Speeches by Midgley.

“I know that my hon. Friend has done such hard work for her constituency of Blackpool North and Fleetwood in campaigning on this. We are working closely together on this issue, and I absolutely agree: a big part of the problem is about the resources and enforcement powers of the Environment Agency, which, again, Labour’…”

“Absolutely. I pay tribute, once again, to my hon. Friend for the work that she has been doing with me on that specific site in her constituency. She is right. In a moment, I will move on to another site with major issues, but where the Environment Agency did move swiftly, which has made such a difference. I absolutely …”

“I absolutely agree: this matter affects us across all our constituencies. In the action plan, I have read about some good measures, but they need to be put into action. I am sure that the Minister will go into that in more detail. I finish with four questions for the Minister. First of all, will she look at whether Kno…”

“Capita’s management of the civil service pension scheme—the latest in a string of failures—is a total disaster. My constituents are dealing with errors and delays, and are struggling to make ends meet, yet we are rewarding Capita by handing it another multimillion-pound contract. Can we have a debate about preventing r…”

“Who are these boards run by? Is it regional arts councils?”

“Thank you, Baroness Hodge, for coming and speaking to us today. I want to go into the arm’s length principle you referred to in Caroline’s question. You have consistently said that this is really important, and a central theme that needs to be upheld rigorously—indeed, you have reaffirmed that in this session. Could yo…”

“You talked a bit about mayors wanting this money to distribute and the transparency of, for example, letters being available to the public. What other evidence of political interference did you find in Arts Council England’s work when you were doing this review?”

“You are right that there will be concerns; it will be quite a change. How do you ensure that safeguards are in place? You talked earlier about a commitment to excellence. How do you maintain that? Rather than see a mission drift into commerciality, how do you stop it becoming art for commercial sake, and maintain the e…”

“Where is that line drawn? You said that what the Secretary of State says is often seen as an instruction rather than something to heed.”

“I want to move on briefly to the royal charter. How do you think the royal charter should be updated to reflect the needs of today’s cultural sector?”

“Last week I met with Knowsley chamber of commerce, and we all welcomed the Government’s youth guarantee. Some 55,000 placements is a great start, but no scheme starts are currently planned in Knowsley, where the likelihood of young people not being in employment, education or training is higher than average. Will the S…”

“21. What steps he is taking to support young people into employment, education or training.”

“11. What steps she is taking through the National Year of Reading 2026 to improve phonics attainment at key stage 1.”

“As the Secretary of State said, 2026 is the National Year of Reading. This week, I am reading “Ghost Town” by Jeff Young. Reading changed my life, and in fact I read a book a week. In Knowsley, one in four children fail their key stage 1 phonics standards, so will the Minister tell me how the National Year of Reading w…”

“After 14 years of the Tories and coalition Governments, councils like mine in Knowsley were cut to the bone. When I was elected, my constituency was the third most deprived constituency in the country—we did not just experience pressure; we were absolutely stretched to breaking point—and deep and sustained cuts went ha…”

“What about support for costs going up that the community had not envisaged?”

“Some organisations and academics we have taken evidence from previously in this inquiry talked about the idea of a safe-harbour scheme, and the Music Venue Trust talked about the owner venues initiative to protect at-risk buildings while communities plan for their future. How do you see that working?”

“My final question is about the volunteers: the people who help. We have been hearing that they are overstretched, burnt out, and lacking in skills. They are also an ageing volunteer base. What is your strategy to support these volunteer-led organisations to prevent that burnout? How are you incentivising the volunteers…”

“Just out of interest, are there any stats or analysis on their background, diversity or age profile? I would be really interested to know who is coming forward to volunteer and what barriers there might be in different parts of society for whatever reason. I am thinking particularly of class.”

“I wanted to ask about buildings in terms of community and culture; so community stewardship and buildings that are culturally important but do not tick boxes in terms of the listings. The questions are to you all but I will start with DCMS. What is your approach to strengthening community involvement in the care, owner…”