My Lords, I support Amendments 16 and 17 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Fraser of Craigmaddie. I will not repeat the excellent arguments that she and her co-signatories and indeed others around the Committee have already made. I would like to briefly underscore one important aspect of her amendments: the importance of regional production and commissioning in levelling up opportunities for creatives and communities.

On the first day in Committee, I spoke to my Amendment 2, which aimed to recognise and enshrine the symbiotic relationship between public service broadcasting and the broader stimulation of a thriving creative economy across the UK. What gets shown on screen is a very important part of that, and Amendments 16 and 17 would help to ensure that programmes indeed reflected the lives and concerns of communities across the UK, as the first Clause requires.

The impact of the amendments goes beyond what is seen on screen; they would also impact what we see on the ground—marked regional inequality in the creative industries, which has worsened since the pandemic. The policy and evidence centre’s 2023 report, Geographies of Creativity, revealed that the concentration of the UK’s creative industries in London and the south-east remained unvaried throughout the pandemic. The same cannot be said about the creative industries outside that area. The north-east presents a particularly worrying picture, as it experienced a growth rate of 81% between 2011 and 2019, the highest across the country, but the most severe decline during the pandemic. The region’s share of the UK’s creative economy was 1.9% in 2011, rising to 2.7% in 2019 but falling back to 2% in 2022. The pictures in other regions outside London and the south-east are not dissimilar. That data tells us something compelling: while the creative industries hold immense economic potential across the UK, that economic potential is at risk without adequate support and protection.

As we have heard, regional production quotas for PSBs have played a vital role in the emergence and development of the UK’s independent TV production sector across the nations and regions. They have been key to the development of creative industries and creative clusters in regions outside London. In doing so, they have helped to change attitudes towards creative careers. Research commissioned by Channel 4 in 2021 showed that the establishment of Channel 4’s headquarters in Leeds was impacting young people’s views of the industry, helping them to believe that it is possible to pursue a career in the sector without having to relocate to London. As we have heard, current trends are less rosy, and Channel 4’s recent redundancies mean that there are no longer any senior positions held in Leeds. That sends a terrible message that perhaps Dick Whittington was right all along that successful career paths will, eventually and inevitably, lead to London.

These amendments would see ofcom held accountable for ensuring that PSBs met their regional commitments and that there was no further sliding back to a London-centric focus. Specifying the quotas would build in longer-term protection against further regression, which risks further damaging the creative sector outside London and the south-east. The amendments would support the growth of regional representation and equity on-screen and off-screen, helping to level up opportunities in, and access to, creative industries careers. That is why I strongly support Amendments 16 and 17 and look forward to the Minister’s response.