BBC Funding

Lord Hamilton of Epsom Excerpts

Tuesday 12th December 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

I must disagree with the noble Lord. We want to ensure that the BBC continues to be able to do its work over the next hundred years just as brilliantly as it has over the past century. That is why we are trying to find a settlement that is fair for licence fee payers, who bear the cost at the moment, but which is also good for the BBC, sustainable for the long term, and supports the BBC in its important work.

The noble Lord drew attention to the rising cost of other service providers. He is right to do so; it highlights what a good deal people get when they pay their licence fee and get to enjoy the work of the BBC. Of course, the number of households holding a TV licence fell by 400,000 last year, and has declined by around 1.7 million since 2017. We want to ensure that the costs are not borne by an increasingly small number of people. Of course, people are consuming television, including on the BBC, in different ways. That is why it is right to look at the future funding model, to make sure that the BBC can continue to do its important work in a very different media landscape over the decades to come.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, we are regularly told that the licence fee is not a tax, but on the other hand it walks like a tax and quacks like a tax. Of course it is a very flat tax, in that it impacts enormously on people who cannot easily afford it. As the noble Lord, Lord Birt, has referred to, the BBC is coming under enormous competition from many other forms of media. Surely this settlement is quite generous, looked at in those terms.

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

I agree with my noble friend. We want to strike a balance that is fair to licence fee payers, who are, of course, facing pressures on the cost of living. We want to show that the BBC, like them, is having to make decisions about how it spends its money in the current climate, but also highlight the brilliant way it spends it, the important work it does and the important role it plays with the output it produces.

Channel 4: Annual Report

Lord Hamilton of Epsom Excerpts

Thursday 21st July 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, is it not a Conservative principle that no Conservative Government have any business owning television companies?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, the Government do not own the BBC. It is set up in a particular way to make it a state broadcaster, not a government broadcaster. We benefit from having a range of different channels with different ownership models. We are focused on making sure that Channel 4 can continue to thrive in the market, which is fast evolving.

Ofcom: Appointment of Chair

Lord Hamilton of Epsom Excerpts

Wednesday 24th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

I think that the noble Lord may be ranging a little from the topic. Like me, he is a former political secretary to a Prime Minister; it is a pleasure to serve Prime Ministers in whatever capacity and they benefit from a range of experience, as do all Ministers.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, unlike the noble Baroness, Lady Bonham-Carter, I think that Paul Dacre would have been an excellent candidate to run Ofcom. When he stood down and withdrew his name, he said that the blob was in charge of the selection process and that it would never have shortlisted him for consideration by Ministers. Was he right?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

Again, I cannot be drawn on speculation about who may have applied, but the panel in the first round and the new panel both include civil servants and non-civil servants, in line with the governance code.

BBC: Dyson Report

Lord Hamilton of Epsom Excerpts

Tuesday 25th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I absolutely agree: it is essential that the BBC can operate with editorial independence and integrity, and nothing we are doing will compromise that.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

The BBC operates under a royal charter; does it not therefore have an obligation not to broadcast interviews with Diana, Princess of Wales, that can only undermine our monarchy? Secondly, Martin Bashir was found by the Dyson report to have actually been implicit in forging bank statements. Is this not criminal activity, and should he not face charges for this, as indeed should anybody further up the food chain at the BBC who knew of this activity and did not report it to the proper authorities?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

My noble friend’s first question falls into the area of editorial independence, although I share the very real concerns he raises. On the forgery of the bank statements, as my right honourable friend the Minister for Media and Data set out, my understanding is that a request has gone to the Metropolitan Police to examine the evidence and reach a judgment on it.

Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012

Lord Hamilton of Epsom Excerpts

Thursday 27th February 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran]

I absolutely agree that social value is central to our procurement process: it is a massive lever. It is £49 billion of central government expenditure, but total public sector expenditure was £284 billion in the last financial year, so it is one of the biggest levers we have in terms of our focus on place and on levelling up. The 10% is a minimum, and my experience going around the country is that areas frequently go above and beyond when they get this. I was in Durham last week, where more than 55% procurement is through social value, and Manchester has set a minimum of 20%.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

How do the Government actually measure social content when they come to award these contracts?

[Baroness Barran]

The Government are developing a measurement framework. There have been two approaches. Most local government procurement uses a form of financial metric. Central government procurement, in consultation with the voluntary and community sectors, uses a more qualitative approach. My colleague the Crown rep for the voluntary and community sectors is working very hard to make sure that this is embedded effectively.

Lotteries: Good Causes

Lord Hamilton of Epsom Excerpts

Thursday 18th July 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I am sure that more could be done. I will certainly take that suggestion away. The interesting statistic is that 55% of people who buy society lottery tickets are motivated by supporting a specific charity. On the National Lottery, however, only 15% buy a ticket to support good causes; people want to win large jackpots and life-changing amounts of money.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

As we are discussing good causes, perhaps we could return to the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter. We bitterly regret her removal from the Front Bench. She and I have had great disagreements over Europe, but we very much regret the fact that she will no longer represent her party on this issue.

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I agree—life is a lottery.

Brexit: Creative Industries’ Access to European Markets

Lord Hamilton of Epsom Excerpts

Wednesday 15th May 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I agree that that is an issue; that is why there is a year-long consultation. We will represent the views of the creative industries to the Home Office.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

Does my noble friend think that the vote on Thursday 23rd for the European Parliament will very much suffice for a second referendum?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I think my noble friend would agree that they are two very different things.

Sackler Trust: Donations

Lord Hamilton of Epsom Excerpts

Wednesday 27th March 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

As I have said a couple of times in the last two or three weeks, the museum sector is not affected by local authority cuts, to the extent that museums have found other methods of funding themselves. I think we should nail this one. The Mendoza report said that the funding for museums across the whole sector had been broadly flat. I take the noble Lord’s point that it is easier for a large national portfolio organisation to attract large philanthropic donations. That is not surprising, but it is exactly why Arts Council England, which we support, has made a big effort to spread its funding outside London. Last year, 70% of Arts Council England funding was awarded outside London.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

Does my noble friend the Minister know of any plans to review the Nobel Peace Prize, which as we all know is financed by the sale of munitions and explosives?

Broadcasting: Public Sector Content

Lord Hamilton of Epsom Excerpts

Monday 4th February 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I can do better than that. I will repeat what the Secretary of State said to the DCMS shadow Secretary of State:

“The Government has made clear that if the Ofcom report concludes that there is a problem with the current prominence regime that needs fixing with the legislation, then we will look to bring that forward”.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, does public sector content include “Songs of Praise”, which the BBC insists on moving about to different times on Sunday, presumably with the ambition that it should eventually lose its audience altogether?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

As my noble friend knows well, editorial decisions are for the BBC, not the Government.

BBC: Brexit

Lord Hamilton of Epsom Excerpts

Tuesday 30th January 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

As I have said, it is not up to the Government to express an opinion on editorial matters.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My noble friend referred to the complaints procedure of the BBC. Can he quote any instances where complaints about political bias have been upheld?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

There are about 3,000 comments a day—I do not know the details of any complaints.