Olympics 2016
Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
My Lords, as I said, the total funding to basketball is nearly £10 million over the cycle to 2017. In fact, there is investment through Sport England and also the youth and community scheme. Some £1 billion has gone from that scheme into precisely the sports and activities that the noble Lord was referring to, such as basketball.
Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville (Con)
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that in the year 1808 Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Portugal? Does he agree that the allocation by the British of resources behind the lines of Torres Vedras during the same period is a very good long-distance omen for the British teams competing in 2016?
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.
Culture: Art House Cinemas
Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville
Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville (Con)
How many art-house cinemas are there in the United Kingdom?
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
My Lords, my noble friend has hit upon a problem, which is the precise definition of art picture house. There are independent cinemas as well as the mainstream ones. The problem is that a lot of art-house cinemas show mainstream films as well as the more cultural films. However, I think that we are talking about 300 independent cinemas.
Ofcom: Public Service Broadcasting
Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
I am most grateful to the noble Lord and am particularly conscious of his long-term interest in this, having been so much involved in the setting up of Ofcom. I assure him that Ofcom will be required to ensure that the quota requirements are met by the public service broadcasting sector, whether in news, current affairs, original productions, independent productions, outside-London productions or regional news. It must also publish data on compliance with the above quotas in an annual PSB report. The Government are working closely with Ofcom, which we want to continue to be a very successful organisation.
Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville
My Lords, I congratulate the Government, through my noble friend, on the fact that they launched this particular consultation on Shakespeare’s birthday.
Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We should all celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday. In the arts and culture debate tomorrow, I might mention something about our most famous poet. I want to emphasise that Ofcom has now been in existence for 10 years and it is appropriate, given the huge technological advances in this sector, that we should look at how we could do things better.