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Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 20 November 1992, Official Report, columns 406-7.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the timetable of his proposals in respect of the privatisation of the Driving Standards Agency.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 20 November 1992, Official Report, columns 406-7.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the timetable of his proposals in respect of the privatisation of the Surveyors General Organisation.
Mr. Norris : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Mr. Bowis) on 10 November 1992, Official Report, column 675. The Surveyors General Organisation is not being privatised. A consultation document on the scope for increased private sector participation in respect of that part of its work relating to survey and certification was issued on 14 December 1992 ; the deadline for responses is 12 March 1993.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the timetable of his proposals in respect of the privatisation of the Transport Research Laboratory.
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Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The Transport Research Laboratory became an executive agency in April 1992. At the same time the control of research budgets passed to departmental customers ; TRL now must compete for an increasing proportion of the Department's research business. I keep the future of the agency, as with all parts of my Department, under constant review and any plans for privatisation would, of course, be notified to Parliament and be the subject of consultation with staff.
Mr. Peter Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his policy on the future of the railway line between Portsmouth and London Victoria via the south coast, Barham and Gatwick airport.
Mr. Freeman : It is our intention to franchise, in due course, the operation of all passenger services currently run by British Rail. The franchising director will base the initial franchises on the timetable operated by British Rail prior to franchising. Subsidy will be available for all socially necessary services.
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the privatisation of British Rail on the residents of Northolt, Perivale, Greenford, Hanwell and Ealing.
Mr. Norris : We expect that the privatisation of BR will lead to an improvement in the quality of all rail services.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will postpone his Department's public inquiry into the Port of Bristol Harbour Revision Order until the House has debated and reached a decision on the recommendations in the First report of the Trade and Industry Committee on energy policy and the market for coal.
Mr. Norris : I refer to my written reply to the hon. Member for Coventry, North-West (Mr. Robinson) on 14 January 1993, at column 816.
Mr. Waterson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessments he has made of the arrangements for preventing a casualty such as the Braer, or mitigating the effects of such a casualty, off the south coast of England.
Mr. Norris [holding answer 14 January 1993] : The Secretary of State for Transport announced in his statement to the House of 11 January, Official Report, columns 609-10, an inquiry under the chairmanship of Lord Donaldson to advise on whether any further measures are appropriate and feasible to protect the United Kingdom coastline from pollution from merchant shipping.
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Mr. Tyler : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what steps his Department has taken to implement the recommendations of "Tourism in the UK : Realising the Potential", as it applies to his Department's responsibilities ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : Most of the action points in "Tourism in the UK : Realising the Potential" which come under the remit of my Department have been taken forward, in most cases via the statutory tourist board.
The British Tourist Authority held a successful conference in October last year to encourage foreign language training in the tourism industry ; the British Tourist Authority, the English tourist board--ETB--and the regional tourist boards are working to promote training opportunities within the industry ; my Department's proposal for an initiative to disseminate information on facilities for tourists with disabilities was incorporated in the European Community tourism action plan ; in November last year we hosted, with the English tourist board, an international Tourism and the Environment conference with speakers and delegates from the United Kingdom and other EC member states ; together with the Department of the Environment--DoE--we have commissioned research into the feasibility of obtaining better information on the numbers of day visitors, to assist the calculation of standard spending assessments ; we collaborated with the Department of the Environment on the production of the planning policy guidance note on tourism development ; the English tourist board will launch Industrial Heritage Year in February ; industry leaders have had the chance to comment on the JICTOURS working group's report, and a more permanent user forum is being established.
My Department continues to work with other Departments to take forward issues under their control which were mentioned in "Tourism in the UK" and which affect the tourism industry.
Ms. Rachel Squire : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when he intends to meet the chairman of the British Tourist Authority to discuss the future of tourism in Great Britain.
Mr. Key : My right hon. Friend and I have regular meetings with the chairman of the British Tourist Authority. I expect to discuss the authority's corporate plan with the chairman when it is submitted in the spring.
Mr. Alan Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list the cost per visitor for each museum and gallery in receipt of funding deriving from his Department.
Mr. Key : The estimated cost per visitor is as follows, taken to one decimal place for figures for the grant-in-aid and number of visitors :
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|Grant-in-aid |No. of visitors |Cost per visitor |(financial year |(1992) |1992-93) |£ million |million |£ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- British Museum |32.4 |6.7 |4.84 Natural History |28.9 |1.6 |18.1 Museum Imperial War Museum |11.0 |1.1 |10.0 National Gallery |17.9 |4.3 |4.20 National Maritime |11.6 |0.5 |23.20 Museum National Museums and |13.4 |1.2 |11.20 Galleries on Merseyside National Portrait |5.6 |0.8 |7.00 Gallery Science Museum |22.4 |2.6 |8.62 Tate Gallery |16.6 |2.2 |7.55 Victoria and Albert |30.1 |1.5 |20.07 Museum Wallace Collection |1.9 |0.2 |9.50 Manchester Museum |2.2 |0.3 |7.33 of Science and Industry Museum of London |4.1 |0.3 |13.70 Sir John Soane's |0.6 |0.04 |15.00 Museum Geffrye Museum |0.9 |0.05 |18.00 Horniman Museum |2.6 |0.2 |13.00
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what was the total amount of the entrance fees collected at those royal palaces open to the public for the latest year for which figures are available ; and to what purposes the revenues are applied.
Mr. Key : This is an operational matter for the Historic Royal Palaces agency which is responsible for managing those royal palaces open to the public. I have therefore asked the chief executive of the agency to reply to the hon. Member and will arrange for his reply to be published in the Official Report.
Letter from David Beeton to Mr. Gordon Prentice, dated 5 February 1993 :
The Minister has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about entrance fees collected at the Royal Palaces. My Agency is responsible for the management of the Historic Royal Palaces.
The Agency's income and expenditure for 1991-92 was :-
|£ million|£ million --------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Expenditure (net of VAT refunds) |- |23.5 Entrance Charge income |10.1 |- Other Business income |5.7 |15.8 Borne by the taxpayer |- |7.7
You may be interested in the enclosed copy of our latest Annual Report and Accounts, which includes full details of our income and expenditure in 1991 -92. Copies of this report may also be found in the House of Commons Library.
The Government has no funding or supervisory responsibility for entrance charges at the occupied Royal Palaces.
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Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list all the market tests that have taken place in his Department since November 1991 ; whether the result was the maintenance of in-house provision or whether the service was contracted out ; what was the name of the successful contractor where appropriate ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : My Department is currently in the process of contracting out a range of central services, including mailroom services, minor maintenance, office cleaning, porterage, reprographics, security, central typing and secretarial cover. No contracts have yet been awarded for these. The Department has awarded a contract to Sema Group Limited for the supply of computer equipment and associated services.
Royal parks division contracted out grounds maintenance work in February 1992. The successful contractors were : Brophy plc, Glendale Industries Limited, Serco plc, Turfsoil Limited and Tyler Environmental Services Limited. The division is currently market testing building agent services and estates management.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many staff in his Department are assigned to the market testing programme ; how much the programme has cost his Department since November 1991 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : A small number of staff in my Department have been assigned to work on the market testing programme amongst their other duties. The total cost of the programme since November 1991 would include staff costs and associated overheads, plus consultancy fees of £541,198. It is not readily possible to separate the cost of the relatively minor staff involvement and overheads to give an overall total.
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list the firms of consultants used by his Department as part of the market testing programme since November 1991 together with the total cost ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Key : Five firms of consultants have been used to advise on areas which are now the responsibility of my Department since November 1991 : PE International have advised on the provision of central services in the Department ; Cluttons, Watts and Partners and Gillhespies have advised my Department's Royal Parks Division ; and Land Use Consultants have advised the Historic Royal Palaces agency. The total cost of consultancies is £541,198. A proportion of this cost would have been met by the Department of the Environment, which was responsible for the royal parks and the Historic Royal Palaces agency until April 1992.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the conclusions of the World Bank report "Sub-Saharan Africa : from Crisis to Sustainable Growth" about
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the amount by which real levels of official aid to Africa need to increase per year through the 1990s ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 8 February 1993] : The World Bank report concludes, on certain assumptions, that to achieve 5 per cent. per annum GDP growth, additional development assistance to Africa needs to grow at 4 per cent. per annum in real terms.
We agree that Africa will require a sustained high level of concessionary external assistance. However, the provision of such assistance will only have lasting impact if it is accompanied by the successful implementation of economic and political reform in individual African countries, enabling domestic resources to be used efficiently and encouraging the private sector.
We aim to maintain a significant level of development assistance for sub- Saharan Africa in the years ahead both bilaterally and through multilateral and EC channels. We have also been prominent among those calling for more generous relief of official debt and we are pleased that 11 African countries have now benefited from Trinidad terms.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of the bilateral and multilateral aid programme spent in Africa has been (a) project aid and (b) programme aid for each year since 1979.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 8 February 1993] : The figures requested are as follows :
Project and programme aid to Africa 1979 to 1991<1> Gross British bilateral aid to Africa Year |Project aid<2>|Programme aid |£ millions |Per cent. |Per cent. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1979 |231 |42.1 |16.8 1980 |257 |35.7 |13.6 1981 |300 |38.6 |10.5 1982 |247 |43.1 |13.4 1983 |237 |42.4 |8.9 1984 |268 |46.9 |6.1 1985 |315 |32.1 |9.2 1986 |285 |31.4 |15.2 1987 |308 |26.6 |17.2 1988 |427 |22.7 |26.2 1989 |514 |27.3 |30.9 1990 |389 |32.3 |13.2 1991 |521 |29.2 |21.2 <1> Data are not readily available on multilateral disbursements by project and programme aid. <2> Project aid also includes disbursement from the Aid and Trade Provision and CDC project expenditure; it does not include Technical Co-operation projects.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of the bilateral aid programme was spent in Africa for each year since 1979 ; and what the amount was in cash terms and in constant terms since 1979.
Mr. Lennox Boyd [holding answer 8 February 1993] : The figures requested are as follows :
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Gross bilateral aid to Africa 1979-91 Year |Cash terms |Constant terms (1991|Percentage of total |prices) |bilateral aid |allocable by |continent |Per cent. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1979 |231 |551 |38.3 1980 |257 |513 |42.3 1981 |300 |538 |40.7 1982 |247 |411 |43.2 1983 |237 |375 |40.6 1984 |268 |405 |40.0 1985 |315 |451 |45.3 1986 |285 |394 |40.5 1987 |308 |406 |49.5 1988 |427 |528 |50.3 1989 |514 |593 |53.8 1990 |389 |417 |46.0 1991 |521 |521 |49.4
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to increase bilateral and multilateral aid to Africa in the next financial year.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 8 February 1993] : Africa remains a priority for the overseas aid programme. Almost half of our bilateral aid is directed to Africa. The precise level of spending varies from year to year and depends upon the progress of individual projects and programmes. We will aim to make available substantial support to poorer countries in Africa with which we have close connections and which are pursuing sound development policies. We take the same view in the multilateral agencies to which we contribute.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of the multilateral aid programme was spent in Africa for each year since 1979.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 8 February 1993] : The information requested is in the table.
United Kingdom share of multilateral aid to Africa 1979 to 1990 |United Kingdom share|Total allocable |Allocable |of multilateral aid |multilateral aid |multilateral aid |to Africa |spent in Africa Year |£ million |£ million |Per cent. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1979 |N/a |N/a |N/a 1980 |116 |242 |48 1981 |147 |316 |46 1982 |173 |371 |47 1983 |189 |429 |44 1984 |227 |479 |47 1985 |232 |432 |54 1986 |233 |462 |50 1987 |239 |478 |50 1988 |301 |587 |51 1989 |334 |615 |54 1990 |366 |626 |58 Notes: 1. The figures given are estimated by the Overseas Development Administration Statistics Department using data provided by the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD on the spending patterns of multilateral agencies, and United Kingdom contributions to multilateral organisations. 2. Estimates were first calculated for 1980 and are not available for 1979. 3. The 1990 figure is a provisional estimate.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the value of contracts won by United Kingdom companies in competition for contracts financed through multilateral aid and how many jobs are created or secured ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 8 February 1993] : Aggregate figures for the value of contracts awarded through multilateral aid agencies, including multilateral development banks, are difficult to estimate because not all agencies compile statistics on contracts awarded by nationality ; and for those which do, there are significant differences in the way data are reported. Because of these limitations, it is not possible to estimate the total value of business secured by United Kingdom firms through multilateral aid agencies. As I told the hon. Member on 26 January, at column 636, our best estimate is that for every £1 we contribute to multilateral agencies, they spend on average £1.40 on British goods and services. This is based on incomplete data averaged over several years. No estimate has been made of the employment impact of such business.
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance has been provided by Her Majesty's Government to provide for displaced persons in Herzegovina ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd [holding answer 8 February 1993] : We have committed over £70.5 million in humanitarian relief to displaced people and other victims of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. £41 million has been committed through the EC. The remaining £29.5 million is in direct bilateral assistance, nearly all of which is focused on Bosnia -Hercegovina where the needs are greatest. This bilateral assistance has been spent on such things as the rehabilitation of buildings to provide accommodation for 20,000 displaced people in the Zenica area, the provision of 43 trucks and support staff to deliver relief goods, and the restoration of electricity supplies.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will set out the current primary and secondary performance measures for (a) the Warren Springs Laboratory Agency, (b) the National Engineering Laboratory Agency, (c) the Laboratory of the Government Chemist Agency and (d) the National Physical Laboratory Agency ; and what steps are taken to keep the measures under review.
Mr. Leigh : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given on 13 January 1993, Official Report, column 739 in respect of the Warren Spring Laboratory agency ; the answer given on 15 December 1992, Official Report, columns 144-45 in respect of the Laboratory of the Government Chemist agency ; the answer given on 16 July
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1992, Official Report, column 992 in respect of the National Engineering Laboratory agency ; and the answer given on 3 July 1990 Official Report, columns 499-500 in respect of the National Physical Laboratory agency. All the agencies' targets are reviewed annually, including the National Physical Laboratory agency's longer-term targets, as part of their corporate planning processes.Column 664
Mr. Cousins : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many applications and acceptances for SMART and SPUR grants were made in each region in the first six months of the current financial year ; and what was the value of (a) grants awarded and (b) grants paid.
Mr. Leigh : The number of applications and acceptances, and the grants awarded and paid under the small firms merit award for research and technology--SMART--and support for products under research--SPUR--schemes from 1 April 1992 to 30 September 1992 are as follows :
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SMART (Small Firms Merit Award for Research and Technology) Region/Office |Applications |Acceptances |Grants Awarded|Grants paid |£ million |£ million --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- East |160 |22 |1.02 |0.58 East Midlands |90 |24 |1.16 |0.49 North East |42 |9 |0.38 |0.32 North West |110 |16 |0.68 |0.71 South East |374 |33 |1.45 |1.14 South West |158 |25 |1.18 |0.74 West Midlands |121 |22 |0.96 |0.55 Yorkshire/Humberside |79 |22 |1.03 |0.52 Welsh Office |70 |15 |0.67 |0.55 Scottish Office |111 |18 |0.80 |0.79 Northern Ireland Office |28 |6 |0.24 |0.23 |------- |------- |------- |------- Total |1,343 |212 |9.57 |6.62
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SPUR (Support for Products Under Research) Region/Office |Applications |Acceptances |Grants Awarded|Grants paid |£ million |£ million ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ East |9 |3 |0.18 |0.10 East Midlands |4 |2 |0.08 |0.20 North East |3 |2 |0.09 |0.07 North West |27 |21 |1.86 |0.22 South East |19 |17 |1.80 |0.35 South West |10 |5 |0.20 |0.15 West Midlands |7 |4 |0.31 |0.12 Yorkshire/Humberside |17 |7 |0.46 |0.35 Welsh Office |8 |4 |0.40 |0.08 Scottish Office |5 |5 |0.61 |0.34 |------- |------- |------- |------- Total |109 |70 |5.99 |1.98
Mrs. Lait : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what protection parents have from the excessive use of premium rate phone calls by children responding to magazine competitions.
Mr. Leigh : The Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services--ICSTIS--recognises that children are a vulnerable audience for premium rate telephone services and are not responsible for paying for them. The ICSTIS code of practice therefore contains a number of measures which help to protect children and their parents. No children's service may exceed seven and half minutes in length and all children's services must terminate automatically. Promotional material must feature a clear and prominent statement giving the maximum cost of the call and stressing that the service should only be used with the permission of the bill payer. In addition, any children's
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service which exceeds one minute in length must begin with a statement which urges the caller to seek the permission of the bill payer before using the telephone. There are a number of other conditions in the ICSTIS code relating to games and competition services, including rules on the clarity of the promotional material and the requirement not to exaggerate the chances of winning. In addition to these controls, BT customers served by digital exchanges can request that access to all premium rate services from their line is barred. This "call-barring" is available free of charge and is now available to some 60 per cent. of BT's customers.Dr. Moonie : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what measures will be taken by his Department in order to implement the European directive on rental right and lending right.
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Mr. Leigh : This directive will be implemented by means of a statutory instrument amending the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Member states have until 1 July 1994 to comply with the directive. In view of the complexity of the directive and the options which it makes available to member states, my Department intends to consult widely before finalising the amending legislation. I expect consultations to begin in the next few months.
Dr. Moonie : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what actions and consultation his Department is undertaking with regard to a possible instrument on the protection of the rights of performers and producers of phonograms by the World Intellectual Property Organisation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Leigh : The United Kingdom has been at the forefront in urging the World Intellectual Property Organisation--WIPO--to draw up a new international agreement on the protection of performers' and record producers' rights. WIPO has now begun preparatory work on such an agreement. This is a development of an earlier WIPO initiative on a possible protocol to the Berne convention on authors' rights, on which work is continuing. More than 50 organisations representative of United Kingdom copyright interests have already been consulted on the protocol, and there will be similar consultation on the new instrument when WIPO makes this available in draft form. United Kingdom officials also take part in regular informal discussions on these matters involving the European Commission, the United States, Japan and other major countries.
Dr. Moonie : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list those EC directives related to copyright and intellectual property presently under consideration by his Department ; and if he will list those individuals and organisations who have been consulted with regard to them.
Mr. Leigh : Four draft directives in the intellectual property field are currently under consideration : a proposal for a Council directive on the co-ordination of certain rules concerning copyright and neighbouring rights applicable to satellite broadcasting and cable retransmission ; a proposal for a Council directive harmonising the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights ; a proposal for a Council directive on the legal protection of databases ; and a proposal for a Council directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions. In addition, the Department is considering the implementation into United Kingdom law of two adopted directives--directive 89/104/EEC to approximate the laws of the member states relating to trade marks, and directive 92/100/EEC on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property.
Numerous organisations and individuals have been consulted in connection with these measures. In general, consultation has taken place through bodies representing particular interest groups, where these exist. Organisations consulted in relation to the measures listed above include the following.
Copyright
Arts Council
Association of County Councils
Association of the Electronics Telecommunications and Business Equipment Industries (EEA)
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Association for Geographic InformationAssociation of Independent Radio Companies
Association for Information Management (ASLIB)
Association of Metropolitan Authorities
Association of Photographers
Authors Licensing and Collecting Society
British Academy
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Actors Equity Association
British Broadcasting Corporation
British Computer Society
British Copyright Council
British Film Institute
British Library
British Microcomputer Federation
British Office Technology Manufacturers Alliance
British Photographers Liaison Committee
British Phonographic Industry
British Retail Consortium
British Screen Advisory Council
British Sky Broadcasting
British Telecom
British Videogram Association
Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematographic and Theatre Union Business Equipment and Information Technology Association Business Software Alliance
Cable Television Association
Centre for Commercial Law Studies
Channel Four Television
Cinema Exhibitors Association
Committee of Directors of Polytechnics
Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals of the Universities of the United Kingdom
Common Law Institute of Intellectual Property
Computer Users of Europe
Computing Services Association
Confederation of British Industry
Confederation of Information Communication Industries
Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities
Consumers Association
Copyright Licensing Agency
Council of Polytechnic Librarians
Design and Artists Copyright Society
Direct Marketing Association
Directors and Producers Rights Society
European Information Industry Association
European Information Researchers Network
Federation Against Software Theft
Federation of Local Authority Chief Librarians
Independent Television Association
Independent Television Commission
Institute of Electrical Engineers
International Association of Music Libraries (UK)
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
Law Society
Law Society of Scotland
Library Association
Mechanical Copyright Protection Society
Museums and Galleries Commission
Music Copyright Reform Group
Music Publishers Association
Musicians Union
Music Users Council
National Computer Users Federation
National Council for Education Technology
Newspaper Publishers Association
Newspaper Society
Ordnance Survey
Performing Right Society
Periodical Publishers Association
Phonographic Performance Limited
Post Office
Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television
Public Lending Right Office
Publishers Association
Radio Authority
Royal Society
Scottish Software Federation
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