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British Film and Television Industries (Communications Committee Report)

My Lords, I am deeply grateful to noble Lords and to support staff for both welcome and help when I was introduced in December. I promptly made my integration into this House more difficult by disappearing on a 12-week sabbatical from which I have just returned, keen to delay no longer my maiden speech and my involvement in the life of this House, which I will seek to serve well. I begin by paying tribute to the former right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Portsmouth, whose recent retirement it was that caused me to receive the Writ summoning me to this House. Kenneth Stevenson, battling for so long with ill health, took very seriously his membership of this House and engaged with its Members in his inimitable and energetic way both in this Chamber and outside it. The diocese which I serve covers almost all the historic county of Gloucestershire, including that part which is now part of the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. Though it is predominantly a rural diocese, in terms of employment some, of course, commute out of the diocese to London, Birmingham and Bristol, some only come into the diocese at weekends, but a great many gravitate each day to Gloucester and Cheltenham to work. Gloucestershire produced the first jet engine through the work of Sir Frank Whittle in Gloucester, where much of the early jet and aircraft technology was developed. We are conscious of the need to harness these skills again in the changing conditions of today. We have nevertheless some astonishing business successes at the present time. One company in Bishops Cleeve supplied the whole of the enormous kitchen facility for the Olympic Games in China, the Winter Olympic Games in Canada and the astonishing hospital unit at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan. Another at Wotton-under-Edge has won 13 Queen’s Awards for Enterprise—more than any other company in the UK except ICI. A Gloucestershire scrap metal dealer has won two Queen’s awards for its initiatives in the reuse of metals, aluminium in particular. We will soon be welcoming the multinational Allied Rapid Reaction Corps to Innsworth, which will liven up our culture with representatives of more than 15 nations taking advantage of our music, literature and science festivals and being integrated into our schools. The tourism industry is very important, too, with the Wye Valley, the Cotswolds, Gloucester Cathedral and docks and regency Cheltenham. Indeed the city of Gloucester has been transformed through the work of the Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company, of which I am a board member, and which has brought £450 million of investment into the city over the past five years. A major issue for us is that of an increasing number of people coming into the county to retire. They are living longer and longer. We are facing the question of how we can, as a county, continue to support these older people. It needs visionary thinking. But by the same token, this growing army of older people gives us a great opportunity to harness their experience and their minds. Perhaps Gloucestershire could be a national exemplar for this growing sector of our population who have still a major contribution to offer to our communities. Younger people wishing to stay in the county of their birth face a tough struggle to do just that in Gloucestershire. The price of buying a home is out of their reach in most of our areas, especially in the rural parts of the county. Government action is needed to develop a programme of affordable housing for these young people. But many of our young are well served by the University of Gloucestershire, of which I am proud to be pro-chancellor. Awarded the title of university in 2001, it has established itself as one of the most forward-looking, modern universities with some world-class research identified in the last research assessment exercise and producing graduates with one of the highest levels of employment nationally. This is the county that my diocese, with its more than 300 parishes and 400 churches, and with a population of two-thirds of a million people, seeks to serve. Among those living in the county are many names of those associated with the film and television industries: Kate Winslet, Liz Hurley, Lily Allen, Kate Moss and Anne Robinson, to name just the most famous. Harry Potter, who has already been mentioned, although fictional, can also claim a Gloucestershire connection as we have twice welcomed the makers of those box-office record breakers to Gloucester Cathedral, transforming the Chapter House and the medieval cloisters into Hogwarts School. So Gloucestershire is not unaffected by the health of the film and television industries and I, therefore, read the committee's report with great interest. I am aware that my friend the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester is a member of the committee, which has clearly taken a considerable amount of time to look at these issues. He is sorry not to be able to be in his place today. The report lays bare the fact that the provision of quality training for the workforces of these two industries is growing increasingly patchy, not helped by the economic downturn. In that I echo the words of the noble Lord, Lord McNally. Retraction by the commercial public service broadcasters from their investment in training appears to be crystallised in ITV's recent announcement that it is pulling out of the new Media City development at Salford Quays, a decision that suggests it will have little involvement with the world-class training facilities that are being built there. Failing to sow properly now will reap poor harvests in future which could genuinely threaten the competitiveness of the UK television industry. I am proud that the University of Gloucestershire has a flourishing film studies course. As shown in the report in the example of highly skilled animation and multimedia work, when we fail to provide the right type of training in our universities, colleges or in-house schemes, skills have to be brought in from overseas, which is a cause of resentment among the hundreds of graduates seeking jobs in the sector each year who would willingly have increased their skills in these specialist areas had the training been available to them as part of their course. If we fail to close the gap between what employers want and what training institutions are providing, we are perpetuating an informal system that relies on who you know. Wider application of more formal apprenticeship and internship models is vital to creating a more meritocratic and socially diverse sector. Perhaps, in concluding, I may pass comment on one other aspect of the report mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Fowler. I welcome the suggestion in paragraph 188 that new provision will be made to ensure regional and local news coverage on Channel 3. In Gloucestershire, we are now receiving so-called local ITV news that is often bereft of any real county coverage. Good local news coverage is vital to the sense of identity of a region and of a county and we need that provision in place. I, again, thank your Lordships for your welcome. It will be a privilege to play a part in the future business of the House.