide-ranging. I will literally be wide-ranging, because I am talking about the creative industries. Culture is the subject for debate tomorrow, but unfortunately I am not able to be present.

We are a creative nation—always have been—and the creative industries are of huge benefit to the economy. Indeed, according to a report published by the Office for National Statistics a couple of weeks ago, we did not go into recession in the last quarter in large and significant part because of our creative industries.

Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities starts:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”.


If I had more time I would quote more, because the opening of that novel is so pertinent. That is how I feel at the moment. We live in a golden age of British art and creativity, but Brexit, attacks on our essential PSBs from streaming services and, I am afraid, our own Government are lurking. Cuts to cultural funding, particularly at local level, are happening. There are other reasons for concern, such as a leaking talent pipeline that will lead to problems if not addressed.

Arts and culture lead to urban regeneration, as I have seen at first hand as a trustee of the Lowry in Salford. They offer a platform that reflects the diversity of the people of the UK. Participation promotes well-being and aids both physical and mental health, so supporting and protecting this vital, vibrant sector is of paramount importance. This starts with education.

I am sure the Minister will agree with the Durham commission report published this week on creativity in education, which said that creative thinking should run through all school life. However, the report confirms a 28% decline in the uptake of creative subjects since 2014—a decline that we on these Benches have been drawing attention to, and the Department for Education denying, for a long time.

The fact is that the introduction of the EBacc has had a significant negative impact on the offer of arts and culture in schools, resulting, as the report says, in,

“a serious imbalance in the all-round education of students”.

No less a person than Andrew Lloyd Webber castigated the Government a couple of weeks ago for cutting arts and music budgets in schools. He said the cuts are,

“the stupidest thing that could ever have happened”.

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

May I just remind noble Lords about the subject of today’s debate? We would be very grateful if noble Lords could stick to that, please.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury]

Does the Minister not agree that every child should have access to arts and culture? Access to the arts is access to our national life and, on a day when home affairs are being debated, I argue that it is also a social justice issue.

We welcome changes to the Ofsted inspection framework, which acknowledges the need for schools to develop a strategy for teaching creativity, but this is mealy-mouthed. We should be talking not about acknowledgement but, as the Durham commission recommends, the championing of schools that successfully nurture creativity. Does the Minister not agree that a category of outstanding from Ofsted must mean that the school offers arts-rich education? The independent sector does. The growing inequality between provision in the independent and state sectors is resulting in the neglect and exclusion of youngsters from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds.

The EBacc is all about STEM and what we need is STEAM. The Government need to answer Rufus Norris, artistic director of the National Theatre, who asks:

“What … explanation can there be for the baffling disconnect”—


this goes back to what the noble Lord, Lord Heseltine, said—

“between its industrial strategy, which prizes the creative industries as a priority sector, and an education policy that is deliberately squeezing creativity out of our children’s learning?”

There is also the matter of career advancement post school. Unfortunately, the apprenticeship levy has failed the creative industries. Its inflexibility leaves significant amounts of money unspent which could otherwise help. Will the Government respond to the concerns of the industry?

Then there is Brexit. Crucially, the creative industries rely on the ability of people to move freely across Europe; they rely on the free movement of instruments, equipment and samples without expensive tariffs and border checks; they rely on a digital single market that protects our IP; they rely on investment from EU funds; and they rely on country of origin rules, whereby the mutual recognition of broadcasting licences between the UK and the EU has led to this country being the leading hub in Europe.

On the matter of broadcasting, the UK’s unique mix underpins our creative industries. Central to this are our PSBs, and in particular the BBC. When he was Foreign Secretary, our now PM described the BBC as the single greatest and most effective ambassador for our culture and our values. Well the Government must value it. Does the Minister not agree with former Tory Culture Minister Ed Vaizey, on the matter of free TV licences for the over 75s, that,

“looking back … it was wrong to impose on the BBC what was effectively a welfare policy and then to ask them to take responsibility for it”?

Of particular concern is the Government’s position on immigration, as mentioned in the Queen’s Speech. Even before Brexit, there are several creative roles on the Government’s shortage occupation list. But the Government still insist on defining those who earn under £30,000 as unskilled. As I have said before, to another Minister, I am mystified as to where this came from. It certainly did not come from anyone who works in the creative sector. In a recent Creative Industries Federation survey, 81% of those who responded said that they would face challenges if unable to hire workers on salaries below this level. Perhaps this Minister can enlighten me.

I will finish here. Liberal Democrats have consistently made the case for remaining in the EU because we know that there is no deal better than the deal we have as members of the EU—certainly not for the creative industries.

Brexit: UK Passports

Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury Excerpts

Thursday 29th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (LD)]

I appreciate that my noble friend’s Question applies to all travellers, but I am particularly concerned about the ability of performers and technicians to move freely between the UK and Europe for creative activities, unencumbered by red tape and, crucially, at short notice. Does the Minister agree that, whatever the colour of the passport, there should be an EU-wide touring passport?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I thought the noble Baroness said a “Tory” passport, but I think she actually said “touring” passport. Of course, everyone in their line of work or indeed, for leisure, should be allowed to move freely. The December Statement by the Prime Minister made it quite clear that that is exactly what she seeks.

BBC World Service and British Council

Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury Excerpts

Thursday 10th July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Alton, for this debate. I speak on culture and media matters from these Benches, and I am an avid believer in the importance of the part played by both the BBC and the British Council in binding our nation together and defining us in the eyes of other nations. Yet their role and influence goes further, as was mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Alton. They are also key to the UK’s successful pursuit of soft power, defined in the very good recent report of a House of Lords Select Committee as,

“the ability to affect others to obtain the outcomes one wants through attraction rather than coercion”.

The pursuit of soft power is essential to UK diplomacy—and prosperity—in the 21st century. I declare an interest: I am the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Mexico, and in this capacity I have seen at first hand how cultural diplomacy is a major tool in pursuing collaboration on both an economic and a strategic level. In Mexico, the BBC is enjoyed, admired and trusted, and the British Council actively promotes British culture, language and values. Both are instruments by which those in Mexico understand who we are, what we stand for and what we offer.

2015 is the Year of Mexico in the UK and the UK in Mexico, and it will be a great mutual celebration. It will strengthen ties between our Governments, our people and organisations. This forging of greater bilateral trust and engagement will make both of us richer in every sense of the word. On the ground in Mexico, it is the British Council, alongside our embassy, that is making this happen.

I worked for the BBC across genres, across departments and across the globe. I remember that when filming years ago in the Gulf, a fisherman from Somaliland saw our camera and came up to talk. “BBC”, he said immediately, “BBC. We love the BBC”. He was talking about the World Service, which of course in those days was received through a physical entity known as a wireless, not through a wireless connection delivering to a multitude of platforms. The World Service has kept up with the times and now people across the world get their information through many devices, but whatever the device the BBC is respected as accurate, impartial, objective and free of national interests. This goes back to the Second World War. Penelope Fitzgerald, in her wonderful novel set in Broadcasting House, writes that the BBC was,

“dedicated to the strangest project of the war … that is, telling the truth”.

Over and over again we see people turn to it in times of crisis. Noble Lords may remember a photograph taken at the beginning of the Arab spring at a demonstration in Syria, of a young man holding up a placard with “Thank you BBC” written in English.

Charter renewal is upon us. I hope that my noble friend the Minister will agree that the BBC, funded by the licence fee, should be protected and celebrated. We on these Benches support the BBC taking over responsibility for the World Service from the Foreign Office, but the Minister will know that World Service funding has at this point been settled for only one year. Does she not agree that this makes important long-term planning difficult? I hope that she and the FCO will help in the charter process to ensure that the future of the World Service is not diminished.

Economy: Culture and the Arts

Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury Excerpts

Thursday 13th June 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury]

My Lords, I add my thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Wheatcroft, for initiating this debate. I also declare an interest as a trustee of the Lowry.

Last week, I chaired an IPT breakfast meeting where the topic was the role of the arts in the 21st century. It was attended by people from across the sector and the political divides, but consensus soon broke out that there is an urgent need to marshal all the arguments that prove the sector’s worth and that too many people have too fragmented a view of what investment in this area provides. As someone from the Arts Council put it,

“we need to have a clear sense of the true value of the arts and cultural industries, and ensure that this value is properly woven into government policy”.

Against the backdrop of the present spending review this could not be more important.

As a country, we have always been blessed with a wealth of creative talents, which have shaped and illuminated our history and national identity. This creativity has also spawned industries that are a significant contributor to our economy. The creative industries come from ideas, innovation and imagination, inspired and fed by the rich tapestry of British culture and the arts. Our creative industries are crucial in contributing to today’s global economy, where capital and labour are mobile and goods and services can be produced almost anywhere. This was evident on a recent trip I made to Guadalajara as the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Mexico. It has been designated a digital creative city, focusing on attracting companies that produce video games, movies, multimedia and mobile applications, which are all areas in which we excel.

At home, the economic contribution of the arts and cultural sector has grown since 2008, unlike the UK economy as a whole. Our film industry is an example, as the noble Lord, Lord Puttnam, mentioned. The UK is the world’s greatest market for music consumers. We produce more than a quarter of the world’s computer games, while nearly half the world’s top 100 computer games companies are based in the UK.

Support for culture and the arts also feeds through into the economy at regional level, so it is of great concern that in certain parts of the country disproportionate cuts are being inflicted by local government. It is also short-sighted; recent LGA and Arts Council research shows that putting money into culture is an investment rather than a simple subsidy, in that it revitalises local economies and regenerates neighbourhoods. The idea behind the Lowry in Salford was to build a major arts complex as a trigger for the regeneration of the area, and it has been a resounding success in encouraging social cohesion and as a catalyst for the regeneration of the local economy. The BBC’s decision to relocate some of its key departments there, and the subsequent development of MediaCity, are clear evidence of this.

If culture and the arts are to benefit our economy, they need to be funded. John Maynard Keynes, who, let us face it, understood a thing or two about economics, was the first chairman of the Arts Council. He said that,

“the support and encouragement of the civilising arts of life”,

were part of a Government’s duty. The Minister knows that the DCMS is small, receives very little and provides a significant return on what government invests, and I hope that he can confirm reports that the Secretary of State is defending the department’s budget “tooth and nail”.

That said, the business models of arts organisations are and should be a mix, not simply because of pressures on the public purse but because the mixed economy works. I pick up here on what the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, said about philanthropy. The Government have established a match-funding scheme with £80 million from public funds to encourage philanthropy, but I think that there has been a problem with success in this area, because the sector does not really have fundraising skills. I suggest a slightly different solution to his, which is that part of that £80 million should be used to teach small and medium-sized organisations how to raise funds.

On the plus side, thanks to new technologies, there are many new opportunities for raising funds, such as crowd funding, which involves encouraging large numbers of people to give small amounts of money over the internet to causes that they support. We did this as an arts crowd funder and, in its first year, it funded over 40 projects through over 1,600 donations. My favourite model has been developed by RADA. Apparently the skills required as an actor in playing a role, performing in front of strangers and something called status adjustment are also needed by businesspeople, who are flocking to sign on to a day of being taught these things at the cost of £625—so the Treasury should take note that luvvies have business acumen.

As well as finance, the creative economy needs people who are skilled in art and other creative subjects. That is another area in which the culture and arts sector is important to the economy. The creative industries suffer from a skills shortage and can play a crucial role in addressing the problem of youth unemployment. That is why I welcome the fact that a national plan for cultural education is finally to be launched this month. I welcome the many initiatives that are helping young people, such as First Story, a charity run by Katie Waldegrave and William Fiennes, who organise and finance creative after-school workshops for students in state schools. Then there is the Young Arts Entrepreneur programme at Curve Theatre in Leicester, which receives Arts Council funding.

When money is tight and the whole of government needs to make savings, we need to make the case for the arts more than ever. Culture and the arts are the bedrock of the creative sector, worth more than £36 billion a year and employing 1.5 million people, as well as making our country an exciting and dynamic place to live and work. The sector is forecast to grow 31% by 2020, but for this to happen it needs the right support.

In conclusion, like the noble Lord, Lord Puttnam, I want to say that the importance of culture and the arts is not just about their contribution to the economy. Sarah Crompton, a judge for the Art Fund Museum of the Year Award, wrote recently that her trip around the nation,

“has been a revelation … my head has spun with impressive visitor figures, education plans and collection strategies. Before I started on this adventure, I had thought—in vague, general terms—that museums and galleries were A Good Thing … What I had not really reckoned with was the kind of pride they engender”.

Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012

Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury Excerpts

Thursday 8th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury]

My Lords, I join in congratulating my noble friend Lady Doocey. I also congratulate my noble friend Lord Deighton on a wonderful maiden speech and, of course, on a wonderful Olympics. I intend to concentrate today on the cultural legacy of our wonderful Olympics and Paralympics. Underpinning London’s bid for the 2012 Games, and one of the main reasons why it won, was a vision for a Cultural Olympiad, a festival celebrating the diversity and richness of culture in London, the UK and around the world, which will leave a lasting cultural legacy. What is more, the Cultural Olympiad could be held across the whole country, not just in the Olympic city, and encompass thousands of local and regional events as part of our nationwide celebration.

We Liberal Democrats wholeheartedly endorsed this idea, and I made speeches congratulating the Government of the time on their vision, but I am afraid that I also expressed doubts about funding levels and organisational structures. I am so glad today that I have to eat those words. The Cultural Olympiad was a triumph—and here I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Hall of Birkenhead, who so brilliantly chaired the board, and Ruth Mackenzie, its director. But I also congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Coe, on not interfering with Danny Boyle. Who can forget that opening ceremony? It was a beautiful, brilliant spectacle which was complex and self-deprecating in its narrative—although not in its execution—as well as deeply humorous. Banished forever is Colonel Blimp and his stiff upper lip; now we have our monarch jumping from a helicopter and our pre-eminent conductor performing with Mr Bean.

As well as a celebration of the entity that is the United Kingdom, this was a showcase for our great creative industries. James Bond was, first, the product of writer Ian Fleming’s creativity, and then of film makers, actors, special effects creators, costume and set designers, and those who make the costumes and sets. Finally, in a dazzling tangle of fiction and fact and fiction, the fictional spy gets to meet the real Queen and her corgis. It celebrated children’s literature, music, television, art, and how art and design come together in such a wonderful creation as the cauldron. And centre stage, literally, was Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the world wide web.

The ceremony was shot through with recognition of our creative accomplishments, and was a huge one in its very self, and it managed to involve all of us, being performed by volunteers from across the nation and being watched on television by millions of the nation, and together. For the Olympiad was a unifying experience. At 12 minutes past eight on 27 July, almost 3 million people across the United Kingdom rang bells to celebrate the first day of the Games—hand bells, bicycle bells, doorbells, Big Ben, the bells of the UK Parliaments. Turner prize-winning artist, Martin Creed, got everyone involved, not just as an audience but as an integral part of a creative vision. The Olympiad was an inclusive experience. Who can forget at the opening ceremony the Kaos Signing Choir for Deaf and Hearing Children, singing and signing the national anthem?

We are here to talk about legacy. We must ensure that the innovative new partnerships that creators forged continue. We must ensure that the estimated 10 million people who have been inspired to take part in more cultural activities can and do. We must ensure that the young and ethnic minorities who particularly appreciated the Olympiad continue to enjoy culture. But the most important thing of all is to ensure that we continue to create the creators, and in this area we face a problem. The Next Gen. report published last year pointed out that the way in which ICT is being taught in schools was too narrow and not providing the appropriate skills or aspirations to feed into the creative industries. The good news is that the coalition Government listened and a draft programme of study for ICT, which will include a computer programming option, has been developed. Alongside this, there has been significant movement towards making computer science a GCSE subject. Does my noble friend the Minister not agree that the logical next step is the inclusion of computer science in the English baccalaureate as part of the science strand? But however central the understanding of technology has become to the creative industries, they are still underpinned by creativity itself, and Darren Henley’s review of cultural education is another crucial element in tackling the skills deficit. The Government’s response to the review, published last February, says:

“We set out below those issues that we will address immediately … A National Plan for Cultural Education”.

It is November, and “immediately” has still not happened. So when is the promised national plan to be published?

Another disappointment is the lack of a sixth strand to the EBacc to cover the creative subjects. It is argued that there is plenty of room in the curriculum for these to be pursued, but it is about perception. As Grayson Perry said last weekend:

“If arts subjects aren’t included in the Ebacc, schools won’t stop doing them overnight. But there will be a corrosive process, they will be gradually eroded … By default, resources won’t go into them. With the best will in the world, schools will end up treating arts subjects differently”.

When resources are scarce, the head teacher is going to employ a geography teacher, or another teacher from one of the EBacc subjects, over one for art and design. And you know who will get the art and design teacher? It will be those being privately educated.

For us to continue to excel in the creative industries, we must place creative subjects at the heart of our education system, but action must be taken by the creative world as well as politicians to ensure that creative subjects do not become second-class subjects. Dame Tessa Jowell, to whom I would also like to pay tribute, said back in May 2008 that there will be,

“more to the Cultural Olympiad than the ceremonies, important though they are. More than the live concerts across the country, fun though they will be. It will be the beginning of something much more ambitious”.

Let us ensure that this is the case.