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National Lottery

Dr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when the figures for the distribution of national lottery grants will be made available on a constituency or local authority basis. [32046]

Mr. Sproat: We estimate that constituency and local authority based information will be available by early July.

Mr. William Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will list each of the grants made by each of the lottery boards for projects in Northamptonshire. [32239]

Mr. Sproat: There have been 32 awards to date, totalling £4.4 million, made to projects in Northamptonshire. The full list is as follows:

Body	Announced	Recipient	Location	Amount
				£
Arts	21 September 1995	Moulton Players	Northampton	60,000.00
Arts	24 May 1995	Northamptonshire County Council	Northamptonshire	7,500.00
MC	11 September 1995	Countryside Access for All	Northamptonshire	736,000.00
NHMF	14 February 1996	English Heritage: Pool Farm	Malvern Hills	300,000.00
NHMF	20 December 1995	St. Andrews and All Saints Church	Northampton	19,000.00
NLCB	19 December 1995	Hartville Playgroup	Ashton	500.00
NLCB	19 December 1995	Teamwork Woodbridge	Corby	230,000.00
NLCB	19 December 1995	Rural Support Group	Harksome Hill	2,195.00
NLCB	20 November 1995	Northampton Active Group	Northampton	5,000.00
NLCB	20 November 1995	Northampton Unwaged Training Resource and Advice Centre	Northampton	57,591.00
NLCB	20 November 1995	Northampton Womens Aid	Northampton	52,488.00
NLCB	19 December 1995	Be Positive, Northampton	Northampton	90,000.00
NLCB	19 December 1995	Northampton and District CAB	Northampton	24,354.00
NLCB	19 December 1995	Northampton Physically Handicapped and Able-Bodied	Northampton	28,600.00
NLCB	19 December 1995	Northampton Youth Counselling and Information Service	Northampton	56,300.00
NLCB	19 December 1995	Council On Addiction For Northamptonshire	Northamptonshire	242,000.00
NLCB	19 December 1995	Northamptonshire Victims Support Scheme	Northamptonshire	28,820.00
Sports	11 March 1996	Bringtons and Nobottle Cricket Club	Northampton	2,500.00
Sports	3 April 1996	Harpole Bowls Club	Northampton	27,650.00
Sports	13 May 1996	Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs	Northampton	714,825.00
Sports	4 May 1995	Kislingbury Bowls Club	Northamptonshire	42,500.00
Sports	4 May 1995	Moulton Football Club	Northamptonshire	35,067.00
Sports	4 May 1995	Western Favell Upper School	Northamptonshire	505,000.00
Sports	4 May 1995	Potterspury Sports and Social Club	Northamptonshire	23,300.00
Sports	5 July 1995	Bugbrook Playing Fields Association	Northamptonshire	205,000.00
Sports	5 July 1995	Daventry District Council	Northamptonshire	614,000.00
Sports	9 August 1995	Long Buckley Community Centre	Northamptonshire	7,200.00
Sports	8 November 1995	Scaldwell Sports Club	Northamptonshire	9,871.00
Sports	6 December 1995	Brackley Tennis Club	Northamptonshire	91,000.00
Sports	10 January 1996	Nether Heyford PC	Northamptonshire	52,000.00
Sports	10 January 1996	Northampton Sailing Club	Northamptonshire	35,000.00
Sports	10 January 1996	Wellingborough Rugby Football Club	Northamptonshire	131,690.00

11 Jun 1996 : Column: 97

Millennium Exhibition

Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage in what circumstances she would reconsider the national exhibition centre in Birmingham for the millennium exhibition. [32501]

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: The Selection of the site for the millennium exhibition is a matter for the Millennium Commission. I have no independent role in this matter as Secretary of State.

11 Jun 1996 : Column: 98

Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will meet officials of the NEC in Birmingham to discuss their proposed plans to hold the millennium exhibition there. [32500]

Mrs. Bottomley: The selection of site for the millennium exhibition is a matter for the Millennium Commission. As chairman of the commission, I met representatives of the NEC together with other commissioners on 3 April.

SCOTLAND

Cairngorm Funicular Railway

Mr. Galbraith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the (i) economic viability and (ii) likely passenger numbers in respect of the proposed funicular railway on Cairngorm; if he will list the costs to his Department of the research and indicate if it is in the public domain. [31300]

Mr. Kynoch: None. Questions regarding the economic viability of the proposed funicular railway on Cairngorm, including the related issue of the likely passenger numbers, are essentially matters for the applicant to address in consultation with those organisations from whom it is seeking funding.

Mr. Galbraith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to receive from the Cairngorms Partnership Board its proposed management strategy for the area; if he has requested proposals to conserve the montane zone; and what assessment he has made of the main threats to the successful conservation of this zone. [31304]

Mr. Kynoch: When my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Scotland established the Cairngorms Partnership last year he asked it to produce within 12 months a draft management strategy for the area including, as a priority, proposals for the conservation of the montane zone. I understand that the Cairngorms Partnership Board will shortly issue for consultation a draft management strategy which will include a section dealing specifically with the montane zone.

Mr. Galbraith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received from the Cairngorms Partnership Board concerning the proposed construction of a funicular railway on Cairngorm; and if he will make a statement. [31302]

Mr. Kynoch: My right hon. Friend has received two letters from the Cairngorm Partnership Board. The chief executive wrote on 4 July 1995 asking that he issue a direction requiring the planning authority to notify the application to him if they were minded to grant consent.

A further letter, dated 13 February 1996 was received from the board's chairman, Mr. David Laird, in which he advised my right hon. Friend of how the partnership viewed the way matters were developing.

Mr. Galbraith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 29 April, Official Report, column 375, what is the predicted cost per job (a) created and (b) retained in the application by

11 Jun 1996 : Column: 99

Highlands and Islands Enterprise to incur expenditure on the proposed funicular railway on Cairngorm, currently being considered; and how these costs per job compare with the average in the highlands and islands area. [31340]

Mr. Kynoch: The overall cost per job of the proposed Highlands and Islands Enterprise assistance as recorded in the request for the approval of my right hon. Friend is £7,616. Such a figure is comparable with that for similar large capital-intensive projects to which Highlands and Islands Enterprise has contributed.

Mr. Galbraith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer of 29 April, Official Report, column 375, if the application by Highlands and Islands Enterprise to incur expenditure on the proposed funicular railway on Cairngorm takes account of the redundancies recently announced by the chairlift company. [31339]

Mr. Kynoch: The request for the approval of my right hon. Friend of the proposed financial contribution by Highlands and Islands Enterprise to the funicular railway project takes account of a range of factors, including the employment consequences, which in its view justify its proposed assistance to the project. No decision has yet been taken on the request.

Mr. Galbraith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what research has been commissioned by (a) his office and (b) the Highlands and Islands Enterprise, to compare the value for money of grant aid to the proposed Cairngorm funicular railway with grants to other options for modernising the skiing facilities. [31303]

Mr. Kynoch: No research into such matters has been commissioned by the Scottish Office. The research commissioned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise is an operational matter for that organisation and I have asked the chairman of its board to write to the hon. Member.

Planning Applications

Mr. Galbraith: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland in what circumstances he requires notification of planning applications where a planning authority is minded to grant permission that would constitute a departure from an approved structure plan. [31301]

Mr. Kynoch: Under the current planning legislation, it is entirely a matter for the authority to determine what constitutes a significant departure from the structure plan thus requiring an application to be notified to my right hon. Friend.

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