Birmingham Commonwealth Games Bill [HL]

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

Tuesday 25th June 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome the Bill and the Minister’s opening statement. In view of the remarks I will make on health and well-being, I declare an interest as a member of the advisory board of Sweatcoin, a healthy walking app.

It was a great day when the Commonwealth Games Federation selected Birmingham as the host city in 2022. Congratulations are due to Ian Ward, the leader of the city council, to Birmingham as a whole, and to partners such as Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, the West Midlands Combined Authority, the department the Minister speaks for and Commonwealth Games England. This is a fantastic opportunity for Birmingham and the West Midlands, which we need to grasp enthusiastically and with both hands, as the Minister said. The sports that will feature are in themselves very interesting, and the Commonwealth Games’ track record of ensuring that the Paralympic Games have equity with the other Games is to be commended and will be continued in Birmingham. Living half a mile from Edgbaston cricket ground, I also know that women’s cricket is being considered for a place in the final list of games. I hope that the Minister will use his best offices to encourage such a decision.

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

It has been decided.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]

My Lords, the Minister’s powers of persuasion are remarkable.

My one item of concern is that noble Lords have found it very difficult to get any briefing from the city council, the mayor or the West Midlands Combined Authority. I suspect that they have been told by the Minister’s department not to provide briefing. This is a great pity. We should ask for the leader of the city council and Andy Street to brief Members before we reach Committee. I have never known a Bill affecting a sector on which we have not had formal briefing from the people concerned. Frankly, it is very disappointing that we had to beg the organising committee for the paucity of information that we have received. If this is going to be the approach in the future, it worries me—because, goodness knows, we are here to help the Games be as successful as possible.

There are only two issues I wish to raise. The first is funding and the second is the question of legacy. In relation to funding, today the Minister announced what I understand to be the final budget figures for the Games, and confirmed the split as 75:25. Can the Minister explain where financial liability lies for ensuring that that resource is spent wisely, and who is responsible if there is a cost overrun? Since the organising committee is, as I think he said, a non-departmental public body, I assume that its responsibilities are covered by the department. But what happens to the money that is to be provided through the city council? I would be grateful if the Minister could provide some information.

It will strike those of us in particular who have observed Olympic Games that clearly, because Birmingham was a late entry after the failure of the original bid on financial grounds, the financial liabilities are pretty huge. Even a city the size of Birmingham is particularly vulnerable in relation to its current financial situation. It is a fact that only a few months ago it faced warnings that hosting the Commonwealth Games could bankrupt the city; an audit report by Grant Thornton revealed an £84 million hole in its budget, at a time when vast sums of its emergency reserves had been spent. We know from newspaper cuttings that the West Midlands Combined Authority has said that the lack of a secure funding plan is:

“The most significant risk regarding the Commonwealth Games”.


I realise that that is partly in relation to the budgetary figure that the Minister has announced today, but it is in part based on the vulnerability of Birmingham City Council’s finances. It is reasonable for us to ask the Minister to spell out what he considers to be the impact on Birmingham City Council’s finances before your Lordships give the Bill their approval.

I turn to the legacy. Clearly, the Games are to be enjoyed in the moment—that is what they are all about—but legacy is important, too. It is not just the use of the stadia after the events but the environmental regeneration and, I hope to persuade the House, the health and well-being of the people of Birmingham and the West Midlands. We know that legacy was very important in relation to the London Olympics. They were a fantastic and very successful Games, and a lot of their legacy has been successfully undertaken. But, in relation to participation in sports and well-being, I do not think that the organisers have achieved what they set out to achieve. I really hope that we learn those lessons and translate them into a plan for Birmingham that will help us to make a real impact on people’s health and well-being.

[Lord Campbell of Pittenweem (LD)]

I am most grateful to the noble Lord for giving way. Unfortunately, I have a prior engagement so I could not fulfil all the obligations necessary were I to make a speech. But I most certainly wish to support not only the fact of the Games and the legislation but the point that the noble Lord has just made about participation. Using the exploits of those who are successful, there is every opportunity to encourage people to take up the myriad sports that will be encompassed. I would like to hear from the organising committee just how much effort will be put into participation, along with infrastructure and the other things mentioned by the noble Lord.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]

My Lords, I do not think that the noble Lord was really allowed to do that—but it was a very helpful intervention none the less. I will come to that point in a moment. This is why it is a great pity that we were not offered a briefing with people from the city to see, from their eyes and faces, whether they really are committed to the kind of legacy that the noble Lord has just put forward.

In relation to legacy, I will ask the Minister questions on three areas. The first is in relation to housing. I understand that there are ambitious plans to redevelop the athletes’ village in Perry Barr into 1,400 homes for local people, which will in turn encourage other housebuilding in the area as well. That is very welcome and much needed. However, the allegation has been made that only a very small percentage of those homes will be either affordable or for social housing. Given that this is a major infrastructure project, we are entitled to know exactly what the figures are. I would want to amend the Bill to make sure that the percentage of social and affordable housing was a decent proportion. That needs to be an important legacy.

I come to the noble Lord’s question. Much though I love Birmingham, we are not the healthiest community in the country. The improvement in overall health has levelled off. There is a big gap between the richest and poorest in the city, and we have one of the highest levels of obesity in the country as a whole. NHS Digital figures show that more than one in four children who finished primary school in Birmingham in 2017-18 were obese—25%, a massive number—of whom 6.5% were severely obese. In addition, 15% of year 6 children were overweight. That means that 41% of Birmingham children are unhealthily overweight when they finish primary school, which is a frankly shocking figure. As someone concerned about health in the city, I know how difficult it will be to deal with the impact of that in 20 or 30 years’ time.

If anything lasting is to come out of the Commonwealth Games, we must surely have a concerted programme to encourage healthier lifestyles, including participation not only in sport because of the relationship between what kids will see in the Commonwealth Games and what they can enjoy, but in activity more generally. I understand that work streams within the organising committee are looking at this, but it is not unreasonable to ask the Minister to ensure that, before we reach the end of the Bill in this House, we see a concerted plan for how we can use the Games to improve the health and well-being of young people, alongside a budget to make it happen.

These Games will be wonderful. It is a great opportunity for my city and the West Midlands. I know that we are going to really enjoy it, but I hope that, at the end of the day, we also see a lasting legacy for the people of Birmingham.