Live Webchat with Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries (Monday 31 January, 1.15-2.15pm)

[HelenMumsnet]

We're delighted to announce that Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, will be joining us for a webchat this Monday lunchtime.

Ed's responsibilities range from libraries and art galleries to broadband access, internet and film.

Ed says said that, ever since he was appointed last May, it has been a priority for him to keep in direct contact with people who want to ask questions, raise issues or make comments and suggestions.

So, do feel free to ask away - either on the day or, if you can't join us then, by posting your question in advance here.

Ok so Ed is here and ready to type (all his own work so be kind).

Over to you Ed.

Sounds like there could be lots of teenagers and unsupervised children standing on that line - a nightmare for the Observatory staff ?!

If children are required to be supervised by an adult then you can't really say it's free for them either !

Welcome Ed

@jonicomelately

You are abolishing the Film Council. The Oscar nominated film 'The King's Speech' was backed by the Film Council. The success of this film and others like it adds to the fiscal and cultural well-being of our nation.

Where precisely are film makers going to get their funding from in future Ed? I'd like specific answers please

Thanks for this. It is great to be in the Mumsnet office. I will be typing my own replies so please forgive typos.
The funding for British film will be handled by the British Film Institute from this April. We are aiming for a seamless transition, and filmmakers tell us that there has been no disruption in their applications.
We have increased Lottery funding for film which will rise from £27m to £40m; Film4 is also increasing support from £10m to £15m; and today a film finance company announced a deal with a US distributor to make 3 British films a year. So I think the investment climate for British film is looking good. I should also add that the BFI is increasing the film production fund by £3m next year.
The abolition of the UK Film Council was a tough decision to make - but in a tough economic climate we felt we had to make the savings where we could, and by saving on overhead we can secure investment in film.

What has the response been from ISPs to being made responsible for blocking pornography? Is this realistic? Why is it so important?

@AlistairSim

Do you have any comment to make about the library closures, Mr Vaizey?

I believe half of all the libraries in Oxfordshire, your own constituency, are due to close?

Clearly I am concerned by library closures. It's important to emphasise that I cannot intervene until a council has made a firm decision. At the moment the closures are all proposals and things change all the time. I think Somerset and Glos. have already made changes. Even after a decision has been made, I have to take advice from the Museums Libraries and Archives Council before deciding to intervene.
I am a great supporter of libraries - they are important spaces for the community, not just for books, but for internet access, education, advice, or simply as a neutral space. There are loads of library authorities who are pioneering changes which make libraries more relevant than ever.

The film finance company that is investing in Brit films is Murdoch's Fox link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/NS5Q7T/2B7C5/M9M1FN/6VNYXX/W1/h?a1=2011&a2=1&a3=31 for everyone's info.

@arentfanny

Wnat your thoughts on library closures, Dorset is proposing to close 20 out of it's 34 libraries, but about to sepnd a few million on a new flagship one.

I cant comment on the specifics here - but it is worth making a general point that sometimes headline closures can mask a decision by a council to invest in a different strategy eg investing in key libraries while closing others.

Hi Ed,

My son shares your name

Can you do anything to reassure the many MN posters regarding the future provision of library services in this country ?

So that he will be able to grow up literate and able to pursue as interesting a job as you have ?

See also my slightly earlier comment about the value of early years provision to society.

So what can and will you do when the libraries do announce their changes?

@sethstarkaddersmackerel

Thank you for coming Ed. I would like to ask you whether you've given up smoking yet (am occasional Wright Stuff viewer....) but more importantly:

Don't you realise that allowing all these libraries to be closed is going to lose a hell of a lot of Conservative votes? There are a lot of people - including older people like my parents, and many young families who use libraries, who will never forgive your party for allowing this to happen.

I hear what you say - what I would say is that libraries are a local service, delivered by local councils, who are democratically elected. So they can listen to their voters and take decisions in the light of what their voters are telling them.

@TondelayoSchwarzkopf

The film finance company that is investing in Brit films is Murdoch's Fox link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/NS5Q7T/2B7C5/M9M1FN/6VNYXX/W1/h?a1=2011&a2=1&a3=31 for everyone's info.

Yes the same company that distributed Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours

The proposed cuts to library services will affect rural communities disproportionatly - in our small town, the library is a real hub - a warm place for the elderly to sit, a easyily accesible childrens service (we have lots of travellers and seasonal workers who find it hard to access others), PC access for all etc, as well as a base for mobile libraries for the villages.

Cuts in the service means not accessing these things at all - its a long and costly bus ride to the next libary, and leaves nowhere free to go thats warm

We've also has fabulous outreach music and arts programmes to the villages where if you don't have a car you can't go to anything as the buses stop at 7, and I guess these will go too.

Sorry - link fail.

Here is the story about Fox investing in UK films

@Bumperrlicious

So what can and will you do when the libraries do announce their changes?

As I say when a decision is made bya council, I will seek advice from the MLA on whether they believe it breaches the Public Libraries Act. If they think it does then I can order an inquiry. If the inquiry concludes against the council, the council is required to fix the breach. Another important point to make here is that the MLA is already on the ground working with a number of councils advising them on better ways forward. I also set up the future libraries programme last year to encourage councils to work together to create more effective library services. 36 councils are part of the programme.

'So they can listen to their voters and take decisions in the light of what their voters are telling them.'

They aren't listening though. Today our local authority announced an extra £500k to our library services - great, but they are giving it to the ones that are staying open rather than trying to save the ones that have closed, despite our community making the biggest protest.

The MLA has been scrapped hasn't it?

Not before Roy Clare stuck his oar in though compo

Sorry, that's the ones that are to close, not have closed.

@TondelayoSchwarzkopf

David Cameron said he wanted Britain to make more films like Harry Potter.

JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter 1 on benefits and Harry Potter 2 on a £8k grant from the Scottish Arts Council. I don't know off the top of my head how much the Harry Potter franchise has brought in investment to the UK - but it is measured in billions, I imagine, rather than millions. And it continues to build - with a Harry Potter theme park soon being built in Leavesden.

Would you agree that investment in arts and creative industries is not something worthy and nice-to-do but integral to our economy and necessary for growth. We are never going to compete on manufacturing with emerging economies but maintaining a vibrant creative sector and media is essential? What is the coalition going to do to safeguard investment?

Yes I would. I think we have secured a good settlement for the arts and our national and regional museums. I made a speech last week about technology and the arts - technology gives arts organisations a great opportunity to show off their content to much larger audiences, but also to be seen as a key part of the creative industries. Technology means that people no longer have a stranglehold on distribution, and arts organisations can pioneer new ways of engaging either by telecasting into cinemas, or with apps and things like that

Hi Ed. As one of your consituents, do you find it difficult to reconcile your ministerial role with your constituency role? libraries is an obvious example.

Yes, makes no difference here if the libraries in nearercity are lovely and relevant - you just can't use them.

And what about rural broadband strategies ? Again, we have no choice - it's BT or BT as there isn't the population density for any competition

@LilyBolero

The performing arts contribute immeasurably to revenue brought in by tourists. It is estimated at something like 3.7% of GDP. We have the largest performing arts economy as a proportion of GDP in the WORLD. It is not a big outgoing budget, but essential for both institutions and events. And yet funding to world class institutions like the Royal College of Music is being slashed by 100%. Added to this, visa entry requirements are preventing world class musicians from travelling to this country to engage in masterclasses/recitals etc Example here

How is this a good idea? To cut funding from a sector that we are world leaders in, resulting in a much greater loss of revenue, and a further drop in GDP?

Well as I say I think we kept the cuts to a minimum. No political party has denied the need to reduce public spending but we fought hard for a good settlement for the arts. I hear what you say about conservatoires, they are world class and I am pursuing this issue with the HEFCE. Visas can often cause problems, and we must make sure we resolve this.