Lilian Greenwood
Main Page: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)Department Debates - View all Lilian Greenwood's debates with the Leader of the House
(12 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Vaizey
The hon. Gentleman has been a doughty champion for rights holders and the protection of intellectual property. As he knows, I ensure that rights holders’ views are expressed regularly during the Hargreaves consultation. I have not yet received an invitation to give evidence to the all-party parliamentary group, but I look forward to receiving it.
Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)
The Government want philanthropy and corporate giving to replace public subsidy for the arts. However, the excellent Nottingham Playhouse tells me that sponsorship and donations are falling due to the flatlining economy. Does this funding black hole not threaten the future of our regional theatres?
Hugh Robertson
The position at the moment is that we grant a ban on ticket touting for major events where it is a requirement of bidding for those events. That has become the settled position under successive Governments and as a result of the work of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. Until there is evidence of widespread criminal activity, that will remain the position.
Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)
T7. Last year, Arts Council funding was cut by £71 million, local authority funding was slashed and investment in the arts by private business fell by almost £10 million. Would the Minister like to have another go at providing a credible answer to Nottingham arts organisations about how to fill the funding gap that his Government have created?
Mr Vaizey
Overall funding for the Arts Council will be reduced by less than 5% because we have given it back the lottery money that the Labour party robbed from it to pay for the Olympics. The answer for Nottingham Playhouse is to have an MP who champions its work and talks it up, not down.