My Lords, I thank all members of the Committee for their consideration of the regulations today and their incredibly warm and enthusiastic welcome—I am not sure whether it was a gold or diamond medal performance, or many medals—for the Games in general and the regulations in particular. I will try to address the many points raised by your Lordships and, if I run out of time, I will of course write.
The noble Lords, Lord Hunt and Lord Bassam, both asked about progress on the implementation of the Games and funding, particularly in relation to Birmingham City Council. I am pleased to confirm that, despite an extraordinarily difficult period with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Games remain on time and on budget. There has been a constant dialogue between the Government and the city council on all aspects of the Games, including the budget, and the Government have full visibility of all the financial plans.
I must apologise to the noble Lord, Lord Bassam; the connection was slightly coming in and out, so I did not catch exactly his question on the athletes’ village in Perry Barr. The decision to move away from a single athletes’ village was obviously made as a result of the impact of the pandemic. The Perry Barr regeneration scheme is bringing more than 1,400 new homes to this part of the city and will still be delivered as planned by Birmingham City Council. We believe we have an excellent solution which will provide the 6,500 athletes and team officials coming to the Games with best-in-class facilities at three sites: the University of Birmingham, the NEC and the University of Warwick.
The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, and my noble friend Lord Moynihan talked about the importance of there being an ongoing legacy of physical activity and well-being. That portion of the legacy programme rests with my department, the DCMS, and is a real priority. Our focus is to use the momentum of the Games to tackle some of the stubborn inequalities which noble Lords referred to, and which the noble Lord,
Lord McNally, linked to levels of crime. We will tackle those inequalities, focus on underrepresented groups and promote wider well-being across the region. As the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, set out so clearly, inactivity is a particularly acute problem in the West Midlands, which is classified by Sport England as the least active region in England. We have been working very closely with Sport England and it is bringing to the table £4 million to address this legacy.
The noble Lords, Lord Hunt and Lord McNally—I gather that Jack Grealish is known as the “McNally” of the English team, so the feeling is mutual—raised issues of accessibility, including the signage at Birmingham New Street. I remember sending the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, a photograph of the signage when I was in Birmingham New Street station during the passage of the Bill, having been to visit the works at Sandwell to build the aquatics centre, so I share his pain about the signage. More seriously, the organising committee is committed to delivering a highly accessible and inclusive Games. Your Lordships may be aware that there is an accessibility advisory forum, which includes representatives from the disabled community across the region, to make sure that we can deliver on this commitment.
The noble Lord, Lord Bilimoria, spoke about the opportunity and the challenge presented by the Games. I think the Government would absolutely agree with him about the importance of a positive legacy for local communities. He listed some of the major economic benefits, both for Birmingham and the West Midlands and the wider UK. We also see this as a huge opportunity for local and regional suppliers to makes sure that they can really benefit from some of the expenditure that is going into the Games.
The noble Lord, Lord Bhatia, asked about tourism. An investment of £21.3 million for a business and tourism programme has been secured, which will help to ensure that the city, the region and the nation can take advantage of the economic opportunities that hosting the Games will provide. An additional £2.6 million of funding has been provided from the West Midlands Combined Authority.
The noble Lord, Lord Bassam, and my noble friend Lord Moynihan raised concerns about the impact on local authorities’ resources and their capacity to fulfil the role given to them in these regulations. Local authorities are working very closely with the organising committee to make sure they have the necessary plans and resources in place so that they can enforce these measures if needed. We are working with all partners within my department on the development of the advertising and trading provisions and the approach to enforcement to take resource pressures into consideration but, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, we expect claims for compensation to be minimal.
On the wider issues of ticket touting, raised by the noble Lord, Lord Bassam, and my noble friend Lord Moynihan, we are absolutely committed to cracking down on unacceptable behaviour in the ticketing market and making sure that people can buy a ticket at a reasonable price. We have strengthened the law on ticketing information requirements and introduced a criminal offence of using automated software to buy more tickets online than is allowed.
We are also working with the enforcement agencies in this area to make sure that these measures are effective.
I thank my noble friend Lord Moynihan for his very generous comments about the sustainability plans for the Games. We debated them at length, rightly, during the passage of the Bill and I am delighted that he, the noble Lord, Lord Bilimoria, and others recognise the work that has gone into this.
The noble Lord, Lord McNally, asked about sponsorship. The Government have made it clear that sporting bodies and events organisers must consider their wider responsibilities to fans and the wider community when entering into commercial arrangements. In the case of Birmingham 2022, any such arrangements should support the vision and mission of the Games. We will continue to work closely with the organising committee and the Commonwealth Games Federation to support that.
The noble Lord, Lord Bassam, asked me to confirm that the Government support the cultural events that accompany the Games and see their value. I have great pleasure in absolutely confirming that.
To close, I reiterate the procedural but important nature of these regulations, which are yet another milestone in the preparation for delivery of the Games next year. If your Lordships have any further questions about the progress being made to deliver the Games, I know that the officials in my department and the Games organising committee would be very happy to discuss them. With that, I commend these regulations to the Committee.