Tax Reliefs: Theatre, Orchestra and Museums and Galleries Exhibition

Viscount Colville of Culross Excerpts

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am extremely grateful to the noble Lord for giving me an opportunity to talk about the £22 billion black hole in the public finances, which was concealed from this Parliament and the public, and, most importantly, from the Office for Budget Responsibility, which has confirmed that it exists and set up an inquiry to establish how it happened and to ensure that it does not happen again. The noble Lord asked me to list what went into the black hole. He knows, for example, of the £6 billion overspend on the asylum system, including the failed Rwanda scheme; of the £3 billion of uncosted commitments on road and rail projects; that the reserve was overspent, three times over, just three months into the financial year; and that there was a black hole in the spending plans for the public sector pay rises because the previous Government did not hold a spending review and did not give any affordability criteria to the pay review bodies. That is why it has happened and that is what we will ensure does not happen again.

[Viscount Colville of Culross (CB)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as a trustee of the Museum of the Home. A recent survey by civic museums has shown that there is a backlog of hundreds of millions of pounds of urgent maintenance outstanding for our great cultural institutions, including the British Museum. Roofs are leaking, threating the museum building structures and the collections within them. Is the Minister aware of the importance of continuing the museums tax relief to ensure that this backlog is addressed?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Viscount for his question. We of course recognise the important role that the arts play in our lives. The Government will set out their plans to support the arts at the forthcoming spending review.