BBC Funding
Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Hayward(4 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
The whole of the Government are committed to the BBC’s important role as a public service broadcaster. My right honourable friend in her Statement in another place rightly called the BBC “a great British institution” that
“plays a vital role in our culture and creative economy”.—[Official Report, Commons, 7/12/23; col. 514.]
As we look at future funding options, we will look at how public service broadcasting is delivered in other countries, both the ways in which that is done and the pros and cons of those models.
The noble Lord is right to highlight that the BBC plays its role in a globally exceptional way. I have already talked about the more than 360 million people who tune into and rely on the BBC World Service for impartial news and analysis. We should be very proud that it is our national broadcaster that people across the world tune into, and we want to ensure that it is sustainably funded for many decades to come.
Lord Hayward (Con)
When considering the financing of the BBC, will my noble friend clearly bear in mind all the issues that have been raised by noble Lords across the House concerning its importance worldwide and its contribution to society in general? However, what concerns me is that the BBC has not looked deeply into other areas to see what can be brought under control. I have typed “apple crumble recipes” on my phone. The first four entries come from the BBC. Why on earth, when the BBC should be providing services worldwide in multilingual circumstances, are we confronted by an organisation that provides food recipes to anyone who wants them and who can get them for free from other sites as well?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
I did not know there were so many ways to make an apple crumble, but I am sure my noble friend’s was delicious, however he made it. He is right. The BBC is getting more than £3.8 billion, which is a large amount of money, for it to continue to do the important work that it does. It is up to the BBC to decide how it spends its money, but it is right that it makes sure that it is doing so in a way that would delight all licence fee payers.
UK Concussion Guidelines for Grass-roots Sport
Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Hayward(12 months ago)
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Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
The noble Lord is right that this is work that engages other government departments and many institutions in education and healthcare. A range of government departments and representatives from the education sector and medicine have been engaged in the process, and the guidelines will be published through all those channels to make sure that schools, teachers and doctors are aware. As I say, it is for the national governing bodies of each sport to make sure that this baseline guidance is tailored to the specific context and setting of their sport, and we would like to see that built on. It is for them to give any additional messages. The guidance is an essential first step, and fundamental to it is the simple overriding message: if in doubt, sit them out.
Lord Hayward (Con)
My Lords, I have returned from a three-day rugby tournament, excellently organised by the Birmingham Bulls, which involved 47 teams participating this weekend. I am interested by the use of the word concussion or brain injury. Can my noble friend clarify why the term concussion is persistently used when, in effect, what we are actually talking about is potential brain injury?
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
I send my congratulations via my noble friend to the Birmingham Bulls and everyone involved in the Union Cup. We have chosen to use the word concussion because it is what is most widely understood. Certainly, as a non-medical and not particularly sport-playing person, it was the term which was most self-evident to me. As we want to get the guidance out to as many people as possible, using layperson’s terms such as that seemed like a good way to do it.
Rugby: 200th Anniversary
Debate between Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay and Lord Hayward
Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)
The noble Lord tempts me to send wishes against my own home nation. I send good wishes to all the teams from the British Isles—and, indeed, the other two.
Lord Hayward (Con)
My Lords, when one thinks of Nelson Mandela wearing a Springbok shirt in the World Cup final in 1995 or the England rugby team playing in Dublin during the Troubles, one realises that rugby is a game that can inspire. When one thinks of the noble Lord, Lord Addington, playing rugby, one realises that the game can amaze.