Charities and Civil Society: Ministerial Responsibility

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

The noble Baroness is right to point to the huge importance of philanthropy in supporting the groups, and to the fantastic work that they do across the country. In addition to the support that the Government gave from the taxpayer, we are keeping a close eye on the health of the sector as it emerges from the pandemic. I am glad to say that the work of the Charity Commission shows that only 1% of charities foresee a critical threat to their survival in the next 12 months. However, we continue to keep a close eye on them.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

My Lords, what worries me is the way we are trying to overload the responsibilities of one particular Minister. I think of the Minister for Intergovernmental Relations. I think it should be the Minister for Inter-Gove-rnmental Relations, because he already looks after housing, communities and levelling up. Let us give him Scotland, Wales and England. It is nonsense. Is it not only overworking somebody who does a good job in many ways but denying the younger and newer generation experience at that level to take over major government responsibilities at some time? What are the Minister and the Government thinking about in this sort of situation?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

The Minister with responsibility for civil society is my honourable friend Nigel Huddleston, not my right honourable friend Michael Gove, though, as I say, all Ministers across government work with the third sector in the important work they do. I also point out that responsibility for the voluntary sector and volunteering in the Welsh Government is held by two people who combine that with responsibilities for welfare reform, fuel poverty, fire and rescue services, domestic abuse, youth justice, community safety and much else.

Public Service Broadcasting Online

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Wednesday 9th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The noble Viscount raises an important point. Our view is that this is a commercial issue between the platforms and the PSBs. We will continue to keep it under review as part of our review of the future of PSBs, but in the meantime, we hope that they will achieve a mutually beneficial arrangement.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD) [V]]

Will the Minister give an assurance that the Welsh language channel S4C will be defended? We depend on the licence fee and are supported by up to £70 million a year in that way. If there is any change, Welsh language broadcasting will be in danger.

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I can reassure the noble Lord that this will be part of the review that we will be undertaking.

Covid-19: Vulnerable People

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Tuesday 12th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran]

The Government are very aware that particular groups, including asylum seekers, are especially vulnerable. We have a voluntary and community sector emergency partnership involving organisations such as the British Red Cross, and we are getting regular intelligence, feedback and advice on how to respond to those particular needs.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

I am sure that we all agree that the voluntary sector needs our immediate support, and we plead with the Government to do that, but we must avoid increasing the number of vulnerable people. One such increase is unemployment. Even last September, the Governor of the Bank of England said that a hard Brexit could mean half a million more unemployed people. However, it is worse than that: we face not a hard Brexit but an impossible Brexit, an impossible deal. We must do everything we can, including extending the transition period from the end of December, because we cannot have fruitful ongoing discussions under the threat of the virus. Will the Government look again and extend that transition period?

Brexit: Tourism

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Tuesday 19th February 2019 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to guarantee the adequate staffing of tourism and hospitality projects following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.

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

My Lords, the Government have been clear that we want EU nationals who have built their lives here to remain and that EU nationals will continue to be able to work or study in the UK. We will continue to engage with the sector on the future immigration system, which will cater for a range of skill levels across sectors. The tourism sector deal is in negotiation, and it has a strong focus on future-proofing the sector.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

Is the Minister aware that KPMG forecasts that we will lose 1 million workers in the tourism industry over the next few years? In Llandudno—where I am from of course—there is great concern over tourism job losses. Not only that, but there is a threat to Welsh agriculture following our new status and the threat of a possible loss of 7,000 jobs at Airbus. In Parliament, I am told that over half of our catering staff are from outside the United Kingdom. Do the Government wish to be remembered for causing the worst recession in nearly a hundred years?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

No, my Lords. Tourism in Wales, to which the noble Lord referred, is a devolved competence and Visit Wales is in charge of that as part of the Welsh Government, but I am not going to rely on that. We have been engaging with the sector extensively over the last two years, and we are aware of the immigration priorities. The sector has submitted evidence to the Migration Advisory Committee on the shortage occupation list. In respect of specific levers to mitigate workplace shortages, we need to improve productivity, invest in skills and career development, and reduce high turnover. These are a key focus of the proposed tourism sector deal, which has now entered into formal negotiations; we hope to announce it shortly.