Speeches by Smith.

“On the wider benefits that you talked about, in your written evidence you have mentioned the spillover benefits, things like tourism, regeneration, volunteering, skills and cultural identity. They are quite hard to quantify, aren’t they? To make a case for sustained public investment you need to try to do that, so how …”

“Are there any lessons from abroad that we can take? Is anybody else doing it?”

“What about more local partnerships? How can Historic England convene or encourage partnerships with local authorities and social investors to capture those benefits?”

“On the wider benefits that you talked about, in your written evidence you have mentioned the spillover benefits, things like tourism, regeneration, volunteering, skills and cultural identity. They are quite hard to quantify, aren’t they? To make a case for sustained public investment you need to try to do that, so how …”

“Andy and Richard, you both talked about your challenge in maintaining heritage assets while you have to maintain operational requirements, particularly security but other kinds of operational requirements as well. Would you like to add anything on that? That leads to my second question, which is about collaboration. Hi…”

“Do you think that convening function is enough? Do you think that swapping notes is enough or do you think that there should be more oversight and control? I am getting the impression that MOD understandably is sort of managing its estate and all the challenges that comes with that but as a kind of separate entity from…”

“Is there an opportunity for more oversight and co-ordination? Mark?”

“So what can we do?”

“Oli, you said earlier that all the info is there, but it is about finding it. How did you guys get your stuff out there? Is the success of Numberblocks, Oli, and Horrible Histories, Richard, because your brands are already established? Do you think that they could work without that established brand?”

“Better development funds?”

“That was development all those years ago. Oli, your colleague Nathan Wilkes has sent in some evidence that says that “there is no viable funding pathway for high-quality, educational, UK-made, YouTube-first content.” He described it as a “structural crisis”. How do we address that?”

“So what can we do?”

“You have expressed concern, Adam, about levies hitting streaming investment. Can you point us to other countries where that has happened? There are levies in France, Australia and Canada. Has that amounted to a reduction in streaming investment there?”

“Oli, you said earlier that all the info is there, but it is about finding it. How did you guys get your stuff out there? Is the success of Numberblocks, Oli, and Horrible Histories, Richard, because your brands are already established? Do you think that they could work without that established brand?”

“Better development funds?”

“That was development all those years ago. Oli, your colleague Nathan Wilkes has sent in some evidence that says that “there is no viable funding pathway for high-quality, educational, UK-made, YouTube-first content.” He described it as a “structural crisis”. How do we address that?”

“You have expressed concern, Adam, about levies hitting streaming investment. Can you point us to other countries where that has happened? There are levies in France, Australia and Canada. Has that amounted to a reduction in streaming investment there?”

“We have talked about the challenges of the difficult times that we are working in. We have an increasingly polarised society, with some difficult debates. What risks does that pose for the Charity Commission, and how do you mitigate them?”

“Thank you. I should have referred to my interest as a trustee of a charity. To follow on from that, this is a three-year term. What do you hope to have achieved at the end of the three years, and what will you want to get out of your first six months in the job?”

“I have a couple of questions about your approach to the job. There is obviously a balance to strike between independence, accountability and support for the sector. What sort of principles will guide you in striking that balance?”