Speeches by Peacock.

“It is having that forward look at what opportunities are coming up. It is having that regular and embedded ongoing engagement across Government. I have not formalised the roundtable that I talked about in January that I intend on convening in June, but I am very willing to do so as we look to publish the strategy. The …”

“I think we started that with the convening work I have done across Government in the past few months; indeed, I will do it again before recess. There are some specific examples the Department can point to where we have worked with other Departments. For example, Minister McDougall from the Business Department attended …”

“A stronger, clearer vision, which I have set the scene for, and clearly, better co-ordination so that, for the organisations that you have put to me today, whether it be F1 or others, we can do a better job at communicating and having a clear front door into Government so that it is easier and simpler to do business wi…”

“The Committee heard some evidence on this, and there are some good examples of where events have been exported. In terms of the practical ongoing support, there will be official-level engagement. Jonathan, do you want to share some examples of that?”

“I was really struck by the evidence that he gave. I listened to that session that the Committee held. He talked through the history of them, how they emerged from Hillsborough, particularly around football, and the acknowledgment that there is benefit for all major events. Clearly, it is a concern that, over the last j…”

“I reiterate the point that I opened with. Major events are about our self-confidence as a nation. They are about showcasing the country on the global stage. All the different examples that we have talked about, whether it be F1 or Wimbledon, and whether it be the ones that we are hosting such as the Euros or the Tour d…”

“That is a completely fair point. When you talk about touring and music, and moving equipment, Minister Murray leads on that. I met with him ahead of this Committee. I will put the points to him that you put to me. We engage across Government and we engage on an ongoing basis with the EU, which is led by the Cabinet Off…”

“I will have to write to the Committee on that point.”

“It is the points that you heard from a number of different witnesses. We host the events, we do that really well and there is a vote of confidence that we have such an exciting pipeline of events, but clearly we could go further and make more of those benefits. Particularly when it comes to the legacy of Euro 2028, I m…”

“We speak regularly to the Business Department. I have pointed out that Minister McDougall has been engaged in a lot of ongoing discussions.”

“I do appreciate that there are pressures on the sector. I am not familiar with those figures. I have engaged with the tourism sector a lot in the six months that I have been the Tourism Minister. I appreciate the cumulative pressures on the sector. I heard that at first hand. Talking of cross-Government working, I have…”

“I met with Mayor Kim McGuinness last week. I have met with mayors, and when I have been out and about doing visits I regularly meet my counterparts, often on a very practical level but also to talk about shared opportunities. When I attended the Olympics and Paralympics, there was a Sports Ministers meeting. We will ho…”

“We probably need to keep that under review. I pointed to the pilot taking place in London. There is that balance between giving power to local areas and letting them do it in the best way that suits them, which can sometimes lead to some doing it better than others. It is an area where I am very keen to see how it roll…”

“I totally take that point. I say it from the outset that I very much acknowledge it, as does the Secretary of State. We were both in attendance at the Grand Prix last summer. I was at the Motorsport Awards in January and I have met with F1 about the points that you have put to me. As well as the Committee visiting, I b…”

“It is all the things that you have heard—that we can be greater.”

“The answer is no, and that is a challenge and somewhere we need to improve. That is why we want to do some of this work with the Cabinet Office and DBT. There are lots of figures around there. It is not a settled figure. We need to make sure that we have that. That is a fair point.”

“We would all agree with that. Of course, there were mistakes made and lessons need to be learned, and that is really important, but as I said just now, they are inherently a good thing. I discuss the issue across Government. I have spoken to the Home Office about it, and we have agreed very clearly that following those…”

“I hope I am not mischaracterising the theme of the evidence that the witnesses gave, but I think it was broadly welcomed, and that has been my experience when talking to the sector. The basic aim behind it was to remove barriers at all different levels. Through that taskforce, the Government accepted the recommendation…”

“I think the simple answer is yes. I want to respond to the point about one-off events. I completely acknowledge the huge contribution they make, whether it be F1, Wimbledon or much smaller grassroots ones. I want to say very clearly that we do value them. If there is more that we can do in giving ongoing support, parti…”

“There is a fair point that you have heard from a number of witnesses about the fact that we are world-leading in what we do but we could do more and better if we really engaged with the golden thread and had this UK-wide strategy, a clear vision and better co-ordination. There are some examples of where we are doing a …”