Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Thursday 20th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)]

At the end of November, the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey), announced that he was setting up a UK film forum to plot the progress of UK film industry funding. Can the Minister for Sport and the Olympics inform the House whether the forum has met and what progress has been made?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are talking about sport, and I thought the hon. Gentleman was going to request a similar facility in relation to sport.

[Richard Harrington]

The point is that it is a form of sport for me.

[Mr Speaker]

Right. A one-sentence reply from the Minister will suffice.

[Hugh Robertson]

It is probably safest to say that that is a very helpful suggestion and I will look at it.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the Minister and to the hon. Gentleman.

Liz Kendall. Not here. I call Heidi Alexander.

[Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

5. What recent discussions his Department has had with the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Greater London authority on the economic legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games.

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[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

I thank the Secretary of State, from the bottom of my heart, for what he said about the disgraceful attack on the reputation of Norris McWhirter, whom the BBC was delighted to have as one of its star celebrities for decade after decade. May I tell him that I worked with Norris McWhirter for many years in politics, and one could never find a more dedicated opponent of totalitarianism? That is hardly surprising given that at the age of 17, he volunteered for the Royal Navy and took part in one of the most successful anti-U-boat organisations in the battle of the Atlantic. It was a particular disgrace that someone—David Baddiel—who, like me, is from a Jewish background, should denounce that admirable man as a fascist or a Nazi sympathiser simply because he disagreed with him politically.

[Mr Speaker]

On the BBC, I call the Secretary of State.

[Mr Hunt]

I echo what I said about the importance of impartiality, and say simply to my hon. Friend that given his sustained interest in that, many people at the BBC are gutted that he did not put his name forward for the chairmanship of the BBC Trust.

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[The Minister for Sport and the Olympics (Hugh Robertson)]

I gave the answer I did because, according to the figures and projections for Exchequer and lottery funding to Sport England, the latter received £249 million this year and will receive £284 million by the end of the Parliament. That is a 14% increase by anybody’s maths. On local authorities, we are looking at the matter closely, and I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will join me in trying to convince and reassure local authorities that they should not be closing sport and leisure facilities. There is no reason for them to do that—it is a choice they have to make—and I would encourage all of them to continue to build on the considerable investment that the Government are making in sport, both through UK Sport, Sport England and the London—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am grateful to the Minister.

[Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD)]

I am delighted that the Government have committed to backing the 2013 rugby league world cup, but there remains a concern that with the abolition of regional development agencies some significant funding from those sources will no longer be available. Will the Minister reaffirm the Government’s commitment and perhaps update the House on discussions with the Rugby Football League about ensuring that this important tournament is a big success?

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[Simon Hart]

At present, IPSA costs the taxpayer more than its predecessor and employs one member of staff for every nine Members of Parliament. Its bureaucracy is so complicated that it takes staff roughly 1,700 calls a week to unravel its complexities. Does the Leader of the House consider that to be progress, and could he do the taxpayer a great service by offering assistance in haste to the parliamentary standards—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I think we have got the gist of it, but the hon. Gentleman’s question was too long.

[Sir George Young]

I agree with my hon. Friend: there are opportunities to drive down the costs, and not just for IPSA, but for Members and their staff who have to operate the system. The existing regime was set up to a challenging timetable, and IPSA is the first to recognise that improvements can be made. I hope that my hon. Friend will respond to the review that is under way and put forward suggestions for reducing the costs on both sides of the equation.