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Motorsport

I wish to emphasise some of the remarks made by my noble friend Lord Astor concerning the prospects of the motorsport industry. In so doing I thank him for introducing this interesting Question. Motorsport Development UK, the body set up by the Government some five years ago to co-ordinate the development programme, produced its annual report in January in which its chairman said, among other things, that, "““the UK motorsport industry was in a healthy state, particularly at the high end, and stable””." Can the Minister explain the difference between this emphasis and the Motorsport Industry Association’s report that the industry faces a dramatic downturn due to the imminent cuts imposed by the FIA on Formula 1 team budgets? As she knows, the majority of Formula 1 teams are based in the UK and the industry has grown with the success of the teams and assisted by the large amounts of private funds put into the area by the team owners and others. The MIA spokesman said that there are likely to be extensive cutbacks in the employment of engineers both within the teams and their specialist UK suppliers. What will the Government do to help with the re-employment of these extremely valuable human assets to persuade them to stay in this country? We are also losing increasing amounts of business to our competitors in Europe. Why is this not, apparently, recognised by the Government or, indeed, by their adviser, MDUK? I wanted to call it M-DUCK, but that is not very elegant. What will the Government do about this? Does the Minister agree that there seems to be a shortage of up-to-date information on these subjects? What are the Government doing to find out what the situation is now, not last year or the year before? I am afraid that I cannot match the experience of the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, as a young driver. My first car in 1953 was an Aston Martin, the Atom, a prototype built in 1939, which is now in the motor museum at Gaydon, near Coventry, so I can say that I have been interested in motorsport and racing cars for well over 50 years. During that time the sport and the industry have flourished. This leads me to say a few words about Silverstone race track. The British Grand Prix has been held there for more than 50 years and it is famous throughout Britain and the world. It is, indeed, the main reason for the establishment of the motorsport industry business cluster in the area, wherein the UK motorsport industry contributes more than £6 billion to the British economy every year. It employs directly more than 100,000 people. It is under intense threat from new motorsport circuits, for example Bahrain, Istanbul and Shanghai, as has been mentioned, all of which provide brand new, state-of-the-art facilities. It is therefore essential that Silverstone circuit and its facilities are updated to keep the British Grand Prix, and therefore retain the many large and small companies nearby linked to motor racing. I am sure that the Minister knows of the extensive plans developed by the British Racing Drivers’ Club, the owners of Silverstone, to secure its future as one of the great world venues of motorsport and help to ensure the UK retains its pre-eminence in this sector. The BRDC ““vision”” for Silverstone includes the redevelopment of the circuit to provide state-of-the-art facilities which should secure the future of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and a new business park focused on hi-tech production and motorsport uses that will provide flexible and modern accommodation to meet the needs of burgeoning companies in this demanding sector. It includes an advanced technology park for companies with significant research and development needs and an education campus that will take advantage of the hi-tech nature of Silverstone’s motorsport cluster of companies and provide courses across a broad range of specialisms from vocational to higher education. An imaginative dual use of the circuit facilities is envisaged which would help to make the courses very attractive to youngsters. The last thing is to create a centre of automotive excellence with substantial opportunities for economic and employment growth. I have laid this out in some detail as it deserves wide and continued public knowledge. Plans for implementing this vision are well advanced, as was mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, and, as he said, there appears to be broad support for it across key local stakeholders and—this is just as important—relevant planning authorities. Substantial investment is obviously needed, and the bulk of that will undoubtedly come from the private sector. Support and partnership will be sought from many organisations to turn this vision into reality. Can the Minister say what the Government’s view is of this project? The motor racing enterprise that Silverstone has been for so long deserves government support that will eventually translate into an even more successful operation than it is at present. I hope that the Government will consider it extremely carefully. I have to conclude by saying how sorry I am that the noble Lord, Lord Drayson, is not in his place. With his current experience of motor racing, he would have been a most useful contributor to this debate.