Youth Services
Natasha Irons Excerpts(1 week, 2 days ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Natasha Irons (Croydon East) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the long-term funding of youth services.
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allowing time for this debate, Members for supporting it, and all the organisations that have provided material for today’s contributions.
This Government have stated that they are on a mission to break down barriers to opportunity, to ensure that every young person in every part of our country gets the best start in life and has access to the tools they need to thrive. As has always been the case, a young person is shaped not just by what they do in a classroom or what they hear in the playground, but by the community they grow up in and the stake they have in it. That is what youth services are. They are a safe space outside school, and the place to broaden horizons and build meaningful connections with the outside world.
As an elder millennial with baby-boomer parents, I know that every generation believes that theirs has had it the hardest, but in our day we at least had the luxury of living our most awkward and vulnerable years without the glare of social media. At least we had the opportunity to fail, to be odd and to learn who we were before we presented ourselves to the world. Whether it is the impact of covid, the cost of living crisis or trying to prepare for a world of work that is constantly changing, our young people are facing unprecedented challenges in a country that, for too long, has not invested enough in their wellbeing.
As a result, in England one in five children and young people now have a probable mental health disorder. The number of emergency hospital admissions for children aged five to 18 due to a mental health crisis increased by 65% between 2012 and 2022. Incidents of youth violence remain at high levels, with 3,000 knife crime offences last year involving a child. The Office for National Statistics reports that 16 to 24-year-olds are now the loneliest group in our society, and the Good Childhood report states that the UK’s children and young people are the “unhappiest in Europe”.
This damning picture of what it is like to grow up in this country should shame us all, because, as they say, it takes a village to raise a child. What has happened since the 2010 spending review, which saw funding for youth services pitted against services with greater statutory protections, is the systematic dismantling of the network of support that used to keep our young people safe. The village has been replaced by a patchwork of voluntary organisations, with fewer and fewer council-run youth services bidding endlessly for one-off pots of funding that will inevitably come to an end.
Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith and Chiswick) (Lab)
My hon. Friend is making a powerful case. She points out the extraordinary cuts in the funding for youth services—over 70% under the last Government—with 50% of centres lost. Can I take this opportunity to say that some centres have thrived and that continue, such as the Sulgrave youth club, which has its centenary next year, and that is thanks to long-term support and funding, but also to private philanthropy—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)
Order. The hon. Gentleman is an experienced enough parliamentarian to know that that was a very long intervention.
Natasha Irons
My hon. Friend is quite right: there has been a 73% decline in funding for youth services. I congratulate the organisation in his constituency on its centenary.
Chris Kane (Stirling and Strathallan) (Lab)
Does my hon. Friend also recognise that there is also a funding crisis in Scotland, with the Scottish Government starving local authorities of the funding they need to provide these vital services? This is not just in England; it is a UK-wide problem, and the SNP Scottish Government are certainly not making it easy.
Natasha Irons
I understand that MSP colleagues are considering bringing in a youth Act in Scotland, which is quite innovative, and perhaps we should try to emulate some of its provisions.
With the closure of over 1,000 youth centres, one in eight local councils now has no youth centres in its area. The workforce crisis has seen youth workers often stuck in low-paid and insecure work. The voluntary sector, which now delivers 80% of youth work, faces its own funding crisis, with 25% of voluntary youth organisations having less than six months of cash reserves.
Despite those challenges, organisations across our communities are stepping up to rebuild the village around our young people. Nowhere is that more evident than in Croydon, the town I have the privilege of representing in this place. In Croydon, organisations are working tirelessly to provide the support that young people need: Redthread, which is working in Croydon university hospital to offer young people caught up in youth violence a way out; Reaching Higher, which aims to support and champion young people across school, community and home; Croydon Drop In, which offers free confidential advice and mental health support to young people and families; and Croydon Youth Consortium, which is driving collaboration across local youth charities, so they avoid competing against each other for the same limited pots of funding. Croydon is leading the way in giving our young people a stake in their community.
However, due to impending budget cuts and reorganisation, Croydon, which is London’s youngest borough, is on the verge of losing its council-run youth engagement team. The team provides a critical link between the council, the voluntary sector and vulnerable young people across the borough. It provides outreach, runs youth hubs in hard-to-reach areas, and oversees Croydon’s youth assembly. To put it simply, Croydon’s youth engagement team has saved lives.
The limited statutory protections in place for council-led youth services mean that Croydon council can shut the service down without running a proper consultation; without asking key partners, such as the police or the NHS, how much they rely on the frontline knowledge the team offers them; and even without consulting the borough’s young people properly, having approached only 31 of them in the process of drawing up its plans. The council claims that some of the services will be retained by inviting the voluntary sector to put in bids to run them, but they cannot replace the consistency, institutional knowledge and co-ordinating role that the youth engagement team provides. As one mother, whose son attends the New Addington youth hub in my constituency, put it:
“The staff do such a good job at making everything seem conversational and natural... We’ve had pop up services through charities. But with the youth club, they’ve been able to spend time with a consistent staff team and build relationships with a professional and diverse staff.”
I welcome the Government’s commitment to the wellbeing of our young people: their work on a national youth strategy that puts the voice of young people at its heart, and their plans for the young future hubs to tackle the complex causes of youth violence. But I urge them to back up that investment with proper statutory protections for youth services.
It is time to stop the erosion of youth work. It is time to introduce statutory sufficiency benchmarks to ensure that no matter where they are, no matter the community they grow up in, all young people have the right to youth work, with measurable minimum expectations. As outlined by the National Youth Agency, that would not only give youth services the priority they deserve, but provide stability to the youth work sector, giving it the long-term structure needed to invest in proper pay, training and support for its workforce.
It is not just a moral mission to provide these services for our young people; it is also a practical one. As the Government’s own data shows, young people who receive youth work support as teenagers are happier, healthier and wealthier. As the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates, for every £1 invested in youth services, we save between £3.20 and £6.40 in wider costs to society. For many, youth work provides a trusted adult; a guiding hand on to the next step when the next step feels impossible.
I would like to end by sharing the story of Rania. She is a young woman who, like many across our country, left education full of potential but was paralysed by fear. She battled deep mental health struggles, loneliness, isolation and a crushing sense that she was “not enough” for the working world. Rania got in touch with the King’s Trust. She began to work with Charlie, a youth delivery lead who did not just help her with her CV and job applications; she listened, she believed and she walked her through every moment of doubt. Rania went on to apply for three NHS roles and was offered all of them. She is now proudly working as a band 2 healthcare assistant. As she puts it:
“With the support provided, I hardly recognise myself. I still can hardly grasp how much Charlie’s support has impacted me and motivated me to achieve my goals.”
That is the power of youth work.
At a time when hundreds of thousands of young people are struggling to find a future, it is youth workers like Charlie who are quietly pulling lives back from the brink. If we are serious about ending the youth unemployment crisis, if we are serious about the future of our young people, and if we are serious about breaking down barriers to opportunity, then we must get serious about the long-term funding of our youth services.
Several hon. Members rose—
Natasha Irons
I thank the Minister for her response. It is amazing to hear about the extra funding going in, and the Government’s approach to ensuring a long-term sustainable future for our youth services. It is a different approach from that taken by the previous Government, who ripped apart that network. Given the themes of today’s debate, and the piecemeal, patchwork approach taken by the previous Government, it is great for us all that this Government are taking such a different approach.
I pay tribute to Members from across the House—although obviously not those on the Conservative Benches, because they could not be bothered to turn up. I will not name everybody individually, because I think we had over 26 contributions, but I would like to highlight some of the key themes that came up, including the need for a long-term strategy, which the Minister spoke about, and the need for statutory back-up. None of us wants a repeat of previous years and the mistakes of the previous Government, who took away support and the cover that youth services provide. We need to give them statutory back-up. The Minister is putting extra investment into this space; I urge her to really back up these services with the statutory protections that they deserve.
I will end with an African proverb:
“If a child is not embraced by the village, it will burn it down to feel its warmth.”
If we do not learn the lessons of the past, we will continue to see the mental health of our young people decline, and their experience will continue to be the unhappiest in Europe. No one who attended today’s debate wants that to continue, so let us learn the lessons and have long-term sustainable funding for our youth services.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
Very touching.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered the long-term funding of youth services.
Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary
Natasha Irons Excerpts(2 weeks, 4 days ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Natasha Irons (Croydon East) (Lab)
The 80th anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day is a time for us to remember and honour those who fought to defend our freedoms, our values and our people. It is also a time to recognise the contribution that veterans from across our country continue to make to their communities.
For many of our veterans, their service to this country and their commitment to fighting for our values do not end when they leave the military. I will take this opportunity to tell the House about one such veteran from my community, Mike Lyons. I did not know Mike for very long, but one of the privileges that we have in this place is that we get to meet people who we instinctively know are the best of us, which is what Mike was. He served in the military for seven years, and was a member of the Royal British Legion’s New Addington branch for more than 30 years.
For many years, Mike ran the Final Roll Call campaign to ensure that world war one soldiers who returned from fighting, and who were institutionalised due to what we now know as post-traumatic stress disorder, were properly honoured and given their rightful place in history. His campaign led to 26 servicemen who were buried in unmarked graves, without a military burial, finally being given the dignified memorials they deserved. Mike wanted to ensure that their memories lived on and, just before Christmas, asked me to light a candle for them in Parliament. Our candle of remembrance in Parliament quickly turned into a full-on candle-lighting ceremony at the tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. At one point, someone questioned whether we needed insurance for the bugler.
Sadly, Mike passed away before our ceremony could take place, but with the support of his family and friends, we held our ceremony as planned. In March, it was a privilege to welcome Mike’s family, his friends, his local councillors, community leaders from the family centre and New Addington Pathfinders, members of the Royal British Legion, Army cadets, members of Croydon’s veteran community, the Minister for Veterans and People, flagbearers and a bugler to Westminster Abbey for our candle ceremony. I hope that we did Mike proud.
As we look ahead to the 80th anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day, we must commit ourselves to ensuring that our armed forces community is looked after now and in the future, so I welcome the Government’s announcement of a UK-wide support system for our veterans. In Croydon, we have launched the Croydon Cares for Veterans campaign to raise funds for SSAFA Croydon and the New Addington branch of the Royal British Legion. As it was for the second world war generation and for Mike, it is our actions that demonstrate our commitment to the people who serve this country. It is our actions that will protect our values, and it our actions that will honour what our armed forces community continue to fight for today.
Youth Provision: Universal and Targeted Support
Natasha Irons Excerpts(3 months, 1 week ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Harpreet Uppal
I support my hon. Friend’s call, and it is disappointing that we do not have any Members from the official Opposition present.
Research shows that, for every £1 invested in youth work, the return to the taxpayer is between £3.20 and £6.40. Additionally, for every £1 invested in child and adolescent mental health services, the return on investment is an estimated £2.85 in benefits to the individual and an additional £1.40 in savings to the Government.
Natasha Irons (Croydon East) (Lab)
If anyone does not get to intervene today, I would ask them to please sign up to my Backbench Business debate on youth services, because we need more time to discuss this matter. As my hon. Friend rightly points out, supporting youth services is not just a moral case, but a financial one. Does she agree that the 73% decline in youth services points to the fact that we need to give them statutory protection and to have benchmarks for provision?
Harpreet Uppal
I do agree that we need more protections, and I am sure the Minister has heard my hon. Friend’s point about statutory protection. I, too, urge hon. Members to sign up to my hon. Friend’s application for a Backbench Business debate.
As hon. Members have said, providing youth services reduces the need later in life for more costly interventions, from social care to the criminal justice system. It also means that we give young people an opportunity to thrive.
A thriving youth sector depends on a strongly skilled workforce, so we need to ensure that the youth sector can attract, train and retain skilled professionals. The National Youth Agency’s 2024 workforce survey found that more than 4,500 youth workers have left the profession in the past decade, and only six undergraduate youth work programmes remain, down from 37 in 2013. At the same time, the demand for youth services is constantly increasing, with 82% of youth sector organisations reporting growing demand for mental health support.
Oral Answers to Questions
Natasha Irons Excerpts(5 months, 3 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Stephanie Peacock
I am incredibly grateful to the Chair of the Select Committee for that important question. We work closely with the Department for Education; I chaired a roundtable with the Schools Minister on grass- roots sport and how to get sport into schools. I also convened a meeting on women’s sport, where representatives from the Department for Education were present. I would be delighted to discuss it further, and I know the Secretary of State would, too.
Natasha Irons (Croydon East) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)
The Government are co-producing a new national youth strategy with young people to grip the challenges of the generation. When I entered the Department I was shocked to find no single youth strategy. The last Government funded a lot of good youth work, but I think we can all agree that the challenges facing this generation are immense, and we need to do far more to support them.
Natasha Irons
On Tuesday, I chaired the all-party parliamentary group on youth affairs, where we discussed this Government’s plans for a national youth strategy with more than 80 young people and organisations from across the sector, including grassroots organisations such as Reaching Higher from my constituency, which supports young people and families across Croydon. The national plan for young people is urgent, but the 73% cut to funding for youth services under the previous Government has resulted in 4,500 youth workers leaving the sector over the past decade, according to the National Youth Agency. Can the Secretary of State outline how her national youth strategy will support youth workers and attract more people back to that vital work?
Lisa Nandy
The youth strategy is an opportunity to look afresh at the training, recruitment and retention of youth workers. My hon. Friend will know that my first job before I came to this place was at the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint. I am aware of the vital work of youth workers—they are a lifeline for young people, and those relationships matter disproportionately to whether a young person succeeds or fails. My Department works with the National Youth Agency to fund training bursaries for individuals who may otherwise be excluded due to cost. We are aware that some of the people who make the best youth workers have had those experiences. We are very committed to working with her and her all-party parliamentary group to ensure that we get this right.
National Youth Strategy
Natasha Irons Excerpts(6 months, 1 week ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lisa Nandy
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his constructive challenge. I welcome him to his place, and I look forward to more of this in the coming months and years.
The right hon. Gentleman asked about grassroots sports funding and the facilities that we make available around the country. He will have noted that over the summer I announced that the Government would invest in that significantly, and that we provided further details following the Euros—where a whole generation was inspired, not just by the men’s team but by the incredible success of the Lionesses, and many other sports besides. We know how important this is. We have made a commitment to ensure that that funding matches the demand that is being placed on us by young people in particular.
As for the importance of youth workers, I could not agree more with the right hon. Gentleman. I do not want to get into an arms race about who cares more about this issue, but the truth is where the last Government left us a good inheritance, we will acknowledge it, support it, and ensure that it continues. I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will rightly agree that the challenges facing young people are far too important for us to play party politics with them. I hope that young people will recognise from this exchange that they have a group of parliamentarians who are determined to work together to get this right, and who will challenge one another when they think they are not doing so.
The right hon. Gentleman referred to the £50 million cost of NCS. We are working with the NCS Trust to ensure that we manage the closure in an orderly fashion, and that all associated costs are met. The Department is currently engaged in a business planning process. However, he will have heard what I have said in the House previously and what I will continue to say to colleagues today: we recognise the funding challenges that affect the entire youth sector. The series of announcements that I have made today, including the announcement about dormant assets funding, are intended to ensure that we start to put rocket boosters behind young people.
The right hon. Gentleman asked about other youth organisations, and in particular about uniformed youth. We do intend to increase funding for some of those organisations, especially those that have received funding previously through the National Citizen Service, to ensure that no gap is left that would prevent them from being able to honour the commitments that they making to young people. As for the general question—why the NCS?—I want to impress on the right hon. Gentleman that we were strong supporters of the dedicated programme for young people that was established by the Cameron Government. I was also a strong supporter of vInspired, which preceded it, but the incoming Government at the time decided that they wanted to move with the times and wanted to change the programme.
What we have learned from that episode is that an orderly transition is very important. With vInspired the funding was cut but the programme continued, and it finally closed in 2018 with more than half a million pounds of debt. We are determined not to allow that to happen again, which is why we are working closely with the NCS Trust and others to make sure we do this properly. However, I have a responsibility to millions of young people around the country, and I think it only right to say that the system is far too fragmented, and not aligned with their priorities. I make no apology for putting them back at the centre of government, where they belong.
Natasha Irons (Croydon East) (Lab)
I welcome the Government’s commitment to bringing youth services together, and we in the all-party parliamentary group on youth affairs, which I chair, look forward to playing our part. However, owing to the 73% reduction in youth services at a local level, local groups such as Croydon Youth Consortium in my constituency have had to step up where local government has stepped back. Will the Secretary of State ensure that the Government will leverage, rather than working against, the best practice that those groups have established by working together and not competing against each other for certain types of funding?
Lisa Nandy
I welcome my hon. Friend’s commitment to young people, which was known about before her election. I have deliberately placed an emphasis on what happens at local and regional level. As this Government seek to embark on the biggest devolution of power out of Westminster and Whitehall in a generation, we must ensure that young people are empowered to play their full part, not just with national Government but with local and regional government as well. We announced funding for the local youth transformation fund to help local authorities learn from the best practice in this area. I am also very committed—as is the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley South (Stephanie Peacock)—to ensuring that we are in towns, villages and cities across the UK, listening to the experience of young people who face very different challenges in their lives depending on where they are from, but who have also found extremely innovative solutions. I look forward to working with my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon East (Natasha Irons) and other colleagues to make good that commitment.
Sport: Team GB and ParalympicsGB
Natasha Irons Excerpts(7 months, 2 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Stephanie Peacock
My hon. Friend is absolutely right and I will address that point shortly.
Team GB has been in the top seven in the Olympics since 2008, and ParalympicsGB has also achieved top three finishes in every Paralympic games since 2000. It is a remarkable record of achievement, and one that truly cements success into our sporting culture. We have not always had the same success in the medal table, and Team GB has come a long way since Atlanta 1996, when they left with a single gold medal. But thanks to National Lottery and UK Sport funding, we have transformed our fortunes. Indeed, UK Sport has invested £385 million of Exchequer and Lottery funds into success at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics. The Government recognise the vital importance of this funding continuing to support the opportunity for all our talented athletes to succeed, which is why we are fully committed to multi-year funding for our elite sport system to enable our athletes to excel on the world stage. This means supporting them financially to match and build on their success in Paris as we look forward to LA 2028.
We have also seen the great development of the ChangeMakers initiative, which aims to help athletes maximise their impact on their return from Paris 2024 and give back to the local communities that have supported them. Athletes can choose the social impact projects they wish to support, which could be anything from grassroots sports projects to mental health initiatives—whatever causes they are passionate about—demonstrating how major events transform the lives not only of athletes, but of everyday people across our nation.
That is because, at a basic level, this Government want people to get more active, and we want to ensure that sport is open to everyone. Major sporting events present an opportunity to inspire the nation to get active. Indeed, nearly two thirds of British people say they are inspired by the success of our Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Natasha Irons (Croydon East) (Lab)
I could not associate myself more closely with my hon. Friend’s comments. I declare an interest: I had the privilege of working at Channel 4 before joining Parliament. With 7.3 billion minutes viewed, Channel 4’s coverage of the Paralympics was its biggest ever. The growth of para sport is not just an exciting opportunity for British sport, but a great opportunity to make sport more accessible to everyone. Does the Minister agree that this commitment to the Paralympics should leave a lasting legacy that ensures disabled people across the country have access to physical activity?
Stephanie Peacock
My hon. Friend makes an incredibly important point, which I support. When the Secretary of State was at the Paralympics, shortly after I had attended, she attended an event where she spoke about getting disabled young people more active in sport.
The benefits to public health from everyone being active are well known, whether that is supporting mental health or managing long-term conditions. For example, physical activity directly prevents 900,000 cases of diabetes and 93,000 cases of dementia each year. That is why it is important to have high-quality, inclusive grassroots facilities to help ensure that everyone has access to sport. The Government have committed to continue the multi-sport grassroots facilities programme, which will invest £123 million across the UK this year. I saw at first hand the impact of that funding in my first visit as Sports Minister to Derby racecourse’s new state-of-the-art hub. I have also seen it my own area of Barnsley, whether it is the Houghton Main miners welfare ground, the Wombwell recreation ground playing fields or the new Parkside facility in Hoyland, which will see spades in the ground this weekend. I am looking forward to visiting. I know the difference that programme has made and will make to local communities.
As a former teacher, I understand the importance of sport and physical activity for children. A recent Youth Sport Trust survey found that 87% of schools considered sport to make a positive contribution to achievement. We are committed to protecting time for physical education, and the Department for Education’s upcoming review of the curriculum will ensure that no child misses out on a broad range of subjects, including PE and sport. The advantages of sport and physical activity are clear for all to see.
Natasha Irons (Croydon East) (Lab)
I must declare an interest: I will mention Channel 4 in my speech, and I was previously an employee of that organisation.
I am really pleased to speak in today’s debate, following an incredibly exciting few months of sport. From the football world cup to the Wimbledon championships and the T20 world cup, whatever sport people were interested in, this summer there was something for everyone. Of course, communities around the world turned their attention to Paris for the Olympic and Paralympic games. Team GB gave a formidable performance, winning 65 medals at the Olympic games, and ParaGB won a massive 124 medals at the Paralympic games, finishing second overall in the medals table. I was delighted to cheer on Croydon’s own Thomas Young in the 100-metre sprint at the Paralympics this year. He gave a stellar performance, and I know that people across Croydon will be looking forward to cheering him on at Los Angeles 2028.
There are a number of benefits associated with sports broadcasting, especially when it is available without financial barriers on our publicly owned platforms. Watching the incredible success of our Olympic and Paralympic greats is inspiring, particularly for our children and young people, who might just find themselves a new hero to look up to and a new sport to try. Sport England emphasises the impact that engaging in sport can have on young people, including building positive experiences, improving physical literacy and offering them an environment where they can build confidence in a safe space.
One of the barriers to engaging in physical activity is access, so I am pleased that the Government have committed not just to ensuring that children and young people are being taught the required physical education curriculum but to supporting grassroots football clubs, local community groups and widening opportunity so that as many people as possible can get involved in physical activity. I pay tribute to one of the many grassroots organisations based in my constituency of Croydon East—an organisation that I recently had the pleasure of visiting. The Croydon Harriers train at Croydon Arena alongside another wonderful grassroots club, Croydon FC. They work to give young people and children sporting opportunities such as training camps and after-school clubs, and they are part of the fabric of the local community.
However, in Britain today not all young people have access to such wonderful organisations. For too many young people and adults with disabilities, opportunities to get involved in sport can feel inaccessible. Sport England has found that those with disabilities are twice as likely to be inactive as those without a disability, and the charity Activity Alliance found that only 25% of disabled children are regular participating in PE lessons. Those numbers are far too low, but the high-profile coverage of the Paralympic games put out by Channel 4 is helping to change perceptions of para sport, bring new audiences and increase participation.
Channel 4’s 2022 report, 10 years on from the 2012 Paralympics, revealed that over two thirds of the UK’s population tuned into the games, and that 76% of people said the channel’s “Meet the Superhumans” campaign opened their eyes to what disabled people can be capable of. Almost three quarters of viewers aged between 12 and 16 said they were more comfortable talking about disabilities after Channel 4’s coverage. Viewership of the games this year reached record highs, with 20 million viewers across linear and streaming platforms, attracting a larger proportion of young people than other channels. That is the impact that public service broadcasting can have. Our Paralympians were already brilliant and doing amazing things in their sport. What they needed was a platform to inspire our nation.
Sport can change lives. It can connect us and inspire us. I think I speak for Members across the House when I say that we are so proud of Team GB and ParaGB’s performance in this year’s games. I want to thank them for their contribution to our nation’s story, for their incredible talent, and for inspiring a nation.
Film Industry
Natasha Irons Excerpts(7 months, 2 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lisa Nandy
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question—he gave my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda and Ogmore (Chris Bryant) the opportunity to make the worst joke I have heard from him in at least a few hours.
I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising the important issue of skills. We are focused on it because we have heard loud and clear from the creative industries that it is the brake on an industry that is otherwise growing much faster than other parts of the economy. As well as our work on the apprenticeship levy, to which he referred, we have already kick-started the curriculum review to put art, sport, music and creativity back at the heart of our classrooms, where they belong. We are about to launch a piece of work looking at arts across the whole country, to make sure we get our offer right in communities.
On the specific question about the apprenticeship levy, we are confident that we are making the right reforms, because we are working with industry—not just the big players in the industry for which the apprenticeship levy worked better, but the smaller organisations that need far more flexibility in the levy than is currently on offer. We are confident that the work that I, the Education Secretary and others are doing in conjunction with the industry is going to get that right.
Natasha Irons (Croydon East) (Lab)
I welcome the Government’s commitment to the UK’s film and creative industries and their commitment to growing our economy, jobs and skills across every corner of our nation. London’s most iconic borough, Croydon, provides an amazing UK filming backdrop. What more can be done to promote Croydon as a filming location?
Lisa Nandy
Having visited Croydon, I would say that it promotes itself. I also know that my hon. Friend will be an incredible champion for her community; she is already proving it by singing the virtues of Croydon. All the many film makers and film studios that have welcomed this announcement with open arms will have heard loud and clear what she has to say about the benefits of Croydon and will hear what she has to say in the future. I am sure that Croydon and the young people my hon. Friend represents will be part of the success story of this next chapter of our national story.