Edinburgh Festivals: Cultural and Economic Contribution

Clive Efford Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Chris Murray (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford, and I am very grateful to the House for allowing me to have this debate today.

I have three purposes for calling the debate. First, I want to draw attention to the economic and cultural phenomenon that has developed in Edinburgh. Secondly, I want to talk about the challenges and opportunities that the Edinburgh festivals face, and how there is a clear role for public policy. Thirdly, I will argue that it is not just about what the Government can do to support the Edinburgh festivals, but what the Edinburgh festivals can do to help the Government achieve their goals for the country at large of economic growth, breaking down barriers to opportunity and establishing Britain’s place in the world.

The Edinburgh festivals and Fringe are not simply a highlight in my city’s annual calendar, or an attraction to lure some tourists for the month of August. In August, Edinburgh becomes the cultural capital of the world. The gathering of creative talent and cultural wealth is truly unique. The Edinburgh festivals and Fringe did not happen by accident. Years, indeed decades, of painstaking commitment have led to the phenomenon we see today—not least in recent years, with a pandemic, Brexit uncertainty, and a cost of living crisis, which is also a cost of putting on a show crisis.

The Edinburgh international festival started in 1947, when Europe was emerging from the shadow of war. The German venues that had previously played host to opera and classical music festivals were closed. Edinburgh, undamaged by bombing, with stunning scenery and spectacular venues, was a perfect location to bring people together. Indeed, in the years after the war, the international festival was twice nominated for the Nobel peace prize for its work bringing people together. At the same time, a group of acts that were uninvited to the official festival pitched up anyway and performed in the city. They were described as performing “on the fringe”, so the Edinburgh Fringe was born. We politicians have just come from our party conferences, with a hive of activity on the conference fringe, but the very concept of a fringe event comes from Edinburgh. Ours, I have to say, is more glamorous than the political version.

But that was then. Today, the Edinburgh festivals and Fringe are the third biggest ticketed event in the world. Edinburgh puts on an event on the scale of the FIFA world cup or the Olympic games every year. I think we have become numb, through familiarity, to the scale of what has been achieved. We are talking about 4,000 shows that attract an audience of 3.5 million and over 300 venues across the city, ranging from the Usher Hall to basement comedy clubs. It is a phenomenon, truly unique and exceptional in scale.

What started in the 1940s as the international festival and Fringe has now grown into the biggest cultural gathering in the world. It includes the Edinburgh book festival, the world’s largest literature festival; the Edinburgh film festival, the world’s longest-running film festival; the Edinburgh military tattoo, an iconic celebration of one of Scotland’s biggest cultural brands; the jazz festival, the biggest of its kind in the UK; the television festival, with its agenda-setting Mactaggart lecture; and the arts, children’s, storytelling, and science festivals.

Other countries take years to plan, and millions in public money, to put on events at such a scale. The Paris Olympics this year attracted 20,000 participants to its one-off event. The Edinburgh festivals attracted double that—and we do it every year. The scale is impressive, but I argue it is important for two reasons. The first is economic. It not only generates £400 million in economic impact, creates a supply chain of £15 million for 800 businesses, of which 97% are based in the UK and 80% are small and medium-sized enterprises, and represents incredible public investment, with £33 generated for every £1 invested by the public purse—it also creates an economic ecosystem. We may not get that one emblematic, televised moment of an Olympic opening ceremony, but that moment is attenuated throughout the year, every time we watch a comedy show, drama or talent that was incubated in Edinburgh.

Think of the Fringe: it is not just an attraction for audiences to watch shows, but the global trade fair for comedy and the arts. New shows, new materials and new acts show off their wares and get snapped up. We just get to watch. The UK is a cultural powerhouse, and our cultural and creative sectors can thrive in the way that they do because we have the Edinburgh festivals and Fringe operating at this capacity in our country. On that note, I am sad to see that today the Fringe’s chief executive, Shona McCarthy, is stepping down after nine years. She has done an incredible job in Edinburgh, and we wish her well.

Secondly, the festivals put Edinburgh on the global plane, and Britain needs cities operating at that level. Edinburgh has the raw material to thrive in the 21st century: we have a thriving university sector, with world-class clusters in research and development, IT and biotech; we have the energy transition on our doorstep; we have a dynamic financial services sector; and we have a world-class tourism offer. When we add the festivals and Fringe, Edinburgh’s potential moves to that of the top tier of global cities, ranking like a British San Francisco.

I have not secured this debate to extol the benefits of my city, although, as I think you can tell, Mr Efford, I could do that at length. My argument today is that there is a role for Government, and I want to make five points about the role of public policy.

First: funding. I am not asking for more money, per se—although that would be welcome—but I do argue that the Edinburgh festivals need economic stability and the ability to plan. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has said that she plans to move to multi-annual budgeting; no sector would benefit more from that than the creative sector. Will the new Government be exploring how to leverage economic stability and multi-annual financial planning to support the arts?

Secondly: recognition. I have tried to set out how the Edinburgh festivals are a national jewel. We value our cultural sector in Britain and we know how much institutions such as Wimbledon, the premier league, the Proms and the Edinburgh festivals set us apart. No Government would let those fail, so is it right that we make the Edinburgh festivals compete for funding like any and all creative ventures? Is it fair on any arts project, big or small?

Thirdly: cross-UK engagement. Cultural policy is devolved, quite properly, and you will find no greater defender of devolution and the importance of respecting the status of the Scottish Parliament than I, but, with the election of a UK Labour Government, I hope that we are moving to a less antagonistic, more constructive relationship. There have been some failings in Scottish Government policy on culture in recent years, such as the ongoing debacle in Creative Scotland and the fact that, in just nine months, the Scottish Government published an absurd 10 strategies on culture, but I hope that the new Government will work as constructively as they can with the Scottish Government to support the festivals.

I would also say that to see the festivals thrive we need a constructive relationship between UK, Scottish and local governments. Edinburgh puts on a show of this size every year, yet, per capita, it is the poorest-funded local authority in Scotland. Council budgets are severely overstretched, as disproportionate cuts are passed from Holyrood to the city chambers. That means that the People’s Story Museum in my constituency, which tells the story of working class history, is currently temporarily closed, and it means that the Brunton theatre in the Musselburgh part of my seat is also closed. I know that the Minister has no responsibility for that, but it is important to set it on the record when we talk about culture in Edinburgh.

Fourthly: visas. The festivals depend on artists and technicians coming from overseas, but the process is cumbersome, expensive and, most dangerous of all, unpredictable. Can the Department for Culture, Media and Sport work with the Home Office to explore ideas, such as those set out by the festivals visa working group, to navigate that?

Finally: crisis support. This year the Edinburgh book festival, the world’s biggest book festival, lost its funding from Baillie Gifford, the investment firm, after a campaign by Fossil Free Books. I do not wish to rehash that affair here, save to say that although I fully support tackling climate change, I am unconvinced that defunding a book festival is the way to go about it. Is there something we can learn from that episode? In this country, the cultural sector depends on philanthropy as well as public investment. Is there a way that DCMS can help book festivals, or indeed any festival, navigate the controversies that can abruptly arise in the social media age? I know that the new Government are fully committed to seeing the cultural and creative sectors thrive, so I would be grateful if they could undertake to give these issues some consideration.

It is important that Parliament recognises that other countries would give their eye teeth to have what Edinburgh has established in the past 75 years. We fail to polish the cultural jewels in our crown at our peril. We have an opportunity. The potential for the festivals to thrive is right in front of us. The Fringe is opening a new home in the Old Infirmary and the Dunard Centre will add a new modern concert hall to the city’s venues, but the support of public policy is necessary to achieve that.

Think back to the 18th century. Some argue that the reason Edinburgh became a leading city of the enlightenment was the structure of the old town. Nobles, artisans, middle-class professionals, skilled and unskilled workers lived cheek by jowl on top of each other in the old town’s tenements. That created the incubator where debates and ideas could thrive, and that is how the enlightenment took hold there. Today we have a similar phenomenon, from the most avant-garde and edgy Fringe performances trying something new to the international festival and the best classical music performances in the world, with the world’s biggest literature festival discussing the most salient ideas of our time in the same place at the same time. It is in this petri dish that humanity hatches and nurtures the creativity that can drive our economy and our society in the years ahead. That is why I called this debate to discuss the power of the Edinburgh festivals.

[Clive Efford (in the Chair)]

Order. I remind Members that they should stand if they intend to contribute to a debate.

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[Clive Efford (in the Chair)]

I intend to call the Front Benchers at 5.26 pm. A number of Members did not indicate to the Chair before the debate that they wanted to speak. We will get everybody in, but I will have to impose a four-minute time limit.

[Dr Scott Arthur (Edinburgh South West) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under you as Chair, Mr Efford.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray) on securing time for this important debate. Edinburgh—Scotland’s beloved capital and my home—is renowned worldwide not just for its historic beauty and ancient heritage but for its vibrant cultural scene. This goes beyond grand shows with expensive tickets. It includes things like Big Noise Wester Hailes, Forget Me Notes, Edinburgh Printmakers and the Filmhouse, which I hope will reopen soon. All four of those organisations operate in my constituency. Edinburgh’s festivals are a beacon of cultural expression, showcasing the very best of literature and all varieties of performing and creative arts. But more than that, the festivals serve as a cornerstone of the city’s economy and underpin the wellbeing of its citizens.

I welcome the progress made by the Dunard Centre and the redevelopment of the Royal High School. These venues will extend the tourist season in Edinburgh and enable it to compete with the great European cultural centres—places like Hamburg, Vienna and Paris. I have no doubt that the Dunard Centre will be world-class. That will be not just because it is a fantastic building but because of its values. I not only expect people from the most deprived parts of my constituency to be working in the Dunard Centre; I expect them to have places in the audience, and I also expect Big Noise Wester Hailes to be on the stage. This reflects the Edinburgh International Festival’s mission statement, which is

“to provide the deepest experience of the highest quality art for the broadest possible audience.”

For countless businesses across Edinburgh, the festival season throws a lifeline of increased footfall, which provides income that sustains them right through the year. The associated demand for staff is invaluable in providing local young people and students with the opportunity for summer work. The festivals provide many people in Edinburgh with their first paying job. We in this place have a responsibility to ensure that staff are supported by legislation and that they are well treated at work. That is why I will support the Deputy Prime Minister’s new deal for working people, which will help to enable that.

Investing in the breadth and depth of the festival offering in Edinburgh also helps to spread the tourist economy to the quieter parts of the year. It will help Edinburgh to move upmarket, with visitors staying for longer and spending more. This will mean that working in the tourist economy will be a career for more people—rather than just a summer job—with better pay and better conditions.

The economic contributions of the festivals do not stop at employment opportunities and turnover for local businesses. They also provide a wholly unique opportunity to show off and sell not just Brand Scotland but Brand Edinburgh to the world. Culture lets us connect with our international partners on an emotional level that no sales pitch can compete with. We should not forget that Rudolf Bing, a Jew who escaped Nazi Germany, established the Edinburgh international festival in 1947 as a way of bringing people together in post-war Europe.

I am proud that people come to Edinburgh from all over the world, but too often I am ashamed of what they see. Edinburgh’s position as Scotland’s worst-funded local authority comes with consequences, not least where homelessness is concerned. To address the point about why Airbnb is being regulated, it is a key driver for that in Edinburgh. The indifference that our capital is shown means that hardly a year goes by without a council-owned cultural venue being put at risk. Last year it was the King’s Theatre; this year it is the People’s Story Museum. Edinburgh needs fair funding, and the importance of its ecosystem—

[Clive Efford (in the Chair)]

Order. I call Jim Shannon.

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[Jonathan Davies (Mid Derbyshire) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray) on securing this debate, which is important not just for the city of Edinburgh but for the whole country and beyond.

The Edinburgh festivals make a tremendous contribution to the UK economy. They bring people from around the world to perform and experience music, dance, drama, comedy, literature and culture more generally, and I have been lucky to enjoy them on many occasions. We are lucky to have many arts, music, theatre and cultural festivals across the country offering similar opportunities. The International Gilbert and Sullivan festival, which takes place each August in Buxton, near my constituency of Mid Derbyshire, is one such example.

In 2022, it was estimated that the creative industries contributed about £126 billion in gross added value to the UK economy and employed 2.4 million people, but they are so much more than an item on a balance sheet. They are a vital catalyst that enables people to express and explore ideas, and they bring communities together.

The arts are common to every culture since the earliest times; music, the visual arts, dance and drama provide an opportunity to walk in somebody else’s shoes. They build a more inquiring society, and help us to understand who we are and what it is to have somebody else’s experience. They are also a vital educational tool, but far too often they are not a staple in schools and are not something that people have the opportunity to adequately engage with throughout their lives.

One of the most important roles of festivals such as those that take place in Edinburgh each summer—especially the Fringe—is to be an incubator for young performers, who can test new ideas, grow their confidence and build their profile in front of a truly international audience. But the future of cultural festivals across the country, and all they offer, is being undermined, because increasingly young people do not have the opportunities they should have to benefit from a creative education.

There has been an overall decline of almost 50% in the number of arts GCSE entries since 2010, and some schools no longer offer some arts subjects at GCSE level at all: 42% of schools no longer enter any pupils for GCSE music, 41% no longer enter any pupils for drama GCSE and 84% enter no pupils for dance GCSE.

Increasingly, the creative subjects are becoming the preserve of those with the ability to pay. However, talent has no postcode and every young person should have the right to a creative education. That decline matters—for our economy and the UK’s standing around the world, but also for who we are as people and how we understand the world and interact with each other.

I am delighted that the Labour manifesto commits the new Government to supporting children to study a creative subject until they are 16, and that it will integrate a creative industries sector plan as part of its industrial strategy, creating good jobs and accelerating growth in film, music, gaming and other creative sectors. The new Government are also committed to launching a new national music education network—a one-stop shop with information on courses and classes for parents, teachers and children.

The new Government face huge challenges, and they have inherited an appalling legacy from their predecessor. I urge them to keep the creative industries and arts education at the forefront of their thinking as they undertake their work of national renewal.

[Clive Efford (in the Chair)]

Just to warn the two last Members: I will have to drop their time to three minutes after the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine).

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh on securing this debate. We cannot talk about the festival too often—I have loved it since I was a child. I learned the story of Rudolf Bing for the first time from Allan Little at the book festival that went ahead this summer. Rudolf Bing was an Austrian-born opera impresario, a Jewish refugee from the Nazis, who set up the Edinburgh festival in 1947 to heal, he said, the wounds of war through the arts. The very first performance was the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra, and they performed Mahler. Since then, it has become the massive event that it is today.

Growing up in Glasgow, we were slightly jealous because all those famous people were going to Edinburgh, and that city had all the publicity, but actually, we got to benefit, too. I went with my school to see “Hamlet” as part of our higher English. We saw Derek Jacobi, and my love of the theatre was born that night—I love Shakespeare. The festival provides a valuable educational tool for children throughout Scotland, and I have grown up with it. My husband, an Aberdonian, spent one August working on a show at the festival. My daughter, a Glaswegian, spent a summer working there, and I got to “headline” at the political festival this year. It is part of people’s lives.

In Edinburgh, we have a strange relationship with the festival. We love it—it is the world’s window on us and our chance to show off. However, there is also an underlying tension, which the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage) referred to, between the influx of tourists every year—we have also seen that tension in Vienna and Barcelona—and the cost to the city, which has the most underfunded council in the country; the mess when we have strikes which coincide with it; the pressure on our public transport; and the cost of accommodation in Edinburgh, which is now outrageous. However, looking at what the festivals bring to the city, I do not think the tensions can be compared with the benefits. Think about where we would be without the £400 million that it brings to the city itself, and the other £300 million it brings to the rest of Scotland when it acts as a tourism gateway. It is a jewel in our cultural crown and we need to preserve it.

It suffered during the pandemic and lots of venues only just survived. We need to help it to extend the level of tax reliefs for small businesses, many of whom make a massive contribution to the festival, and to address the barriers to financial support that they face. We need to do more to support small venues, which do not have the massive events. Let us say, £1 on tickets for Murrayfield stadium would help—but do not tell Murrayfield I said that! It also provides a stage for new talent—the incubator that has been talked about. In any comedy programme on British television on any weekend of the year, there will be someone who learned their trade at the Edinburgh festival.

In short, over the past 75 years, it has enriched our city, its reputation across the globe and our national reputation, for music, theatre, comedy, books, television—you name it. It has enriched our reputation. I believe that we can say with some confidence that it has played a part, particularly this year, in fulfilling that original vision of fostering international understanding through the arts.

[Clive Efford (in the Chair)]

Order. We move on to the next speaker.

[Tracy Gilbert (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray) on securing this debate. From the early days, it has been the people of Edinburgh who have pushed for the best. At the inaugural festival in 1947, the Minister for fuel and power banned the floodlighting of Edinburgh Castle, as coal rationing was still in place. However, the people of Edinburgh would not stand for that and generously donated their coal rations so that the castle could be lit from dusk to midnight during the festivals.

There is no doubt that the festivals are an economic success for Edinburgh and Scotland. The economic impact study published by BOP Consulting showed that the gross economic impact of the festivals in 2022 was £492 million for Edinburgh’s economy and £620 million to Scotland. However, a worrying development highlighted by that study showed that between 2010 and 2022, visitors spent more money on accommodation and less money on local public transport, entertainment and food and drink.

In 2010, visitors spent 37% on accommodation, which jumped to 51% by 2022. With the expansion of the short-term let market and the increasing numbers of hotels, that spend does not benefit our communities but rather industries that are ripe with insecure and low-paid work. Similarly, in 2010, visitors spent £11.4 million on transport, which tumbled to £4.1 million in 2022, reducing the ability of Lothian Buses and train companies to increase stretched local services, but also, crucially, indicating that the wealth of the festival delivery remains concentrated in the very localised area of the city centre.

I was lucky. At my state school, we were all given a recorder. I say lucky; I am not sure my parents felt the same. We had a school orchestra and our teachers ran theatre productions and our school trips took us to galleries and museums, so we knew that those places were for us. That must be everyone’s experience.

That is why I am impressed with projects such as the new Dunard music centre that I visited over the summer, a new venue in the constituency that is committed to delivering a model to enable up-and-coming amateur talent from Edinburgh to perform there, as well as having a ticketing system that will enable people to enjoy what is on offer. Similarly, I look forward to supporting impressive plans at Customs House in Leith for a community and creative hub that will bring Leith’s rich history and culture to life, and also long-established projects such as North Edinburgh Arts, which since 1998 has been based in the heart of the community in Muirhouse, supporting local people to access high quality arts and cultural opportunities. Its new purpose-built centre will open later this year.

Affordability is key to delivering arts for all—affordability of tickets, but also of studio and hire space. That is evident in the private sector, too, where Wasps Studios, whose ethos was to provide affordable studio spaces, have sadly moved—

[Clive Efford (in the Chair)]

Order. I call Patricia Ferguson.

[Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow West) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray)—I hope he does not mind this interloper from Glasgow West coming into the debate. The importance of the book festival is well worth recognising, particularly as Edinburgh is the first UNESCO city of literature, something that we sometimes forget.

As we have heard, the Edinburgh festivals make an important contribution to the economy of Edinburgh and Scotland and provide a showcase for Scotland and a venue for art and artists from around the world. Every year, hundreds of thousands of tourists and art lovers fill up the city as they make their way from one venue to another, to enjoy one of the 40,000 performances on offer.

Many artists come to Scotland to showcase their work, but I want to focus briefly today on a homegrown artist who is synonymous with the Edinburgh festival, my old friend Richard Demarco. Richard was born in Edinburgh in 1930 to parents who had come to Scotland from Italy. Now aged 94, Richard Demarco has attended every Edinburgh festival, which is really quite something, and he has organised arts programmes at most of them. Since its inception, he has also been heavily involved with the Fringe festival.

Over the years, Ricky Demarco has hosted hundreds of artists and staged more than 1,000 art exhibitions, featuring artists from over 60 countries. He has challenged the boundaries of the Fringe by staging performances outside Edinburgh, including a production of “Macbeth” on Inchcolm island. He has also been a critical friend of the Fringe, speaking publicly about what he saw as the over-emphasis on commercial considerations and also the increase in the prominence of the comedy festival, which was something he did not quite approve of.

Ricky has won many awards over the years from Governments and arts organisations around the world, because of his own artistic excellence and his devotion to internationalism. He has a CBE and in 2013 was the European Citizen of the Year. During the cold war, Demarco crossed the iron curtain 100 times. He often went to eastern Europe to bring back artists and groups to perform at the Edinburgh festival. That emphasis on internationalism is, of course, no accident; it is underpinned by the founding principles of the Edinburgh festival, which have already been remarked upon today. When it was founded in 1947, the idea was that the festival would be about healing the wounds of war through the language of the arts, which is something that Ricky Demarco did not just talk about but actively participated in, as he does to this day and encourages others to do the same. That alone is quite a legacy, but it also emphasises the so-called “soft power” of the arts, and I offer that “soft power” as a third reason for supporting the Edinburgh festivals and the arts more generally.

[Clive Efford (in the Chair)]

Order. Apologies, but I have to call the Front-Bench spokespersons.

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[Max Wilkinson]

It was a lovely evening out as well, Minister.

Our challenge is that we must build a creative environment that showcases the best of British talent—bringing together British culture and creativity, and showcasing it for the world—and that we use that to foster a thriving and informed democracy. The impact of cultural festivals in achieving those aims is substantial.

In the case of the Edinburgh festival, we have already heard that it benefits Edinburgh itself by more than £400 million; the wider impacts on the rest of Scotland and the UK are much, much bigger. The festival opens the door to tourism for the rest of our nation, which is a really important aspect that we must not miss out when speaking about cultural events.

That is why it is very worrying to hear the concerns of festival organisers, which have been highlighted in recent news coverage. Regardless of funding pressures, it is our opinion that it is extremely important that the Scottish Government do what they can to meet their past funding pledges. For appropriate balance, I will add that such responsibility extends to other public funders of cultural activities across the rest of the UK, whether those are devolved nations or local government.

Festivals, such as the festivals in Edinburgh that we are debating today or the Cheltenham festivals in my own constituency, play a key role in our cultural life. It is vital that they receive the support necessary to continue to flourish. This week, my constituency is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Cheltenham Literature Festival, which continues to flourish. However, despite large ticket sales, reductions in funding and in-kind support mean that the organisers of the Cheltenham Literature Festival have had to make some really tough choices in the past few years. Nevertheless, they still engage youngsters in reading to the tune of around 23,000 children every year. Of course, reading for pleasure is one of the single biggest indicators of a child’s future success.

At the launch event for the Cheltenham Literature Festival last Friday evening, supporters—including me—were reminded that the UK spends just 0.46% of its GDP on culture; that is based on the latest figures, which are from 2022. According to the University of Warwick’s “The State of the Arts” report, the UK is not alone in Europe in cutting its cultural budgets in recent years, but that does not make it right and we remain towards the bottom of the European league table, lagging behind our neighbours. If we are to remain a cultural superpower, that situation needs to be addressed.

Cultural funding extends to local festivals, theatres, cinemas, museums, art galleries, music and dance venues, libraries and public spaces. These are all vital to communities the length and breadth of our country. They are spaces devoted to creative endeavour. They not only fuel local economies; they also stimulate community participation across a whole range of creative activities.



In addition, we must not ignore the positive impact of the cultural sector on another great challenge facing our nation: deteriorating mental health. As we seek to reduce pressure on the NHS, we should look to the arts and culture as part of the non-medical therapy available. While few in the Chamber would dispute the difficult economic inheritance of this Government, we cannot look past the positive economic and social impact of investment in culture. It generates incomes and helps communities to thrive in non-monetary measures, too, as the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) pointed out.

What can we do to help our cultural sector boost the economy and increase happiness and wellbeing? Central Government can make a difference in many ways, although at heart it often comes down to money. However, Westminster and devolved Governments can make other important contributions. The promise made by the new Government for the restoration of multi-year funding settlements for local government will provide an important route to that. The hon. Member for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies) mentioned creative subjects, and we agree on that.

Planning reform offers another opportunity. Engaging the cultural sector in that will be important. We can beef up powers for local areas to protect cherished cultural venues. The cultural sector, too, would benefit from the abolition of business rates and the introduction of a commercial landowner levy.

A more sensitive subject is freedom of expression in the cultural sector. We all need to remember that sometimes we will see and hear things that we do not agree with. If art is not there to stimulate debate, it is nothing.

Finally, Chair—

[Clive Efford (in the Chair)]

Order.

[Max Wilkinson]

I appeal to the Government to make a small re-prioritisation: appoint a Minister for tourism and hospitality.

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[Dr Evans]

I was also interested to hear that another major Scottish city—Glasgow—has been successful in getting the Commonwealth games. I believe the hon. Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh moved to Edinburgh from his home town of Glasgow. It is great to see that success in both those cities is supporting the UK as a cultural destination. I wish the city of Edinburgh well as it prepares for its international storytelling festival, with Hogmanay on the horizon.

The previous Government provided significant support to the sector, including the then Chancellor’s spring Budget, in which he announced £8.6 million of support to festivals, to help boost Scotland’s status as a destination for creative industries, as we have heard. I also understand that the Edinburgh and South East Scotland city regional deal, agreed under the previous Government, is giving the city the chance to unlock opportunities for economic and cultural growth.

The hon. Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh is well aware of the successes of the festivals. I thought I would add a couple more bits of data: more than 2.6 million tickets issued, more than 3,746 shows registered, and more than 60 different countries represented on stage. That shows the appeal, not only locally but internationally. As my hon. Friend the Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage) said, the R&D incubator for the creative industries is something we must cherish.

I noted that the Edinburgh fringe app was downloaded 124,000 times, which shows that a traditional festival can move with the times, and work with others to be creative and engage more people. The extent of the data on the impact of this year’s festival has not been fully quantified or produced yet. In 2022, the Edinburgh fringe festival was on a par with the FIFA World cup. In 2022, BOP Consulting was commissioned by the Edinburgh festival to undertake an economic impact of the previous 11 Edinburgh festivals. The festival in 2022 generated an economic impact of £407 million—a significant increase from £280 million in 2015—not to mention the 7,000 direct jobs and 8,500 jobs across Scotland.

As the hon. Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh said in his maiden speech just a couple of months ago,

“culture, hospitality and tourism form the economic backbone of my constituency, not least in August, when it plays host to the Edinburgh international festival and fringe.” —[Official Report, 25 July 2024; Vol. 752, c. 883.]

With that, and turning to the Minister, I am interested in understanding whether he believes the visitor levy being proposed in Scotland will benefit the Edinburgh festivals. Will it benefit the city of Edinburgh and Scottish tourism as a whole? I understand that Edinburgh City Council, as well as Glasgow and Aberdeen, are looking at using the legislation. Does the Minister feel that Scotland has got this right and is he considering that across his Department in Westminster?

The Minister has a jam-packed portfolio, and I would hate tourism and the creative industries to become a fringe, as they are too valuable for that. Will he ensure that the creative industry budget is maintained in the upcoming Budget? Has he spoken directly to the Chancellor about tourism and creative industries? What assurances has he received that the creative industries will be protected, with tax reliefs maintained?

That being said, we are all here to celebrate a fantastic event. I again put on record my thanks to the hon. Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh for bringing this forward, from 1992 all the way to 2024.

[Clive Efford (in the Chair)]

Minister, I wish to call the mover of the debate at 5.45 pm, so I ask that you give him a minute at the end of your speech.

Oral Answers to Questions

Clive Efford Excerpts

Thursday 27th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Clive Efford.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker—[Interruption.] I will pop round with a cup of tea later, Mr Speaker.

Over the years, many hundreds of thousands of children up and down the country have learned to swim in their local swimming pool, and the clubs that provide those facilities are quite often very grassroots and local. However, our local swimming baths are under threat. The energy they consume is enormous and they are extremely expensive to run. The £63 million announced in the Budget is welcome, but we have yet to see the detail of how that money will be rolled out. Can the Minister tell us when it will be rolled out and when we will know the criteria?

[Stuart Andrew]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this important issue. I have spent a lot of time listening to local organisations making the exact same points. That is why, as a Department, we lobbied the Treasury heavily to get that £63 million. That will not only help with the current issue of the costs swimming pools are facing, but address some of the long-term issues to make them more sustainable. We are working through the detail and will make an announcement in due course.

--- Later in debate ---

[Cat Smith]

I thank my hon. Friend for that interesting question. The guidance that the Electoral Commission has given to polling clerks is that face coverings will need to be removed so that identity can be verified. If he wishes to arrange a meeting with the Electoral Commission, I would be happy to co-ordinate that, as I know that this is an issue that he feels passionately about.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

The additional voter processing will place more requirements on staff at polling stations. Has that resulted in any problems for local authorities in recruiting polling station staff?

[Cat Smith]

My hon. Friend is entirely correct: electoral administrators have been reporting difficulties to the Electoral Commission in recruiting polling station staff. That was the case in recent elections, too, but the issue has been exacerbated by the new role that there will be in administering voter ID requirements. Local authorities are working to address recruitment difficulties, including by calling on staff who work in areas that do not have elections in May to work in the areas that do. Of course, there is the additional challenge of needing a woman at every polling station to verify the identity of women who wear face coverings for religious reasons.

BBC: Government Role in Impartiality

Clive Efford Excerpts

Tuesday 14th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Julia Lopez]

It is incredibly important that the BBC is left to conduct its social media review in a way that allows it to bring clarity, particularly on this question of freelancers versus people who are paid employees. As the highest paid employee, Mr Lineker will, understandably, be held to account for his views by the licence fee payer, and that is difficult to ignore as an issue relevant to whether the BBC is impartial.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

The BBC prepared a statement to be read out on “Question Time” last week in the event that the assault by Stanley Johnson on his wife was raised by one of the panellists. That statement said that Stanley Johnson had not commented but that a friend had said that the incident did take place

“but it was a one-off”.

The BBC had time to consider that statement; it was a pre-prepared statement put in front of the chair of the panel. What on earth was in their heads when they agreed that? Who benefited most from it—was it the Conservative party or those women who have suffered domestic violence?

[Julia Lopez]

Without knowing the full details of the statement—[Interruption.] I am afraid that I do not know the statement to which the hon. Gentleman refers. The only commentary I have seen on this matter was on whether Fiona Bruce had behaved professionally, which, from my reading of the situation, she had.

Oral Answers to Questions

Clive Efford Excerpts

Thursday 9th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Clive Efford for the final question.

[Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)]

Which is the greater evidence of political bias: Gary Lineker criticising the Government’s language from his private Twitter account, or the chairman of the BBC giving donations to the Conservative party?

[Lucy Frazer]

I think that we have dealt with both those questions today. It is important, when people funded by the BBC make comments, that the BBC considers them. I know that the BBC is speaking to Gary Lineker.