Speeches by Foxcroft.

“How well do the Government work with the devolved institutions and local authorities?”

“I was going to ask a question about the roundtables. In terms of talking about roundtables that can do something, do you have disabled people and accessibility advisers to advise people on how they ensure that events are accessible for everyone? Did you have them on the ones you have had so far? If not, would you have …”

“It could be that we end up making a recommendation. While volunteering is good, not everybody can afford to take up those volunteering opportunities. It is quite important to make sure those voices are at the heart of the planning in organising major events.”

“Do you think there are lessons we could learn from the Scottish and Welsh Governments?”

“We know that in terms of creative industries more widely we have a deficit of working-class participation. Major events are one of the really big opportunities to showcase stuff. Do you ensure that the voices of working-class people are a part of major event strategy planning? Far too often, we find their voices are no…”

“On that point, working with disabled people’s organisations is quite important in terms of getting this right. Quite often, one thing that makes it accessible for someone can make it inaccessible for somebody else. Having that level of expertise, which is expertise by experience, is quite important to get it right. Do …”

“I declare an interest: I have not smoked for more than a decade, and I vape. Does the Minister agree that we have to be careful that the language we use does not discourage people from changing from smoking to vaping? Vaping has been shown to be successful in getting many people to stop smoking. The health benefits are…”

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“The Minister says they may be lower. I believe it is said that they are significantly lower.”

“Q10. Housing is one of the biggest issues in my constituency. Lewisham council is working hard to improve things, and is bringing its housing stock back in house. Non-decent homes have fallen from one in four to one in 10, the repairs backlog has reduced by almost two thirds, and call waiting times have fallen from 70 …”

“Class is not a protected characteristic, but we know that the number of people from working-class backgrounds participating in and enjoying arts and culture has significantly declined. What is Arts Council England doing about addressing this?”

“Collecting data is obviously important. It is also important that from our arts and creative industries we have those working-class stories as part of what becomes our history in the future. On to education, as somebody who studied a BTEC in performing arts, and then drama and business studies at university after havin…”

“If improving access to this is a priority, would Arts Council England be prepared to reallocate resources if it was required?”

“The review places significant weight on touring as a core way of delivering access to excellence. How confident are you that ACE’s current and planned support for touring is sufficient, given rising costs and shrinking touring capacity?”

“We heard that touring tax relief would have the most immediate impact. You referred to speaking to the Treasury about other different kinds of tax breaks or incentives. What role do you see ACE playing in shaping the case for that tax relief?”

“Why is the new touring service not beginning until 2027 with all the challenges we currently have?”

“What is that number as a percentage of the number of users?”

“What is that number as a percentage of the number of users?”

“Could you send that in writing?”

“Could you send that in writing?”