Oral Answers to Questions
Ian Murray Excerpts(3 days, 1 hour ago)
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Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
This Government are championing the UK’s living heritage: the crafts, customs and festivals that are important for local pride and community cohesion. Following the ratification of the 2003 UNESCO convention, we invite communities to submit their traditions to inventories of living heritage in the UK. Some examples are Up Helly Aa on Shetland, the Notting Hill carnival and, some might argue, the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon).
Rachel Hopkins
The end of May will mark the 50th Luton international carnival, which is the UK’s largest one-day carnival. I think that 50 years means it qualifies as a UK tradition—it is definitely a Luton tradition. Does the Minister agree that events such as Luton carnival are vital for celebrating the rich cultural diversity of our country and strengthening community cohesion, and may I invite him to Luton to join in with carnival this year?
Ian Murray
I would be delighted to go to Luton carnival; it sounds slightly less scary than participating in skeleton.
We would welcome a submission to the living heritage inventories for Luton carnival, which is an important event in my hon. Friend’s constituency, as she has laid out. Congratulations to everyone involved in organising the carnival, not just now but in the last 50 years. We want to celebrate the UK’s diversity and encourage diaspora communities to contribute, ensuring that all practices are fully represented in our living heritage inventories. I will pass on her kind invitation, as well as to me, to the Minister for Heritage in the other place, who I know had an enjoyable time learning about Luton’s rich heritage when she visited last year.
Mr Andrew Snowden (Fylde) (Con)
There is no finer UK tradition still lived out than drinking a cold beer and watching the local cricket team that has been there for decades. I recently visited St Annes cricket club. I should declare an interest as my dad was the professional there in 1973—he will probably not thank me for saying that, as that declaration is probably time-expired. Those clubs have relied on the revenue from their bars to support that wonderful tradition for many years, but the changes in national insurance costs and other cost pressures have completely eliminated the profits that many make and they are struggling to reinvest in facilities. What more support will the Government announce for our traditional British cricket clubs?
Ian Murray
The hon. Member makes a great point, and I congratulate to his father on being the professional at St Annes cricket club—I think he said that it was in 1973. If the hon. Member gets in trouble for saying that, I have just said it as well.
We know our cricket clubs and all our sports clubs are right at the heart of our communities. We want them to thrive and they should be thriving. This Government are fully committed to ensuring that all our sports clubs thrive. It is not just about enjoying that cricket with a cold beer, as the hon. Member says he does and like many hundreds of thousands do every Saturday, but about young people being involved and the way in which that takes them into the future of work and sport.
Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
I have not personally had any discussions with my counterpart in the Hellenic Republic on the future of the management of the sculptures. The sculptures are legally owned by the trustees of the British Museum. The chair of the British Museum has been in discussions with the Greek Government about a partnership, including reciprocal loans.
Andrew George
I am grateful to the Minister for that response, and I should declare an interest as the chair of the British Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures over the last 20 years. The British Museum’s planned redevelopment will necessitate its board agreeing the relocation of many of its exhibits, including the Parthenon sculptures. In the light of that, it is suggested that the time is right for the museum, with the consent and constructive support of Government, to facilitate an exhibition of those sculptures in the Acropolis Museum in Athens where they can be displayed alongside other artefacts. Does the Minister agree that should such a project be agreed by the museum, it would enhance the reputation of the United Kingdom as it would be seen as a gracious act between two nations that are long-term international allies?
Ian Murray
It is clear that the UK and Greece do indeed have a strong bilateral relationship built on our shared history and values. We greatly value the friendship that exists between our people and our Governments. It is for the British Museum to seek to reach an agreement with the Greek Government on the loan of the sculptures, as the British Museum is operationally independent from Government, as he knows with his long track record on this. But if they do reach an agreement, the Government would not stand in the way of such a loan.
Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)
Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage) (LD)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
We encourage local authorities to continue to work in partnership with key players in local arts ecosystems, such as Arts Council England, and make the most of the opportunities provided by the mayoral strategic authorities to deliver strategically for culture in their areas. Furthermore, the Government are providing substantial financial support to local governments, committing an additional £3.4 billion in grant funding by 2028-29. That commitment is underpinned by the creative industries sector plan, which includes a £150 million creative places growth fund to support it.
Olly Glover
Local councils in my Oxfordshire constituency work hard to secure public arts funding through developer contributions for our growing population. However, some existing cultural venues are struggling. The much-loved Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage is having to rely on one-off grants to plug funding gaps and has had an annual average deficit of £24,000 a year since 2020. In that context, what more can the Minister do to help our local councils to provide funding for museums and cultural venues in my part of Oxfordshire?
Ian Murray
The hon. Gentleman raises a very good point. Our museum renewal fund, worth £20 million, is supporting three museum groups in Oxfordshire, including Vale and Downland Museum in his constituency. Our new museum transformation programme, a 5% funding uplift for the ACE national portfolio organisation and the museum development network will further support the museum sector in 2026-27. Museums in difficulty are encouraged to reach out to Arts Council England, which can provide guidance and support. I encourage the hon. Gentleman to consider the town of culture competition, which has been very popular with Members across this Chamber, to see if he can get more funding in that way.
Leigh Ingham (Stafford) (Lab)
Stafford Gatehouse Theatre in my constituency is absolutely smashing it in my constituency of Stafford, Eccleshall and the villages. It welcomed 150,000 people last year and is likely to welcome 170,000 this year. The pantomime alone welcomed 19,500 people—oh yes it did!
Leigh Ingham
Thank you. [Laughter.] Does the Minister agree that thriving venues in towns such as Stafford demonstrate the appetite for culture in our local places? What are the Government doing to support towns like Stafford?
Ian Murray
I thank the hon. Member for being a wonderful champion for Stafford and for culture and arts in Stafford. In February, we announced £1.5 billion over this Parliament for the arts everywhere fund, which is broken down to make sure that we can support infrastructure in every part of the country. The Secretary of State’s and Department’s commitment is to make sure that there is arts and culture everywhere for everyone, and the Department will do everything we possibly can to make sure that gets to Stafford.
Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley) (Lab)
Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
It is not just about building homes and economic drivers; it is about building cultural and heritage communities as well. It is fantastic to see so many infrastructure projects taking shape across Cambridgeshire and Cambridge this year. Cambridge already has a fantastic cultural offer, with Arts Council England’s national portfolio programme already supporting organisations like the New International Encounter and Oblique Arts, both of which work with communities across the region. I encourage my hon. Friend to ask all of his cultural organisations to look at the £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere fund—that record funding was announced last month—and maybe the city or town of culture programme.
Dame Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West) (Lab)
Northern industries built this nation, but the previous Government did not care about our industrial heritage, which is one reason why Newcastle’s iconic swing bridge no longer swings. On her recent visit, the Minister for Heritage encouraged us to take the steps necessary to safeguard its future, but what help can the Secretary of State provide to support the funding necessary to get the swing bridge swinging?
Ian Murray
I commend my hon. Friend’s campaign for Newcastle’s swing bridge in its 150th anniversary year. I know the Minister for Heritage, who sits in the other place, has been dealing closely with her on those issues. I understand that Newcastle city council is leading a feasibility study on returning the bridge to full operation, which should help us to understand if and how this magnificent grade II listed building and scheduled monument can be brought back to life. I share my hon. Friend’s aspiration to allow the bridge to swing.
Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition
Ian Murray Excerpts(4 days, 1 hour ago)
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The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
I am pleased to respond to this debate. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) not only on securing this debate, but on her lovely speech. I noticed that she did a little bit of lobbying for Hastings to become the town of culture, and I am sure my officials noted that.
This will be the first time since the Bayeux tapestry left the UK over 900 years ago that it returns. It is a very important moment. I was reflecting that perhaps the modern battle is between the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Dr Mullan) and my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye on where the battle actually took place. Perhaps there will be a tapestry made of that particular battle in the years to come. The tapestry coming to the UK is more than a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—it is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. We must celebrate that and get the most out of it, as hon. Members have said.
I start by paying tribute, as my hon. Friend did, to the director of the Bayeux Museum, Monsieur Antoine Verney, who sadly passed away just two weeks ago, and extend our heartfelt sympathies to his family and to his colleagues. His contribution over the years to promoting knowledge of the tapestry and sharing it widely, including with colleagues in the British Museum, is a lasting legacy that we must honour and build upon when the tapestry arrives here this year.
I extend my gratitude, on behalf of the UK Government, to our friends on the French side, who are doing so much to enable the loan, including President Macron, of course, and the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati. Their role in supporting this loan has been crucial to making it happen.
I also pay tribute to the hard work and commitment of the UK Government’s envoy on the tapestry, Lord Ricketts, and his French counterpart, Philippe Bélaval. I thank all the people who are making this loan possible, including the French Ambassador to the UK, the President of the Normandy region, the Mayors of Bayeux, Rouen, and Caen, as well as senior figures in the regional cultural authority and, of course, colleagues at the British Museum.
The Bayeux tapestry will be on display at the British Museum from September 2026 through to July 2027. I thank the British Museum for working so hard to enable this exhibition, and for its generosity in loaning the Sutton Hoo treasures, the Lewis chess pieces and more than 220 drawings by Renaissance masters from its collection to museums in Caen and Rouen in Normandy for displays in 2027 to coincide with the celebration of the year of the Normans, marking 1,000 years since the birth of William the Conqueror. I am not sure if the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) remembers the birth of William the Conqueror.
Ian Murray
It is an enormous task to deliver such a historic exhibition, but doing so in such a short timeframe is a particular challenge. Usually, exhibitions at our major museums take three to five years to plan, but the British Museum is rising to the challenge of putting this exhibition on in a little over one year, as well as developing a national programme of education and engagement to spread knowledge of the tapestry and the Norman conquest throughout the country. On the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye made about deprivation and educational attainment in her constituency, I think we should use this as a platform and foundation on which to build, for children, children of the future, and the inspired historians we may be able to get as a result of this.
The tapestry is unique, and care of it is underpinned by expertise on both sides of the channel. Concern has been expressed in some quarters about whether the tapestry will be able to travel safely. I am pleased to say that the British Museum is working closely with its French counterparts, and is bringing its world-leading expertise to bear to ensure that the tapestry can travel here safely for this unprecedented loan and be seen by as many people as possible. That is key.
I understand that many areas of the country claim close links with the Norman conquest, so many Members of this House would claim a special interest in this area, including those from where the Bayeux tapestry seems likely to have been made, Canterbury. The north of England also has historic connections to the Norman conquest—they are not necessarily exactly positive—due to the harrying of the north carried out by William the Conqueror. We can all agree that the battle of Hastings, depicted on the tapestry, is of critical importance to the history of us all.
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye on her tenacious campaigning for her constituents, particularly in the educational field, and seeking to ensure that schoolchildren in her constituency and neighbouring constituencies are able to see the exhibition and understand the significance of the area that they live in to the history of our country. I have been assured by the British Museum that schools in her area will receive priority booking, reflecting the salience of the area to the events of 1066, and the huge local interest. I understand that she, together with the British Museum, is working with Southeastern Railway to offer at least 1,066 tickets, at heavily reduced rates, to London to schools in 1066 country.
Helena Dollimore
I thank the Minister for his commitment to helping the children of Hastings to get to see this exhibition. Does he recognise that schools that are not as well off need help getting children to the British Museum in north London, whether by coach or train? They simply do not have the spare funds. Anything that he can do, in discussion with the museum, donors and other supporters of access to the arts, would be much appreciated.
Ian Murray
My hon. Friend raises the key principle behind what the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and I do, in the Department and right across the country. I am an Edinburgh MP, but I remember studying the Bayeux tapestry in primary school some 40 years ago—I know that hon. Members will find that hard to believe.
To get children and schoolchildren really interested in this exhibition, we have to ensure that they can get to London, and that the educational programme spreads out across the country. We also have to ensure that those who want to see the tapestry can see it, because the legacy has to be for younger people and those others who have an interest in it. I know that all this would not have been achieved without the hard work of my hon. Friend on behalf of her constituents and their children.
The exhibition will be free to all under-16s with a paying adult, wherever they are from. More broadly, the museum is developing plans for family activities, including an open family festival, three to five days of activities across all school holidays for the duration of the exhibition, and a finale family festival. There will also be exclusive school mornings, in which there will be free access to see the tapestry for schools during term time. On top of that, the museum is planning on rolling out a variety of exciting digital content that children across the whole country will be able to enjoy, whether they are in a history lesson at school or at home with their friends and family.
The British Museum is developing an ambitious national programme of education and engagement to raise awareness of the importance of the tapestry and the Norman conquest to the history of the whole country and its heritage, culture and language. Indeed, as we know, Norman French is still used in some parliamentary procedures, such as the granting of Royal Assent. The museum’s national programme will involve more than 100 sites that have developed content that demonstrates the far-reaching consequences of the Norman conquest. That includes working with English Heritage, the British Library, the National Archives and Norfolk Museums Service. The aim is to ensure that as many people as possible will be able to take part in and engage with the loan of the tapestry to the British Museum, wherever they are in the country.
The museum is working with a range of stakeholders in the Hastings and Battle area to ensure that the local community is engaged with the exhibition. I will take away the issues raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye about making sure not just that people can get to London, but that tourists and others can go to 1066 country to see what is there. That will improve the tourist economy and the experience of the tapestry being here.
More generally, 2027 marks 1,000 years since the birth of William the Conqueror. The region of Normandy is marking that with a wide-ranging series of activities, including on an international level. That will involve Scandinavia, where the Normans originally came from, and areas that their influence reached, such as Ireland, Sicily and the south of Italy, and, of course, our country. This is a unique opportunity to deepen and engage the public in the UK-France relationship. That will happen alongside wider work on the Year of the Normans and the strength of our cultural partnerships, such as those between the British Film Institute and the French Centre National du Cinéma, and between the national heritage bodies of both countries.
Furthermore, in 2027, the Grand Départs of both the Tour de France and the Tour de Frances Femmes will be in the UK, with one being in Edinburgh. That is another demonstration of the close links between the UK and France. My hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye mentioned potholes in her constituency—I hope ours are filled in by the time the cyclists come to Edinburgh. That is a challenge for the local authority in Scotland.
In this increasingly polarised and divided world, the links that culture and sport can create are more important than ever, especially with our close neighbours, with whom we share so much history. However, I wish no luck whatsoever to the French rugby union team, which is coming to Murrayfield a week on Saturday for the six nations. Those cultural and sporting links are important to us all.
Of course, the battle of Hastings is not the only historic event represented in the tapestry. It starts by showing Harold swearing a solemn oath in Normandy in 1064 after being shipwrecked there. The oath is widely assumed to be in support of William’s claim to the throne of England. The tapestry then shows King Edward the Confessor’s funeral at Westminster Abbey, after which Harold claims the throne. It then depicts ships being built in Normandy, as William prepares an invasion after Harold is crowned King of England, before moving on to events in England before the battle, but after William and his army landed at Pevensey Bay in East Sussex, where William ordered a castle to be built.
The battle of Hastings itself is then depicted. At one point, William raises his helmet to show his troops that he is still alive. That is followed by the famous scene that seems to show King Harold being killed by an arrow in his eye. The tapestry gives an account of how William the Conqueror came to power in England. As it was likely to have been made on the orders of William’s half-brother, Bishop Odo, it is obviously an account written—or rather, embroidered—by the victors.
This is a national event, so many other Members of the House will have a keen interest in the tapestry coming here and in the legacy of the Normans, as it is felt throughout the United Kingdom. That said, the Hastings and Battle area, and 1066 country more generally, has a fantastic tourist offer that will never be more relevant than this year and the next. I encourage the British Museum to strengthen its work with the 1066 country tourism board. I should note that the British Museum will host a briefing in Parliament on Wednesday 22 April to update all parliamentarians on the loan, the exhibition and the museum’s national programme of education and engagement. I encourage all interested colleagues to attend that, and to engage with the museum and with Lord Ricketts in the other place.
I very much look forward to seeing the tapestry in the British Museum. I hope that as many of the constituents of my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye as possible are able to see it, in particular schoolchildren, so that they can learn about the history of this country through this exceptional work and be inspired for the future. I urge visitors to the exhibition to follow their visit by going to see where it all happened in 1066 country, so that they see not only the tapestry, but the places themselves. I commend my hon. Friend for bringing this debate to the Chamber.
Question put and agreed to.
TV and Video on Demand Services: Regulation
Ian Murray Excerpts(5 days, 1 hour ago)
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The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
I am pleased to update the House on essential reforms the Government are making to television and video on demand regulation. These measures mark an important step in the Government’s implementation of the Media Act 2024, and extend vital audience benefits and protections to previously unregulated services. To that effect, the Government will shortly lay two statutory instruments:
The On-demand Programme Services (Tier 1 Services) Regulations 2026; and
The Regulated Electronic Programme Guide (Prescribed Description and Transitional Arrangements) Regulations 2026.
We also intend to lay a statutory instrument, when parliamentary time allows, to designate the television selection services that will be captured by the new prominence regime also introduced by the Media Act.
The way in which audiences choose to watch TV has undergone significant change over the last decade. The growth in popularity of on-demand services means there is now more choice than ever. While licensed television channels must comply with Ofcom’s broadcasting code (which sets appropriate standards for audiences to ensure protection from harm and offence) and accessibility requirements (such as subtitles, audio description, and sign language), many of the most popular video on demand services used in the UK today are not regulated to the same extent as broadcast television, and some are not regulated at all.
Similarly, in general, only TV channels which appear on a regulated TV guide (referred to in legislation as “regulated electronic programme guides”) must comply with Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code and accessibility requirements. Currently, the only regulated EPGs—set at the point the UK left the European Union—are Freeview, Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media, and YouView. The proliferation of smart TVs and growth in the number of unregulated EPGs means that audiences are exposed to an increased risk of encountering harmful content, and are unable to complain to Ofcom if they do.
Legislation is therefore required to ensure vital audience protections and accessibility features apply to newer services that are increasingly popular for audiences. However, regulation must be proportionate to ensure industry is not subject to unnecessary regulatory burdens.
The Media Act 2024 introduced a new regulatory framework for VoD services, including powers for the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to designate ‘Tier 1’ services, which will come under enhanced, TV-like regulation by Ofcom. These services will be required to comply with a new video on demand standards code that will set appropriate standards to protect audiences from harmful content, and a new accessibility code, which will set minimum requirements for accessibility features.
Through the On-demand Programme Services (Tier 1 Services) Regulations 2026, the Government will designate video on demand services with more than 500,000 UK users as Tier 1. We estimate this will bring over 20 of the most popular video on demand services (including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+) within scope of the regulations. In designating services with more than 500,000 UK users, the Government have taken a proportionate approach that balances the need for audience protections and accessibility features being available on the most popular services, without placing a disproportionate burden on smaller services which reach fewer people, which may be less able to comply with Tier 1 obligations. Following designation, Ofcom will consult on the new codes, which will be an opportunity for the public and providers to set out their views on the new rules.
The Government will also lay regulations to update the meaning of a regulated EPG, extending vital audience protections and accessibility requirements to newer TV guide services, like Sky Glass and Freely. Any TV channel which can be accessed through a regulated EPG will also be within Ofcom’s remit and therefore required to have a broadcast licence. Furthermore, the regulations will address a regulatory loophole in the existing framework where some TV guide services fall outside regulation despite being easily accessible through regulated services. We estimate that there are 10 EPGs and approximately 70 new TV channels that will be in scope of Ofcom regulation as a result. This measure also supports our public service broadcasters, by extending prominence rules that apply to regulated EPGs to previously unregulated services.
Finally, to support the future sustainability of our public service broadcasters, the Media Act also introduced a new prominence regime, which will require particular TV platforms to carry and give appropriate prominence to designated public service broadcaster video on demand apps. Once commenced, this new regime will ensure UK viewers can continue to find the public service media content they value on demand.
In order to be captured by the new prominence framework, a TV platform must be designated by the Secretary of State via statutory instrument, following advice from Ofcom. Ofcom issued its draft advice on 22 July 2025, which it consulted on, and issued its final statement on 16 December 2025. I can confirm, having thoroughly reviewed Ofcom’s advice and considered all stakeholder responses, that I am minded to agree to Ofcom’s recommended list of designations set out in its final report.
My Department intends to lay a statutory instrument, when parliamentary time allows, to make these designations.
Taken together, these measures will ensure the UK remains at the forefront when it comes to content standards and audience protections, in a rapidly evolving media landscape. However, given the pace of change today and our increasingly fragmented media landscape, we recognise that legislation must continue to adapt to keep pace.
2026 marks 100 years since the advent of television. Yet, despite the vital changes we are making today, much of the legislation which underpins the media landscape was written in an analogue age. The Government will therefore consider what further reforms are necessary to futureproof our regulatory regime, to ensure it continues to serve audiences, support our public service media providers, and allow our world-leading creative industries to thrive, driving growth and innovation across the UK.
[HCWS1354]
Radio Review: Terms of Reference
Ian Murray Excerpts(2 weeks, 3 days ago)
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The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
Radio continues to be a strong and highly valued medium. It contributes significant public value through its provision of trusted news and diverse entertainment, and underpins the wider media plurality landscape in the UK. However, listening habits are continuing to evolve as even more people access radio via digital and online platforms, whether at home or on the move.
It is therefore important to consider the impact of changes in listener behaviour and audio markets over the past five years and assess the future challenges the BBC and commercial radio are likely to face in the coming years in order to support continued investment in radio.
I am pleased to announce the scope of a new radio review, which will take place in 2026. DCMS will come together with key industry organisations to carry out this review, which will be completed by the end of 2026. The review’s terms of reference are to:
(a) Investigate future scenarios for the consumption of UK radio and audio content on all platforms into the 2030s, taking into account likely models of future listener behaviour, market trends, and technical developments.
(b) Consider the impact of these scenarios on current and future distribution strategies for the UK radio industry and on the future availability of UK radio services for listeners on all platforms.
(c) Make recommendations—based as far as possible on a cross-industry consensus—on the future distribution of radio services and provide advice to Government on ways of strengthening the long-term viability of UK radio until the early 2040s.
[HCWS1333]
Non-league Football
Ian Murray Excerpts(1 month ago)
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The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr Brash) on securing this important debate. I hope he is not too intimidated by the size of the crowd in here this afternoon. [Laughter.] He is a passionate advocate for non-league football and his own club. He is a dedicated supported of Hartlepool and is a season ticket holder.
Hartlepool United is a club that has seen the highs and lows of the professional and non-league game over its history. As a Scot, I feel a bit of a fraud responding in this debate, because I do not know much about English non-league football. I do know a lot about Scottish non-league football. My own club, Heart of Midlothian, is at the top of the Scottish premiership this season, four points clear of Rangers and flying high.
Paul Waugh
Speaking of clubs that are at the top of their league, Rochdale are at the top of the national league right now. Despite that, we do strongly support the 3UP—and three down—campaign, because although we may well benefit this year from going straight up, we know all too often that clubs can sometimes rack up lots of points but still not go up, as York City did last season even though they were 20 points ahead of Oldham.
As a season ticket holder, like my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr Brash), it is really important that we reward the loyalty of fans and footballers who play for clubs such Rochdale, Hearts and Hartlepool. I also want to pay tribute to Ian Henderson, who marked his 41st birthday last weekend with a goal and an assist and who plays for Rochdale as our record goal scorer.
Ian Murray
With Ian Henderson’s age, maybe there is still time for my hon. Friend to score a hat trick to take the Dale up. He mentioned in his previous intervention the Dale Trust and Dale 1907, and I pay tribute to them. We tend to forget that, right across the country, all our football clubs have strong community spirit and strong charities and trusts attached to them that do so much in the local community—Big Hearts is attached to my football club. Indeed, the reason I mention my club is not just to get it on the record, as we always like to do, but because it is the largest fan-owned club in the UK. That fan ownership was born out of ownership crisis. The club was owned by a Russian-born oligarch from Lithuania, but when it went into administration and liquidation, the fans bought out the club and now it is riding high.
When we see what has been done at Hartlepool— I pay tribute to Landon Smith for taking over the club—hopefully it will have a bright future with that settled ownership. Clubs such as the Pools—or the “monkey hangers”, a nickname which my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool did not mention—are not just sports teams; they are part of the very identity of our towns and the communities within them. They are the institutions that provide pride in place, which is a concept that I know my hon. Friend champions, and they play a vital role in the social and economic fabric of all our communities. Without our football clubs, our communities would be hollowed out, so congratulations to everyone who runs a non-league club.
British and English football is a global success story. Of course, it was invented in Scotland, and Scotland won the world cup in 1967 by beating England at Wembley. [Laughter.] This Government are committed to ensuring that football’s foundations remain strong, sustainable and supported for generations to come, and crucially, that fans are put first. That is really important.
As my hon. Friend has highlighted, the influence of non-league football extends far beyond the pitch. Clubs are frequently the beating heart of our communities, serving as hubs for social cohesion, education and physical activity, and bringing people and our communities together. Department for Culture, Media and Sport research has shown that the sport and physical activity sector contributes £53 billion to our national economy. We must also look at the major social value: the £8 billion of wellbeing value created by grassroots and non-league football and the £43 million saved for our NHS every single year from fans’ involvement in their clubs. Whether it is Hartlepool United’s work with local youth or the thousands of smaller clubs across the country run by volunteers, the Government recognise that every pound invested in non-league football is an investment in the health and happiness of our nation and our communities—and my goodness, don’t we need a bit of that in our communities?
A key pillar of our support for the game is ensuring long-term sustainability through the Football Governance Act 2025, which received Royal Assent in July last year. That historic legislation establishes the Independent Football Regulator, which my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool mentioned. For the first time, we have a statutory body with the powers to ensure that clubs are run sustainably and to protect the heritage that the fans hold dear—the very lifeblood of the game. Importantly for today’s debate, the regulator’s remit includes the top five tiers of the men’s game, of which Hartlepool and Rochdale are part. That means that clubs in the national league benefit from oversight that demands financial resilience and meaningful fan engagement.
We have also given the regulator backstop powers to intervene in financial distributions. If football is unable to reach an agreement, we want to see a fairer share of the game’s wealth flowing down the pyramid system, ensuring that the prosperity at the very top of the game supports the sustainability of those further down. Non-league football provides the stars—the premier league players—of the future.
The sustainability of non-league football was fundamentally challenged during the covid era and, indeed, post covid. The sport survival package, which was worth £13.4 million in loans, supported 35 non-league clubs when their need was most acute in response to unprecedented circumstances—I know that that has been a huge issue for Hartlepool. We understand that for many clubs, the legacy of that turbulent period remains a challenge. That is why the Department continues to work closely with Sport England, and its loan agent, which regularly engages with borrowers to monitor their financial position.
Physical infrastructure is important and is often a substantial overhead for grassroots community clubs. That is why we are continuing our investment through the multi-sport grassroots facilities programme, which is delivering £98 million this year alone for community clubs below step 6 of the national league system. I am pleased that we have recently confirmed that £85 million will be committed for 2026-27 as well, building on the huge success of the grassroots programme. We understand that for the clubs that are climbing the tiers of the national league system, the requirements for stadium infrastructure become more intensive. That is why we work so closely with the Football Foundation, which my hon. Friend mentioned, that also delivers the Premier League Stadium Fund. Although that is the Premier League’s own fund, its delivery through the Football Foundation ensures that it is aligned with our shared goals for a sustainable pyramid.
I will touch on the 3UP campaign, which is the main thrust of the debate—maybe we will only need “one up” this season if the Dale end up at the top of the division. The Government recognise the strengthen of feeling on the 3UP campaign. It was a major debating point in both Houses during the passage of the Football Governance Act. However, decisions about the structure of football competitions, including promotion and relegation arrangements, are rightly a matter for the footballing authorities, as my hon. Friend says. Otherwise, if we had the power to do so, I would be standing here announcing an extra three or six points for Heart of Midlothian football club. It is not in the power of Ministers to deal with the footballing authorities in that way.
Mr Brash
I should probably point out that my father was a Hibs fan as a child—I hope that does not act against me in this debate. The Minister mentioned that the Football Governance Act requires meaningful fan engagement. Given that fans are so unanimously behind the 3UP campaign, would he see it as a failure of engagement if we do not see that change coming forward?
Ian Murray
After my hon. Friend’s confession about his father being a Hibs supporter, I do not know whether he has gone from being my hon. Friend to just a hon. Gentleman. He is right, and fan involvement in the game was the key driver in the Football Governance Act. One of the key drivers of fan ownership at my own club was to have fan’s voices heard. Fans are the lifeblood of the game. Whether it is ticket prices, the colour of the football club, the name or where they play, all those issues are key because they make football what it is and are why we support the clubs that we do. I hope the EFL listens to the fans on this and sees the strength of feeling on what needs to be done.
The EFL—of course, my hon. Friend knows this—is a membership organisation, and therefore vested interests take hold on whether a club may be advantaged or disadvantaged by 3UP and, of course, all the connotations around that. The EFL and, I hope, its member clubs have heard this, and the fan voice is strong on this campaign. I say from this Dispatch Box that I hope the EFL hears that strength of feeling at its meetings in March.
My hon. Friend mentioned the regulator, and I am pleased that the Independent Football Regulator recently launched its consultation on the terms of reference for its state of the game report. I appreciate him saying that things need to move quickly, but this comes ahead of the report’s publication in 2027, which will be a huge milestone for the regulator. The report will provide unparallelled insight into the structural issues facing the game and the wider football ecosystem, informing the regulator’s approach and decision making. The debate around restructuring leagues and football has been there since time immemorial, and if we put four football fans in a room to debate football reconstruction, we would get eight different answers for how that should go. These are complex negotiations. There will be financial distribution, organisational and scheduling challenges across multiple leagues, and it is ultimately a matter for the EFL.
I hope I can spend a few minutes talking about the women’s game, which is hugely important in this context. As we strengthen the foundation of the men’s game, we are equally committed to the continued transformation of women and girls’ football. Edinburgh South FC in my constituency has 1,200 young people playing every single weekend, many of them girls. The number of girls who want to play is exploding, and I am incredibly proud of the progress we have seen.
As the major independent review led by Karen Carney rightly noted, we must work to raise the standards across every level of the game, including in non-league and grassroots football. Our investment is already delivering gold-standard provision through the Lionesses futures fund—I think England might have won a tournament somewhere. We provided £30 million to deliver state-of-the-art 3G pitches, dedicated female facilities, proper changing rooms and accessible toilets. We have ensured that this infrastructure is not just built but is accessible to all, with reserved peak-time slots and priority booking for women’s teams. These vital learnings are now hardwired into our main facilities programme.
The Government’s support for non-league football is multifaceted. It is about financial regulation, modern facilities and sustainability, but mostly it is about social opportunity. I want to thank the thousands of volunteers who keep our non-league clubs running, the tens of thousands of fans who go every week for their pie, their Bovril and their entertainment. They are the unsung heroes of our national game. This Government will continue to work with the Football Association, the Premier League, the EFL and the new independent regulator to ensure that our non-league clubs remain at the heart of our communities for years to come. I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this important debate to the House.
Question put and agreed to.
Science, Innovation and Technology
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Dave Robertson (Lichfield) (Lab)
My right hon. Friend is right to mention the impact on supply chains. In the west midlands, we recently had the cyber-attack on Jaguar Land Rover. That had a significant impact not just on that company, but on the supply chain, which has its roots right through the west midlands. That essential part of our economy was brought to a grinding halt by a cyber-attack. Will he confirm that this Bill will help prevent such instances from happening in the future?
Ian Murray
… I should say to my hon. Friend, and I will come to it later, that Jaguar Land Rover and other private organisations are not in the scope of this Bill.
[Official Report, 6 January 2026; Vol. 778, c. 174.]
Written correction submitted by the Minister for Digital Government and Data, the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray):
Ian Murray
… I should say to my hon. Friend, and I will come to it later, that Jaguar Land Rover and certain other private organisations are not in the scope of this Bill.
The following extract is from the Second Reading debate on the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill on 6 January 2026.
Kanishka Narayan
With the exception of data centres, reportable incidents that affect operators of essential services would need to have affected the operation of significant network and information systems right across the entity, and to have a significant national security impact.
[Official Report, 6 January 2026; Vol. 778, c. 227.]
Written correction submitted by the Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, the hon. Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Kanishka Narayan):
Modern Digital Government: 2025-2030 Roadmap
Ian Murray Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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The Minister for Digital Government and Data (Ian Murray)
I have published “A roadmap for modern digital Government 2025-2030” on gov.uk. The roadmap follows on from the state of digital Government review and a blueprint for modern digital Government that were published earlier this year which set out how we will use technology to fundamentally improve and simplify the daily lives of the people in the UK. Our collective priorities are clear: to enable easier lives, faster growth, firmer foundations, smarter organisations, and higher productivity and efficiency. This roadmap now sets out our plan to 2030 to deliver those tangible benefits for every citizen and business in the UK, committing to the bold action we will take against the six-point plan for reform outlined in the blueprint:
Join up public sector services: we are creating a more seamless, secure and connected experience for people and businesses. This includes enhancing the gov.uk app to provide personalised and proactive services, launching the gov.uk wallet for convenient digital credentials and a national digital ID scheme that will simplify and secure access to services alongside gov.uk one login. Initiatives like CustomerFirst and GDS Local are accelerating system-wide improvements and fostering collaboration across central and local government. Key to all of this is driving digital inclusion for all.
Harness the power of Al for the public good: we are actively building and testing AI tools to boost public sector productivity and improve services, contributing to significant efficiency gains that translate into faster decision-making for citizens. This involves the rapid prototyping capabilities of incubator for AI, establishing an external responsible AI advisory panel, and accelerating AI adoption through the Prime Minister’s AI exemplars programme, which is already testing AI products in areas from job seeking to tax compliance.
Strengthen and extend our digital and data public infrastructure: we are building a secure and reliable digital public infrastructure. We are committed to embedding safety in its very foundations. This begins with gaining a comprehensive view of our digital estate, removing legacy technology, and providing common platforms and shared direction across Government. It involves enforcing “secure by design” principles across all Government systems. We will strengthen cyber defence through new more interventionist models to rigorously protect people’s data, as well as make our infrastructure resilient against evolving threats. Beyond our own systems, we are enhancing strategic supplier agreements to ensure supply chains are resilient by enforcing baseline security standards and raising broader awareness. Furthermore, we are creating new infrastructure like the national data library to unlock the value of public data for economic growth and improved services.
Elevate leadership, invest in talent: we are committed to making Government a leading digital career choice. This includes implementing a new digital pay framework, and equipping civil servants with essential digital, data, and AI skills through programmes like the AI accelerator and TechTrack apprenticeships, ensuring the public is served by the very best digital professionals.
Fund for outcomes, procure for growth and innovation: we are reforming how Government fund, buy and manage technology, working closer with industry to deliver the best outcomes for citizens. By shifting to agile, outcome-focused funding models and leveraging our buying power through the digital commercial centre of excellence, we will ensure public money delivers maximum value and fosters a more competitive and vibrant technology marketplace. Procurement will prioritise resilience through a diversity of suppliers. We will actively support sovereign capabilities in sensitive areas such as AI and leverage UK assets to guarantee secure and resilient connectivity. This coherent approach ensures that our spending not only delivers value but strengthens our national digital infrastructure and supports growth and innovation.
Commit to transparency, drive accountability: we are changing to be more open, accountable, and focused on what matters to the public. We are creating consistent ways to measure service performance, working in the open, and publishing clear information on how and why we are using algorithmic tools through the algorithmic transparency recording standard. This helps every citizen know how their Government are performing and why decisions affecting them are being made.
Work to deliver this plan is already well under way.
The gov.uk app was launched in July 2025 and has achieved over 200,000 downloads and trials for gov.uk chat have recently concluded to explore the use of conversational AI for helping users navigate complex Government services;
The first digital credential was added to gov.uk wallet providing almost 2 million veterans with a secure and convenient way to prove their status and access services from their phone;
As of October 2025, over 13.2 million people have proven their identity through gov.uk one login, and its identity verification app;
We completed a discovery phase for the “Get Britain Working” service transformation to explore how to help people find or keep a job while managing long-term health conditions, which has helped to inform the creation of a new unit that will drive this end-to-end service transformation approach across the public sector;
Our first cohort of 24 data scientists from across Government complete the AI accelerator programme and have upskilled into machine learning engineers;
Over 600 public sector organisations have signed up to our free vulnerability scanning service to help them identify cyber weaknesses:
We recently announced our plans for a digital ID scheme so that everyone in the UK can easily and securely prove their identity to access public and private services, welfare and other benefits.
We will now take this roadmap forward at pace, building on the momentum already in place. By working collaboratively across Government, with researchers, businesses, and most importantly, with the public, we will unlock the full potential of digital and AI to deliver transformational outcomes for citizens across the entire country. This roadmap will be iterative and we will provide annual updates on our progress against milestones and blueprint outcome metrics.
[HCWS1249]
Oral Answers to Questions
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Alex Ballinger (Halesowen) (Lab)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
We monitor a wide range of evidence to aid our assessment of gambling advertising and its impacts, including spend data provided by the industry and independent sources. We will continue to keep our policies under review in this serious context. There is a Westminster Hall debate on gambling harms later today, where hon. Members will get the chance to unpack these issues in more detail.
Alex Ballinger
This week FIFA announced a four-year partnership so that gambling platforms can stream world cup games on UK websites for the first time. Football fans are already heavily exposed to gambling advertising, and the Government have confirmed that there is clear evidence linking gambling advertising to harm. As the Premier League has agreed to remove gambling adverts from the front of shirts this year, does the Minister share my concern that the livestreaming of world cup games on gambling sites is a step in the wrong direction and can perpetuate further gambling harm?
Ian Murray
There are two ways to answer that question. The first is with regard to exposure to the world cup itself, and I want as many world cup games as possible to be on free-to-air television. When Scotland qualified for the world cup, it was on the BBC and brought the whole nation together, which is what the world cup should do for every nation that has qualified.
Secondly, on exposure to gambling, we are committed to strengthening measures to protect those at risk, including the gambling levy. Twenty per cent of that £120 million will go towards making sure that we have the proper research to build on. I appreciate my hon. Friend’s raising this point. I will consider the issue with the Sport Minister, and I will write to my hon. Friend with an update in due course.
Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)
Sitting down to watch a football game with my young family the other day, my wife commented, “Are you watching football, or are you watching a gambling show?” She had a point. Last October, a match between Man City and Wolves had over 5,000 visible gambling ads during the game. Gambling destroys lives and is responsible for close to 500 suicides a year. What consideration is the Department giving to addressing this pressing and devastating issue?
Ian Murray
It is a pressing issue that has been recognised, particularly by the Premier League, which has banned shirt sponsorship from next season. A number of robust rules are already in place to ensure that adverts are not targeted at, and do not strongly appeal to, children and those at risk of harm. The Government are looking at this issue very seriously, and I hope the hon. Gentleman comes to the Westminster Hall debate this afternoon.
Neil Duncan-Jordan (Poole) (Lab)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
On 15 December we published a progress statement on copyright and artificial intelligence, as required by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. By law, we have to publish an independent impact assessment before 18 March. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology recently held a round of successful technical working groups on copyright and AI, and I am engaging with the creative and tech industries to ensure that our copyright regime values and protects human creativity while unlocking innovation across our creative sector and the wider economy.
Neil Duncan-Jordan
The Minister will know that big tech companies want to use songs, recordings and other creative work to train their AI models, without asking or paying the original creators. Does he agree with my union, the Musicians’ Union, that those working in our creative sector should be asked for consent to use their work, get credit for use of their work and be fairly compensated when their work is used in this way?
Ian Murray
This is one of the most serious issues we have to deal with in this space. As a joint Minister in DSIT and the DCMS, I know this is something we are looking at, and we are very aware of all the concerns raised by creatives. We want to support rights holders in licensing their work in the digital age and to allow AI developers to benefit from access to creative material. In the UK, that will require a landing zone for both industries, and engagement, such as technical working groups, will be key in finding a solution that works for both sides. We will continue to engage with stakeholders in both sectors to further develop that approach, and that is the commitment from both Secretaries of State.
Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)
When it comes to AI, as with so many other things, this Government are all smoke and mirrors. In response to the Grok AI outrage this week, the Secretary of State for Science and Tech announced with a flourish that she would be banning intimate image abuse with immediate effect. In reality, this meant triggering legislation that had to be forced through by Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge against the Government’s will and that received Royal Assent last summer. Imagine how many women could have had their trauma prevented if the Government had just got a grip. Every day, our creative industries are having their work scraped. Intellectual property is being stolen every day, and still the Government sit on their hands, promising the world and delivering nothing. When will we see the AI Bill promised in the last King’s Speech, and when is that legislation likely to be brought forward?
Ian Murray
As I said in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Poole (Neil Duncan-Jordan), there will be an update to Parliament on 18 March, as provided for by the Data (Use and Access) Act. This is an incredibly serious issue, but what we really need to do is make sure that the Online Safety Act 2023 is completely implemented. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology made it very clear from the Dispatch Box this week that the Government will have an absolutely no-tolerance approach to what has been happening with AI and Grok. Ofcom must do its job. It must do it quickly, it must do it soon, and it must take the greatest possible action it can against the perpetrators of the disgusting and abhorrent ways in which AI is operating on some platforms.
Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham) (Lab)
Patrick Hurley (Southport) (Lab)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
Co-operative live music venues have benefited from the Government’s community ownership fund, which enables communities to take ownership of valued local cultural assets. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the work he does to champion the arts and music in his constituency. Building on the community ownership fund, the new Pride in Place programme will support 244 neighbourhoods with up to £20 million each over the next 10 years, which can support local music venues, while our new music growth package of up to £30 million, which we will launch in the spring, will help to strengthen grassroots music infrastructure, including venues themselves.
Patrick Hurley
Southport does not need to apply to be the UK town of culture because we have a fantastic year of culture coming up this year anyway—Members should check out southport2026.com for more details. As part of building a legacy off our year of culture, I am meeting music industry professionals next week to discuss the live music scene. Grassroots music venues are vital to nurturing new talent, but too many venues in this country are closing because of soaring costs. Can the Minister outline whether music venues should have their own sector-specific support package so that we can protect live music for the future?
Ian Murray
My hon. Friend is correct: Southport is already a town of culture. He has been championing southport2026.com, which everyone should go and look at. In addition to the £30 million music growth package, the Government are encouraging the live music venue to go further to deliver widespread adoption of the voluntary £1 levy on tickets for stadium and arena shows in order to help to safeguard the future of grassroots music. I re-emphasise that we are encouraging the industry to go much further; we want as much take-up as possible and to see the levy in place for as many concerts as possible. We want the music industry to continue to drive progress with this, as all that money will go into grassroots live music.
Catherine Atkinson (Derby North) (Lab)
Gambling Harms: Children and Young People
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Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
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The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. You are a good friend to us all.
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Kevin McKenna) on securing this important debate. I thought his speech was great; it covered all bases in looking at where we are on gambling harms. He was absolutely right to point out that significant attention is paid to gambling harms, but little attention is paid to the effects that those harms have on children and young people. I am glad we have sorted some of that in this debate.
My heart goes out to Lesley. I hope she has been watching this, albeit through one eye, and we all wish her a speedy recovery. I also pay tribute to Rosie, who is in the Public Gallery. Speaking as a father to two children, losing a child is heartbreaking, but using the loss of a child as a catalyst for campaigning on this issue is completely heroic and much beyond the strength of many of us. I thank her for that.
Unlike alcohol addiction, gambling is an invisible addiction, and it is often hidden from family members and friends, as we have heard from hon. Members. We must ensure that there are safeguards in place, particularly for children and young people; otherwise, we risk a generational slip into gambling harms, as many Members have said. There has been massive innovation in the gambling sector, which is why this issue has been brought to the fore. Young people have certainly been much more exposed to risks than other groups. I appreciate the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey about direct and indirect harms. I think we have to deal with that.
Let me canter through some of the issues that my hon. Friend raised, before dealing with those raised by other hon. Members. My hon. Friend spoke about loot boxes, which were mentioned by a number of Members. We have commissioned independent academic research to assess the effectiveness of the new industry-led measures to improve player protections with regards to loot boxes in video games. We have engaged with the relevant Government Departments and regulators to consider the next steps, which will be published alongside the academic research in due course later this year. Some 20% of the gambling levy is going into research; we need a lot more research into these areas to make sure that any other regulations or guardrails that we introduce are fit for purpose, as these issues are changing all the time.
My hon. Friend mentioned the impact of parental gambling on children and households. That is a key part of the impact that parents’ gambling has on children and young people. Statistics from the Gambling Commission’s young people and gambling survey, which many Members have referred to, show that nearly 30% of young people have seen a family member they live with gamble. We also note the findings that young people who consider themselves to be risk-takers were also more likely to have seen a family member gamble. The National Gambling Clinic offers support for people aged 13 to 18 in England who have experienced harm from gambling. It offers a family and friends service alongside that, which provides support to those impacted by someone else’s difficulties with gambling. Further to that, as I have already mentioned, 30% of funds from the statutory gambling levy—£120 million this year, in total—are being put towards prevention, some of which will subsequently be used to inform the Government’s children and young people’s strategy.
My hon. Friend quite rightly raised the issue of increased gambling activity among children and young people, and the stats on that have been read out a number of times already. We continue to monitor that issue, particularly in the sector of unregulated gambling, such as private bets between family and friends. We have all done it: we have been driving with the family, including the kids, in the car, and have had a little side bet on whether the next car that passes will be red or white, or something like that to pass the time. We need to be careful that what we do is not accidentally causing our families to slip into thinking that gambling is normalised, an issue that many people have already raised.
My hon. Friend also mentioned the Department of Health and Social Care and the fact that gambling is a health issue. I am aware that some Members of this House wish gambling to be considered a health issue for the Department of Health and Social Care—we heard that earlier from the Select Committee member, my hon. Friend the Member for Chelsea and Fulham (Ben Coleman), who is no longer in his place. We continue to work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, colleagues and other stakeholders beyond Government to ensure that the wide-ranging harms associated with gambling are thoroughly considered and are reflected in future policy. That is why we have set the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and NHS England, alongside the appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales, the task of commissioning for the prevention and treatment strands of the levy respectively. Gambling harm is partly the responsibility of the Department of Health and Social Care too.
The Government’s men’s health strategy was touched on by some hon. Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey. We have heard that gambling harm tends to be most prevalent in young boys, and the evidence points to that. Young men are more likely to gamble at higher levels, particularly with online casino-style betting. The Gambling Commission published research into the drivers behind that in December last year. What is clear is the need for further gambling education, and we are committed to working with relevant stakeholders and the prevention commissioner to explore the role of education in protecting children and young people from gambling-related harms.
On the assessment of voluntary advertising measures, all licensed gaming operators in the UK must adhere to the Gambling Commission’s licensing conditions and codes of practice, which require compliance with robust advertising codes enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority. The codes are regularly reviewed and updated, and they include a wide range of provisions designed to protect children and young people from harm. Those rules are further supplemented by a number of voluntary industry measures, such as the industry code for socially responsible advertising, and we continue to monitor the evidence base and to work with a number of stakeholders when considering the effectiveness of current regulations and gambling advertising. I am sure that the Gambling Commission has heard this debate, and the Backbench Business Committee debate we had last week.
I welcome the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Halesowen (Alex Ballinger). I have heard him speak many times over the last couple of weeks, and he has not mentioned that Halesowen is the town of culture this year—he has missed another lobbying opportunity, but I put that on the record on his behalf. I thank him for welcoming our tax changes, including the £26 million from those tax changes that is being put straight into looking at and being more robust with the illegal market. I thank him for all he does with the APPG on gambling reform.
My hon. Friend welcomed the front-of-shirt ban; with that ban, I think the Premier League acknowledged the scale of the exposure problem, something that all hon. Members have mentioned and want to reflect on. He also raised the Betting and Gaming Council’s report; I am not avoiding the question, but it is for the council to decide whether it wants to publish that report. I am sure it will have heard both my remarks and his on whether it decides to do that.
I am surprised that the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) spoke in this debate—he is normally such a shy and retiring Member. He is of course right to reflect on the fact that the gambling regulations in Northern Ireland are different, but I can reassure him that gambling officials met with their Northern Irish counterparts just last month to discuss gambling harm. They want to learn from best practice in both organisations.
The hon. Member also raised the specialist providers for the treatment of gambling harm and the late Gordon Moody, as did the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr French). I thank them all for the work that they do. The gambling levy of £120 million will help. The applications for it opened yesterday, and I encourage all hon. Member who have any contacts with those bodies to make sure that they are applying for those contracts.
My hon. Friend the Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (Lizzi Collinge) and many other hon. Members highlighted that the industry spends £2 billion a year on advertising—why? Because it works. Nobody spends money on advertising if it does not work. I enjoyed her saying that we are all from the late 1900s—I had not considered that before, but I certainly feel like it today. She also pushed us on what measures we can take.
My hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) notes that young people have seen this as being normalised; that is something that we are all having to deal with. He mentioned the letter sent to the gambling industry last week, and the response that he got, highlighting how wrong he was. I gently suggest to the industry that that is not the way to respond; they should engage with the issues and, if there is an argument to be made, let us have that argument, rather than telling hon. Members that they are wrong when they raise significant issues on behalf of their constituents.
I pay tribute to Peter and Sadie Keogh after the tragedy they faced in their family, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tristan Osborne) for telling the personal story of his family. He asked about youth-specific gambling support: the National Gambling Clinic is an NHS service that provides free, confidential support for those aged between 13 and 18 experiencing gambling-related harm, and I would encourage any family member or anybody of that age to get in touch and engage with that service.
On gambling-related suicide, we all read the BBC story about Ollie Long this week, and many Members have referred to it. The Government recognise that the link between gambling and suicide is a sensitive area and a difficult one to research because of the linkages. It is very complex; I hope the 20% dedicated from the levy will help us with that research to build a much better picture of the harms and the direct associated areas. The Department of Health and Social Care also has a suicide prevention strategy; that is the health part of this, which is important for us to see.
I hope I have covered most of the issues that have been raised by hon. Members., I apologise to the shadow Minister about the letter sent to the Secretary of State on 6 November; we will chase that up and reply to the hon. Gentleman. I highlight the £120 million raised by the levy this year: the 30% that goes into prevention, the 30% that goes into treatment, the 20% that goes into research—I ask people please to engage with those distribution bodies—and the extra £26 million to tackle the illegal market. We all know the illegal market is a problem and I hope that money goes some way to dealing with some of those big issues.
To finish, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Erdington (Paulette Hamilton) raised the proliferation of betting on the high street. We know that is a problem; we had a Backbench Business debate on it last week, where we discussed those particular harms. In the interests of time, I refer her to that debate so she can see the result. The Prime Minister did answer a Prime Minister’s question from my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler), who has been leading the charge on this, and he is fully committed to making sure those cumulative impact assessments are part of the planning and licensing process. I hope that will help the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Erdington in some way.
I hope I have answered all the issues that were raised in the debate. We will continue to have these debates as the months and years roll by. The gambling Minister, Baroness Twycross, who is in the other place, who takes the lead on this, will have heard the debate and we will have regular meetings on the issues that come out of it. I hope that hon. Members continue to interact with the debate and continue the sterling work they have been doing.
High Street Gambling Reform
Ian Murray Excerpts(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
I congratulate the Backbench Business Committee on allowing this debate to go forward, and my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) on securing it. Many hon. Members from across the Chamber have talked about the harms of gambling. Although that is incredibly important in underpinning the debate, I will concentrate on what the motion says about licences and premises, and on what local authorities can do to deal with those kinds of issues.
I pay a huge tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East, because the way that she presented her speech and told real-life stories was really powerful. I join her in paying tribute to Jackie Olden for her campaign on behalf of her mother Wendy—my hon. Friend told a hugely powerful story about the impact of gambling on their family and the campaign that they have subsequently proceeded with—and to Charles and Liz Ritchie, who, after the death of their 24-year-old son Jack, started Gambling with Lives. The Minister for gambling, Baroness Twycross in the other place, met both Jackie and Liz in the autumn, and the Government will take forward some of those discussions. Next Thursday there is a gambling harms debate in Westminster Hall, and I encourage Members to bring some of the contributions that they have made today to that debate.
My hon. Friend the Member for Brent East mentioned a list of things that she would like to see going forward, and I hope to cover some of them, but I will start by mentioning a few of the other contributions to the debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Halesowen (Alex Ballinger), in an intervention, talked about the 80:20 rule and the changes to the rule that were proposed in the gambling White Paper. The gambling Minister recognises the problems and wants to ensure that protections from harms are much more robust before any thoughts on changing the rule come forward. I hope that satisfies Members who are concerned about the 80:20 rule.
The hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion (Siân Berry) talked about the Breakeven charity in her constituency, which I believe she is visiting tomorrow, and about the 2023 White Paper. We want to implement the recommendations in that White Paper. Obviously, it was the previous Government’s initiative, but the recommendations were pretty powerful. We want them to be implemented as quickly as possible, but we also want to see them bedded in before there is another review of gambling. She also talked about the gambling ombudsman, which will require primary legislation. We will bring forward those kinds of issues as and when we are able to do so.
My hon. Friend the Member for Enfield North (Feryal Clark) talked about the 30 gambling premises across her constituency and the cumulative impact of them. I hope to come on to some of those cumulative impacts in my speech.
The hon. Member for Dewsbury and Batley (Iqbal Mohamed) rightly talked about gambling harms. He should attend the debate next Thursday, if he is able to do so, and bring some of those real-life examples with him.
One high street in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury) has one of the highest concentrations of gambling establishments in the country. She demonstrated why more powers such as the cumulative impact assessments, which I will come on to talk about, will I hope help with such issues.
My hon. Friend the Member for Chelsea and Fulham (Ben Coleman) rightly told us that problem gamblers are invisible, whereas those with other addictions are not. That highlights the problem that has to be dealt with, and the issues raised by the Health and Social Care Committee. I commend him and his Committee for what they have done to bring this issue into the public health domain.
My hon. Friend the Member for Kensington and Bayswater (Joe Powell) highlighted some successes that communities have had in limiting the number of gambling premises in his constituency. However, he is frustrated both about their lack of ability to do so, and about the premises that have been approved.
My hon. Friend the Member for Bolton West (Phil Brickell) talked about our manifesto commitment to tackle gambling harms, as well as about stake limits and the statutory levy to fund research, protection and treatments. I hope that the cumulative impact assessments, which I will talk about shortly, are able to help with those issues.
Generally, the Government are fully committed to giving communities across the country stronger tools to shape their local areas, and that is what this debate has been about. We have passed the landmark Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, which will deliver growth and housing, and strengthen local planning through the implementation of spatial development strategies nationwide. That is backed up by the £5 billion Pride in Place funding for neighbourhoods.
We are also widening and deepening local devolution through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, and delivering a suite of tools to support communities in improving their high streets. Those include high street rental auctions, which will give councils the power to auction the lease of long-term vacant premises, a community right to buy for communities to take ownership of local buildings that they value, and streamlining of the compulsory purchase process to help local authorities regenerate our high streets.
As many hon. Members will be aware, we intend to provide additional powers to local communities on the location and density of land-based gambling premises. Today, I will focus on the Government’s approach to land-based gambling, and on the powers that local authorities have and will be given in relation to gambling premises. All of us want to see a responsible gambling industry, which brings social and economic value to communities across the country. My own mum worked in a bookmakers. In particular, we are clear about the value of the land-based gambling sector; it was certainly valuable to her when she worked there.
The sector makes an important contribution to our national life, and we have heard about events such as the grand national. I know the importance of seaside arcades and bingo halls to communities across the country, and the joy that they bring to many millions of people. The reforms to gambling duties, including the abolition of bingo duty, announced in the autumn Budget—those duties were mentioned by the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East (Joe Robertson)—reflect the contributions of such venues to our economy and our local communities.
In parallel, the Government recognise that harmful gambling can wreck the lives of individuals. We know that families and communities can be wrecked, which is why we are working with the land-based sector, the Gambling Commission and others to ensure that player-protection measures are effective and that people can gamble safely, while seeking effective help when that is needed.
Local authorities are essential to efforts to mitigate this risk, so let me run through what they can do; they play a crucial role in the regulation of gambling up and down the country. They have a wide range of powers—a suite of powers and tools—in relation to gambling premises. Licences are subject to guidance issued by the Gambling Commission and its licensing objectives. Licensing authorities are given broad powers to set conditions that require licensed gambling to be carried out in a way that is consistent with keeping gambling fair and open. During the licensing process, licensing authorities can attach conditions to premises licences to which operators must adhere.
All local authorities should publish a statement of principles on gambling licensing outlining local issues, priorities and risks. In those statements, licensing authorities can identify high-risk areas and specify local risks. Operators must take steps to mitigate those risks in their applications. I fully acknowledge and understand what hon. Members have said about the “aim to permit” principle, but we do not believe that the premises licence application process is a foregone conclusion. The “aim to permit” principle is subject to strict conditions, including that the licence application is consistent with the local authority’s gambling policy statement. It is worth saying that “aim to permit” is a licensing issue, not a planning issue. Once a licence is granted, licensing authorities have extensive powers of monitoring and enforcement, and I would encourage them to use them. Planning permission is always required to create gambling premises or for a change of use to gambling premises such as a bingo hall or a betting shop, and the planning system has to be used.
Given the limited time I have left, let me move on to the cumulative impact assessments, because I think they are at the heart of this issue.
Andrew Rosindell
I thank the Minister for giving way. Does he accept that freedom of responsibility, when it comes to gambling, is exactly where we should be, rather than restricting people from taking part in activities such as greyhound racing at Romford greyhound stadium in my constituency? It is a part of our local culture and it is very important that we do not allow such places to close down because of severe restrictions from Government.
Ian Murray
I appreciate the intervention, but that is a completely different story to the subject of this debate. Nobody is denying that betting on the grand national or on greyhound racing, as tens of millions of people do every week, is safe and secure, but the Government have to regulate industries such as gambling and have always done so. The regulations are in place to keep people safe, but they also ensure that people who enjoy gambling can be assured that the system they are using is safe.
Let me talk very briefly about cumulative impact assessments, which the Prime Minister committed to directly at Prime Minister’s questions in response to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East. The Government want local authorities to feel empowered to make data-driven decisions that are in their communities’ best interests. We want them to feel able to curate healthy and vibrant spaces that reflect the needs of their local communities. As part of our Pride in Place strategy to strengthen local authority influence over the location and density of outlets, we have confirmed that we will introduce cumulative impact assessments when parliamentary time allows. Cumulative impact assessments will empower local authorities to take data-driven decisions on premises licences, particularly in areas identified as vulnerable to gambling harms. We have heard a lot about where those gambling harms are.
It is really important that “aim to permit” applies also to licensing applications. Planning policies, including local plans, offer councils additional tools to influence the number of gambling premises in their areas. With local plans, the “aim to permit”, the cumulative impact assessments and the ability to enforce and set strict conditions, local authorities have a suite of powers to prevent if they so wish and make their high streets the way they want them to be.
In conclusion, the Government want to ensure that local authorities have the tools and resources they need to shape their local areas in line with their community’s best interests. That is a Government commitment and a prime ministerial commitment from the Dispatch Box. Our plans to introduce cumulative impact assessments are an important part of that commitment, and we will bring them forward as soon as a legislative vehicle is available.