Arts and Cultural Sector: Employers’ National Insurance
Debate between Baroness Mackenzie of Sherwood and Lord Brennan of Canton(3 weeks, 3 days ago)
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Baroness Mackenzie of Sherwood (Lab)
I thank the right reverend Prelate for the question. I also pay tribute to the brilliant work of Chetham’s, which is an outstanding school. It is unfortunately not possible to exempt a particular sector of private schools from VAT, but for all of us a priority is to ensure that the arts are back in the school curriculum to enable everyone to start along a talent pathway. Not everyone will get into a specialist school like Chetham’s, but everyone should have the opportunity in every postcode to develop their creative talent, and that is a big priority for the Government.
Lord Brennan of Canton (Lab)
My Lords, I want to make two suggestions that the Government might take up to improve matters. One is to extend the sort of tax relief given to film production to our recording studios. A number of us, including the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, and myself met with the Treasury Ministers earlier this year to discuss that. Will the Minister make representations to the Treasury in that regard? Secondly, something that would cost the Government nothing but that would work is to put the LIVE Trust levy on a statutory footing. Given that, on a voluntary basis, it is collecting less than half the money it could be collecting to support our grass-roots music venues, would she consider legislating in that regard when the Government bring forward their ticketing legislation?
Baroness Mackenzie of Sherwood (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for that. The history in the last 20 years of using tax credits for the benefit of the creative industries is something both sides of the House have greatly pursued, and that has been a very effective way of supporting different sectors within the creative industries. I am aware of the discussions my noble friend refers to. I am unable to comment at the moment on that, but I am happy to explore it further outside this House.