STV

Anas Sarwar Excerpts

Thursday 3rd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central) (Lab)]

I am grateful for the chance to speak about an issue that is of great importance to the city of Glasgow and to Scotland. The challenge of jobs and growth will be a defining political issue in the coming year. People want to know where new jobs and future prosperity will come from. Those in the private sector, who must create the jobs and wealth that Britain needs, will want to know whether everything that could be done is being done to support their efforts. They will want to know whether our Government are making the right choices on jobs and growth, and the right choices for the future of Britain.

One such company already asking those questions is STV Productions in my constituency. STV Productions is one of the few businesses of scale in the Scottish television production sector. It is a hugely important part of the Scottish creative industries cluster and a key employer in Glasgow’s thriving media hub on the banks of the River Clyde. The growth of STV Productions can help to secure and develop a thriving, sustainable television production sector in Glasgow and throughout Scotland, delivering significant economic, social and cultural benefits. The growth of STV Productions will also secure and create much-needed private sector jobs.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development says that the impact of Government spending plans will mean a 200,000 drop in employment this year. Under those headlines are larger numbers of job losses. PricewaterhouseCoopers calculates that public sector cuts will lead directly to around 500,000 private sector job losses over the spending review period. The CIPD has previously said that 1.6 million jobs could be lost, with the increase in VAT estimated to cost 250,000 jobs. Jobs will be created in the recovery, but the challenge to replace all the jobs lost through public spending cuts, as well as those lost as a result of the unemployment remaining after the global banking crisis and the impact of VAT, will be huge. The jobs that Britain needs can be created only by successful and growing private companies. They need the confidence and certainty that will justify their investing. Public policy must be focused relentlessly on creating the conditions for growth. Today the Government are making a series of wrong choices that will hamper the ability of private companies to grow.

Last November, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport made a choice that denied STV Productions the independent status that it sought. Officially classifying STV as an independent television production company would have allowed it to compete for programme commissions under production quotas reserved for independents by broadcasters such as the BBC and Channel 4. In short, independent status would have offered STV Productions the chance to create employment opportunities in Glasgow. Ofcom broadly welcomed STV’s aspirations, saying that independent status would encourage greater access to network commissioning by external producers. Meanwhile, Ofcom’s advisory committee for Scotland endorsed the broad policy position of ensuring that television production be enhanced in the nations. The Secretary of State decided to overlook that advice and to deny STV independent status.

STV Productions currently supports 305 full-time equivalent jobs. The company’s combined direct, supplier and income impacts stand at £15.3 million of gross value added in the Scottish economy. If STV Productions maintains its current market share in 2016, its economic impact will increase to 317 jobs and £15.9 million in GVA.

[Ian Murray (Edinburgh South) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate on Scottish television. It is a shame that we could not have a motion of no confidence in the Government right now, given that there is nobody on the Government Benches, but I know that that is not the way procedure works. My hon. Friend is eloquently outlining STV’s contribution to the economy. Independent producer status would allow that contribution to grow even further, leading not just to STV’s growth, but to the growth of the entire production sector in Scotland, helping it to branch out from its hub in Glasgow to many other parts, including my constituency.

[Anas Sarwar]

I thank my hon. Friend for staying for the debate. I agree wholeheartedly with his comments. Independent status would not only benefit STV, create jobs in the company and create growth in the city of Glasgow, but help other independent production companies in Glasgow and throughout Scotland to branch out in many of the sectors involved.

Had STV Productions gained independent status, its competitiveness would have increased in the BBC market and other domestic and international markets. By 2016, such an increase in competitiveness could have increased its economic impact by 30% to 396 jobs and £19.8 million in gross value added. However, as a result of the Secretary of State’s decision, the economic impact of STV Productions in 2016 is expected to be £3.9 million less than it could have been.

The provision of 79 full-time equivalent jobs would have been great in itself, but as was pointed out by my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray), independent status for STV Productions would also have had an effect on the economic impact of the wider production sector in Scotland. The growth of a company of scale would have led to an increase in the competitiveness of the sector as a whole., and that increased competitiveness could have allowed independents with Scottish headquarters to compete against international production companies with a presence in Scotland. By 2016, the resulting growth could have increased the economic impact of the sector as a whole to £98 million and supported 1,847 jobs. That is private sector growth on a scale that the Government cannot afford to ignore.

The Secretary of State could have secured a bright future for the independent production sector in my constituency and beyond. Instead, his decision will allow independents with headquarters outside Scotland to gain at the expense of the growth of STV Productions and those with headquarters in Scotland. The overall effect will be a reduction in the future economic impact of the television production sector in Scotland. The decision fails to recognise that STV is perhaps the only Scottish company with sufficient capacity to take on such large-scale productions. It fails to show a full understanding of the measures needed to secure a viable and sustainable broadcasting industry in Scotland. Above all, it fails to encourage private sector job creation in my constituency and throughout Scotland.

The creation of a strong and competitive private sector must be central to the society that we are trying to build. We must support people who are in business and leading businesses. We need growth and job creation over the next year, but we also need to lay the foundations for a stronger, better balanced economy in the future.

I recognise the concerns of smaller independent production companies in Glasgow and in Scotland as a whole, and I accept that STV Productions will have to address many of those concerns if it wants independent status, but I genuinely believe that all independent production companies—including STV, if it could acquire its licence—would benefit from the resulting growth in the sector.

I want to see companies such as STV Productions grow, create more profits and create more jobs. With that in mind, I invite the Secretary of State, along with his colleagues, to visit STV Productions in the beautiful city of Glasgow, on the banks of the River Clyde, and to review his decision. That would benefit my constituency, the city of Glasgow and Scotland as a whole.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (John Penrose)]

Let me begin by apologising for the absence of the handsome and talented Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey), who is responsible for culture, communications and creative industries, whose portfolio is relevant to the debate, and whom Members may have expected to see this evening. Many Members will be delighted to learn that the reason for his absence is the fact that he is in Scotland as we speak. He has been in Edinburgh to discuss broadband, and then in Dundee to discuss the video games industry. However, I welcome the opportunity to debate this issue with the hon. Member for Glasgow Central (Anas Sarwar) in his stead.

[Anas Sarwar]

Will the Minister give way?

[John Penrose]

I will, although I have hardly got started.

[Anas Sarwar]

Given that the other Minister is currently in Scotland, he might like to extend his visit to Glasgow. I am sure that I could hastily organise a visit to STV Productions tomorrow, or even late this evening, if he so wishes.

[John Penrose]

I am sure that that is a kind and heartfelt invitation, but I suspect that it may have come rather late in the day, given the state of the Minister’s diary. None the less, I will make sure that he is aware that the offer was made. In addition, an earlier intervention claimed that nobody was on the Government Benches, but given that I was sitting there large as life feeling like chopped liver as I was stared through by the hon. Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray), may I put on the record the fact that there were people here listening very intently to the comments that the hon. Member for Glasgow Central (Anas Sarwar) was making?

One of the key strengths of UK broadcasting comes from having a TV production base spread out across the nations and regions of the UK. That ensures that a more diverse collection of views and voices are reflected back at all aspects of the audience through their TV screens. As well as the considerable cultural and social benefits to the population, the arrangement enhances national, regional and local economies. The Government recognise that much of the country’s best television comes from the nations and regions, and we welcome the contribution that STV, in particular, makes towards public service broadcasting in the UK. STV’s local news, in particular, is extremely strong and we welcome STV’s recent announcement of a pilot to deliver more local TV news for the west and east of Scotland. That builds on the launch of its STV Local sites and shows a real commitment to serving audience demand for more localised and relevant content.

On a related note, hon. Members will be aware that the Government published their local media action plan in January. I wish to reiterate that the Government are keen to hear the views of industry and the public on our proposals, and to receive expressions of interest from organisations interested in running a new network channel to support local television services. Local media is a vital part of local democracy and I encourage everyone with an interest to respond to the public consultation.

I now return to the meat of today’s debate. STV is important but of course so too are the independent producers in Scotland. As the hon. Member for Glasgow Central mentioned, the Secretary of State considered thoroughly last year the matter of the potential reclassification of production companies owned by Channel 3 licence holders. That consideration took into account the responses from 29 organisations, including the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television, Ofcom, the Scottish Government, STV, Channel 4 and several Scottish independent television producers. The responses covered a variety of viewpoints, but the voice of the existing Scottish independent sector was loud and clear in opposing the reclassification of STV’s production companies as independent producers.

The consultation closed on 2 February 2010 and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced the Secretary of State’s decision on 10 November 2010. I believe that the hon. Gentleman understands that the delay occurred because once the Secretary of State took office in May 2010 he wanted to look afresh at the proposal in the “Digital Britain” White Paper and the responses to the public consultation. It is important to make it clear that this decision was not taken in isolation and was not taken lightly. As we have seen in today’s debate, there are genuine and valid opinions on both sides of the argument. The Secretary of State concluded that, on balance, the potential benefits of implementing the proposal did not outweigh the likely negative effects, particularly on the existing Scottish independent production sector.

--- Later in debate ---

[Anas Sarwar]

In our discussions with Channel 4, we found that it has set a target of increasing its spending on the independent sector in Scotland from 3% to 9%, but it has emphasised that it feels that only STV is currently able to provide the required quality of programming and expertise. Does the Minister recognise that it is a bit of a myth that STV would be the largest independent production company in Scotland if it were to get independent status, given that there are independent companies in Scotland that were previously owned by Warner Bros. and are now owned by Endemol—an independent-sector producer that is even larger than Channel 4?

[John Penrose]

The hon. Gentleman advances the argument that only STV has the scale to achieve the kind of programming status and quality that everybody wants, but surely, the existence of other very large independents must undermine the logic of that position in the first place.

Let me make some more progress on other comments in the consultation. La Belle Allée Productions considered that there would be

“a real and significant danger of STV displacing commissions from other Scottish companies”.

IWC Media believed that there is a “significant risk” that the proposal

“would damage the Scottish production sector, by removing work from the companies that need it most”.

Matchlight said that the proposal would

“substantially harm other, smaller Scottish producers by displacing jobs and network productions from them in favour of STV and the overall effect will be a zero sum game for Scotland—no new jobs created, no new work attracted”.

Tattiemoon also disputed that the reclassification would create any jobs. Its response said:

“To believe the claims that this change in status would result in the creation of more jobs for our industry would be a terrific mistake and one that we cannot afford to make. STV are aiming to adjust their position in order that they can have more control of our industry and compete in an incredibly unfair manner with other programme makers”.

Doubt was also expressed about the overall cultural benefit to Scotland. Tattiemoon said:

“Here we have STV as a broadcaster breaking all the rules to become an independent for fiscal gains and not for the overall cultural well being of the nation”.

Turmeric Media focused on funding, training and development opportunities and asserted that STV would

“exploit many of the excellent funding, training and business development opportunities that exist in Scotland that help small indies survive, again to the detriment of the small indie”.

Many independent producers made general comments about the potential negative impact on the industry generally. Bees Nees believes that

“The granting of independent status to STV...would be to the detriment of the independent production sector in Scotland.”

Matchlight believes that the proposal

“seems more likely to frustrate the Government’s stated objective of protecting Scotland’s sustainable production base than to promote it.”

I will add one more quote, if I may, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Mike Bolland, a former chair of PACT, told us the proposal

“would upset the delicate ecology of television production in Scotland”.

--- Later in debate ---

[Anas Sarwar]

The Minister is rightly quoting those who participated in the consultation process, but is he willing to quote also what Ofcom said in its response—it agreed with the proposal for independent status for STV—or what the Scottish Government said about STV Productions having a role to play in the Scottish economy?

[John Penrose]

I do not deny that there were consultation submissions in favour—that is absolutely correct. What I am trying to illustrate is the strong tide of opinion against the proposal. Clearly, the Secretary of State had to take all sides of the argument into account. It is because the hon. Gentleman and his two colleagues strongly put the case in favour of the proposal that I am trying to ensure that we have a balance in the debate. It is important to remember that there are two valid sides to the argument—the decision was a difficult one that required a degree of care on the part of the Secretary of State—and I hope that I have managed to illustrate that, given that the hon. Gentleman made the other side of the case so strongly in his speech.

PACT in particular raised some further interesting points. It considers that STV is already well placed to take advantage of the predicted growth in the Scottish production sector—the hon. Gentleman mentioned that—even without qualifying as an independent. Furthermore, PACT noted that STV Productions and STV’s wholly owned subsidiary Ginger Productions are already winning commissions from the full range of network commissioning broadcasters, including all public service broadcasters.

It was also pointed out by respondents that the benefits accruing to STV, which STV itself provided to the Department for the purposes of the consultation, were minimal. As was noted in the published impact assessment, STV estimated that if its production arms were reclassified as independent under the proposal, it would experience an increase in production revenues of £400,000, to £1 million per annum. That represents an increase of just 15 hours of production and, STV estimated, would create five full-time jobs.

Those were not the only viewpoints. Other contributors to the consultation were in favour of the proposal, as the hon. Gentleman mentioned and as I acknowledged in our last exchange. STV was, of course, strongly supportive of the proposal. The Government carefully considered the arguments put forward by STV for the benefits that would accrue both to STV and to the industry. STV believes that there would be a benefit to the Scottish economy arising from a greater dispersion of production throughout the UK. In particular, we noted STV’s view that it was currently prevented from competing on a level playing field due to its minority role within the ITV network. STV told us it has no influence over commissioning decisions, is disadvantaged by its regulatory status and cannot compete for the independent quota.

Ofcom, as the hon. Gentleman said, provided a valuable contribution and set out its reasons for broadly supporting the proposal. It did so on the basis that reclassification would encourage greater access to network commissioning by external producers, with potential associated benefits for the development of the production sector in the nations. We also noted Ofcom’s reference to the conclusion of its advisory committee for Scotland, which suggested that the benefit to existing Scottish independents, in the form of a larger number of commissioned co-productions between STV and other producers, is unproven.

I hope that I have provided a useful and, in the light of my last couple of points, at least reasonably balanced summary of some of the contributions to the consultation. I encourage hon. Members to read the full responses on my Department’s website, although I think it is clear that the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues have conducted a fairly extensive trawl of the submissions and are already possessed of a high degree of familiarity with them. For the record, however, and for anyone else who is interested, I just wanted to point out that the responses are there for anybody who wishes to see them.

Some hon. Members may be aware of the recent evidence provided by STV in the Biggar report, which indicates a rather larger financial benefit than was originally projected in the impact assessment. We have seen that report, but it was received six weeks after the decision had been announced and 10 months after the consultation closed. The point remains that the voice of the existing independent sector is loud and clear: it does not want this to happen. As I have mentioned, in making his decision the Secretary of State also concluded that it is inappropriate to consider the matter in isolation. He announced in January that we are embarking on a major review of the communications sector. It will be a wide and comprehensive review leading to a new communications Act before the end of this Parliament.

I should make it clear that we do not intend to review again the specific issue of the potential re-classification of production companies owned by Channel 3 licence holders, but the review will include an assessment of public service broadcasting and regulation, and the broader issues of independent production are almost certain to be part of that.

Question put and agreed to.