Culture, Media and Sport Committee

Tom Gordon Excerpts

Thursday 3rd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Dinenage]

My hon. Friend hits the nail on the head. This is one of the big questions underlining our whole inquiry. The cost of making content has risen so much, it is pricing so many of our British PSBs out of the market. We heard from Peter Kosminsky, the director of “Wolf Hall”, that it simply could not be made today and that “The Mirror and the Light” was only made because some of the key people on it worked for free. We cannot carry on like that. We need our British stories to be heard around the world. We have seen some fantastic streamers making great content, such as “Black Doves” and “One Day” which do tell British stories, but our PSBs do them better than ever and we need to ensure they are getting the right funding. We have made some quite radical recommendations, such as expanding access to tax credits and a levy on streamers, which was particularly contentious. We will continue to push for some of those recommendations. The Minister is appearing in front of us next week and we will keep asking him these questions, because we need to protect our PSBs and ensure they are telling our great British stories for years to come.

[Tom Gordon (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD)]

Earlier this year, “Tinsel Town” was filmed in Knaresborough. The benefit of seeing the film industry come to my constituency was clearly apparent from the get go. It has given a real buzz and excitement to the local community. I would like to see more on the regional investment side. Channel 4 is headquartered in Leeds just down the road from Harrogate. Will the hon. Lady elaborate on how we would be best set to monitor and regulate to see the benefit of TV and film studios in our regions?

[Dame Caroline Dinenage]

One thing we were asking for was for streamers in particular to be feeding back on how much of their money they are spending on skills and the regional impact of the investment they are making. We know that it can make such a difference to a local area, as the hon. Gentleman says. When something is filmed in one of his towns or cities, it shines a fantastic light and puts that place in focus. It also tells stories that resonate completely with our residents and inspire an entire new generation to work on those stories but also to create them in future.