Zoological Society of London (Leases) Bill

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Friday 10th May 2024 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge]

That the Bill be now read a second time.

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con)]

My Lords, I am delighted to bring forward to your Lordships’ House this simple but very important Bill, which was admirably steered through the other place by my honourable friend Bob Blackman, an exemplary constituency MP and a champion of ZSL. I declare some entries in the register, of conservation charities that I am a trustee of and in particular that I am a vice-president of Fauna and Flora International.

In his speech, my honourable friend Bob Blackman paid fulsome praise to Matthew Gould and Victoria Godwin of ZSL for their briefing and encouragement. I echo that praise and praise all those staff—those working in research, those in the zoological gardens and so on—for all the hard work they do. I pay tribute to Matthew Gould’s predecessor, Dominic Jermey, who was on this a long time ago and would, I am sure, be delighted to see what is happening today.

This Bill is a simple Bill, which is rather apt because I am a rather simple person. It is asking for an equally simple change to the Crown Estate Act 1961: it asks for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which grants the lease, to be given the power to offer a lease of up to 150 years, as ZSL is currently limited to 60 years. This would bring the lease arrangement into line with other leases of Crown Estate law governed by the 1961 Act, as well as the Crown Estate leases for equivalent organisations such as the very well renowned and famous Kew Gardens.

So why is this needed? It is because it will give certainty of length of time, so that the Zoological Society of London can create a lot of good things. It can create the world’s first campus for nature. With that certainty, it can do a lot more on research innovations and do lots of stuff in the zoo, including making natural landscapes and giving truly accessible opportunities. I think that we all would welcome that. A longer lease will allow ZSL to modernise London Zoo, increasing visitor numbers and hence income for the charity, which is the income that is then put back into conservation and scientific research.

Noble Lords will be pleased to know that I do not have enough time to talk in detail about the incredible work ZSL has done on conservation, both at home and abroad, ranging in the UK from working on hedgehogs with HogWatch, to TB in badgers. I well remember chairing a debate at ZSL on TB in badgers, which was more difficult to chair than any Brexit debate, to be perfectly honest. However, I got through relatively unscathed. ZSL has also been working on oysters in the UK, and lots of other projects both here and of course around the world. It is recognised as being at the forefront of all that.

My first ambition when I was a very small boy—it seems a long time ago—was to be a zookeeper. I got close to that only when I became government Deputy Chief Whip, keeping control of wild creatures—and sometimes cleaning up after them. I have enjoyed visiting the zoo for I think over 60 years, and it has marked many parts of my life. I remember when I was younger seeing the famous Guy the gorilla and Chi-Chi the giant panda, who rejected the amorous advances of the Russian An-An. Those of a certain age may remember that; we had high hopes, but it was not to be. There was also Josephine the great hornbill, which was a very long-lived bird.

Latterly, I remember as a student playing football in Regent’s Park and hearing the lions roar and the elephants walking in the distance while I was fouling Opposition Members—no, obviously, that would be wrong; I mean opposition players. Then, most memorably, when I was government Deputy Chief Whip, we organised a Whips’ outing to ZSL and my Chief Whip, now the noble Lord, Lord McLoughlin, entered the Komodo dragon enclosure. They gave each other a look of equal awe, both being animals of great distinction.

This has given me over my life a fascination and an admiration for wildlife. I have been lucky enough to travel quite extensively around the world and see a lot of these creatures in their natural habitat, and I have seen the conservation work going on. However, it was that initial visit to the zoo, where I could see the animals at close hand and smell them, which gave me this lifelong passion for wildlife and conservation. I have had some of the happiest moments in my life at both London Zoo and Whipsnade. I therefore hope we will have mutual agreement, and I beg to move.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con)]

My Lords, I thank all those who have taken part in this joyful debate, as described by the noble Baroness opposite. It has been a great pleasure to hear all the contributions. The noble Baroness, Lady Featherstone, mentioned particularly the therapeutic nature of access, which I have experienced over the years. I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Evans, for his contribution on access and the important conservation work.

My noble friend Lord Bethell was exaggerating, I am afraid, about his children, as we know that they are very, very nice children. I should say that I forgot to mention that I am a member, and have been for some time, and so are my children and grandchildren. I would recommend any Member of your Lordships’ House to join, so that, if it is all getting a bit much for them here, they can just get on the underground, walk across Regent’s Park and talk to the animals that do not talk back. My noble friend also mentioned the incredibly important work that has been going on. The Covid pandemic has made it more important that we understand zoonotic diseases.

To the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, I say that a short Bill is the ideal Private Member’s Bill. Speaking as the Friday Whip for many years down the other end, I can say that this is ideal, as you cannot put too many amendments down. I see there was an attempt by somebody who did it just to tease us, but it is the ideal Bill, not only because you will get it through but because it is very easy—particularly because I do not have to answer any questions.

Finally, I thank my noble friend the Minister—apart from when he divulged some of my secrets, which I thought I had kept quiet. I was obviously mistaken in that. I am delighted that we have got to this stage. If we are lucky enough to pass this Bill, I would put it at the very top of my achievements in Parliament.

Bill read a second time and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.

Sport Sector: Financial Support

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Wednesday 25th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I apologise to the noble Lord, but I will have to write to him in response to his question.

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I draw attention to my entry in the register as a trustee of the Saracens Foundation. I welcome this much-needed support for sport. I know that my noble friend, as we have heard, and our honourable friend Nigel Huddleston in the other place share my strong support for girls’ and women’s sport. Until we can get back into stadia and watch from the sidelines, is there anything that my noble friend can do to encourage broadcasters to showcase more women’s sport?

Covid-19: Orchestras and Cultural Venues

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Wednesday 1st July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran]

The “Know Before You Go” scheme that the noble Lord mentioned sounds very sensible. I can only repeat what I already said: active work is going on with all the key sector stakeholders to understand how we can build back better for our cultural sector.

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

There will be a large number of performing arts students graduating from universities and drama schools whose short and maybe mid-term job prospects will be looking pretty bleak. I ask my noble friend not to forget the plight of these young people, many of whom would have been joining touring companies, as was mentioned earlier.

[Baroness Barran]

My noble friend is absolutely right: those young graduates should not be forgotten. I think I am right in saying that in the Prime Minister’s speech yesterday there was a particular focus on the importance of opportunity for our young people.

Covid-19: Women’s Sport

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Tuesday 30th June 2020 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to support women’s sport after the COVID-19 pandemic.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Barran) (Con)]

My Lords, it is vital that we continue to strive for greater equality and opportunity in sport. I am keen that we maintain the focus on women’s sport and build on the fantastic progress of the last few years. That is why on 29 May we wrote to the Football Association, the Rugby Football Union, the Rugby Football League, the Lawn Tennis Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board to ask about their plans to promote sport at the elite level and to grow women and girls’ wider participation, and how we can support them to do that.

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

I thank my noble friend for her Answer. I declare an interest as a trustee of the Saracens Sport Foundation. We know that many girls drop out of sport and physical activity by the age of 14. What does my noble friend think can be done to improve the situation?

[Baroness Barran]

My noble friend is right that more needs to be done to tackle the decline of physical activity through secondary school. One way we are approaching that is through Sport England, which is providing free training for two teachers in every secondary school in England to help foster positive attitudes towards physical education and sport. We recently announced a £17 million investment so that that additional support can go to primary schools as well across the country.

Charitable and Voluntary Sector

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Thursday 30th April 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con)]

I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Addington, on obtaining this important debate. I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Interests in relation to my role as a trustee for various charities.

We have already heard, and will hear a lot more, about the very real hardships experienced by the whole range of charities. However, in the short time allotted for my contribution, I want to highlight the plight of one charity—perhaps one that does not immediately come to mind. I refer to the Zoological Society of London.

ZSL encompasses two zoos, science teaching and research, as well as being a national and global conservation NGO. Its turnover is too high for the coronavirus loan scheme or for the one aimed at large companies—the corporate financing facility. ZSL must keep its animals cared for, which means that zookeepers, site staff and animal health teams keep working. Therefore, the vast majority of the staff are ineligible for the furlough scheme, which requires staff to do no work at all.

ZSL is a national institution doing outstanding work on managing zoonotic disease such as Covid-19, as well as tackling serious conservation issues such as the illegal wildlife trade, which likely caused Covid to spread to people. All that is underpinned by ZSL’s zoo income, which currently is zero.

There is a real fear that ZSL will not survive if laden with debt. When the zoos are running with a full complement of visitors, the surplus enables the conservation and science to happen. Sadly, grants and philanthropy do not cover the costs of conservation and science. In the current environment, the zoos are shut, producing no income. They run at a loss during the winter and generate most surplus during the Easter break, and it is unclear when they will reopen. Given that 40% of visitors to London Zoo are foreign, it is extremely uncertain what levels of income ZSL will return to, even following reopening.

Unlike the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the Natural History Museum, ZSL is a global impact science and conservation organisation, running its public-facing zoo with no core government support. I urge the Government to give careful thought to what support they can give to preserve this national institution.