Baroness Rebuck: My Lords, as we heard from my noble friend Lord Kinnock, McKinsey published an arts report last November that described the UK as a “cultural powerhouse” that punches above its weight globally with a dynamic ecosystem of multipurposed talent. I thank my noble friend Lord Bragg—a true multitalent—for initiating this debate. I also mention my own interest, particularly in book...
Baroness Rebuck: My Lords, I draw the House’s attention to my interests in the creative industries as set out in the register. I pay tribute to the skilful and consensual chairing of the inquiry by the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell of Beeston, and to the skill of our clerk and the rest of the team in helping the committee distil this rather amorphous subject into a robust set of recommendations, which, as we...
Baroness Rebuck: My Lords, I am delighted to contribute to this debate as a member of the Communications and Digital Committee and humbled to speak after our esteemed chair, the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell of Beeston. Please note my interests in the creative industries as detailed in the register. During this inquiry, each member brought a strong set of opinions to the table against which to assess the...
Baroness Rebuck: I would like to ask the Minister about the current consultation on a change to UK copyright law relating to the UK’s future IP exhaustion regime, the impact of which could be far reaching for authors. Does he share my concern that, according to the Publishers Association, a move to international exhaustion could cost authors more than £500 million a year in lost income? The Minister will...
Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of their report Understanding progress in the 2020/21 academic year: Interim findings, published on 24 February, relating to estimated overall learning loss in reading in primary schools; and what powers the new Education Recovery Commissioner will have to direct the use of (1) additional, or (2) reallocated,...
Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty's Government what role the new Education Recovery Commissioner will play in helping to close the attainment gap in reading and maths between pupils in schools with high levels of disadvantage and those in schools in more affluent areas.
Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Prime Minister on 4 November (HC Deb, col 318), whether literacy is intended to be a part of the tutoring programme; and if so, (1) what plans they have to survey literacy levels across all age groups, (2) whether the tutoring will be available to all schools across England, and (3) what steps they are taking to ensure that...
Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to include bookshops on the lists of businesses permitted to remain open in all areas subject to restrictions to address the COVID-19 pandemic should tiers of restrictions be reintroduced from 2 December.
Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Education Endowment Foundation’s publication Improving Literacy in Key Stage 1, published on 30 September 2016; and what additional funding they plan to provide to schools to improve literacy, including for (1) the accurate assessment of the capabilities and difficulties children have in literacy, and (2) for one-to-one...
Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the National Literacy Trust Children, young people and audiobooks before and during lockdown, published in June, and its finding that listening to audiobooks can increase children's reading skills and emotional intelligence and wellbeing; and, in the light of these findings, what consideration they have given...
Baroness Rebuck: Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) efficacy of, and (2) access to, treatment to improve the quality of life of cancer survivors, in particular those measures which combat long-term physical or psychological symptoms arising from cancer treatments.
Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the business rates pub relief scheme on the viability of community pubs in England; and what has been the cost of the scheme to date.
Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of recent increases in business rates on the sustainability of local high street bookshops in England.
Baroness Rebuck: My Lords—
Baroness Rebuck: My Lords, none of us wants our high streets to become ghost towns. I declare an interest, but bookshops, through activities such as book festivals, World Book Day for kids and signings, drive up footfall that benefits all retailers. Bookshops are also cultural hubs and play a vital role as community and learning spaces. Will the Government now consider giving bookshops the same rate relief...
Baroness Rebuck: My Lords, I, too, thank my noble and utterly inspirational friend Lady Jowell. Very few people can take a personal challenge and transform it for the universal good with such courage, insight and compassion. She is a beacon of light and purpose to us all, and I thank her from the bottom of my heart. My remarks are based on personal experience, as my late husband, Philip, Lord Gould of...
Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they support UNESCO’s work in discovering what kind of literacy skills people need to navigate a digitally-mediated society; and what actions they plan to take in the UK to explore and fund effective adult literacy policies and programmes which leverage the opportunities that the digital world provides.
Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of how many adults in the UK lack basic digital skills, and of that number, how many are functionally illiterate; and what plans they have to ensure that such people do not end up marginalised.
Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the four-year £435 million package of support for business ratepayers following the 2017 business rate revaluation has been spent; and how much has been used to support bookshops.
Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many bookshops have lost small business rate relief or rural rate relief as a result of the 2017 business rate revaluation; and, beyond the scheme to cap the annual bill increase for any ratepayer losing these reliefs, what plans they have to protect small bookshops from closure.
