Professional and Amateur Sport: Government Support

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Wednesday 30th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Huddleston]

I think the hon. Lady wins the award for name-checking clubs—that was fantastic. She showcases the length and breadth of the importance of sport in our community. I assure her that the intent is to make sure that we cover the long tail to the extent that we can. As I have said repeatedly, we expect those at the higher ends to do what they can support themselves.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

Aficionados of pub quizzes will know that my local team, Grimsby Town, always plays away in Cleethorpes, where the ground, Blundell Park, seats around 8,000 people. When spectators are allowed into grounds again, I urge the Minister to consider whether a temporary lifting of the restrictions on the unused former terraces, allowing a few extra standing spectators, might boost the income of league two clubs such as Grimsby.

[Nigel Huddleston]

My hon. Friend makes some valid points about being practical and sensible as we reopen again. Those are exactly the kinds of conversations that we will be having, and I am sure he will be having, with the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and others when it comes to opening up. I thank him for his ideas.

Tourism: Covid-19

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Huddleston]

Tourism action zones were proposed in the sector deal of a couple of years ago. As we approach the spending review, we are discussing with the Treasury how to execute those, and I will be having further conversations on the subject.

We have seen some positive signs in the past few months. The hotel and accommodation occupancy rates in coastal and rural areas have been relatively high—in some cases, back to 2019 levels by the end of August. Self-catering cottages, camp sites, caravan and holiday parks have generally reported a strong summer and many outdoor attractions have also seen high levels of footfall, but many outdoor and especially indoor attractions remain subject to capacity constraints. Many city areas continue to struggle, in part because they are especially reliant on and exposed to inbound tourism and business travel and, of course, we still have quarantine measures in place.

We will continue to monitor all this closely and take further action where necessary, but it is not true to say that the measures already in place will not help over the next few months. Businesses will continue to benefit from the VAT cut until 12 January; the furlough scheme continues until the end of October; Visit England and Visit Britain will soon launch a new domestic campaign; and we are encouraging local planning authorities to relax planning conditions on caravan parks, camp sites and holiday parks to extend the season.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

The Minister has outlined in great detail the large amount of help offered to traders and businesses in seaside resorts such as Cleethorpes, but what we are interested in is extending that support. I would appreciate it if he developed that part of his speech. Also, bus and coach operators have been mentioned. Will he pay particular attention to the bonded coach holidays scheme, which is a real burden on many small operators?

[Nigel Huddleston]

Several hon. Members mentioned those points. On the coach sector in particular, I assure the House that we recognise its important role in the tourism sector, and we are engaging with the Department for Transport on the challenges it faces.

We are aware that several sectors are yet to reopen. Several hon. Members mentioned the important events, exhibitions and business conference sector, and we are continuing to work with the sector. I had the pleasure of attending a successful event last week in one of the pilot schemes for the business events sector.

There is plenty of work to do, and many Members have offered good ideas. I will happily continue the dialogue with many of them. Perhaps the most prevalent request today was that the VAT reduction be extended—that was mentioned by my hon. Friends the Member for North Devon, for Isle of Wight (Bob Seely), for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake), for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish), for East Devon (Simon Jupp), for Guildford (Angela Richardson), for Totnes (Anthony Mangnall) and for North West Norfolk (James Wild), the hon. Members for Arfon (Hywel Williams) and for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western), and the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael), and many others. Perhaps it would have been easier to mention those who did not make that request, Madam Deputy Speaker. I think the message is well understood by me and hopefully the Chancellor.

As for the extension of the furlough scheme, as my hon. Friend the Member for Broadland (Jerome Mayhew) acknowledged, our right hon. Friend the Chancellor has said that that scheme cannot continue indefinitely. However, that does not mean that further intervention measures will not be taken where necessary.

I hope the measures set out by me and others today give the House confidence that the Government take the impact of covid on the tourism sector very seriously. We will continue to work closely with all stakeholders. I think today’s debate shows that the industry’s voice has been heard by the Government and Members of Parliament.

BBC

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Tuesday 21st July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Whittingdale]

I join the hon. Lady in thanking the BBC for all that it did to maintain educational programming during lockdown. As for the contribution that it makes to the independent production sector, she is also absolutely right. One thing that I have been concentrating on is trying to help the production sector get back into operation, and we have had frequent meetings with representatives to see how that can be achieved. I am delighted that most productions are now getting going again, but obviously maintaining and sustaining our production sector right across the country will remain a very important additional role for the BBC.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

Over recent years, I would describe myself as having moved from being a friend of the BBC to being an extremely critical friend of the BBC, and I tend to think that, to some extent, it has lost its way. The director-general has today replied to a letter sent by the Blue Collar Conservatives group, in which he says that

“we will continue to deliver new programmes that represent and reflect modern Britain and the voices of the whole of the UK.”

I suggest to the director-general that the view from Cleethorpes is very different to that. Does the Minister agree that, instead of pandering to these groups and trying to seek new audiences, who perhaps will never remain with the BBC, it should actually provide a better service to its core audience and, again, review the over-75 issue?

[Mr Whittingdale]

I agree with my hon. Friend. In the service that the BBC provides across the UK, in all the different communities, it is absolutely essential that it tries to sustain support for the licence fee and does not just serve the metropolitan elite in London and Manchester. I am very much aware that communities like those in Cleethorpes are beginning to feel that the BBC is not providing sufficiently for them, and I hope the BBC will take that into account.

BBC Regional Politics Coverage

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Monday 22nd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Neil Parish]

Again, the hon. Gentleman—he is also my hon. Friend—makes a very good point. We are, by our very nature in this country, London-centric, for obvious reasons to do with Government and so on. Therefore, in order to try to dissipate that across the whole country, we need the regional strength of the BBC. The hon. Gentleman also makes a point about spending. The funding is not spent equally now. He made the point that London already gets more than its fair share.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

It would be remiss of me not to join colleagues in praising our local newspapers—a useful thing for any politician to do. As my hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby (Lia Nici) will know, we are served by the daily Grimsby Telegraph, which is magnificent. We are never, ever critical of it.

Over the years, I have regarded myself as a critical friend of the BBC, although in the last year or two that has been strained somewhat. Does my hon. Friend agree that the one thing we should expect from the national publicly funded broadcaster is regional news, and that regional political news is a vital part of that?

[Neil Parish]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I am sure he is now guaranteed the front page of his local newspaper, at the very least. Again, he raises the point about keeping these regional identities. We still have many regional accents. As far as I am concerned, speaking with a Somerset accent, I would like to keep some of those accents. There are lots of accents heard in this Chamber, and that is absolutely excellent. They link in very much to what we want to see in our regions as well. We all have different types of business interests in our regions, and they must be focused on.

BBC Licence Fee

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams]

All of the hon. Gentleman’s questions need to be part of a much bigger conversation once we have done this consultation on whether criminalisation of licence fee evasion is fair and proportionate. We must have a conversation for beyond 2027, when the current deal via the charter expires, about how the BBC is funded in a digital age.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

The BBC recently announced that it was shedding 450 staff from the news department, and yet it said that it would still provide a fully comprehensive service. When those reports are seen by my constituents, many of whom find it difficult to raise the funds to pay for the licence, they think that the BBC does need slimming down. Will the Minister assure my constituents that he will keep up the pressure on the BBC to reduce its costs?

[Nigel Adams]

The beauty of the current model is that there are assurances on funding, as there is a five-year deal. That has never been the case before, but I remind my hon. Friend that the BBC is completely independent from us, both operationally and editorially.

BBC

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Monday 15th July 2019 Westminster Hall

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to take part in the debate under your chairmanship, Mr Wilson. Like some of my Conservative colleagues, I am, broadly speaking, a supporter of the BBC, but I readily admit that that is weakening somewhat. My right hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey) and my hon. Friend the Member for Henley (John Howell) outlined some of the great benefits of the BBC, ranging from support for the Proms and orchestras to, of course, the BBC World Service, where my hon. Friend was an eminent producer, or perhaps director. I would happily pay the licence fee for Radio 4, local radio and “Test Match Special”, to name just three—but, as has been pointed out, we can afford it. I rather wish that Radio 4 would go silent at 6.30 pm, when it broadcasts inane comedies, but that is just a personal opinion.

On the question of celebrity and sports star pay, I am sorry that Gary Lineker and the £1.75 million paid to him keep coming up in the debate, but the BBC, which is a public sector organisation, needs to reflect that that amount of money is out of bounds to most people. Those I represent would not earn that in their lifetime, working over 40 to 50 years. Would I still watch “Match of the Day” if it was presented by some unknown? Yes, because I do not watch it to hear the gossip; I watch it to see the action.

As for the decision about the over-75s, this day was certain to come. As we heard from my right hon. Friend the Member for Wantage, the policy was foisted on the BBC by the Treasury. It was inevitable that it would opt out at the first possible opportunity and cause embarrassment to the Administration in office at the time. So it has, and it is a great opportunity for Opposition Members to have a go at the Government, when they did little on their own in this respect.

The hon. Member for Warrington North (Helen Jones) moved on from arguments about the licence fee to discuss the leadership of the Conservative party and reflect on some of the policies put forward by my right hon. Friends the Members for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), and for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson). She talked about tax cuts and said that we in this Chamber do not need them. Perhaps so, but we do not need free TV licences either. The sustainability of such universal benefits must be looked at, whether they are TV licences, bus passes or whatever. They cannot go on draining the taxpayer when so many essential services are needed. The hon. Member for Lincoln (Karen Lee), who is no longer in her place, referred to a survey. If people on the streets of Cleethorpes were asked whether they would rather pay for something or have it for free, just as in Lincoln it would be no surprise if they said, “We would rather have it for nothing.” The reality is of course different.

With regard to news bias, there is no doubt that the BBC is, in effect, The Guardian of the airwaves, rather than the Daily Express. It is perhaps not so much that there is bias; of course the BBC will say that it gets as many complaints from one side as the other, so it must therefore be getting things right. However, there is a rather superior intonation in some of the questions from interviewers, as if to say, “Do you really think that people would vote for Brexit?” That is an insult to the 70% of my electorate who voted for Brexit—and very wise they are too.

[Andrew Bridgen]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the potential for BBC bias is not only in how it reports what it reports, but in the fact that 70% of the public rely on it for much of their news, and the BBC has the power to decide what is or is not reported in the news?

[Martin Vickers]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. There is no doubt that many important events in this country and around the world go unreported, when items that in the great scheme of things are perhaps more trivial find their way on to the airwaves, and perhaps that is a reflection of the organisation itself.

I am still, broadly speaking, a supporter of the BBC. I should like it to continue in some shape or form, if that is realistic in this multi-channel age when sports rights, for example, cost the earth. Lesser sports, shall we say, are now coming on to the BBC, and I have no problem with that. It is only right that they should get an airing. However, after the success of the Lionesses in the recent women’s World cup, there is no doubt that Sky, BT or someone else will come sniffing around by the time of the next women’s World cup, and it will be lost to the great majority. We saw only yesterday, with the cricket world cup, how free-to-air brings the country together on great sporting occasions.

I suspect that if I am home by 10 o’clock tonight I shall watch the 10 o’clock news on the BBC rather than any of the other offerings, but I think that the BBC needs to reflect. I am content with the present system continuing for at least the foreseeable future. I am not entirely convinced that the majority of my constituents would agree. That should cause the BBC and the Minister to reflect on the present structure and whether it can continue.

Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 4th July 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mims Davies]

I thank our charity sector for the work that it does in this area. The hon. Gentleman is right that we should not rely on charities, although we must learn from and listen to them, and listen to young people. In terms of lessons from America, one issue that came up in the knife crime summit was that particular social media platforms are allowing groups to come together, organise and cause more problems on our streets. This Department is determined to ensure that we work together, in both my sector and that of my hon. Friend the Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, to support and keep our young people safe.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

I agree that local authorities have a role to play in youth services, as well as the charitable and voluntary sector, but does the Minister agree that the private sector also has a role? In my neighbouring constituency of Grimsby, a youth zone is being proposed, funded by local entrepreneurs. Does she agree that that is one way forward?

[Mims Davies]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising entrepreneurship, which seems to be a theme in our party at the moment. Looking again to America, we can and must learn from altruism and philanthropy. I thank people for giving directly back to their community, which we encourage in the civil society strategy.

Free TV Licences: Over-75s

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Tuesday 11th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[Jeremy Wright]

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, the position is resolved in statute, and unless we choose to change that statutory position, this remains a BBC decision. As I have said, however, I do not think that it is the end of the story. I think that the BBC can do more than it is currently proposing to do, and I intend to continue to put pressure on it in that regard.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

This day was inevitably going to come, given the policy concerned. When the Secretary of State responds by saying that this is a BBC decision, he is in fact saying that the BBC, an outside organisation, has a veto over the Conservative Government’s delivery on their manifesto commitment. May I join my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (Mr Wragg) in inviting my right hon. and learned Friend to confirm that he will ensure that the Government fulfil that manifesto commitment?

[Jeremy Wright]

My hon. Friend will recognise that the delivery of many manifesto commitments requires the co-operation and assistance of others, and this is one of them. We made clear our expectations, and I hope that we have made clear our disappointment. What we must do now is engage further with the BBC about what further action it can and should take.

Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 23rd May 2019 Commons Chamber

[Michael Ellis]

Historic events such as the Chartist Rising, and many others in communities around the country, are a part of what makes this country’s rich cultural tapestry so endearing and so rewarding to our society. I commend the hon. Lady for her support for that event. She will no doubt take many opportunities to continue to remind Members of it and attract attention that could indeed bring tourist footfall to the area.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

Cleethorpes currently benefits from coastal communities funding to improve its many Victorian and Edwardian buildings. Will the Minister give an assurance that the Department’s various funding streams will continue to benefit our coastal communities?

[Michael Ellis]

We are certainly looking very carefully at our coastal communities, and my hon. Friend is absolutely right that we want to support them. They bring in tourist visitors, but we want to see their number increased. We will definitely take the point he makes under advisement.

Oral Answers to Questions

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Thursday 13th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Michael Ellis]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman and his local authority. I am pleased to say that I have visited Glasgow. The reality is that many libraries need reinvigoration, which needs investment. Local authorities have the resources to do that, and they need to make those choices. We know in this House, across the political divide, that libraries have a high value in our communities and our society, and they should be invested in.

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

Mobile libraries are a vital lifeline for rural communities. Will the Minister give an assurance that when he is considering whether to push local authorities further in their provision of services, he will consider that the provision of mobile libraries is essential?

[Michael Ellis]

Yes. Mobile libraries, particularly in rural areas, can be extremely useful. They can visit different villages on different days of the week and be very productive. Many local authorities use mobile libraries, and they are a good thing.