UK Economy: Tourism

Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Lord Shipley

Thursday 20th November 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

There is very much a plan. That is precisely why the Prime Minister announced that the next phase of trail-blazers would be attributed to the tourism and hospitality sector. That is very much ongoing. The British Hospitality Association has pledged to create 300,000 jobs by 2020. Many reputable companies are running apprenticeship schemes. There is masses going on in the Government’s apprenticeship scheme and in other companies.

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords, language barriers can exist for individual tourists travelling outside London to the nations and to the regions of England, and there are barriers to doing things such as purchasing rail tickets cheaply. We need to ensure that people have access to appropriate foreign languages when they visit historic homes, and so on. Do the Government have any plans to look at ways in which foreign tourists who are trying to travel outside London can be assisted both in our transport systems and their destinations when their English is not at the highest level?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, it is clearly very important, through VisitBritain, VisitEngland and the other organisations, that the welcome given to visitors who do not speak English is as accommodated as possible. That is precisely why, for instance, in the China Welcome campaign many more museums are ensuring that Mandarin is part of the repertoire. I hope that will be the case throughout the country. I will discuss that point with officials.

Arts Council: Spending Outside London

Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Lord Shipley

Thursday 20th November 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, there were some important points there. The point about London, which the noble Baroness made, is that it is currently the cultural centre and, I think, the cultural capital of the world. We must ensure that that remains the case because so much of what happens in London goes out on tour. There are many examples of touring companies based in London, probably 78% of whose activity is outside London. That is important. There are many good examples of local authorities all around the country, including Durham, Lincolnshire, Wakefield and Portsmouth, which recognise that arts and heritage are routes to economic growth.

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords, more than 80% of private giving to the arts goes to London-based organisations. Does the Minister agree that the Government and the Arts Council need to redouble their efforts to get more private giving to go outside London, not least because many institutions headquartered in London are deriving substantial profits from the work they do outside London?

Deaf People: Telephone Services

Debate between Lord Gardiner of Kimble and Lord Shipley

Thursday 13th June 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Shipley]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proposals they have to make it easier for deaf people to access telephone banking and other similar services.

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, Ed Vaizey, Minister for Communications, has met representatives from the banks and written to more than 80 FTSE companies engaged with customer services to encourage them to communicate with their deaf and hard-of-hearing customers through a mix of more suitable contacts, be it by e-mail, SMS, text relay, Typetalk or video relay services—VRS. BT, Lloyds TSB, Halifax and the Royal Bank of Scotland have launched VRS schemes, with Barclays and the Post Office currently considering it.

[Lord Shipley]

I thank the Minister for his reply which I find most encouraging. Given that some 800,000 people in the UK are severely or profoundly deaf and 25,000 rely on British Sign Language, and given also that the technology exists pretty cheaply to provide the necessary communications and security checks, does the Minister agree that implementation of the Equality Act 2010 by all providers should be speeded up?

[Lord Gardiner of Kimble]

My Lords, we must clearly do better for the many people whom my noble friend has highlighted. I understand that for between 55,000 and 70,000 people in our country British Sign Language is their first or preferred language. The Minister for Communications has been extremely active, working with other departments, Ofcom, banks, service providers and voluntary organisations. The relay services working group has been set up to advance the potential for VRS and I would urge all service providers to see implementation as a matter of top priority.