National Trust Acts
Debate between Lord Swire and Baroness Twycross
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
The governance and the focus of the work of the National Trust is a matter for its council, not for government. I personally and the Government do not have an issue with the running of the National Trust. If any noble Lords have concerns about it, they should note that any issues around its compliance with its charitable purposes should be made to the Charity Commission. I repeat that the National Trust is the biggest conservation charity in Europe. It opens up our countryside and heritage, including diverse buildings—from Paul McCartney’s childhood home to Cliveden and Chartwell—and, as has been noted, the Welsh coastline. Rather than bashing the institution, we should support it to continue with its strategy.
Lord Swire (Con)
My Lords, criticising some of the trends in the governance of the National Trust is not bashing the institution. I am a proud member of the National Trust; I think that it does excellent work, not least on the south-west coast path, which I walk regularly. However, there has been a trend to ignore a lot of criticism of the National Trust, and we must face it: introducing the quick vote system was an attempt by the National Trust to freeze out legitimate criticism by other members of the trust. There is increasing concern about how it has behaved over Holnicote in Exmoor, where it ignored the wishes of the Acland family, and what it has done about legal trail hunting, which goes beyond any legislation either House has introduced. There are now the issues that my noble friend Lord Lexden raised over Clandon. The Government should be concerned about this huge national institution that touches on all our lives.
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I do not feel that the critics of the National Trust have been silenced; they have been quite vocal. The governance and the focus of the work of the trust is a matter for its 5 million members—more than the combined memberships of all political parties—rather than the Government. It is a sorry day when the Government start interfering in matters that are not to do with them, rather than leaving them to the charity and its members and governing bodies.
Listed Historic Buildings
Debate between Lord Swire and Baroness Twycross
Lord Swire (Con)
My Lords, much of our built heritage up and down the country is literally crumbling, and the backlog of repairs is getting longer and longer. That is in no small part due to the different rates of VAT. When we were part of the EU, we were always told that we could not vary the rate of VAT on restoration, as opposed to new build—but we are not in the EU anymore, and we can set VAT at whatever level we like. Will the Government look, as a matter of urgency, at having parity between restoration and new build, or at least look again at trying to reduce the costs of restoration for our built heritage, which is among our greatest national assets?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
Decisions on tax policy are for the Chancellor, which are made in the context of the overall public finances. The noble Lord will note that my noble friend Lord Livermore is here, so I am fairly confident that he heard the point that the noble Lord made very clearly.
Film Industry
Debate between Lord Swire and Baroness Twycross
Lord Swire (Con)
I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement. There is much in it that I welcome. The film industry needs fiscal certainty—one thing it did not have when I was shadowing the department in 2005, when Gordon Brown thought there were some tax holes and immediately changed the fiscal environment for film. That had the net result of driving “Casino Royale”, then the latest Bond film, across to Prague from Pinewood. I am nervous when the Minister talks about the sorts of films the Government would like to see made—I hope they are not going to interfere in that respect too much. The Minister also alluded to what this can do for the regions, the built environment and the rural environment. What discussions will she have about doing more with English Heritage, Historic Houses, the National Trust and our regional tourist boards to pump-prime regional film production and bring some of our undoubted assets to a wider international audience?
Baroness Twycross (Lab)
I am not going to respond to the suggestion that my favourite films indicate that we are going to be picking and choosing. The Secretary of State’s Statement made it clear that “The Kings Speech” was also an independent film. There is a balance, as there should be, and a range of voices should be heard. This is the first step in ensuring that we support the film industry, specifically the independent film industry. A particular focus was provided so that this could go ahead of the Budget, for production purposes and so that people did not lose potential funding. The Government are committed to ensuring that, across the piece, we have a creative sector and industry that reflects the country and is supported across the country. At the heart of this will be the skills agenda and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to acquire the skills required.