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Motorsport

I start by congratulating the noble Lord, Lord Astor, on an interesting and informative speech and on initiating today’s debate. The motorsport industry and the sport itself are of increasing importance in the UK but they have been little debated in this House and the other place, despite the industrial and sporting success of the industry. Lewis Hamilton has attracted a lot of new viewers to Formula 1 in the past year alone. I have some links with the sport. Back in the early 1980s my Chinese father-in-law owned a Formula 1 team. In those days you could support a half-decent team for about £2 million, although that is certainly not the case now. He simultaneously had a Formula 5000 team and a USAC team. I knew many of the drivers well, and I look back with huge pleasure on trips to Silverstone and Brands Hatch, sitting in a trailer at the back of the pits, when our car came well down the field on almost every occasion. When I was looking at material for today’s debate I was pleased to see that WOMAC, Women on the Move Against Cancer, a charity linked with the motor racing industry, is still going strong and has a Valentine’s Day party annually. I was a great admirer of Jean Denton, Baroness Denton, who in a previous incarnation was a racing driver. I think we all have fond memories of Jean and what she did, both in this House and outside it. I must admit that when I was sitting in that trailer at Silverstone I had no idea how the industry would develop over the following 20 years. Preparing for this debate and listening to the noble Lord, Lord Astor, have been extremely instructive. It has been a great success. The sport and the industry are inextricably linked, and we have seen something like 500 per cent growth over 10 years. I was pleased that the noble Lord, Lord Astor, mentioned the noble Lord, Lord Jones of Birmingham, because he is a great advocate of the UK motorsport industry. On almost every occasion when he goes to China or India or makes speeches to audiences in the UK, he mentions the great success of Formula 1 and Motorsport Valley. After all, seven out of 11 Formula 1 racing teams have their bases here, and all those engineering companies are clustered in southern and central England. We have world-class engineering companies serving Formula 1 and other aspects of motorsport as well. As the noble Lord, Lord Astor, said, the sport has an innovation culture, especially now in energy efficiency, with advanced materials technology, design engineering and new product development. I heard what the noble Lord had to say about the latest statistics, but even a £5 billion contribution to the UK economy is of enormous significance, and it may well be more than that. A £2 billion contribution to exports through 4,000 companies is highly significant, and there should be further research if those figures underestimate the industry’s contribution. Those partnerships with the major car manufacturers involve some 40,000 jobs and some 25,000 skilled engineers. The noble Lord, Lord Jones, and the UKTI have done a good job in promoting the industry and promoting the links with emerging markets such as China and India, as well as Malaysia and Bahrain for good measure. Those links are of huge importance. We all remember the great experience surrounding the Shanghai Gran Prix last year, and the Shanghai international circuit has been forging links with Motorsport Valley. There will also be an increasing transfer of technology to other industries within the UK itself. So we cannot underestimate in any sense the significance of the industry. The industry has been successful even in mature markets such as Japan. It has been very innovative in terms of selling itself through the annual National Motorsport Week and Autosport International show, which was held at the Birmingham NEC in January. The industry is no slouch in promoting itself generally. There are also strong links with academic institutions such as Cranfield University, which has an employer recognition scheme for motorsport educators and trainees, and a motorsport engineering and management MSc programme at postgraduate level designed to ensure that there is a pool of high-calibre engineers with management ability. There are some very good aspects regarding the development of the industry. As well as the role played by the noble Lord, Lord Astor, the industry has many supporters in this House who have expressed concerns about the factors which could lead to the UK motorsports industry losing its dominance. We must take those concerns seriously. The issue discussed by the noble Lord, Lord Astor, that of the function of Motorsport Development UK and the funding provided by the Government and pledged by Patricia Hewitt, is crucial. I would ask the Minister whether it is the case that we have shrunk the funding from £16 million to £10 million. What is the reality of the function of Motorsport Development UK? It is extraordinary that so few people connected with the industry actually serve on its board, and I must say that when I looked at its functions, I was surprised to find that the annual report for 2006 is not on its website; only the 2005 report is posted. That lack of transparency is a great problem. However, there are some other good aspects. It is great news that the Silverstone plan seems to be on track and that it has the support of the Government and local people. That is crucial because the development of Silverstone is extremely important. I was pleased to see that discussions between the FIA and the BRDC are ongoing, as well as work on the submission of the plan which looks as though it is going to take place shortly. I hope very much that the planning application will have a fair wind. I turn now to the grassroots funding of motorsport. We know that Lewis Hamilton started his racing career in carting. Making carting available at an accessible price is vital for encouraging budding young drivers to take their place in motorsport, but it appears that carting receives nothing from the National Lottery or from sports distributors. Grassroots funding is needed, so why cannot the motorsport industry receive some lottery funding in this respect? The noble Lord, Lord Astor, rightly raised several other issues, but I shall content myself with these remarks. It appears that a number of individual members of the Government really do understand the motorsport industry, and I hope that the rest of the Government wake up to the potential and importance not only of the industry but of the sport itself, and respond to the questions being raised today.