BBC

Debate between John Whittingdale and Liz McInnes

Thursday 12th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Whittingdale]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that, because I agree with her that it is tremendously important. Local newspapers play a vital role in sustaining local democracy and will become more important as more powers are passed down to devolved Administrations and local government. For quite some time I have therefore sought to encourage the BBC to support local newspapers, rather than undermine them, as it has occasionally been accused of doing. I am delighted that an agreement has been reached in principle between the BBC and the News Media Association, which represents the local press, whereby the BBC has now agreed to fund a reporting service to cover local authorities and public services. It intends to fund 150 journalists, who will be employed by qualifying local organisations, not by the BBC. In that way, the BBC will be obtaining greater content on what is going on in local authorities and, in doing so, will be supporting local newspapers, which we hope will help to ensure that they continue to provide their service.

[Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab)]

Has the Secretary of State given any thought to the thousands of students in this country who do not have televisions in their student rooms but may occasionally watch BBC iPlayer on their computers? Will he give some consideration to them? Going to university costs enough as it is, so will he please consider exempting them from the closure of the iPlayer loophole?

[Mr Whittingdale]

There is a long-standing principle that those who enjoy public service television should be required to pay for it through the licence fee. There is no question but that the advent of the iPlayer and catch-up services has created a loophole, which has meant that the BBC has lost a significant, and probably growing, amount of revenue. It was part of the agreement that we reached with the BBC last year that we should close that loophole and, in essence, apply the same rules in today’s age as have always applied in the past: if someone watches public service content, they should pay the licence fee, which funds the BBC.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Whittingdale and Liz McInnes

Thursday 21st January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Whittingdale]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the success we have had in attracting international investment in film to this country not just in “Star Wars”, but in a huge proportion of the major films now being made. Part of the reason for that is indeed our creative industry’s tax credits. In 2013, the creative industries accounted for 5% of the economy, and our tax credits are one way of our supporting them. The film tax credit has been responsible for nearly £7 billion of investment in the UK, and our high-end TV tax credit has helped to support more than £800 million of investment.

[Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab)]

T5. What assistance will the Department give to local authorities to keep their regional museums open following the recent Museums Association report, which stated that one in five regional museums has closed in part or in full and that one in 10 expect to introduce entrance charges to cover reductions in local authority funding?