Musical Instrument Certificates

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay Excerpts

Monday 20th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

As my noble friend rightly pointed out, this is an ongoing consultation. As I said in response to other questions, we will take all views into account. The consultation does not close for another few days, so if anyone has concerns and they have not taken part, I urge them to respond.

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, the Independent Society of Musicians has called this proposal “disappointing” and “incomprehensible”. We have just heard about the dismay it has caused to the Musicians’ Union, and, as the noble Earl said, it flies in the face of the Government’s manifesto commitment to help touring artists. The Minister has been at pains to say that no decision has yet been taken, but the consultation document invites people to choose between two options: a cost of £61 for all permits and certificates, or a charge of £200 for all applications. Does that rather leading question suggest that the Government have made up their mind that there should be a cost of some form for people bringing instruments into this country?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

The consultation is on CITES, which covers all sorts of areas and not just musical instruments. As I said, we are carrying out a consultation and will take the responses into account. It is important to show that we are supporting music. We support orchestras through the tax system and funding. At the Autumn Budget last year, the Government confirmed that, from April this year, orchestra tax relief on production costs was to be set at a generous rate of 45%. We also support orchestras through the Arts Council England investment programme; 23 orchestral music organisations are funded through its national portfolio investment programme for 2023 to 2026. We are keen to support the arts.