Local Museums
Ian Murray Excerpts(3 months ago)
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The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
It is a great pleasure to see you in the Chair again, Ms Lewell. I do not know what you have done to upset someone—you are in the Chair constantly—but thank you very much indeed for chairing this debate. It is a great pleasure to respond to it.
I echo the congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) on securing the debate. What a tremendous champion for her constituency she is. We could probably conclude the debate now with me saying that Edinburgh is the permanent city of culture in this country—it does not need a prize to be told that; it has some of the best museums. We could put that to a debate if Members so wish.
My hon. Friend is right to highlight the tremendous value of local museums, history and culture in our constituencies. The Purfleet Heritage and Military Centre, which we have heard a lot about, is an excellent example of a museum working for and with its local community. It tells the varied local histories of its community with pride, from Purfleet’s national impact as a key player in the UK’s military and industrial story, to the town’s links to Bram Stoker and Dracula—although we have heard some debate about whether it is indeed the home of Dracula. That is not to forget the museum’s sell-out ghost tours. I think I have seen an advert saying that tickets are still available for the tours coming up at Halloween.
The Purfleet Heritage and Military Centre achieves all that without any paid staff at all; it is entirely volunteer-led, like 30% of museums in England. I pay tribute to the immense contribution that volunteers make in sustaining our local museums, transmitting local history and identity to new generations, and preserving our proud heritage. I congratulate those volunteers—Trevor, Polly, Ollie, Sylak, Jeff, Phillip, Claire, Yvette, and, of course, Alan and Sue Gosling—and thank them for all they do for the Purfleet Heritage and Military Centre. Alan has passed away, but he left a significant legacy. I thank them for all they do.
As noteworthy as Purfleet is, I am pleased to say that it is not an isolated case across the country. Today, I have had the privilege of outlining the vital role that museums up and down the country play in celebrating our local and national stories. As civic institutions, integral to our national and local cultural life, they are hugely valuable as places of learning, community and, of course, entertainment. This Government are committed to championing our local museums, and to working in partnership with councils and communities across the country to see them flourish for the future.
John Slinger
On my right hon. Friend’s point about working closely with local councils, will he join me in congratulating Rugby borough council on its work in running the superb Rugby Art Gallery and Museum? It is currently exhibiting its entire art collection as well as a history of Rugby in 50 objects, and is planning an exciting expansion in the coming years. I am sure its staff would be very grateful if my right hon. Friend might get on the West Coast Main Line and visit to see their excellent work and their plans to reach out even more effectively to our community in future.
Ian Murray
I can certainly congratulate everyone in Rugby, and especially at the museum, on that particular project. Throughout the course of this debate, I have been invited to a number of museums across the country. I am very happy to report that it is not my ministerial responsibility, so I will accept all those visits on behalf of Baroness Twycross in the other place; I am sure she will have a lovely time touring the country.
My hon. Friend the Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Neil Coyle) mentioned the Brunel Museum and the work that it does. I was struck by the fact that it has the very first boring machine in Britain, and by that did in terms of building under the Thames, and all that infrastructure of the industrial revolution. Now, I would perhaps suggest that my hon. Friend is the very definition of a boring machine, and that is why I think he quite rightly represents the Brunel Museum.
Neil Coyle
Ms Lewell, given all the references to Dracula, I am tempted to point out what a shame it is that none of the bloodsuckers from Reform is here. Given the point the Minister has just made, I invite him—and colleagues—to visit the Golden Hinde in my constituency. We have corresponded regarding the Golden Hinde, because it has been the pearl of Bankside in Southwark for 30 years, and next year is the 450th anniversary of the original Golden Hinde setting sail—the first British vessel to circumnavigate the globe. However, because of its unique status, the Golden Hinde struggles to access funds. Can the Minister outline how he is expanding the museum renewal fund and working with the British Business Bank to ensure that such unique museums can access resources and continue their fantastic work in communities such as mine? I hope that was not too boring a point.
Ian Murray
My hon. Friend proves my point! But yes, he raises a key point about funding for not just large and national museums, but local ones. We have been trying to put together a package of measures for museums and for culture across the whole country, consisting of everything that is written into the creative industries sector plan.
The key part there is for the British Business Bank to look at new financial models to help museums and the cultural and creative parts of the industry, but it is also about philanthropy and making sure that we have that corporate sponsorship as well. There is also public funding through Arts Council England and the money that DCMS is directly putting into museums.
Of course, a key part of that is local authorities, which have been hollowed out over the last 15 years. The hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) was right to mention that culture—including museums—is one of the first things to fall off a local authority’s agenda when it is struggling to pay for key statutory services. Those are all things that this Government are trying to fix, but I am very happy to talk to my hon. Friend further about the Golden Hinde in particular.
This Government believe that arts and culture should be available to everyone, everywhere, regardless of background and location. We are committed to broadening access to culture so that everyone has the opportunity to explore our shared heritage and feel connected in some way. We have heard that from right across the country today, so I will just concentrate on a few of the contributions that have been made.
My hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock was correct in the way she presented this issue on behalf of her communities. She asked a number of questions about recognising the value of small museums and making more small grants available. I can tell her that small museums are an essential part of our national tapestry of museums and we very much recognise that as a Department. Indeed, 40% of all museums are small attractions with fewer than 10,000 visitors, and our funding streams must reflect that in what we are trying to achieve.
Our museum estate and development—or MEND—fund is open to museums of all sizes. Capital grants do require some paperwork, but the Hodge review into Arts Council England, which my hon. Friend will be aware of, is considering a proportionate application process for smaller museums, particularly those run by volunteers, to try to ensure that it is as easy and streamlined as possible for the very smallest museums and organisations to apply for those kinds of funds. That is very much at the forefront of our mind.
The hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Dr Mullan) and I discussed this topic in last week’s Adjournment debate on the Bayeux tapestry, and he is absolutely right to showcase what his part of the country does for our culture and heritage. He also talked about the transparency of funding, reorganisation and infrastructure in local authorities, which the Hodge review deals with very clearly. I appreciate that not all museums are part of Arts Council England, and there is a process to become accredited. We must ensure that local authorities regularly produce plans on updating arts, culture and museums, so that the public can then hold them to account. We are actively considering that matter in response to the Hodge review.
My hon. Friend the Member for South West Norfolk (Terry Jermy) mentioned “Dad’s Army”—I think “Don’t tell him, Pike!” was the other quote. Indeed, the statue of Captain Mainwaring in his constituency is fantastic, and it shows the real breadth of what we are talking about: ranging all the way from “Dad’s Army” to Dracula and industrial heritage, as well as all the other things that museums do so well.
The hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon) talked about how museums help town centres to thrive, and that is key to regenerating them. He asked about a meeting about saving Knaresborough castle; my hon. Friend in the other place, Baroness Twycross, would be delighted to meet him, and I will ensure that it happens.
My hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle (Ms Minns) highlighted how the Tullie House museum is an international home for curation. It is also near to Hadrian’s wall, which I have a special interest in: I think that we should preserve Hadrian’s wall, or even build it a bit higher—some of my nationalist colleagues would certainly agree with that. I also congratulate my hon. Friend on her lobbying for Durham to be city of culture.
I know that DCMS officials had the pleasure of attending the reopening of Tullie House following the remarkable makeover that we heard about this afternoon. I hear that the museum’s new galleries fantastically showcase the area’s history, and that its nationally important history collections, reorganised by the Arts Council, are of outstanding significance—congratulations on that and on the funding that has been put in.
The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) does not miss an opportunity to participate in these debates; he talked about the Titanic museum, and his titanic contributions should surely mean that he has an exhibition there. I am sure that every Member would be delighted to visit the special exhibition, “Jim Shannon has intervened in the Adjournment debate”, and see what that has to offer. He is a great champion for Northern Ireland’s museums and culture.
My hon. Friend the Member for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (Melanie Ward) is looked on with admiration and envy by a lot of colleagues for the way in which she has championed her local area and secured £20 million to transform Kirkcaldy city centre, due to her tenacity in representing her constituents. She talked about how local museums keep that local history alive, mentioning Adam Smith and Jennie Lee. I know that the Jennie Lee lecture is now part of the suite of things that the DCMS does, so I am very keen to take that forward.
My hon. Friend specifically mentioned the campaign by church leaders in Scotland on the places of worship fund. I would like to spend 30 seconds on this subject, because I think it is really important, as church buildings are part of our heritage. The Government extended the listed places of worship scheme to 31 March this year, or until the £23 million figure is exhausted. That was a VAT reclaim scheme of up to £25,000, with an average claim of about £3,000, but that has now been exhausted.
We have replaced that scheme with the £92 million places of worship renewal fund, but that applies only to England, and the Scottish part of the churches renewal fund is a devolved function for the Scottish Government. The £92 million that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has put into this new fund comes from our departmental budget in the spending review, so the Barnett consequential will also have come as part of the spending review. We are spending that budget; if the Scottish Government wish to replicate the VAT reclaim scheme, or introduce a new scheme for Scottish churches, they have the power and the money to do so. I would encourage Scottish churches to get in touch with the Scottish Government on that matter.
Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) (Lab)
Does the Minister share my concern that, rather than increasing funding for Historic Environment Scotland, the Scottish Government appear to have cut it by £3.7 million in last week’s Budget?
Ian Murray
The key thing is that responsibility lies with the Scottish Government, and it is for them to determine how they spend the money. I am very clear in acknowledging and understanding the concerns of Scottish churches about no longer having access to the UK-wide VAT reclaim scheme. The UK Government have introduced a scheme for England, and the Scottish Government have to determine how they spend their budget, and whether they introduce a scheme for Scotland. However, based on the Budget they have just passed, they seem to have reduced the funding for historical places, rather than increase it. I encourage all those in the Scottish diaspora to get in touch with the Scottish Government to push the Culture Secretary to replace that scheme.
My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner) represents the centre of the world for the Potteries. I feel as if I live in Longton, I have heard so much about it in the lobbying that is going on for town of culture. I am very happy to be bribed further.
Ian Murray
Sir Phil Redmond is chairing the panel to determine which will be the first town of culture, and I do not envy his task. I met him last week, and we went through the number of applications—it is not public yet, but it is significant. It probably covers the constituencies of almost half the Members of Parliament. It is going to be tough. We may need to come together, across parties and as a Parliament, to celebrate everywhere that has entered the competition to make sure they get something out of it. Winning is important, but the process of taking part will help arts and culture right across the country.
Wera Hobhouse
Since we have a little time, we should congratulate the whole sector for making museums so much more engaging and fun. I remember being dragged to museums when I was young. They were boring places to be, and I could just about survive for half an hour. These days, museums are places where people really want to stay, because the whole sector has been transformed into something with which everybody can engage. We should take this opportunity to congratulate the museum sector for all it has done in the last generation.
Ian Murray
We should congratulate everyone involved. The way that we curate and develop museums is renowned across the world. Many countries look to the UK for the expertise to build their own capability, because we do the best museums and exhibitions in the world and have the best skills. Congratulations to all of them.
My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South wants to talk about the Lunar Gardens project. Baroness Twycross will be delighted to talk to her about that, and we will make sure my hon. Friend has an appropriate meeting in place as soon as possible.
My hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson) talked about her three children, and how museums are a key component of the local community and education. She also talked about entertainment and telling the stories of the past that shaped future generations. I have a five-year-old and a one-year-old, and my five-year-old loves being in museums. He loves looking at the exhibitions, but he loves just being in big spaces he can enjoy and run around in. I do not know if Dracula is a son of Derby, but it is something that we should perhaps debate further, maybe in an Adjournment debate with the lights out.
My hon. Friend the Member for West Dunbartonshire (Douglas McAllister) is absolutely right that Denny’s shipyard built the Cutty Sark, and it celebrates the proud innovation and heritage of shipbuilding on the Clyde. It might not be an entirely accurate statistic, but I think I am right in saying that, 150 years ago, 90% of the ships sailing anywhere in the world were built either on the Clyde or somewhere near the Clyde. That innovation and heritage has to be respected and celebrated. He rightly talked about the local pride of maintaining and developing local museums that tell local stories. I think the statistics show that 89% of adults say that museums are important to their local pride and local culture.
My hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Luke Myer) said that Captain Cook would probably have been a constituent 300 years ago. I would probably describe him as an L5Y—only half the Chamber will know what I am talking about. Again, Baroness Twycross will be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to talk about some of the issues he has with museums in his constituency. He said something important that sums up the whole debate: “Some museums are small in scale but enormous in impact.” That is great for telling local stories. It is the impact on young people, schools and heritage that he is talking about. He also talked about the Land of Iron getting a national title. Arts Council England, via accreditation, will consider all requests from museums to become nationally styled where they have a strong story and strong case to make.
On the Captain Cook Museum, Middlesbrough council museums were awarded £240,000 from the museum renewal fund last year, and the Land of Iron was awarded a MEND grant worth £650,000 in February last year, so we are supporting those museums. For the hon. Member for Bath, we had 93% satisfaction for her speech as well. She talked about what is happening with the Bath museums, and she talked about museums closing and the delicate position that many local museums, particularly smaller ones, are in.
I do not want to diminish the seriousness of a lot of the stories we have heard about our local museums, but an independent academic study has found that since 2000 the number of museums in the UK has risen. Despite the 500 closures since 2000, there have been more new museums in the UK, although it has plateaued since about 2015-16. There is a lot of work to do, but it is not all bad news in our museum sector. Arts Council England supports the museums and schools programme with £1.2 million a year to make sure it happens.
It is wonderful that the shadow Minister has some Dracula jokes, but they are so old that perhaps they should be in a museum themselves. However, museums need local authority funding. We should not turn this into a political debate, as it has been so collegiate today, but the last Government, during their 14 years in power, completely and utterly decimated local authority funding right across the country. That was the starting point for culture and arts to be diminished—they are not statutory, so they fall away.
On the Hodge review, Arts Council England has been looking not only at how local authorities can be better supported but at how they can be better held to account for what they do on arts and culture. Hopefully, the review will come through and we can respond very soon.
The shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Farnham and Bordon (Gregory Stafford), made a strange point about freedom of speech and editorial freedom. I do not think it is for the Government or the Opposition, or indeed any politician, to tell museums how they should celebrate our heritage. Many of the political issues we are dealing with today relate to the past. Some of the best museums in the world that I have visited address political issues such as slavery, and we should make sure that we maintain that approach. Actually, a lot of the stories we tell in politics today are not new—they are stories of the past—and I hope the public engage with them, and the public will determine whether they are good things to reflect.
Gregory Stafford
I think I made the point very clearly to the hon. Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft), but I will repeat it now. My concern is not about museums representing accurately what happened in the past—that is obvious. What I am against is museums using taxpayers’ money to push a current political cause. Extinction Rebellion is not a historical organisation. It is active now, and museums should not be pushing its agenda.
Ian Murray
I do not want to get into a debate about Extinction Rebellion or any other organisation, but I feel obliged to respond directly to that point. If my five-year-old daughter sees an exhibition on Extinction Rebellion and starts to talk about climate and other current political issues, I think that is what museums are there to do. They are not just there to celebrate heritage and the past; they are there to educate and inspire for the future. We do not have to agree with any of those exhibitions. In fact, I have not particularly agreed with some of the exhibitions and creative curation I have seen, but I have still engaged with them to be able to have a political debate.
Dr Mullan
Members of Parliament and the public are also perfectly within their rights to say that they think they are a bad idea. It is a free speech issue, as much as anything. If a museum wants to put on an exhibition and then introduce all sorts of other political elements, the museum’s members and politicians—all of us—are perfectly free to say that we think it is a bad idea and a bad use of time. What is wrong with that?
Ian Murray
It seems to me that some Opposition parties like to be bastions of freedom of speech until they disagree with what that freedom of speech is used to say.
Ian Murray
It is all taxpayers’ money and public money, and it is the public’s money as well. The public can decide whether they wish to attend these exhibitions. They can even ask their local museums to put on other curations. However, it is important to see that in the context of what our museums do. We might not agree with everything we see—in fact, we might agree with only a small proportion of all the stuff we see—but we should be exposed to it. That is what art and culture have been doing for centuries: expressing views. Looking at a painting is just about as politically expressive as seeing an exhibition about Extinction Rebellion.
I am conscious of time, so let me conclude by saying two more things. First, I will say a little about the vital role that museums play in schools and communities. For example, the Essex Fire Museum in Grays, in the Thurrock constituency, is a brilliant example of a museum partnering with schools in its local area to deliver practical, hands-on education that engages children in learning environments outside the classroom. The museum runs an impressive learning programme in schools, offering immersive experience of fire service history, as well as sessions designed to engage children with subjects such as home safety, cyber-safety and the environment.
Arts Council England’s museums and schools programme, which is funded by DCMS, works with 18 museum partnerships across the country—from Blackburn to Scarborough to Bristol—providing money to connect museums with local schools. The programme reaches over 200,000 pupils across the country, which is key.
There is also placemaking and tourism, of course, as they are great drivers of footfall, and not just on our high streets but anywhere there is a museum. They drive footfall towards the areas where we want people to spend their money. Reviving our town centres is a key component of what the Government want to achieve. The average museum contributes nearly £350,000 to its local economy through visitor numbers alone.
The role of local museums, as the cultural heart of our communities, in protecting, exploring and sharing our diverse local stories is undeniable. Today we have heard examples of the immense and varied contributions that museums have made across the country. The Government will not neglect local museums. We have committed significant new funding to the sector— historically high funding—and forthcoming publications and policies, including our response to the Hodge review, will further our commitment to the museums sector right across the country. That will outline the breadth of our ambitions for the sector, now and into the future. I thank all hon. Members for championing their local museums.
Draft Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026
Ian Murray Excerpts(3 months ago)
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The Minister for Digital Government and Data (Ian Murray)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026.
It is lovely to see you in the Chair, Ms Lewell, as it always is. We have a rowdy bunch of Members on the Committee—I hope does not mean that we will be here too long.
I am pleased to speak to these regulations, which were laid before the House in draft on 2 February this year. They are fairly straightforward: they make consequential amendments to references to the Information Commissioner and the Information Commissioner’s Office across the statute book, reflecting the reforms to the regulator’s governance structure that were introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. The Act abolishes the Information Commissioner, which is a corporation sole, and transfers its functions to a new body corporate, the Information Commission, led by a chair, chief executive and other executive and non-executive members with collective decision-making responsibilities. That will increase diversity and resilience at the top of the organisation, so that the Information Commission can function effectively with independence and integrity. It will also bring the Information Commission in line with how other regulators, such as Ofcom, are governed.
The regulations prepare the statute book for the transfer of regulatory functions from the ICO to the new Information Commission later this year, and, as such, they ensure legal clarity and certainty by amending references to the Information Commissioner and their office in primary and secondary legislation to refer instead to the new Information Commission or, where appropriate, a specified member of the commission, such as the chair, in instances where it is necessary to allocate a specific statutory duty to a neutral person, such as supplying information on oath.
The consequential amendments will ensure that the statute book is coherent, consistent and provides full legal clarity to support the transition from the ICO to the Information Commission. The regulations also amend the title of the regulator across relevant Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish legislation. My officials consulted devolved Government officials on these changes last summer, and they were content with the approach taken in the regulations and the specific amendments to Acts and instruments of the devolved legislatures. I have also written to the relevant devolved Ministers to inform them of the nature and scope of the changes.
Regulation 3 contains a transitional provision that provides for the Information Commissioner to retain their existing pension arrangements for the duration of their tenure as the first chair of the Information Commission, a role the Information Commissioner has assumed on the commencement of schedule 14 of the Data (Use and Access) Act on 20 August 2025, pursuant to sub-paragraph 2(2) of that schedule. I am sure everyone is keeping up.
The regulations also contain three minor and technical amendments to the Data Protection Act 2018 in consequence of section 67 and 91 of the Data (Use and Access) Act. Those changes are to signpost references correctly and reflect numbering changes. They do not have any substantive legal effect at all. The consequential amendments, alongside the transitional provision and other minor and technical amendments contained in the regulations, will facilitate the smooth governance transition from the Information Commissioner’s Office to the new Information Commission.
Ian Murray
Let me answer the questions from the shadow Minister. Do we agree with the Conservative party on how they tabled the new clause? No, we do not. The consultation into the Online Safety Act 2023 and the protection of children online was launched this week. The sheer volume of responses that we have had so far justifies the fact that we should have that national conversation. It is not straightforward. First, the Government have to get that right, and, secondly, we have to take into account a whole host of views, including from charities that are very much against those kinds of issues. We have to listen to young people, too, and that is a very clear component of the consultation. The regulations are not directly related to that, but I am happy to answer those questions. I hope that the Opposition will engage with that consultation in good faith and suggest what they think should happen. They already support the ban and should therefore propose it.
Dr Spencer
Apologies if I get this wrong, and I admit that I went through it quite quickly, but when I looked at the consultation data entry on the web earlier this week, I could not see a point where an entry could be linked to an individual person. Will the Minister’s Department double-check data security for the consultation? I am sure he agrees that we would not want the consultation to be hijacked by any group of a particular bent feeding in inappropriate responses or trying to drown out a particular type of view as the consultation goes forward.
Ian Murray
Let me take that away, but the answer should be yes. When a lobbying perspective has tried to influence consultations, from Governments of any colour, that has been taken into account when assessing the consultation. Let me take that away and give the hon. Member an exact answer. Even if the consultation receives a bulk of information, that is taken into account when the analysis is done.
The statutory instrument is very straightforward. It merely changes all references to the old Information Commissioner’s Office into the Information Commission to make sure that the legislation from this place and across our devolved Governments and Administrations is compliant.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
I know that I am risking the wrath of the rest of the Committee, but, as I understand the Minister’s explanation, moving the functions from a corporation sole to a body corporate slightly dilutes the personal role of the Information Commissioner inasmuch as it spreads responsibility to a board. The last time I checked, the Information Commissioner was being paid about £200,000—that was in 2021. Will the changes put more or less responsibility on the current Information Commissioner? Will they be paid more or less?
Ian Murray
The current Information Commissioner, who becomes the head of the Information Commission, is contracted until January 2027, and the terms will not change for that contract. Through the process of public appointments, the Department will be going through the process of finding a new post-current commissioner. That will all be taken into account as part of that process. Does that answer the hon. Gentleman’s question?
Lincoln Jopp
Does the Minister think that that will expand or detract from the commissioner’s personal responsibilities and accountabilities?
Ian Murray
I do not think that it will expand or detract from them. The role of head of the Information Commission is exactly the same as the role of Information Commissioner. Obviously, before the role was held by an individual with the Information Commission below them. The regulations are formalising that under the 2025 Act. I am happy to write to the hon. Gentleman on the terms and conditions of the Information Commissioner.
Although we have strayed into other aspects of the subject, these are very straightforward regulations. I am glad that we have had that kind of scrutiny, and I commend the regulations to the Committee.
Question put and agreed to.
Oral Answers to Questions
Ian Murray Excerpts(3 months, 2 weeks 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(3 months, 2 weeks 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(3 months, 2 weeks 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(3 months, 4 weeks 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(4 months, 1 week 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
Ian Murray Excerpts(4 months, 1 week ago)
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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(4 months, 3 weeks 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]
Gambling Harms: Children and Young People
Ian Murray Excerpts(4 months, 3 weeks ago)
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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.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
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.