Speeches by Smith.

“Thanks, Chair. Can we talk briefly about what has been called Zone Ex? That is broadly generally understood to be the external zone immediately around the outside perimeter of an event, but we have heard that Zone Ex is defined by different bodies in different ways. What challenges does that lack of a single definition…”

“Annie, anything about the challenges it causes?”

“I was going to ask both of you about your respective guides. While we are on the Purple Guide, Annie, can you just tell us a little bit about that and what you have said in it?”

“Who should ultimately be the lead on that responsibility for Zone Ex? Who should be the person we look to? Is it the police or is it somebody else?”

“Yes, and we will have the same resource issues with different local councils, I guess, as well. I suppose people might want to come to a council and want to put on a big event, and those people might have varying experience and quality. How do we hold them responsible and give them the tools that they need to be able t…”

“Sorry, Chair. I realise I started to trail into your questions.”

“Who sits on the advisory group?”

“Just on that, if you do not mind, Chair, you are sounding a slight note of caution there. We have heard that Scotland is the leader in this field and that lots of people are saying that we need a UK strategy as well. You are talking about respecting the devolved nations, which is understandable. How do you think it cou…”

“We presumably want high-quality, great content to be discovered and prominent, so I will go back to the question about prominence. You said that there is currently not enough supply from the BBC to—”

“Yes. So at what point do you expect that to be uploaded and ready and watched enough so you can make a judgment as to whether it is getting the discoverability and prominence that you would like it to get?”

“You must have had those conversations with them, though, haven’t you, about when it will all be ready?”

“It that not just dumbing down the production values?”

“Looking at the other public service broadcasters—and I know the BBC is not monetising its content—the Government have called for the relationship between YouTube and the public service broadcasters to be on, in their phrase, fair commercial terms. Do you accept that there is some unfairness in the commercial terms?”

“It is not just the BBC, though. We have had evidence from all kinds of people—for instance, people who make high-quality children’s TV who say it is not viable to make that content based on the income from YouTube.”

“Doesn’t YouTube have a responsibility? It is not just the Government’s responsibility or anybody else’s. You mentioned Oli from Blue Zoo. Blue Zoo make “Numberblocks” and say that they could not do it if they were relying on their revenue from YouTube. Given that commissioning from public service and other production c…”

“Are you saying that is not appropriate though?”

“Can I just ask what you mean when you say that you apply the principles to the platform? What does that mean?”

“I think I have probably had hospitality from YouTube as well. I am also the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on the BBC, and I mention that because I want to talk a bit more about the BBC. What is YouTube’s motivation for going into the strategic partnership that you have entered with the BBC?”

“I congratulate my hon. Friend on his well-deserved elevation to ministerial office. Even though digital ID will make it easier for people to access public services and engage with public bodies, there is still an awful lot of disinformation, and frankly conspiracy theories, out there trying to undermine the case for it…”

“T4. The Government deal with a huge number of arm’s length public bodies of variable value and success. What progress are Ministers making on tackling the number and effectiveness of arm’s length public bodies?”