Fairs and Showgrounds

Emma Lewell-Buck Excerpts

Thursday 17th December 2020 Westminster Hall

[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I thank the hon. Member for Glasgow East (David Linden) for securing the debate.

I come from the best seaside town there is: sunny South Shields. We have had a static fair, Ocean Beach Pleasure Park, since about 1945. Before that, travelling fairgrounds would visit us on a regular basis. Both have continued to exist as long as I can remember, and both, despite me often being sick on rides, have always brought a great big smile to my face. Showmen and women are generous and kind people who make a valued contribution to our local economy. The money they make, they spend locally, and the footfall they generate benefits us all too. It is no wonder that some families come to visit them time and again, because the travelling showmen and women become part of our community, and we become part of theirs.

Over this pandemic, I have spoken to many of my local showmen and women. Just recently, I met a hard-working group of women campaigning not just to save their livelihood, but to preserve their heritage and culture for their children and grandchildren. As the hon. Member for North West Norfolk (James Wild) said, the group is called Future 4 Fairgrounds. Those women told me, “This is not just a job. It’s a way of life and living. We are the fair and the fair is us.” It is deeply personal for them. They are mothers and wives who work day and night all over our country. They drive lorries, set up equipment and run businesses all year round. Fairs really are a family affair. It is a multimillion-pound business, which is about not just fairgrounds, but festivals, bonfire night, entertainment, Christmas light switch-ons, private events, weddings and much more.

Many showmen and women cannot help feeling that they are being discriminated against in the pandemic. From the evidence that I have seen, it appears that they are right to feel that way, because they are being discriminated against. What else could it be, when Government guidance said that, as of 4 July, travelling fairs could operate under all tiers, some with up to 2,000 people, yet time and again, after turning up and getting ready, overzealous local councils or public health teams have told them at the 11th hour to dramatically reduce their numbers or close down altogether? In some cases, the council has given them the green light, but the county council or parish council has come along and tried to override that decision. Yet funfairs have covid-secure measures in place and there is no concrete evidence to show that they contribute dramatically to the spread of the virus.

The final kick in the teeth is that when fairs have been told to close, nearby static fairs or theme parks have remained open, and markets have sprung up in their place. I cannot imagine how utterly soul-destroying it must be for them to travel for miles, unpack all their equipment, only to be told to pack it back up and then see another event, which is not as safe or secure, occupy the land and space that they were promised.

Fairs are limited in their ability to speak out, because they do not want to damage their existing relationships with local councils, or scupper their future events. Worse still, when they have been told that they cannot operate, the councils and public health teams have not been clear about why, so they are completely in the dark. They approach the next town or area not knowing whether the same thing will happen again.

I am unaware of any other sector where that level of inconsistency is being applied. Crystal-clear guidance is needed for councils to follow because, at the moment, it seems that they are picking out bits from the general guidance and making the wrong decisions. If there was ever a time that our nation’s spirits needed to be lifted by the fun of the fair, it is most definitely now. I hope that the Minister will at least commit to issuing clearer guidance.

Showmen and women have lost every season this year. They typically take only January as leave. The unique nature of their work, where some are self-employed and some have limited companies, and where many do not have premises, has meant that they are part of the 3 million excluded from Government schemes. The Chancellor and the Government deny that those 3 million people exist, but trust me, they do. If the party of business keeps burying its head, it will lead to the collapse of this industry and many others. A proper package of support is long overdue.

Some showmen and women were eligible for bounce back loans, which they have used to upkeep their equipment—maintenance, testing and insurance. As the Minister knows, however, those loans must be paid back. In short, the situation is unsustainable, with their debt increasing at a time when they do not know when they will be able to operate or have an income again. I sincerely do not want this part of our country’s heritage to disappear, so I hope that the Minister will be able to offer them something positive today, because right now it certainly is not fun, and it most definitely is not fair.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Nigel Huddleston)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone, and to respond on behalf of the Government to this important debate, which comes at the end of a hugely challenging year for the fairground and showmen’s sector. I thank the hon. Member for Glasgow East (David Linden) for securing this debate. I know he has spoken regularly on behalf of the sector throughout this period. I thank all Members from across the House for their contributions today and for their involvement in the APPG. I note that my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West (Sir David Amess) called for more Members to join.

[Christina Rees in the Chair]

Many Members have sent me written questions and so on over the past few weeks, and I appreciate their doing so. The interest in the issue in this Chamber is a clear demonstration of how important fairs and showground events are both to the UK economy and to our cultural heritage. It is an indication of the importance of the community of showmen, their identity and their contribution to life in the UK. As the hon. Member for Glasgow East mentioned, their contribution, for example, to charities and to their local communities during this crisis has not gone without notice.

Although the tourism and cultural issues are generally devolved matters—the devolved Administrations are responsible for any targeted financial support in their respective nations—I am on good terms and consult frequently with my devolved counterparts. I meet them regularly and will continue to do so. We learn from each other.

Outdoor events, broadly defined, make a huge and valuable contribution to our tourism industry. According to the Events Industry Forum, they generate £30 billion a year and employ directly over 500,000 people in the UK, with people having made around 140 million visits to our outdoor events of all kinds in 2018. As was mentioned, and as the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain itself suggests, the fairground industry specifically generates more than £100 million in gross value added per year. That cannot be sniffed at.

The absence of such events for much of this year has shown how funfairs and showgrounds support many of our social celebrations, be they summer or winter festivals, or longstanding and much-loved local events, as was mentioned. The past nine months of the covid-19 pandemic have been an extreme challenge for all sectors and businesses. Showmen are no exception to that. We recognise the widespread impact that covid-19 has had not only on the successful operation of those businesses, but on the whole community and families who keep funfairs and fairgrounds going.

I would like to set out some of the support offered by the Government to date and then look to the future. In March, the first lockdown hit the visitor economy hard. It wiped out our usually bustling outdoor events calendar, marking a period of immense hardship for many events businesses and their families. However, the Government acted quickly to help businesses through that period with an unprecedented package of support, including self-employment schemes, as well as a variety of grants and loan schemes, as was acknowledged by colleagues today, although I recognise that not everyone in every sector is always eligible for all of them.

Where specific issues were identified, we acted by securing additional money to be spent by local authorities aimed at helping many tourism and events businesses, including some that were outside the business rates system. Although I know there have been points where eligibility has not been possible, showmen have seen some success in applying for bounce-back loans, small business rate grants, local council discretionary grants and the self-employment support scheme. As I said, I recognise that that financial assistance has often been offered to operators and that the nature of the sector means that there remains a significant financial impact on the wider showmen community across all sectors, which has not received all the support. I urge showmen and fairground operators to continue to apply for all the available support, as my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) pointed out. I encourage them to apply for those grants that are available.

Throughout the summer, when restrictions were gradually eased, we helped fairs to make the most of the season. We cut the VAT rate on tourism, hospitality and leisure-related activities, including admissions to fairs, from 20% to 5%. We launched a variety of campaigns to try to encourage people to be out and about, including the Enjoy Summer Safely and the Escape the Everyday campaigns. We worked with the sector to develop detailed guidelines to make outdoor events covid-secure. As many hon. Members mentioned, becoming covid-compliant to provide security to visitors and workers in this sector has not come without significant cost and effort; I recognise that. VisitBritain introduced the “We’re Good to Go” standard, which over 40,000 businesses have signed up for, including many funfairs.

As hon. Members know, covid-19 forced us to adapt our approach in the autumn and strengthen social restrictions once again. I know that these restrictions have placed further strain on fairs and showground operators. However, I want to point out the measures introduced by the Government to mitigate some of those pressures. In response to November’s national lockdown and ongoing local measures, the Chancellor implemented further support for businesses and individuals, including extending various Government-backed loans, extending the furlough and self-employment schemes and introducing new grants.

I want to draw attention to those grants, which may be relevant to several businesses—not all, I recognise—in the fairground and showground sector and its supply chains. First, businesses that were legally required to close due to the restrictions, as was the case for funfairs during November, can receive up to £3,000 for the month. Secondly, many eligible businesses in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors that were not required to close but suffered reduced demand could receive grants of up to £2,100. While the Government have set suggested criteria for the funding that states that we expect it to be

“targeted at hospitality and leisure businesses”,

local authorities will determine local needs for supporting the recovery, and they will determine exactly which businesses to support through the grants. However, I strongly encourage them to consider applications from the fair and showground sector sympathetically. That clear message, repeated by hon. Members on both sides of the Chamber, is the one we need to send today.

Finally, we have given local authorities £1.1 billion through the additional restrictions grants to help business more broadly. Again, they can determine how much funding to provide to businesses through the scheme and which businesses to target. Guidance for ARG funding again encourages local authorities to

“develop discretionary grant schemes to help those businesses which—while not legally forced to close—are nonetheless severely impacted by the restrictions put in place”.

That includes

“businesses which supply the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors, or businesses in the events sector”.

While decisions are at the discretion of local authorities, I encourage them to make funding available to the fairs and showgrounds sector and I encourage showmen to apply for the funding—again, that has been the consistent message from the debate. We will continue to work with the Showmen’s Guild to understand covid’s impact on travelling showmen and closely monitor the fairground industry’s access to these grant schemes.

It is important to keep in mind that any further support will need to be considered in the wider context of existing support for the wider tourism and events industry and the effectiveness of measures already in place. Of course, with the exception of periods of national lockdown, funfairs and fairgrounds have been permitted to operate since July and, far from ignoring the fairground and outdoors events sector, we prioritised it for reopening. Local authorities are responsible for permitting events in their local areas.

The Government have set out a broad framework in which funfairs and fairgrounds can go ahead if they follow covid-secure guidance, adhere to all the legal requirements and put in place every mitigation to ensure that their events do not pose a public health risk. My Department has produced advice for local authorities encouraging them to work closely with event organisers on a case-by-case basis to permit events to go ahead safely. It is also important to stress that we recognise the important role of local authorities. Even if an event has taken place in the past, it is not necessarily appropriate for it to take place at the same location currently or in the future—there may be pinch points, for example. A directive from the Government saying that such events must go ahead would therefore be inappropriate, because we must recognise the local authority’s role in identifying the particular local circumstances. As I said, pinch points or other perfectly reasonable considerations may mean that events should not go ahead.

[Mrs Lewell-Buck]

I notice that the Minister is coming to the end of his comments. He said he recognises that not everybody can get support, so the crux of the debate is: what will he do to ensure that those who cannot get support do get it?

[Nigel Huddleston]

I will come to a couple of points. As I have said, the most important thing is that discretionary grants are available and that local authorities should look at this sector sympathetically.

[Mrs Lewell-Buck]

If that is the case, will he ensure that local authorities get more money? I know a lot of local authorities are running out of the money that the Government have already given them.

[Nigel Huddleston]

The hon. Lady will know that, for example, the discretionary grant fund is £1.1 billion, and it was specifically suggested that that money should go to events and locations and businesses that perhaps have not been paying business rates—particularly those who do not have a permanent location—and again specifically to the hospitality, leisure and events sector. That is clear guidance to local authorities. As I have said, other guidance is available.

The guild has shown that where entities have been able to apply for grants, they have had success. I do recognise that that is not across the board, but it is simply not true to say there has been no support. There has been significant support. I encourage all entities to apply and I encourage those disbursing the money, and those at local authority level in particular, to look sympathetically at those applications.