UK Musicians: EU Visa Arrangements

Debate between Alison McGovern and Caroline Dinenage

Tuesday 19th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and there is quite a lot we can do. The sector needs clarity and certainty, and because the situation with every member state is different, that will be tricky to provide. We therefore need to make it as simple, easy and clear as we can for them to tour and go about their business, and that is what we are setting about to do.

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about insurance, which we understand is a barrier to many live music events taking place later in the year. We are in discussions with our colleagues in the Treasury about that at the moment.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab) [V]]

I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. As we have heard, the Government still blame the EU, so, to get this issue straight, will the Minister make clear what exactly the EU proposed, when it was proposed and whether the UK offer was more than the standard visa policy?

The Minister said that the EU offer was a broad offer not consistent with taking back control of our borders. Will she go further and explain specifically when that was turned down? Finally, so that we can all be clear, will she place in the Library of the House of Commons all correspondence between the UK and the EU and all correspondence between UK Government Departments on this issue?

What matters is what happens now. A third of the creative industry is self-employed, and the situation is a massive kick in the teeth for a group of workers who are already having the worst year in living memory. What representations has the UK made to resolve the situation? What meetings are scheduled? Will the UK still rely on mode 4 exemptions, even though doing so is without precedent? Does the Minister agree that the resolution to the situation requires a supplementary agreement?

The Minister must go further and spell out exactly what the proposal is from the UK to resolve the situation. When musicians and creative people tour, they do not just power up an economy that is massively important to us; they represent us all on the global stage, so we must get this resolved now.

[Caroline Dinenage]

I am happy to talk the hon. Lady through the situation. The EU tabled texts regarding short-stay visa-free travel during the negotiations, and embedded in the proposal was a declaration that would have covered a very small number of paid activities. With regard to artists, it covered ad hoc performances. Of course, the declaration was non-binding and did not address things such as technical or support staff. Crucially, it did not cover work permits, which EU member states can put in place unilaterally. Furthermore, the proposals would have enshrined permanent visa-free short stays for all current and future EU citizens in the agreement, and that is not compatible with our manifesto commitment to take back control of our borders.

Our proposals were based on the views of the music industry and would have been mutually beneficial across the EU and the UK. They would have allowed musicians and support staff to travel and perform in the UK and the EU more easily without needing work permits. The EU did not propose and would not accept a tailored deal for musicians, artists and their support staff to tour across the EU and the UK.

As I have said, the UK’s door remains open should the EU change its mind. We recognise that the outcome means that some additional requirements will need to be met for the sector, and we are working with the sector as fast as we can to put in place the support and information that it needs. Labour Members voted for this deal in the knowledge of what it involved, including the end of free movement. What they are asking us to go back and renegotiate now is exactly what we negotiated at that time. They cannot have it both ways; they need consistency. What the sector needs more than anything at the moment is certainty, and that is what we are working to provide.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alison McGovern and Caroline Dinenage

Tuesday 27th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage]

I am always happy to speak to my right hon. Friend about such things. I understand that the intention is now to move to a more place-based approach to health and care planning in his local area, but all such changes are subject to consultation.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

I will be honest, I am confused. We have heard the Minister say several times that community approaches are important, but our walk-in centre in Eastham is yet again being threatened with closure. Which is it—do this Tory Government want crowded A&Es or proper walk-in centres that will prevent people from unnecessarily ending up at A&E?

[Caroline Dinenage]

I do not think I can make it any clearer: this Government are committed to providing community services right where people need them, and we are putting our money where our mouth is. Last week, the Prime Minister announced a major new investment in primary and community healthcare of £3.5 billion.

Free Childcare

Debate between Alison McGovern and Caroline Dinenage

Monday 21st November 2016 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Caroline Dinenage)]

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Davies. I congratulate the hon. Member for Warrington North (Helen Jones) on securing this important debate and on all the hard work she has taken part in leading up to today, including all her various online activities. Regardless of her technical expertise, she has certainly triumphed. I am delighted to be here to set out the Government’s childcare offer to parents. As you know, Mr Davies, one of our top priorities is to give children the best start in life and to support working parents.

I congratulate all the Members who have taken part in today’s debate. Almost without exception, their contributions have been helpful and constructive and have shown that we all share a common goal, which is to support working parents and children in getting access to the best childcare, to work together with that aim, to share best practice and to find a common ground to build on. I say almost without exception because, while I welcome the shadow Minister to her place—I know that she is quite new to the shadow Government—I gently say to her that there was nothing positive or constructive in anything she said. At no point did I get the sense that she wanted to work with me on this area to make it work. All she wanted to do was make cheap political points in the name of the Labour party. She might as well have been dressed as a great big red rose and be done with it, but this area is too important for political point scoring. It is about children’s futures and parents being able to get out and work and make the money they need to run their families. It is not about cheap political point scoring, and she should be ashamed of herself. However, I congratulate the others who spoke.

I have been in the same position as other Members. I am a working mum, and the decisions I have made about my children’s education and their childcare have been among the most difficult I have ever made. It is difficult being in that position. For many years I was a single mother who felt like she was working only to pay for her childcare, so I understand how people feel. Wearing my other hat as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, I go round the country speaking to many women, and they tell me that the biggest obstacle to them getting back into work and fulfilling their potential is the cost of childcare. That is why we want to get things right.

The petition asked why we give free early learning to the two-year-olds of non-working parents. I want to be clear up front that the Government are proud to provide early learning to the most disadvantaged two-year-olds. We want to ensure that all children get the best start in life, regardless of their background. Unfortunately, evidence tells us that children from less advantaged backgrounds can be up to 19 months behind in their learning by the time they start school. We all know that gaps in learning can start appearing as early as 22 months of age, but high-quality early learning from the age of two can narrow that gap, helping those children to achieve better GCSE results and ultimately earn higher wages.

For that reason, in September 2013 the Government introduced the early learning for two-year-olds programme. Initially, it was for the most disadvantaged two-year-olds from non-working households in England. The programme was later expanded in September 2014 to include low-income working parents, as well as looked-after children, children who have left care, adopted children and children with special educational needs and disabilities. Now, 40% of two-year-olds are eligible. The Government are committed to supporting those parents who are just about managing, and the policy is focused squarely on those families.

Looked-after children and children who have left care can face multiple challenges in progressing well in the early years and at school. As a group, they persistently underachieve at key stages 1 and 2. As we know, adoptive parents are brilliant and play an incredibly important role. The Government want to ensure that they and their children get the best possible start and support. Giving adopted children an early education place is one aspect of the Government’s significant package of adoption support.

Research indicates that children with special educational needs and disabilities particularly benefit from early education. It helps their development and improves their social inclusion and wellbeing. However, families sometimes find it difficult to access appropriate care and can face higher costs. The hon. Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern) spoke about that, and she did an excellent job while she was the shadow Minister for childcare. Since 1 September 2014, two-year-olds entitled to disability living allowance, or those who have a current statement of SEN or an education, health and care plan, have been entitled to an early education place. Our new offer for three and four-year-olds includes a £12.5 million disability access fund to support disabled children in order to access the free entitlement.

[Alison McGovern]

I thank the Minister for giving way and for her kind remarks. I have one specific question on children with disabilities. Often it is the perception of difficulty in welcoming children with disabilities into early years settings that is a problem. Are the Government working on a way to break down barriers so that nurseries and childcare settings make it clear to parents of children with disabilities that they are welcome?

[Caroline Dinenage]

Absolutely. The hon. Lady makes an excellent point. We have heard a lot today about maintained nursery schools, which do a fantastic job with children with special educational needs or disabilities. They need to be supported to carry on doing that work.

Women and the Economy

Debate between Alison McGovern and Caroline Dinenage

Wednesday 9th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

rose—

[Caroline Dinenage]

Where do I start with the motion before us? I will have a little sit down while I think about it.

[Caroline Dinenage]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. We will not take any lessons about female employment from the Labour party.

[Alison McGovern]

In our house, when I was growing up, if it rained, we used to say, “We blame the Tories”, so I am no stranger to the Minister’s political strategy. She commenced her speech with remarks about celebrating the contribution of women. Does she think that it pays tribute to the hard work of women in our economy to bang on in the way she is about what happened under the previous Labour Government?

[Caroline Dinenage]

I am sure the hon. Lady feels it is very convenient to forget about what happened under the previous Labour Government. When it rains, we talk about fixing the roof before that happens—when the sun is shining—

Manufacturing Sector

Debate between Alison McGovern and Caroline Dinenage

Wednesday 18th May 2011 Westminster Hall

[Alison McGovern]

My hon. Friend’s intervention is important. I will come to some of my specific questions for UKTI, about how it recognises not just the sectors that are already successful at a high level, but the sectors that are strategically placed for the future, even though they might be small at the moment. Green energy is certainly one of those. How are we going to ensure that Britain is selling green energy technology to Brazil, Russia, India and China in the future? We do not do much of it at the moment, but do we want to do it in the future? That is an important question to ask in terms of strategy.

I shall shift away from the supply chain specifically and on to UKTI’s strategy, which is contained in an interesting document that is important for all of us. I want to ask the Minister the following questions. The strategy identifies five groups with subsectors relating to five parts of the economy, one of which is manufacturing. Of those five groups, what will the resource balance be across UKTI?

It is easy to say that what we want is success and to drive resources towards the bits of the economy where we already have success in exporting parts abroad. We might also say that if we are really going to rebalance the economy, we need to take somewhat more of a risk with our resources and invest in those things with which we might not have had a history of high-level success over the past 10 or 15 years but in which we know we need to invest for the future. I would be interested in understanding a bit more about resource balance.

On monitoring, when we develop the strategy, how will we watch what happens and who will feed back to Parliament and to businesses on the ground? There has sometimes been a bit of a disconnect in terms of understanding to whom UKTI is responsible, who its customers are and how it feeds back successes. When will that happen? We do not want to spend all our time bearing the costs of monitoring, with a thousand tick boxes and charts.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

I thank the hon. Lady for securing this valuable debate. As the owner of a manufacturing business, I have an enormous interest in everything that she has to say. One question that I would like to add to her list of things to mention is about cash flow. Although that is not a new problem, small manufacturing businesses are suffering from badly extended payment terms, with the average number of days until payment being around 88. That is astonishing and is affecting some good local manufacturers in a very bad way—some have been forced out of business. A European late payments directive has come into force, but it does not seem to be addressing the issue. I hope that she agrees that that matter needs addressing.

[Alison McGovern]

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. She is absolutely right. She has reminded me of an important point that I wanted to make about UKTI—how we check its work and ensure that we, as Members of Parliament, have full oversight. She is right about payment times; they can be absolutely make or break. I have seen that with companies in my constituency.

If there is a European directive, we, as a country, need to make Europe work for us. I suggest that in the British civil service, there has been a culture of applying directives absolutely to the letter in a way that is very formulaic, rather than saying, “Great, we’ve got this European system. How do we make this work for us?” I gently suggest that other European nations have done rather better than us. We need to see Europe as an opportunity. If there are such directives, that is fantastic—let us make them work for business, rather than just accepting them being handed down and administering them to the letter without watching what impact they have on the ground for business. It is important for us, as a community of politicians, to watch that. Businesses often point out to me how British civil servants tend to treat the rules on state aid and state intervention differently from how civil servants do in other countries. That is an important issue to watch because we can disadvantage ourselves without even meaning to.

Aligned to that is the matter of how the UKTI strategy will affect different parts of the UK. I mentioned that only nearly 3% of people work in manufacturing in London, whereas one in 10 in the north-west and more than one in 10 in the north-east do; there is clearly a differential need. Many more people work in manufacturing in places close to the constituency of the hon. Member for Gosport (Caroline Dinenage). We must recognise that if we have one strategy for the whole UK, we have to continue to watch how that helps different parts of the UK with different needs.

The strategy mentions working alongside the Welsh and Scottish Governments and the London Mayor on their plans for exports. That is fantastic and I support that approach. However, we obviously need UKTI to work with somebody in the English regions—the city regions. If UKTI is not working with regional development agencies, it needs to be working with local enterprise partnerships, which do not have anything like the same resources. They also do not have the same staff to call on the services of UKTI.

I have a final question. How will we check that we are not disadvantaging those parts of the country that do not have their own Parliament or Assembly? How empowered will UKTI staff be to add resources to the parts of the country that need them? I have heard anecdotal evidence that in the past UKTI has been quite centralised around Whitehall. It would be much better to see that service as a network of people embedded in local economic clusters. I hope that the Minister will support less bureaucracy from the centre and more empowerment to people working alongside companies to deliver the strategy. That is important.

In conclusion, I hope that the Minister will be able to respond to those specific questions—if not now, at a later date. Manufacturing has a huge amount to offer this country. I know that the Government agree and I am grateful for that support. There is every reason to think that now is the time for a new impetus. Strategically and globally, we are well placed to improve our manufactured exports. They have a huge amount to offer the country—not just next year, but in the next 20 or 30 years.

In recent years, we have seen manufacturing go through a high level of productivity improvements, so we are very well placed at the moment to maximise impact. However, if we leave things to chance and have a do-nothing option, it will be business as usual and only the sectors that are already strong and influential will be so. I hope that we can all take this opportunity not to have business as usual and to empower both UKTI and the rest of Government really to work alongside manufacturing.