BBC: Brexit

Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Lord Tomlinson

Tuesday 30th January 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

The BBC needs support when it does things well; it also needs to get its house in order when it does things wrongly.

[Lord Tomlinson (Lab)]

My Lords, having referred to Mr Nigel Farage, does the Minister agree that, if by some chance Mr Farage were to become leader of UKIP once again, he has already had his quota of appearances at the BBC?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

As I have said, it is not up to the Government to express an opinion on editorial matters.

New Art Gallery

Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Lord Tomlinson

Monday 16th January 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

Of course I agree that it would be a terrible waste of the considerable amount of public money that Arts Council England has put into the New Art Gallery. That is why it is working very hard to prevent exactly that occurring. We want to find new methods of joint partnership arrangements, not only with Arts Council England but with other local organisations, to enable art galleries such as the New Art Gallery to continue.

[Lord Tomlinson (Lab)]

My Lords, given that the New Art Gallery Walsall was absolutely fundamental to the regeneration of Walsall town centre, that it houses a world-renowned collection and that it was a brilliant example of collaboration between the local authority, the art gallery and the Government—not forgetting the European Union, which put substantial money into it—would it not be an act of cultural vandalism if it were not allowed and encouraged to survive?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I completely agree that it is a very good thing that local arts organisations are absolutely key to the regeneration and ongoing prosperity of an area. Just to put the amount of money we are talking about in Walsall into perspective, the proposed reduction is £163,000 a year in the next year, but Arts Council England is putting in nearly five times as much as that—£880,000.

Social Enterprise

Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Lord Tomlinson

Tuesday 10th January 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

Of course the noble Lord is correct to mention the social value Act. We are undertaking measures to improve that—for example, social value awards, implementation and measurement projects, and a cross-Whitehall paper to demonstrate our commitment to that Act. A panel of external social value experts is providing constructive challenge on the findings and I can tell the noble Lord that final drafting is under way and will be out soon.

[Lord Tomlinson (Lab)]

My Lords, is this panoply of measures we have heard the Minister speak about within the ambit of shared responsibility, is it social enterprise or is it shared enterprise? Which one of the many things we have had given to us by the Government is it supposed to be?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I am not quite sure that I get the drift of that question.

[Lord Tomlinson]

Is it big society or shared society?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I think the best thing to do is to read the Prime Minister’s speech to the Charity Commission yesterday.

European Union Migration: National Insurance

Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Lord Tomlinson

Thursday 12th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I agree that it is the Government, but I am just pointing out a factual error that my noble friend made. I cannot give the precise figures for the past five years because I do not have them to hand, but I will write to my noble friend if we have them. On his point about services and short-term benefits, it turns out, again based on some details pointed out today, that EU migrants produce a net benefit to this country in the amount of tax and national insurance they pay compared to the services they use. Of course, someone who comes here for a holiday job has to have somewhere to live, but that is not part of the serious housing problem we have for long-term residents of this country.

[Lord Tomlinson (Lab)]

In his Statement, the Minister referred to “long-term sustainable levels” as being the level of migration this Government are looking for. Will he confirm to the House that the Government are still committed to reducing long-term net migration to “tens of thousands”, which was the ambition of the Prime Minister now several years ago—in each year since when, the figures have increased?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I believe that is the target the Government are aiming for, and I certainly have not been told that it has changed. The question is, what would the noble Lord like to see happen? At the moment, we believe that being in the single market and having free movement of people is a net benefit to this country.