The Earl of Clancarty (CB)

My Lords, the danger for the arts of economic growth being so central to the Government’s plan is that more high-profile commercialised creative industries and institutions get support while other of the arts and related cultural areas, particularly in the regions, as the noble Baroness, Lady Sater, has said, get neglected. Unfortunately, this Budget, while there are certainly good things in it, bears that out, with no emergency help for civic museums and a situation where our already struggling grass-roots music venues are in a worse position now than before the Budget. It is an elephant trap. With respect to the arts, we need a plan for arts and cultural growth as much as we need one for economic growth, for three reasons. First, the arts are a good in their own right. Secondly, they are important socially and locally, in terms of both production and access. Thirdly, and crucially, they are the grass roots from which the commercial creative industries spring. The arts are an ecosystem. I have some specific points to make. On Monday, the noble Lord, Lord Murphy of Torfaen, and I—as the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, has done today—drew attention to the plight of the Welsh National Opera, which benefits both Wales and England. In a recent Answer to a Written Question by Liz Saville Roberts, Chris Bryant said that the WNO is in a “strong place to succeed”. Unfortunately, this is clearly not the case. The noble Lord, Lord Murphy, asked for the Westminster and Welsh Governments to get together on this. Will the Minister use her influence to enable that? As big operators are now a major factor in the arts, we need to consider levies—and the noble Lord, Lord Bassam, has mentioned a couple. I welcome the introduction of the voluntary ticket levy on big arena gigs to help small venues, although I believe it should be mandatory. Will the Government also consider the smart fund, which the noble Lord, Lord Bassam, also mentioned. Would the Minister be willing to meet parliamentarians and interested parties who have proposed this scheme, including the Design and Artists Copyright Society? Thirdly, as discussed in the Channel 4 interview with Peter Kosminsky, director of the Hilary Mantel adaptations, there is the application of levies on the big streaming companies such as Netflix to help our film and TV production, which, like the private copy levy schemes, are already applied sucessfully in European countries. Will they consider such levies, too? Last but not least, there is Brexit, which I mention because this is a Budget geared to a desire for economic growth. Brexit is not in the past but is lived on a daily basis by artists, and it continues to have a detrimental effect on opportunities for, and incomes of, musicians, visual artists and many others. The Government need to set out a coherent plan to address it, because the sector is waiting on that.