Speeches by Smith.

“Ian, you said that you think that the tax credit is a better solution than the YAC fund. If the YAC fund were funded by a levy on streamers and YouTube, would you still take that?”

“Anything from DCMS on that particular topic?”

“Generally, in terms of improving the process.”

“Are you making those happen?”

“We also heard about what has been described as a postcode lottery, both in terms of the interpretation of what is needed to go through the processes and the capacity to deliver these things. What actions can we take nationally to end the postcode lottery and improve the capacity, expertise, and the consistency of the p…”

“Those figures I quoted were from Historic Houses and they were about publicly accessible historic knowledge, but lots of people have told us that the reform would make a big difference.”

“Yes, loads of people have said it is an important change.”

“Can I go back to the issue of VAT? We have a situation where if you are building new homes you do not pay VAT; you have VAT reliefs and exemptions. But if you want to reuse and repair these 670,000 potential homes in potentially beautiful buildings with all the embedded carbon, you have to pay VAT. It just seems to mak…”

“We can probably provide you with the evidence. I remember the MOD saying to us that it would make a huge difference. The director general at Historic Houses suggested “If such a rebate scheme existed, that would cost about £6 million,” which is not a lot of money in Government terms, and “It would generate benefits in …”

“That is good and fine, but I want us to deliver these 1.5 million new homes as well; it seems that this is another lever to do that. Do you know if the Cabinet Office has had any conversations on this issue?”

“It was to do with the football ground, was it not?”

“Is it mainly about investment rather than streamlining processes?”

“Yes, but where other Departments can see an advantage in the policy change, they can make the case, can they not? I would encourage both Departments to make the case in this situation. Are there any other financial, or other, incentives that you can use to promote repair, reuse and conversion into new homes?”

“Can we talk about listed building consent briefly? We have heard from a number of people about the delays and inconsistency in the process. Is the Cabinet Office doing anything to accelerate listed building consent for public estate re-use?”

“Are you confident the Government are engaging properly on this and trying to make the changes that you are proposing?”

“Presumably, Naomi, you deal with the European equivalent to the Musicians’ Union; can you get it to come to the table and talk about the mutual benefits of sorting this problem out?”

“I was just going to come on to cabotage. I do not know if there is anything more you want to say about the problems it causes; you have already touched on that, but you talked about temporary solutions. Are there workarounds that can be put in place to make that happen?”

“1961.”

“I was just going to come on to cabotage. I do not know if there is anything more you want to say about the problems it causes; you have already touched on that, but you talked about temporary solutions. Are there workarounds that can be put in place to make that happen?”

“How much cost does it add on to a tour? I suppose it is different for an orchestra and for a band, but at what point does it become unviable just because of cabotage?”