Heritage Craft and Building Sector
Debate between Baroness Twycross and Lord Swire(4 days, 22 hours ago)
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Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I agree with the noble Earl about the need for specialist skills and the many organisations around the country that are doing excellent work in this area. I was hugely impressed by the offer at York Minster when I visited last year, and by the calibre and commitment of the apprentices and teaching staff. We are currently working with the heritage sector to identify key skills gaps and on how to protect the future of heritage skills. Through fully funded SME apprenticeships for under-25s, this Government are giving every smaller heritage organisation the opportunity to deliver flexible, affordable apprenticeships.
Lord Swire (Con)
My Lords, there are approximately 60,000 thatched properties in the United Kingdom. The great majority are in the county of Devon in which I live; in fact, I live in a thatched property. Thatch used to be a sign of poverty; it is now deemed to be a sign of wealth—I cannot quite get my head around that when you look at the levels of insurance we are obliged to pay. The problem is that 75% of thatched properties are listed properties and therefore extremely expensive to maintain. Can the Minister give some encouragement to the idea that there might be parity and that we can get rid of the anomaly between VAT on newbuild and VAT on repair once and for all? Given that there are now only about 1,000 thatchers in the country, what can the Government do to encourage that skill and to encourage better access to authentic reed and thatch to maintain and enhance an important part of our built rural heritage?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I am very aware, as the noble Lord clearly is, of the shortage of specialist thatchers. Since I have been in this role, I have learned a huge amount about the different types of techniques that are used around the country. This is one of the issues we have been talking about with the sector. I point to the work of museums such as the Weald & Downland Living Museum in this area, as well as other organisations.
On VAT, noble Lords will be aware that that is a matter for the Treasury. However, I ask the noble Lord to note that a blanket VAT cut for all historic building repairs would be a significant fiscal intervention and potentially subsidise repairs that might have happened anyway. In a tight fiscal climate, it is arguably better value for money to direct taxpayers’ money into targeted funds such as the heritage at risk grants or the Heritage Revival Fund, where we can ensure that every pound delivers genuine public benefit and regeneration rather than a broad tax relief.
Arts Sector
Debate between Baroness Twycross and Lord Swire(6 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Twycross (Lab)
Research shows that, where young people explore creative subjects, their overall attainment improves. The same is the case throughout people’s lives—creativity is so important. For us in DCMS, it was hugely exciting to have the creative industries recognised as part of the industrial strategy. As part of the creative ecosystem, the sector will benefit from the cross-cutting measures in the sector plan and industrial strategy, including greater access to finance. Over the spending review period, DCMS is committing significant funding to safeguard and modernise much-loved arts and cultural institutions across England as part of this creative ecosystem.
Lord Swire (Con)
Can the Minister explain the logic and the Government’s thinking whereby a British tourist trying to visit a museum such as the Prado, the Uffizi or the Louvre has to pay to go and see those collections, whereas foreign visitors here do not have to do that to see our national collections, which are hard pressed for funding?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
The introduction of universal free admission to national museums and galleries was a landmark policy of the previous Labour Government that we are really proud of and do not currently have any plans to change. These museums attract huge numbers of both national and international visitors, which supports jobs and investment across the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.
National Trust Acts
Debate between Baroness Twycross and Lord Swire
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
The governance and the focus of the work of the National Trust is a matter for its council, not for government. I personally and the Government do not have an issue with the running of the National Trust. If any noble Lords have concerns about it, they should note that any issues around its compliance with its charitable purposes should be made to the Charity Commission. I repeat that the National Trust is the biggest conservation charity in Europe. It opens up our countryside and heritage, including diverse buildings—from Paul McCartney’s childhood home to Cliveden and Chartwell—and, as has been noted, the Welsh coastline. Rather than bashing the institution, we should support it to continue with its strategy.
Lord Swire (Con)
My Lords, criticising some of the trends in the governance of the National Trust is not bashing the institution. I am a proud member of the National Trust; I think that it does excellent work, not least on the south-west coast path, which I walk regularly. However, there has been a trend to ignore a lot of criticism of the National Trust, and we must face it: introducing the quick vote system was an attempt by the National Trust to freeze out legitimate criticism by other members of the trust. There is increasing concern about how it has behaved over Holnicote in Exmoor, where it ignored the wishes of the Acland family, and what it has done about legal trail hunting, which goes beyond any legislation either House has introduced. There are now the issues that my noble friend Lord Lexden raised over Clandon. The Government should be concerned about this huge national institution that touches on all our lives.
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I do not feel that the critics of the National Trust have been silenced; they have been quite vocal. The governance and the focus of the work of the trust is a matter for its 5 million members—more than the combined memberships of all political parties—rather than the Government. It is a sorry day when the Government start interfering in matters that are not to do with them, rather than leaving them to the charity and its members and governing bodies.
Listed Historic Buildings
Debate between Baroness Twycross and Lord Swire
Lord Swire (Con)
My Lords, much of our built heritage up and down the country is literally crumbling, and the backlog of repairs is getting longer and longer. That is in no small part due to the different rates of VAT. When we were part of the EU, we were always told that we could not vary the rate of VAT on restoration, as opposed to new build—but we are not in the EU anymore, and we can set VAT at whatever level we like. Will the Government look, as a matter of urgency, at having parity between restoration and new build, or at least look again at trying to reduce the costs of restoration for our built heritage, which is among our greatest national assets?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
Decisions on tax policy are for the Chancellor, which are made in the context of the overall public finances. The noble Lord will note that my noble friend Lord Livermore is here, so I am fairly confident that he heard the point that the noble Lord made very clearly.
Film Industry
Debate between Baroness Twycross and Lord Swire
Lord Swire (Con)
I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement. There is much in it that I welcome. The film industry needs fiscal certainty—one thing it did not have when I was shadowing the department in 2005, when Gordon Brown thought there were some tax holes and immediately changed the fiscal environment for film. That had the net result of driving “Casino Royale”, then the latest Bond film, across to Prague from Pinewood. I am nervous when the Minister talks about the sorts of films the Government would like to see made—I hope they are not going to interfere in that respect too much. The Minister also alluded to what this can do for the regions, the built environment and the rural environment. What discussions will she have about doing more with English Heritage, Historic Houses, the National Trust and our regional tourist boards to pump-prime regional film production and bring some of our undoubted assets to a wider international audience?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I am not going to respond to the suggestion that my favourite films indicate that we are going to be picking and choosing. The Secretary of State’s Statement made it clear that “The Kings Speech” was also an independent film. There is a balance, as there should be, and a range of voices should be heard. This is the first step in ensuring that we support the film industry, specifically the independent film industry. A particular focus was provided so that this could go ahead of the Budget, for production purposes and so that people did not lose potential funding. The Government are committed to ensuring that, across the piece, we have a creative sector and industry that reflects the country and is supported across the country. At the heart of this will be the skills agenda and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to acquire the skills required.