The Old Bakery, the Cornish Bank, Princess Pavilion. In Truro and Falmouth we're blessed with a number of crucial small venues that are vital for the cultural ecosystem of Cornwall; they foster new talent and bring bands from outside the duchy down to us, and it is essential that they are supported. However, like all other endeavours, creative endeavours require financial backing, and that funding should not be piecemeal and only urban, but must be integrated into the wider industrial strategy, and form part of a long-term regional art strategy that reaches all the way to places like Cornwall.

This was one of the points I made last week during a debate on the creative industries in the House of Commons. There are large gaps in local authority and national funding for arts and culture and other funding, such as the shared prosperity fund, is no longer being used to plug those gaps. One way of solving this is the introduction of a venue levy, as I spoke on during the debate.

We recently learned more about the introduction of such a voluntary levy. The scheme would essentially ask larger, arena-sized and more profitable venues to contribute part of their takings to smaller less profitable music venues, such as those mentioned above. I have previously raised concerns in the commons about the uptake of such a scheme to the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, Chris Bryant MP, and while he was hopeful that we will have a voluntary scheme up and running he did not rule out making such a scheme mandatory. That's great news for our much-loved venues.

It's no secret that in Cornwall we have a thriving creative art scene. Art is all around us, from shanties to new local bands, to world-leading art galleries and theatres. We also know that creative hubs revitalise regions. The growth of the Hall for Cornwall, for example, has attracted would-be actors and writers from all over Cornwall who want to get involved in the creative arts but do not often have the opportunity. People come to Cornwall for the arts.

But art is also borderless and I agree with Chris Bryant when he says that "music is an important part of the UK’s soft power around the world"—who's to say that a young musician performing today at the Cornish Bank won't be headlining Glastonbury in 2027? We want our musicians and performers and artists to have global success and that artistic, creative journey begins at the grassroots.

Expression is such an important part of who we are as people. We need to invest in it in our homes and our communities. A levy to support small music venues is a fair and creative solution. It's one my whole-heartedly support. The scheme could be in place as early as next year.

Jayne Kirkham

Labour MP for Truro and Falmouth