Lord Howarth of Newport
Main Page: Lord Howarth of Newport (Labour - Life peer)
Lord De Mauley
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that question. As I have said, the survey has been completed and the results will shortly be published. My noble friend was good enough to give me sight of a paper from the Manifesto Club which referred to three specific examples of artists. To explain each in detail would take too long today but, to summarise, in one case the applicant cut rather fine the timing of the application; in the other cases, the applicants provided no evidence of funds to support them in the UK. Although advice and guidance are available, it sounds as though in the latter two cases better advice could have been provided, and I have made that clear to the department.
Lord Howarth of Newport
My Lords, given the devastation that the Government plan to visit upon the arts through massive cuts in public funding for which there is no conceivable justification, is it not all the more important that no unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles should be placed in the way of distinguished performers coming to work with our orchestras, theatre companies and other arts organisations?
Lord De Mauley
My Lords, I agree at least with the latter half of the noble Lord’s contention. Two routes are useful for short-term visitors: one is a concession under tier 5 for non-visa nationals that requires no prior entry clearance—I can explain the system in greater detail to the noble Lord if he wishes—and the other is an entertainer visitor scheme outside the points-based system. We are doing what we can to help.