Oral Answers to Questions

Barry Sheerman Excerpts

Thursday 1st November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Margot James]

I will certainly join my hon. Friend in wishing the consortium all the very best with its application. The ceramics sector in and around Stoke has been revitalised in recent years. As well as being important in its own right, it is important to many other industries. We have had some excellent bids for the £20 million cultural development fund, and decisions on the projects to be funded are expected early next year.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

What a good day it is: we have got Channel 4 for Leeds. Applause?

Will the Minister look carefully at the campaign that we are running to get more people who are on the autistic spectrum into the creative industries? Quirky people are very creative; let us do more work to get them into those industries.

[Margot James]

I congratulate Leeds on its success in securing Channel 4’s new head office. The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point. We are already working with the National Autistic Society on a programme to engage young people in coding, which will help them in the creative sector, but more can be done, and I will take his suggestion on board.

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[The Attorney General]

That is an excellent suggestion, and I shall look at it extremely carefully. It sounds like something we need to take forward.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

Is the Attorney General aware that a cross-party group of MPs has recently been told by senior police sources that the Crown Prosecution Service has not got the capacity to take on new cases involving dreadful crimes against children and that men who they know have committed such dreadful offences are not being pursued because the CPS does not have the resources? That is a very serious worry.

[The Attorney General]

If that were true, I would share the hon. Gentleman’s profound concern. I will look into the matter as a consequence of his having raised it this morning.