Music Education in England

Debate between Kevin Brennan and Lord Vaizey of Didcot

Wednesday 17th July 2019 Westminster Hall

[Mr Vaizey]

I do; it is important to go with the grain of society, and it seems absurd not to engage children in music education by using the kind of technology that they will use in their day-to-day lives, and will use when they leave school and university and go into the workforce.

I want to make two brief points that are somewhat linked. While I have no doubt at all that Members on the Opposition Benches, and perhaps even on the Government Benches, might have a go at the Government about music education, I feel strongly that headteachers—I will try to put this delicately—should not be absolved of all responsibility. School leadership plays a massive part in ensuring high-quality music and arts education. In my constituency, I have been to Didcot Girls’ School and St Birinus School, where there are passionate music and arts teachers who have put those subjects at the heart of the school curriculum, thanks to the support of their headteacher. They do not say to me, “We can’t afford it.” They do it because they understand why it is so important.

[Kevin Brennan]

No one would doubt the right hon. Gentleman’s passionate support for the arts and for music education, but does he not agree that while headteachers should not be absolved of blame, they react to the incentive and accountability measures put in place by this Government? Quite frankly, they have led to the issues that my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (James Frith) raised, namely the decline in the number of music teachers and the number of children taking music examinations. The Government have some responsibility to make sure they set those expectations centrally.

[Mr Vaizey]

The hon. Gentleman’s intervention shows why those of us in this House who care so passionately about the arts put party politics aside and unite in how we advocate for the arts. I wanted to get on record the point that headteachers must step up to the plate; they have the opportunity to introduce the arts and music.

Draft Patents (European Patent with Unitary Effect and Unified Patent Court) Order 2016

Debate between Kevin Brennan and Lord Vaizey of Didcot

Tuesday 1st March 2016 General Committees

[Mr Vaizey]

I hear from the Opposition Benches that the deal has already been done, but I will leave it up to hon. Members to decide on the validity of that remark.

[Kevin Brennan]

There was reference in the Library briefing to a blog from Bristows, the starting point of which is that it will not be possible for a non-EU member state to take part in the proposed unified patent court regime. I presume that, if that is the case, we would not be able to apply to be part of it, and British business and UK plc would lose the benefit of being able to register a single patent.

[Mr Vaizey]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his clarification on that point. I think that that was sort of what I was saying: clearly, were we to leave the European Union, we would no longer be members of the unified patent court. It would then be a matter for the UK Government to ask the European Union whether we could be a member, if we thought that was a good thing. I suspect the European Union would have something to say about that. For people whose lives are dominated by thoughts of having a European patent, it would be a bad thing if we were not a member of the European Union. I hope that that is clear.

Question put and agreed to.

Local Television Stations

Debate between Kevin Brennan and Lord Vaizey of Didcot

Tuesday 25th February 2014 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. It is one of those moments to realise that someone I came into the House with is now of such august importance that he is chairing a Westminster Hall debate.

I am grateful to the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mrs Moon) for initiating the debate. She started with her glass half full, but by the end her glass was half empty. I hope to refill her glass, or at least to persuade her to take a slightly different perspective to the one suggested by the tone she took later in her speech. I join her in paying tribute to the many Welsh stars mentioned in her opening remarks, in particular Michael Sheen, Rob Brydon and Ruth Jones. I thank her for noticing the fact that Pinewood Studios last week signed a deal to develop in Cardiff.

It is also probably worth noting that one of the reasons for such a renaissance in television production is this Government’s decision to continue the film tax credit and to extend it to high-end television drama and animation. There has been a real renaissance in the animation industry even over the past six months since the tax credit was introduced. We hope to have some news shortly on our application to the European Commission for a tax credit for the video games industry. The Chancellor has also announced proposals to extend a tax credit to the visual effects industry, as well as to regional and touring theatres. There is therefore good news for the creative industries, which the statistics show are flourishing, and Wales—south Wales in particular—is one of the hotbeds of their development. In saying such things, I am echoing the hon. Member for Bridgend, who was setting the context for local television not only in Wales, but throughout the country.

The last time we debated local television was in connection with its prominence in Scotland, when I generously said that I regard it as a cross-party issue. I hope that I am not considered churlish, however, in pointing out that the genesis of the policy emerged under the previous Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), who is now the Secretary of State for Health. His passion in opposition was to introduce local television, and his energy and drive as Secretary of State saw it come about. We are on the verge of realising his vision, albeit with support from all parties.

Last year, I went up to Grimsby to visit Estuary TV, one of the first local television stations to start broadcasting. It is working in partnership with local media and local universities. Local television therefore has the enormous opportunity to provide not only the chance of yet another media outlet for us, but so many community organisations with the kind of media coverage that they need and deserve. The local television companies also have the opportunity to forge strong partnerships with many of those community organisations.

The hon. Lady rightly referred to Made Television, which will be running the Cardiff local television service. It will serve a wide area stretching to her constituency. I gather that it is due to launch as early as this summer. Along with Bay TV, it was awarded the Mold and Swansea licences by Ofcom in January. It has set out a range of plans to develop a wide range of compelling programming, with local services broadening the choice for viewers.

That is just the tip of the iceberg: over the next three months we will see the start out of the roll-out of local TV in earnest. As well as Estuary TV, which I have already mentioned, London Live will launch shortly, as will Mustard TV in Norwich and Notts TV in Nottinghamshire. We hope that the majority of the 19 phase 1 channels will be on air by autumn.

Significant public money is being invested in the launch of local television services. In 2011, as part of the most recent licence fee settlement, which runs until March 2017, the Government made £40 million available, £25 million of which has been allocated to the development of the local TV transmission network. That work is being undertaken by Comux, which was awarded the local TV multiplex licence by Ofcom in January 2013. The remaining £15 million has been allocated for the purchase by the BBC of the local TV content that will be generated. Detailed arrangements for the distribution of that funding have now been agreed with the BBC executive. That investment will give local TV the best possible chance of establishing itself against the ever- increasing choice that viewers have, whether watching on traditional linear channels or watching catch-up and downloadable content available on other platforms.

So far, I hope that everybody’s glass remains firmly half full. The creative industries are thriving, and are supported by generous and ever-growing tax credits brought in by this Government. They will be supported by the vision of the former Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey, for the introduction of local television for the first time in the UK.

At this point, however, the glass becomes half empty, as we debate the prominence of local television, particularly in Wales. In her speech, the hon. Lady tried to give the impression that I was somehow saying that Wales should be duly grateful for what we are giving it. I certainly would not seek to give the impression that I thought that S4C was somehow an idiosyncrasy. What I meant was that S4C is a unique channel for Wales. It represents something like £100 million of annual investment in Welsh language programming, much of which is of an extraordinarily high quality and is exported around the world. However, that leads to difficulties in trying to find an appropriate slot for local television.

When initial bids were being sought for licences, the slot was at channel 41. As a Government, we are keen to see local television succeed, and we want to see it move up the EPG rankings where possible. As slots have become available I am delighted that local television has moved up the rankings and that Scottish and Welsh local television channels have moved from channel 41 up to channel 26. But there is a debate going on about this matter—the hon. Lady is aware of the recent debate led by the hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Michael Connarty) on 18 December.

It is anomalous for local TV to have a different channel slot in different parts of the UK. It means that local television is less prominent in Wales and Scotland, and causes problems for local television in developing promotional activities collectively around a single channel number. But local television was not coming into a greenfield site. We need to balance the needs of important services that already exist in Wales and Scotland and currently occupy the channel 8 slot. There is also the importance of certainty in the EPG regime for commercial broadcasters so that they can maintain their levels of investment in programming.

We made it clear in our strategy paper “Connectivity, Content and Consumers”, which we published last summer, that it is important that public service content should have prominence on TV platforms, in order to achieve our wider broadcasting objectives, but the Communications Act 2003 makes it clear that Ofcom rather than Government should determine the appropriate level of prominence. The Government’s role is to determine which PSB channels should be included in the prominence regime, and local TV was duly designated to be included in 2011.

Ofcom’s code of practice on EPGs, which was produced as a result of the 2003 Act, requires EPG providers to comply with three general principles. One is that Ofcom will

“have regard to the interests of citizens and the expectations of consumers in considering whether a particular approach to listing public service channels constitutes appropriate prominence”.

That system has hitherto broadly worked well, but it is important to recognise that it is not for Government or Ofcom to require a channel to have a specific slot on an EPG, but for the EPG providers to draw up a fair policy on how to use free slots.

[Kevin Brennan]

The problem is that, as the Minister has quite rightly said, this idea is the Government’s baby—although it has had support from all parties—and he is rather neglecting its birth in Wales and Scotland. In the past, he has promised a consultation on the matter, and in a recent answer to a written question from me, his Department said that the consultation was due to start “shortly”, but it was due to start shortly before Christmas. Before he concludes his remarks, will he tell us exactly when the consultation will begin and whether in his view the channels should ultimately be in the top 10 on Freeview at the very least?

[Mr Vaizey]

I will conclude my point and then come on to when we are planning to publish the consultation.

It is important to stress that the situation is different in England and Northern Ireland, because the channel 8 slot used there for local television is used by BBC Alba in Scotland and by Channel 4 in Wales since the usual slot for Channel 4 is occupied by S4C in Wales. That is why the channel 8 slot is not available for local television services in Scotland and Wales. When we originally put together the policy on local television, the slot available was channel 45, so there have been significant changes.

I hate to give a response to the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan) that he will almost certainly regard as inadequate, but I will have to answer in the same way as I have answered him before, which is that we are due to publish the consultation shortly. We have it drafted and have had discussions with Ofcom to clarify exactly what powers it currently has so that we can make it crystal clear in the consultation what powers we seek to change. The consultation will go for Whitehall clearance shortly, so we are on the verge of publishing it. I hope that will be in the next few weeks.

Music and the Economy

Debate between Kevin Brennan and Lord Vaizey of Didcot

Tuesday 22nd November 2011 Westminster Hall

[Mr Vaizey]

We have a thriving and vibrant music scene, and no individual singer or band is guaranteed success, but it is reassuring to me—I happen to be a fan of “The X Factor”, but people understandably say it should not be the future of UK music—that Adele and other stars have risen. Adele, I think, is the biggest selling artist in the world at the moment; that is an astonishing achievement. Obviously, the Government cannot dictate who is going to survive and thrive, but that is testament to the fact that we have a vibrant music ecology in this country.

I know that the hon. Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) has concerns about visa issues. It is important that bands in this country should have the opportunity to tour the world, and I am happy to continue working with her on the question of jurisdictions where it might be difficult for bands to get the appropriate visas—perhaps for understandable reasons.

[Kevin Brennan]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Vaizey]

I give way to the musician in the Chamber.

[Kevin Brennan]

That might be a stretch. Without making the debate too much of a love-fest I, too, pay tribute to the work that Feargal Sharkey did, including the ultimate sacrifice of actually playing with MP4 once or twice along the way.

Does the Minister agree that it is important for the industry to maintain that single-voice focus, which Feargal Sharkey helped to establish with the setting up of UK Music; that that put an end to the old days, when it was difficult to get a single established view from the music industry; and that it is important that that should continue into the future?

[Mr Vaizey]

Yes, absolutely. I agree that when UK Music came together two or three years ago, that was a real achievement. There were a number of disparate voices. I emphasise, for the benefit of all hon. Members, that Feargal Sharkey is still very much alive; the range of tributes being made might make people think he is not. He is entitled to move on, and I have no doubt that he will continue to play an extremely important role.

Among other issues covered in the debate was the importance of live music and of deregulating the licensing system. I echo the call made by the right hon. Member for Bath (Mr Foster) that no man should stand in the way of the Bill that Lord Clement-Jones has introduced. Let no man put asunder the marriage between the right hon. Gentleman and the Bill this Friday. Let us hope that it passes through the House with ease. Nevertheless, there is the backstop of the Government’s consultation on live music licensing.

Copyright is an incredibly important issue to the music industry. The Hargreaves report was mentioned; a consultation will shortly be initiated by the Intellectual Property Office. As to format shifting, from a common-sense point of view it makes sense to establish regulations that would allow people to do what they do already—move from CD to iPod and so on—while at the same time ensuring that any measures that are appropriate to protect the music industry are in place. That will be part of the consultation.

There are other things whose importance I want to highlight: the digital copyright exchange, which we are not forcing on the music industry—we hope that there will be a bottom-up approach, with Government help; the recent extension of copyright for performers, taken through the European Commission; and the continued action that the Government take to combat the theft of intellectual property—otherwise known as piracy—not only through the Digital Economy Act 2010, passed by the previous Government, but through brokering conversations and deals with rights holders and internet service providers, including advertisements on pirate sites, credit card details, payment facilities being provided on pirate sites and search engine optimisation issues, and through the important progress made recently in the courts, with the blocking of the Newzbin site, which began 10 days ago.

Access to finance is of course a perennial problem for the creative industries. The Creative Industries Council, which we established last year, has one specific work stream on access to finance, chaired by Ian Livingstone from the games industry. It is important that people engage with him on issues of access to finance. I have spoken to banks about the enterprise finance guarantee scheme. I had a meeting, for example, with the Royal Bank of Scotland, to discuss it. Importantly, a recent Demos report, authored by the researcher Helen Burrows, shows that the creative industries are not as risky as people think, and that they are a good investment.

Others could take a leaf out of the video games industry’s book. After the debate I shall be going to the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts to talk to small-scale angel investors, who are being introduced to games companies. If UK Music could stretch itself even further to organising one or two investment conferences with banks and the music industry, and independent labels in particular, that could bring progress.

My hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal, who rightly highlighted the Aldeburgh festival, made the point that the record industry of course encompasses classical music. Although we missed a trick by not launching it today, on St Cecilia’s day, we shall shortly launch our national music plan. I gather that it is pencilled in for Friday; it is a constantly moveable feast, as we seek to improve it more and more. However, the key point about the national music plan is the music education hubs that will sit at the heart of it. I hope that those will bring together local authorities and organisations such as the Aldeburgh festival to provide a wider offer to children in schools. The money has been secured for local authorities, but we want to put a system in place to secure the participation of the much wider ecology of the music industry locally, whether that is local orchestras, the brass band or the Aldeburgh festival.

We have had a good-natured and well-tempered debate in which hon. Members from both sides of the House have united to emphasise our support for the music industry. We have highlighted the key issues that affect it: education in schools, copyright, access to finance and live music. The Government are focused on all those issues, and I am grateful for the participation and input of hon. Members from both sides of the House.

Question put and agreed to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kevin Brennan and Lord Vaizey of Didcot

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vaizey]

The

“Plans to merge the UK Film Council… and the British Film Institute… into a single body to support film could benefit both the filmgoing public and the industry… A new, streamlined single body that represents the whole of the film sector will offer a better service for both film makers and film lovers.”

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

It says here.

[Mr Vaizey]

It says here that that is from a statement made in August 2009 by Siôn Simon, the previous Labour Minister responsible for the creative industries. [Interruption.]

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kevin Brennan and Lord Vaizey of Didcot

Thursday 20th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Vaizey]

I absolutely agree with the hon. Lady’s sentiments. I know that she used to work for Creative Partnerships and was a trustee of the South London gallery. She will know full well that almost all our cultural organisations work extremely hard to ensure access for young people to their work. We will continue to work with them and the Department for Education to ensure that that is maintained.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

14. When he expects to reach a decision on whether to refer to the Competition Commission the News Corporation bid for BSkyB.

S4C

Debate between Kevin Brennan and Lord Vaizey of Didcot

Wednesday 20th October 2010 Westminster Hall

[Mr Vaizey]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, the public bodies Bill will include a clause to break the retail prices index link. I have no doubt that he and his colleagues will be able to get on their feet during its passage and state what the Labour party’s position is. Will Labour Members table an amendment to retain the link with inflation, and to insulate S4C from the difficult financial decisions that many other bodies are planning to take? If not, what is the Labour party’s position? Is it to restore the funding of S4C to 2010-11 levels and take it up to what it might have been in 2014-15? Does it not support the BBC taking responsibility for the funding of S4C, although it remains independent?

[Kevin Brennan]

Sophistry.

[Mr Vaizey]

The hon. Gentleman calls that sophistry. I call it simple, direct questions. Opposition Members are playing politics when they know full well that S4C has a very generous funding settlement, has substantial reserves, has a place in the heart of the Welsh people, and has huge support from Conservative Members of Parliament in Wales who have lobbied Ministers assiduously on behalf of S4C. If that is sophistry, I would like to know what is not.