Business of the House

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and Lucy Powell

Thursday 12th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her election to the Chair of the Select Committee. I know that she will approach that job with gusto and be a powerful voice on those issues in the Chamber. She is absolutely right: it is important for us to work constructively and in a grown-up way with the Scottish Government. The Prime Minister has begun the process of resetting the relationship. I myself have met the Scottish First Minister, and I will go up to Scotland in the coming weeks. We also want to strengthen the Sewel convention, to which I know she will give great consideration as the Chair of the Select Committee.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

May I pick up on the question asked by the hon. Member for Eltham and Chislehurst (Clive Efford) about the infected blood scandal? The Leader of the House confirmed that there would be regulations to establish compensation for eligible persons affected—the families, widows in many cases, or children who were left without parents—by the scandal. Will she make time for a debate in which the Government confirm when those regulations will be made?

[Lucy Powell]

I congratulate the hon. Lady, too, on becoming Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. I know she will perform the role with great passion and diligence as she did in the last Session.

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. The compensation scheme is now established. Those infected will receive their compensation by the end of this year, and those affected can expect to receive their compensation in 2025. There will be further statements from the Paymaster General as the compensation scheme progresses.

Business of the House

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and Lucy Powell

Thursday 5th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I know that my hon. Friend speaks for many millions, myself included, who over the weekend shared the experience of spending hours in a queue—a very British thing that we like to do—only to find that the tickets we were able to get came at a hugely inflated price. I am pleased that Oasis have now announced further dates, and that there will be a non-queuing system and a fixed price for those tickets, but she is absolutely right. This Government are committed to putting fans back at the heart of music, which is why we will have a consultation on secondary ticket pricing and ticket touts this autumn. The Culture Secretary has made it clear that, as part of that consultation, we will look at the issue of technology as it relates to queuing systems and the dynamic ticket pricing that my hon. Friend has talked about.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

The Leader of the House understands more than most the value of the British film and high-end TV industry to our economy and to jobs. She will know that, in this year’s spring Budget, the previous Government introduced tax credits for UK independent film and tax relief for visual effects costs. I am a bit worried, as is the sector, because the Leader of the House’s party did not support the finance Bill that introduced those measures. Could we have a debate about the new Government’s commitment to our world-leading creative industries, during which they would be able to restate their commitment to those much-needed tax incentives for growth and the timescales for their implementation?

[Lucy Powell]

I thank the hon. Lady for that excellent question. She has long pursued these issues as the former Chair of the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport; I know she is standing again for that position, and I wish her good luck in that election, which I think takes place next week. She is absolutely right: the tax credit system, which was introduced by the last Labour Government, has been vital to securing the film industry and other creative industries, the huge talent that we now have, and the support this brings to our economy and the wider creative economy. We have long been committed to those measures, but obviously, any future announcements will be for the Chancellor in the forthcoming Budget.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and Lucy Powell

Thursday 9th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage]

Yes. The hon. Lady makes an excellent point, and I am very excited to spend more time in Coventry when it celebrates being the city of culture in 2021. She is right to draw attention to some of the incredible theatres and other cultural assets that her city has, and I would be very keen to meet her to discuss that further.

[Lucy Powell [V]]

As you know, Mr Speaker, Manchester really is one of the creative industry hubs of the UK. It is made up not just of its institutions, but of a wealth of talented, highly skilled individuals and small and micro-organisations. Can the Minister tell them and me how the self-employed and those who are directors of limited companies will support themselves to stay in this industry in the coming months, when all their work has dried up and they have no extra support?

[Caroline Dinenage]

We know that the creative industries are not the venues, the organisations or the studios, but the people—the skilled artists, the craftsmen, the designers, the performers, the technicians. They are the ones who make us world-class in the sector, and we know that they include many freelancers and self-employed people. Some 2.7 million people have benefited from the self-employed income support scheme, and 95% of people who receive the majority of their income from self-employment have been eligible. The next round of that scheme will open in August.

Arts, Culture and Heritage: Support Package

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and Lucy Powell

Tuesday 7th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage]

My hon. Friend is right to say that our creative people and artists are the lifeblood of our industry—without them we simply would not have it. The key is that the cultural organisations that rely on audiences have been particularly hard hit, and if we can bring them back into use, there will be work for the freelancers he mentions. The key to bringing them back is the key to supporting the supply chains that feed them. Support has been available through the emergency funds, for example, through Arts Council England, but we understand that the best way to support our amazing freelancers up and down the country is to give them more work that they can do and get things back open as soon as possible.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

This announcement will be very welcome news for many treasured institutions in Manchester, such as the Royal Exchange Theatre, the HOME cinema and theatre and treasured music venues such as Band on the Wall. Of course, it is a reflection of the Government’s moral obligations to support sectors that are being forced to continue to be closed for sound public health reasons. However, we are talking about a whole ecosystem made up of small production companies, the self-employed, the talent and others. With that in mind, will the Minister go back to the Treasury again and get more support, through an extension of the furlough scheme and support for the self-employed, so that the whole ecosystem can continue through this enforced closure?

[Caroline Dinenage]

The hon. Lady is right to talk about the ecosystem, because it is what fuels our whole sector. We have been clear that when we produce the guidance on how this money will be allocated, having a mind to the ecosystem it supports will be one of the criteria that we look most favourably upon. I do not think that the Treasury will take kindly to my going back and asking for money after it has just given us £1.5 billion, but it is aware of some of the individuals who have been under extreme pressure in recent weeks and months and will be doing all it can to make sure it fills those gaps.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and Lucy Powell

Monday 14th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage]

I challenge all the things the hon. Lady said. We are not stripping funding from nursery schools; the supplementary funding of £55 million a year is part of the record investment in childcare of £6 billion a year by 2020. That is more than any Government have ever spent.

[Lucy Powell (Manchester Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

With respect, I think the Minister is missing the point. This is not simply a question of childcare; it is a question of quality early education, and that is about narrowing the gap between the most disadvantaged and the rest. Could she go further and tell the House what maintained nursery schools, which employ teachers and other staff who want to carry on working for them, will do after this two-year period? It is no good schools knowing that they have security for two years—they need more than that.

[Caroline Dinenage]

I would say that we have made 6 billion points about how important we regard the sector to be. The hon. Lady is right that it does need to know about its future, but it does not make sense to make decisions about the future funding of maintained nursery schools before we have consulted on what that future should be. We will be consulting on that future, and we will make an announcement shortly.