Baroness Twycross (Lab)

I will feed that back to the department; I cannot commit to it here and now, but I did hear and note that point. I will feed in points made during the debate to relevant Ministers and teams in the department but I cannot commit to that on the hoof in this debate, as I am sure the noble Viscount understands. I am liable to run short of time so, at this point, I will commit to writing to noble Lords with responses to the many questions asked and the really interesting points made throughout this debate. Moving on to the question from my noble friend Lord Stevenson, the forthcoming BBB charter review will shape the BBC’s crucial role in the creative economy. This includes skills development, investment in the nations and regions, and continuing the BBC’s vital role as an anchor institution around a creative companies cluster. The noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, and my noble friend Lady Donaghy raised points about higher education and universities. It is important to understand the role of further and higher education in driving innovation in the creative industries, and we will being forward a comprehensive strategy for post-16 education to help us do this. The noble Baroness, Lady Benjamin, raised the importance of issues facing children’s TV. The Government recognise the importance of UK-made, high-quality content for children. That is why we are moving ahead with the implementation of the Media Act, which enshrines educational content in the new public service remit. As she noted, consumption is moving to platforms such as YouTube, where content can be more variable. We are discussing with these platforms what may be possible to promote high-quality programmes. A number of noble Lords, including the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley of Knighton, my noble friends Lady McIntosh and Lord Brennan, the noble Lord, Lord Londesborough, my noble friends Lady Griffin and Lord Stevenson of Balmacara, the noble Baronesses, Lady Prashar and Lady Bonham-Carter, and others almost without exception mentioned issues around AI and IP protection. We hear creatives’ concerns over the impact of AI, in particular the use of copyrighted works in AI training. As my noble friend Lady Thornton said, the Secretary of State has been clear that creatives are the core of our AI strategy. In December, therefore, we published a 10-week consultation to engage AI and creative industry stakeholders on the impact of AI on the copyright regime to clarify the copyright framework for AI: ensuring creators have control over their work, transparency from AI developers and the ability to license their content and be paid for it. The noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle asked for action, and I sense the urgency that noble Lords feel on this point. We are absolutely clear, however, that we will not make any decisions to proceed without confidence that an approach is workable and effective for rights holders. I look forward to updating noble Lords in due course on these issues. Turning to the Arts Council England review, raised by my noble friends Lady Thornton and Lord Lemos, the review of my noble friend Lady Hodge will be supported by an advisory panel of great minds from across the sector and beyond, who will bring a mix of establishment and fresh voices to help in this work. The review will ensure that everyone can access and enjoy the arts, no matter who they are or where they live. It will also make sure the Arts Council is working effectively with local communities and supporting creativity at all levels. In response to the request from my noble friend Lord Lemos, the full terms of reference for the review will be published in due course. This will set out the scope for the review, which will report to the Government in the autumn of 2025, and we expect to publish the conclusions of the review along with the Government’s response in early 2026. I will, however, feed my noble friend’s view in. The noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, raised the Welsh National Opera. We are pleased to see that it has received £750,000 from the Arts Council of Wales’s jobs protection and resilience fund. Minister Bryant has held a series of productive meetings with the Welsh Government, Arts Council England and the Welsh National Opera to understand how, within the parameters of the arm’s-length principles, we can best ensure a strong and secure future for the Welsh National Opera. The noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, mentioned the grassroots music sector and, like noble Lords, clearly including my noble friend Lord Brennan, I really love live music. It brings a huge amount of joy to my life, and my summer is structured around concerts and gigs of all sizes. Some of the most iconic things about Britain internationally relate to our brilliant musicians, composers and songwriters past and present, but music must be part of our national cultural future, too. Britain’s best-selling artists start their careers in our grassroots venues. Ed Sheeran played at over 360 grassroots venues before reaching arenas; 150 of them have now closed. This is why the Government are urging the live music industry to introduce a voluntary levy on tickets for stadium shows to support a sustainable grassroots music sector. We welcome the progress made by industry in establishing the LIVE Trust to manage funds for the voluntary levy. A number of noble Lords, including my noble friend Lord Lemos, the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bonham-Carter, raised issues relating to our EU exit, and in particular to EU touring. The Government are working to improve the UK’s trade and investment relationship with the EU and to tackle unnecessary barriers to trade without seeing a return to freedom of movement. Improving arrangements for creative professionals, including musicians and crew, is a priority for this Government, on which we will continue to work closely with the creative sector.