Town of Culture Award

Graham P Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd January 2019 Westminster Hall

[Graham P. Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

I fully support all those who have spoken. In particular, I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Delyn (David Hanson) on securing this debate on a wonderful idea.

The past few years have seen immense success for the UK city of culture, which has created renewed interest in those cities that have had successful bids. The bidding process has been beneficial even for cities that have not been successful. Crucially, it has showcased culture and arts outside London and the big metropolitan hubs. Government figures show that 53% of the population of England live in an urban settlement that is not part of a conurbation, but towns get less than half the Arts Council funding that cities receive.

Towns are the fabric of our nation, and their cultural offer needs to be acknowledged, respected and celebrated. Unfortunately, too often they are the areas that are made to suffer as a result of private and public sector decisions, such as closures, underinvestment and consolidation in cities. When Hull’s year of culture was launched in 2017, there were unprecedented crowds; hundreds of thousands of people came from all over the country to celebrate. It was 12 months of visitors, events and inward investment in the city from tourism.

Many Members have mentioned their towns. I represent six. Like all small towns, there is an element of pride to them. Composers, bands, authors, scriptwriters, “Coronation Street” actors, artists, Dave Pearson, politicians come from the towns I represent. My home town of Accrington has the beautiful Haworth art gallery, with its Tiffany glass collection—the only one outside the United States. We also have the club that would not die, Accrington Stanley.

We have to go beyond arts and look at engineering and textiles in some of these proud towns. Accrington produces the hardest bricks ever produced; they prop up the Empire State building and others. I am trying to save a tower that dates from 1148, which is hard to do in a town where the local authority does not have the funding for that. Some of these towns suffered as a result of globalisation, and they need the resource and the support that cities get. A fraction of the £220 million that Hull received would go a long way.

I will conclude by saying that this is a fantastic initiative. I support this debate and personally congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Delyn, who secured it. I hope the Minister listens and takes this initiative forward.

Draft Breaching Of Limits On Ticket Sales Regulations 2018

Graham P Jones Excerpts

Monday 21st May 2018 General Committees

[Margot James]

Thought has been given to that and to other ways of capping tickets. Indeed, Professor Waterson considered it in his review, but he recommended against it. Experience in other markets has shown that people find it quite easy to get round any cap. Certainly, the market would not go away, but it might be pushed elsewhere, and there would be difficulties in defining a measurable base value of any cap. Also, rapidly changing routes to market, for example through social media platforms in addition to secondary ticketing sites, would make any legislation extremely difficult to police.

[Graham P. Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

To expand on that point, we talk about software bots, but in the olden days there was the practice of using mass telephone banks, and there still is today. We are aware that many calls from normal consumers do not get through. Companies have people sitting there with massive telephone banks, waiting for one line to get through. When the red light comes on, they pick up the phone and they can buy tickets as an individual, still using technology as part of that methodology. Is that something the Government are aware of? Will the regulations shut down that practice?

[Margot James]

The draft regulations cover any electronic means and make it a criminal offence to purchase tickets in bulk electronically, through the use of software. I might have to come back to the hon. Gentleman on whether that includes phone banks and whether electronic means include telephones. I shall make some more progress before I come back to him on that.

The draft regulations apply to events in the United Kingdom, but they cover activity to obtain tickets in any jurisdiction. The intended offence will be summary only, with a maximum punishment of an unlimited fine in England and Wales or an exceptional summary maximum in Scotland, as magistrates courts in Scotland do not have the power to impose unlimited fines. The relevant section of the Digital Economy Act 2017 was not commenced in Northern Ireland because of the ongoing suspension of the Northern Ireland Executive, but the intention is for it to be commenced and for this instrument to apply to events in Northern Ireland once legislative consent can be secured.

--- Later in debate ---

[Graham P. Jones]

The Minister talks about clamping down on sellers, but obviously many of them operate outside or in and around venues. I suspect that, for some venues where there might be 50,000 tickets, 1,000 of those tickets change hands outside the venue. What is she doing to ensure that those ticket sellers are caught? They are probably the people picking up the tickets from the bots. Is she going to do something about those sellers?

[Margot James]

To the extent that the sellers outside venues have committed to fulfil ticket requests made by people online—people think that they have purchased those tickets—they would be caught by the regulations, because we are preventing bots from harvesting huge numbers of tickets. I do not think we will be able to eradicate that kind of activity overnight. The purpose of the draft regulations is to prevent the use of electronic means for the wide-scale purchase of tickets for profit. The draft regulations do not capture the old-fashioned ticket tout, who still operates at big events. I agree with the hon. Gentleman that that problem still prevails.

I am glad to be reminded that touts outside venues come under the purview of trading standards departments. We have invested more money in trading standards enforcement so that they can tackle the issue, irrespective of the draft regulations. Trading standards departments have more resources and money for enforcement activity against illegal reselling.

[Graham P. Jones]

I am surprised at the argument that the Minister offers to the Committee, because as far as I am aware, trading standards departments have been cut back significantly. They are one of the departments most hit by austerity in most local authorities. Does the Minister have any figures on the number of trading standards officers employed in 2010, compared with the number in 2018?

[Margot James]

We are digressing from the debate at hand, but I am willing to answer the hon. Gentleman’s question. Trading standards budgets are a matter for local authorities, and the reduction in their budgets across the country has varied local authority by local authority. I am pleased to say that a large amount of money—approximately £12 million—was found from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s budget earlier this year to reinforce trading standards activity nationally. Some of that money will undoubtedly find its way into enforcement in the area we are debating. I am pleased to say that trading standards activity will be reinforced.

On the point that was raised about secondary sites selling seats in home areas to away fans, football has separate rules that provide for health and safety. The draft regulations are aimed not at that but at tickets that have been acquired via electronic means being resold for profit. We have been very careful to focus them on the activity that is doing the most harm to the ticketing market, which is the mass harvesting of tickets online through the use of software. They will apply only where there is an intent to obtain financial gain.

Question put and agreed to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Graham P Jones Excerpts

Thursday 10th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We are out of time, but I am going to take a couple more questions if people respect the fact that we are running late. Graham P. Jones—a very short question.

[Graham P. Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

10. What steps he is taking to increase public trust in charity regulation.

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

I continue to work closely with the Charity Commission to ensure that we maintain an enhanced public trust in charity regulation, and in recognition of the increased demand for its services, I have provided additional funding of £5 million.

[Graham P. Jones]

There have been several scandals with charities in Haslingden and Hyndburn, and I think the public are deeply concerned that the charities legislation and the Charity Commission are failing in their duties. I personally do not think they are fit for purpose. Will the Minister meet me to discuss those matters and how we can make charities more trustworthy?

[Tracey Crouch]

I am aware of the two cases that the hon. Gentleman refers to, and I will be happy, as always, to meet him.

Oral Answers to Questions

Graham P Jones Excerpts

Thursday 22nd March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

The rules require the provision of a programming guide to ensure that public service broadcasting is prominent in linear programming. Content is increasingly consumed not in a linear way in a programme, but across the internet and on smart TVs. We have required Ofcom to revise its code by 1 December 2020, and to report before then on how we can ensure that that prominence can work effectively in the digital age.

[Graham P. Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

I raised the issue of the electronic programming guide with the right hon. Gentleman during the Committee stage of the Digital Economy Bill. It is vital for the guide to have prominence. Amazon, Netflix and all the other platforms have no electronic programming guides, and even Sky has reduced its guide. Although I raised the matter, the Government have done nothing. They are doing very little to protect public service broadcasters. When will the right hon. Gentleman and the Government act?

[Matt Hancock]

As I have said, we have already acted in the Digital Economy Act. The hon. Gentleman served on the Bill Committee—with great distinction, I might add. I made it clear during the debates on the Bill that if Ofcom’s report makes it clear there is a problem, and one that can only be fixed by legislation, we will introduce that legislation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Graham P Jones Excerpts

Thursday 21st December 2017 Commons Chamber

[Graham P. Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State for Defence has suggested that all terrorists should be killed. Is it not important that the UK is seen as upholding the Geneva convention?

[The Attorney General]

That certainly is important. What my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary was saying, echoing his predecessor, was that those who choose to fight with Daesh put themselves at risk, but let me make the legal position clear: every country, including this one, is entitled to defend itself from acts of terrorism, and where an attack is either present or imminent, and where it is necessary or proportionate to do so, this country can, and on occasion will, use force, including lethal force, to defend ourselves.

Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility

Graham P Jones Excerpts

Tuesday 31st October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Tracey Crouch]

May I gently urge my hon. Friend to read the consultation document we published today? If he does, he will discover that this is not just about problem gamblers, but about those who may be at risk from harmful gambling. One thing we know is that there are many more people out there who are at risk of harmful gambling, of which FOBTs are just one aspect. The consultation delivers a package of measures on all areas of gambling and the risks that they may cause.

[Graham P. Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

My constituency has 54 FOBTs. Some £2.5 million was lost on these machines last year and £15 million has been lost since 2008 in a deprived constituency. The recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research and GambleAware said that it is costing the UK £1.2 billion to look after the victims of gambling—people who are addicted and have various problems. What assessment has the Minister done of the cost to the UK Government of looking after people who will continue to be affected if the £50 option is chosen, because it is still such a high stake?

[Tracey Crouch]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his work on the subject. He is a long-time campaigner on the issues of FOBTs and has done an excellent job standing up for his constituents who have become the victims of gambling addiction. Four options have been set out in the consultation paper—£50, £30, £20 and £2—and separate impact assessments have been published alongside.