By Simon Hughes - Hopefully all the partners involved in supporting the BVEP will have been heartened to see the recent news announcing the new APPG line up. Once again the partnership has been able to deliver tangible results for the industry as a whole, supporting an actively engaged group of MPs to make our voice heard. So far, so good. Yet as with most things this is just the beginning of the story and it will be up to all of us to push forward on this positive development and maximise the value of this conduit into the mother of Parliaments.
The context right now makes this call to action even more urgent. We are just a few weeks away from the announcement of the next comprehensive spending review and although the Chancellor is claiming that so far it’s going well, there are plenty of ashen faced civil servants staggering around Whitehall wondering just how they are going to cope and if indeed they’ll have a job this time next year. Some departments have already coughed up to set a good example yet, apart from the protected departments, there are some big spending beasts out there facing really challenging choices.
We’ve had five years of reductions and cuts but still require a significant step change to achieve the fiscal targets required in order to balance the books and reduce the deficit on the agreed timeline. The low level rumbling in the jungle has already started, with private briefings and off the record remarks making the political journalists drool in anticipation of a stand up fight breaking out sometime soon. The c-word is being used constantly – as in cuts of course – yet if you allow your thinking to be shaped entirely by cost savings, stringent efficiencies and radical reductions your view of the world becomes much more limited and restrained.
There is no doubt that all of the hard working MPs that have signed up from across the political spectrum to support the APPG for Events will be dealing with the fallout of the spending review on a daily basis. In their constituency surgeries they will be faced with constant stories of hardship, deprivation and distress caused by fundamental changes to the welfare system, growing demands on the NHS and the social care system, challenges around education. Real people with real problems. Well, we’re in that mix too and it is incumbent on all of us to make sure that they also get to hear the good news stories that we can share from our unique perspective of working in a vibrant, multi-faceted and creative business sector that offers positive and rewarding opportunities for growth, development and success.
So how do we do this? We use the power of our industry and bring to life the benefits of face to face communication with our local MPs. Give them a break from the constant demands of difficult case work and tough questions. Invite them in to see for themselves the business you run, to meet the people you employ and to learn more about the positive benefits you bring to their constituency in terms of employment, training opportunities and economic impact. I know of a couple of event agencies that have done this and it has always been a positive experience. Tell them about the APPG if they are not already a member and give them something positive to focus on. So here’s my final question – will you make the time to do this? Do let us know.
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