Battle of Waterloo: 200th Anniversary
Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
My Lords, as well as the United Kingdom Government’s funding, the Government of Wallonia—part of Belgium—have contributed €900,000; there are also Belgian sponsors and UK sponsors of €1 million and £2 million respectively. The Hougoumont site is hugely important, as is known: it was the battle within the battle.
Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)
My Lords, this House has within its walls a remarkable commemoration of the Battle of Waterloo in the shape of the Daniel Maclise fresco in the Royal Gallery. It commemorates not only the triumph of Waterloo but also its great tragedy. Will the Minister give the House an up-to-date account of where we are with the restoration of that fresco and its partner?
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
My Lords, I spoke to the curator this morning, rightly anticipating this question. This is a very intricate and complex matter and the University of Cologne is considering all the points that come out of its research. After that careful consideration —because obviously we do not want to do anything at all that could further damage the paintings—this will come before the Works of Art Committee. The options before it will then be considered, and then all of us will hear more.
Devolution: Arts and Culture
Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
My Lords, in fairness I do not think that the prospect for arts funding outside London is bleak. The increase in funding outside London is welcome. The noble Lord mentioned the Chancellor, but the Autumn Statement mentioned government support for £79 million of capital funding towards the construction of a new theatre and exhibition space, Factory, in Manchester, and the Great Exhibition, which is of course across all northern towns. The Government are also supporting the Glasgow School of Art, for example, following the devastating fire there. There are many examples of what is happening around the country.
Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)
Following on from the question by my noble friend Lord Howarth, has the Minister read the article in today’s Guardian by Charlotte Higgins about what has happened in Newcastle over recent years as a result of the local authority there seeking to withdraw all its funding from its local arts organisations? Does he agree that with the inexorable move towards greater regional autonomy, it is absolutely essential that the arts and culture are built into the core provision that any local authority should be expected to make available to its citizens?
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
My Lords, there are many good examples of cities and towns that realise that arts and culture are at the very heart of their opportunity for economic growth. I very much hope that Newcastle will take a different turn, because cities such as Derry/Londonderry, or Hull, which will soon be City of Culture, have recognised that there is an opportunity. I very much encourage Newcastle to think the same.
Olympics 2016
Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
That is a most intriguing question and I am not sure how best to answer it other than to say that I am sure that all your Lordships wish all the athletes, wherever they come from and whichever discipline they are participating in, enormous success.
Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)
My Lords, going back to the question from my noble friend Lady Armstrong, can the Minister say what the trend is on spending on the lottery? I do not mean spending of the lottery funds but spending by people who buy lottery tickets and whether therefore it is likely that the long-term sustainability of funding to both culture and sport will remain constant.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
My Lords, I do not have the precise figures in front of me. I will look at the projection for National Lottery proceeds and come back to the noble Baroness. As I said, this is something that we will need to look at and I very much hope that the National Lottery will continue to be the enormous success it has been.
Arts: Lottery Funding
Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Earl for referring to the whole country, because investment outside London is very much one of the Arts Council England’s priorities. The increasing amount that is invested outside London is terribly important. Arts Council England has the responsibility for ensuring that those funds are directed appropriately. It clearly would not be for government or civil servants to start deciding winners and losers in the artistic world; that is for Arts Council England and its responsibility to invest.
Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)
My Lords, is the Minister aware that, during the past 20 years, as a result of the principle of additionality, lottery funds have been allocated substantially to capital? As a result of the combination of lottery and substantial private funding, we have a remarkable range of new-built and refurbished cultural buildings. How will the Government ensure that, in the next 20 years, those buildings are not allowed to fall into disrepair because lottery funding is being allocated elsewhere, as happened in the 1970s and 1980s after the last big series of building projects?
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
My Lords, we have seen some very exciting refurbishments and restorations of our heritage buildings. It is precisely why the Government and arm’s-length bodies such as the Arts Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage have provided extensive funding towards cultural heritage, including buildings. It is important that Arts Council England provides capital grants which can be spent on purchase, improvement and restoration of capital projects. What the noble Baroness said is absolutely right: the last thing we want to do is to have an investment and let it deteriorate.
Film Industry
Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
My Lords, I should first congratulate Bradford on being recognised as the world’s first UNESCO City of Film. Skills for digital and creative industries are vital, which is why the Government have increased their match funding of the skills development fund and are investing in the National Film and Television School’s digital village. The BFI has launched Creative England, its new talent workshop, and the industry is also engaged with apprenticeships and the BAFTA scholarships.
Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that the National Theatre has recently pulled off a considerable coup in tempting Tessa Ross from Film4 to join the National Theatre as chief executive? Jolly good for them, not so good for the film industry—but never mind. What it demonstrates is that there is a high degree of interdependency between the film industry and theatre in particular, with a number of very successful practitioners—directors, actors and screenwriters—coming initially from the theatre. Does he therefore accept that the health of the film industry depends to a significant extent on the health of the theatre?
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
My Lords, I think that I would go further and say that the creative industries generally are all part of the scene we have for film and the allied industries: technicians, theatre—I am very pleased with the tax reliefs for regional theatre now, for instance, in the Budget—high-end TV and animation. All of those should be seen as a whole, because the creative industries are an essential part of our national economy.
Press Regulation
Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall(10 years, 10 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The most important thing about the recognition panel is that it will be for the panel to opine on any body that applies to it for recognition. That is part of the whole architecture that Lord Justice Leveson proposed: the recognition body and an independent self-regulator. Therefore, it is not for the Government or the Executive to opine whether an application from a new body is to be recognised. That is precisely why we set up the recognition panel. That work is now in progress.
Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)
My Lords, following the last question and given that there have been, shall we say, a few doubts in the recent past about certain public appointments, in what way will the Government ensure that the appointment of members of the recognition panel is fully open and transparent?
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
That is precisely why the Commissioner for Public Appointments is ready to start work on ensuring that all the requirements in terms of transparency, openness and fairness are absolutely key to the appointments process that he is taking charge of very shortly.
Culture: Art House Cinemas
Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
My Lords, my noble friend is absolutely right. The picture houses are very important, particularly outside London; in particular in Cambridge, which of course is the venue for the Cambridge Film Festival. There are many reasons why these establishments are particularly important. They are part of our global reach, and all film industry is very important for the British economy. That, of course, is why the film industry has the tax relief it does, which is an indication of the Government’s support for it.
Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)
My Lords, I declare an interest as a regular patron of the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse. Will the noble Lord consider that perhaps the Government have more of an interest in this issue than he has yet indicated? These picture houses often show live performances of work—for example, from the National Theatre—which is a way in which the public funding that goes into our major theatres is made to work much harder than it would if it depended simply upon people coming into the theatres to see the shows. There is a serious interest here for the Government to consider, which is why it would be a good idea for them to put some pressure on whoever needs to have pressure put upon them to make this happen.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The noble Baroness is a champion of Cambridge; I know that Bury St Edmunds in particular also has this feed-in from opera and theatre. I am well aware of the importance of that to many parts of the regions, where it is vital. I have to repeat that there is a procedure that has to be undertaken. Concerns have been raised and, as I said, it is open to interested parties to appeal on this matter. However, the problem is that when we have independence, we must mean independence.