Europe: Arts and Creative Industries

Baroness Blake of Leeds Excerpts

Tuesday 10th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Clancarty]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to facilitate touring in, and trading with, Europe for the arts and creative industries.

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government fully recognise the scale of the challenges facing creative and cultural professionals wishing to tour in and trade with Europe. We are working to address these while resetting relationships and deepening ties with our European friends. In line with our manifesto, Ministers have raised touring with European counterparts on multiple occasions, and officials are collaborating across Whitehall with stakeholders and meeting their European counterparts to advocate for pragmatic solutions. This is a priority for the Government.

[The Earl of Clancarty (CB)]

My Lords, I welcome the Minister to her new role and thank her for the meeting we had with her. I hope that it was helpful in understanding that this affects not just music touring, important though that is, but the visual arts, craft, fashion and film. Without a commitment to rejoining the single market, how will the Government deal effectively with these pressing concerns and secure the place of our arts and creative industries in Europe?

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[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I thank the noble Earl. We had a very interesting conversation. There tends to be an assumption that we are talking about music when we talk about touring, but it covers the broadest range of elements, including fashion, gaming and so many things. We make it clear that we are looking to reset the relationship with Europe. We are not talking about returning to where we were. There has already been high-level engagement with the Prime Minister on several occasions and with other Ministers, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer met Finance Ministers for the first time just yesterday. These are the conversations we are having with great urgency on how we can address some of the problems.

[Lord Wigley (PC)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, for the way he has stuck to this agenda, and for the service he has given to the arts in so doing. In the review that the Minister is undertaking, will she understand that many aspects of the arts and culture are devolved, whereas trade is not? Therefore, can she set up a mechanism for co-ordinating with the devolved regimes to help advise the Government on the course they may take?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I also add my thanks to the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, and all other Members of this House for raising these matters repeatedly; it is important to focus on what is happening. I note very carefully the comments made by the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, and, obviously, we shall be having an interesting debate later today about Welsh opera, for example. These relationships are critical, and I will take back the noble Lord’s comments.

[Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (LD)]

My Lords, last week the Prime Minister launched the Plan for Change—a great statement of support for our creative industries, because it was launched at Pinewood Studios. However, those industries are crying out for us to rebuild ties with Europe. Our young people are being cut off from European culture, and vice versa, yet the relatively narrow youth mobility scheme suggested by the EU has been rejected by the Prime Minister. Can the Minister explain why?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

To reiterate my earlier comments, the negotiations are ongoing, and it would not be appropriate to go into the detail of where we are. Let us be honest: this is incredibly complicated. I do not think anyone really understood the level of complexity involved in leaving the EU and all its greater implications. I hear the noble Baroness’s comments; they will be fed in. I am very heartened by the change in relationships, the willingness to embrace and have discussions, and, most importantly, collaboration with the wider sector, which will absolutely direct the course of travel.

[The Lord Bishop of Leeds]

My Lords—

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[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome my noble friend the Minister’s comments about resetting relations with Europe. As someone who for many years accompanied my own children, who were members of youth orchestras, around all the major countries of Europe, I ask whether in the discussions the Government are now having with partner countries in Europe special emphasis will be given to making it easier for youth orchestras to travel in the summer, both to and from Europe, to enrich the musical, cultural and educational needs of our young people.

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

One of the enormous benefits of taking part in these debates is that one always learns something new. For instance, I have now learned all about the issue of cabotage—I do not know whether other noble Lords are fully apprised of it—and the sheer difficulty of physically moving across Europe when you have all the individual countries to deal with. Of course, these matters are close to our hearts; we all value young people travelling across Europe as our closest partner, and these areas are being fully discussed.

[The Lord Bishop of Leeds]

My Lords, I know many people in the creative sector who are worried about the generational impact of this issue. We have already heard the phrase “plan for change”, but this generation is losing the vital experience not only of performing abroad or doing whatever they do but of the business of getting there in the first place. We are hearing that the Government are working hard and that it is a priority, but is there a timeline? For many of those people, that matters.

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I thank the right reverend Prelate for his comments. The backdrop to what we are dealing with is a failing apprenticeship levy for creative industries. The number of students studying music at A-level is down by 45%, which indicates clearly the urgency of this issue. I cannot give him a specific timeline at the moment. Also coming from the great city of Leeds, I know his great commitment in this area and the joint work that has been done across partners in this space. We understand that this issue is urgent, and we are addressing it accordingly.

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, many musicians play musical instruments containing materials now covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species—or CITES—but, as the noble Earl said, this issue affects artists in other disciplines too. The convention obliges musicians to obtain a musical instrument certificate when travelling internationally and to travel through a CITES-designated port. St Pancras station is not so designated, meaning they cannot take the Eurostar, which adds extra cost and hassle and is of course worse for the environment. What progress have the Government made in discussions with Defra about making St Pancras a CITES-designated port so that musicians can use it?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The noble Lord highlights another area I have learned about from this debate. CITES is clearly a critical factor, as is the whole issue around St Pancras and how we can move forward. I do not have the detail that he asks for. I will take it back and report back on progress.

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords, reduced opportunities for exchange between EU and UK artists impact not only on touring but on career development and the innovations that come through collaboration. I remain optimistic that this Government will deliver on their manifesto promise about touring artists. In the meantime, will they consider rejoining Creative Europe, which enables the network building and audience development that would come through touring but is not currently possible? Why are the Government not pursuing that as an opportunity?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The noble Baroness raises important issues. At this moment in time, there are no plans for rejoining Creative Europe, but that does not mean that conversations are not ongoing or that we are not having a pragmatic look at how we can replace the work done through that so that we can come up with a bespoke way forward. It is critical that we encourage our young people by enabling them to pursue their dreams and to perform in Europe, because that opens up the world stage as well. It is not just a question of problems in Europe; not performing in Europe has a knock-on impact on their ability to move to other parts of the world.

[Lord Hannay of Chiswick (CB)]

My Lords, does the Minister not recognise that when this matter was discussed during the trade and co-operation agreement negotiations both sides made mistakes? The European Union side asked us to do some things that went beyond what the then Government were prepared to do and the then Government rejected them out of hand. We need to start from a better basis than that. As was said, and my noble friend Lord Clancarty has been a remorseless pusher for this, we need to set some kind of target for getting this done. Would it not be a good idea if it was done by the time the Prime Minister meets his colleagues in the European Council on 3 February?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I am sure that the noble Lord is correct and that many of us recognise that mistakes were made on both sides, but we are expressing what we are doing as a “reset” of relationships. We cannot just turn the corner and rebuild relationships; it has to be worked on and done in an environment of trust. It would not be appropriate for us to go ahead without making sure that we have our partners with us. That is what the Government are committed to do, and I very much look forward to the progress made over the next few months.