Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Rotheram Excerpts

Thursday 16th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

6. What steps the creative industries council will take to help increase employment and growth in the creative industries.

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

7. What steps the creative industries council will take to help increase employment and growth in the creative industries.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)]

The creative industries council will provide a forum for the creative industries and the Government to engage in a joined-up way. Members will instigate industry-led approaches to boosting the growth and competitiveness of the creative industries, with the Government facilitating and removing barriers where appropriate.

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[Mr Vaizey]

I will certainly take the hon. Gentleman’s point on board. I recently met important industry figures Sandie Shaw and Brian Message, the manager of Radiohead, to discuss with a specific bank making capital available to musicians. I hope that other banks will take note of that initiative.

[Steve Rotheram]

The Minister is aware of the devastating impact of the cuts agenda on the cultural sector through lost economic benefit. However, is he aware of the importance of innovations that are directly attributable to music sales, such as X-ray computed tomography—or CT scanners, as they are more commonly known—which were developed by EMI primarily through sales of Beatles records, by four lads who shook the world? Without leadership, is the Minister not putting similar investment opportunities at risk?

[Mr Vaizey]

I am aware of the huge cultural vibrancy of this country, which is why I will travel to Liverpool later this month to open the Magritte exhibition at Tate Liverpool. Liverpool really is a vibrant and creative city. Returning to the earlier question about the Digital Economy Act 2010, the reason we are so keen to press ahead with it is so that our creative industries can earn money from the content that they create.

Business of the House

Steve Rotheram Excerpts

Thursday 24th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend has drawn a contrast between the doubling of council tax under the Labour Government and the freeze introduced by the current Government. He may also know that we have abandoned plans for a council tax revaluation that would have meant soaring bills for millions of homes.

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

The Leader of the House turned down my previous request, but will he now find time for a debate on pay structures in banks, following the revelation that last year RBS paid 323 staff more than £1 million each, Barclays paid 231 staff more than £1 million each, and HSBC paid 280 staff more than £1 million each? Does he agree that that requires an urgent debate, given that yesterday’s Budget failed to tackle such excess?

[Sir George Young]

If that requires an urgent debate, which I concede may well be the case, that urgent debate can take place over the next three days. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has announced an increase in the bank levy. However, it would be perfectly in order for the hon. Gentleman to catch your eye, Mr Speaker, today or on Monday or Tuesday, and to receive a response from one of my Treasury colleagues.

Business of the House

Steve Rotheram Excerpts

Thursday 17th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

The whole House would have been dismayed by the 10 incidents, to which the health ombudsman referred in her recent report, showing neglect of elderly people. It would be wrong to generalise, because high-quality care is provided in much of the NHS, but the instances of poor discharge policy, poor end-of-life policy and poor nutrition policy were deeply worrying. I hope that some of the reforms in the Health and Social Care Bill will improve the position, not least through the creation of local healthwatch organisations to give patients more power to ensure that there is feedback, that complaints are heard and that local services are held properly to account.

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

Will the Leader of the House grant an urgent debate on Liverpool’s local government settlement from central Government, given the misleading statistics about funding levels used—inadvertently I am sure—by both the Prime Minister and the Minister for Housing in recent weeks?

[Sir George Young]

We have debated the local government settlement within the last fortnight, and that would have been the opportunity for the hon. Gentleman to raise the grievance to which he refers. I am afraid he will have to wait another year before that opportunity comes round again.

Business of the House

Steve Rotheram Excerpts

Thursday 13th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I applaud my hon. Friend’s sentiments. He was probably in the House when the Chancellor made his statement suggesting a very robust negotiating position with the banks. The Chancellor also indicated during questions and answers that he would want to report back to the House once those negotiations had been completed.

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

Following on from the previous question, I understand that the Government’s ongoing talks with the five biggest banks on bankers’ bonuses is ironically called Project Merlin. Is that because Standard Chartered bank has already disappeared from the talks, and Santander is likely to vanish from them, too? Will the Leader of the House pull a rabbit out of the hat and facilitate an urgent debate on bankers’ bonuses, and everybody else can then fill in their own puns?

[Sir George Young]

I shall see whether I can produce a sword from a stone. We are talking about negotiations and discussions that should have taken place some time ago, when the taxpayer was helping the banks, but they did not take place then. We are now—belatedly, because of the inaction of the previous Government—trying to make sure that taxpayers get value for money for the investment in the banks. As I said a few moments ago, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made a statement about the talks on Tuesday, and he indicated that he would want to keep the House in the picture when they were concluded.

Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Rotheram Excerpts

Monday 29th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

I commend my hon. Friend on his work for small arts organisations in his constituency. They are the lifeblood of the arts world. Organisations such as The Factory, an amateur arts group that puts on productions of “Hamlet” all over the country in church halls, are the kinds of organisations that nurture the acting talent of the future. They do not always have the fundraising capacity, however, to raise money from private donors. That is why, with the Arts Council, we will announce a series of measures to help rectify that. I hope that that will please my hon. Friend.

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

In his Department’s structural reform plan, the Secretary of State made clear his support for philanthropic giving to supplement funding to arts and cultural organisations. Will he therefore join me in raising money for institutions in Liverpool? If I promise to get my mates to have a whip-round and to donate a few bob each, will he ask his 22 millionaire friends in the Cabinet to match our donations in proportion with their wealth?

[Mr Hunt]

I will happily give the hon. Gentleman any support I can in his attempts to boost philanthropy in Liverpool, as I will to attempts in the rest of the country. He is absolutely right—one of the best ways to boost philanthropy is to find a rich person and ask them to chair the fundraising committee.

Business of the House

Steve Rotheram Excerpts

Thursday 15th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

My hon. Friend makes a forceful point. He knows that traditionally several debates take place about our armed forces, which will now be the responsibility of the Backbench Business Committee. He will have heard that I have not announced a debate on the particular important issue that he raised between now and the summer recess. Doubtless, the Chairman of the Backbench Business Committee has noted that as a bid and there will, of course, be opportunities to cross-question Defence Ministers, though I see that will not happen until 13 September.

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

Given that I failed to get an Adjournment debate, will the Leader of the House allocate time to discuss the widespread concerns raised by hon. Members about the structure, scope and future funding of the independent panel reviewing documentation about the Hillsborough disaster in 1989?

[Sir George Young]

I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman has not been successful in getting an Adjournment debate on that subject. I can only suggest that, if he continues to apply, his number may come up one week. I am afraid that I cannot find time between now and the summer recess, but if Tuesday 27 July follows the usual pattern, and there is an Adjournment debate during which various subjects are raised, he may find it possible to share his concern then and press Ministers for the information that he wants.