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Choirs
3. Mr. Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what support is available for choirs from (a) her Department and (b) the national lottery. [33660]
The Minister of State, Department of National Heritage (Mr. Iain Sproat): My Department's funding for the arts in England--including choirs--is channelled through the Arts Council of England and the regional arts boards. Choirs are eligible to apply for lottery funding. So far, 13 awards totalling £373,000 have been made by the Arts Councils of England and Wales.
Mr. Hain: My colleagues are inciting me to sing this question, but I shall resist the temptation. Is the Minister aware that Welsh choirs play an important role in their local communities and do a great deal of important charitable work? Neath is a centre of excellence for male-voice choirs and the Minister would be welcome to attend any of their performances and would be given a warm Welsh welcome. May I invite him to Cor Cochion Caerdydd's performance next Wednesday in the Jubilee Room? The fact that it is translated as the Welsh "Reds Choir" may mean that he will find himself otherwise engaged.
Mr. Sproat: I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind invitation. I know from our previous discussion of the close interest that he takes in the half a dozen choirs in the Neath area. The fact that the Arts Council of Wales has made some eight lottery awards to choirs shows how much it values them. Indeed, the whole country does. There are now some 100 male-voice choirs in Wales, of which it is encouraging to know that some two thirds have been started in the past 40 years.
Sir Roger Sims: I suspect, Madam Speaker, that you would rule me out of order if I were to burst into song. Does my hon. Friend accept that thousands of people throughout the country in all walks of life derive great pleasure from singing with choral societies, as I do with the Royal Choral Society? Does he recognise that, although choirs can attract audiences sufficient to meet their costs for carol concerts and performances such as the Messiah, it is much more difficult for them to put on many other wonderful choral works unless they have financial assistance from the sources that he mentioned?
Mr. Sproat: Yes. My hon. Friend is right about the great popularity of choirs. Some 250,000 people regularly sing in choirs. On my hon. Friend's wish to give choirs more money, there are the lottery boards that I have already mentioned--five in England and eight in Wales--and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will shortly publish a document on the arts, which will make funds to amateur organisations that we wish to support even more easily come by.
Mr. Barry Jones: Does the Minister know that St. John's methodist chapel, Connah's Quay, has a very good choir, and that it is mixed to boot? Does he know how I might obtain £100,000 for the chapel, which needs to be modernised and refurbished? Will he receive a deputation, or advise how that amount of money can be obtained from the lottery?
Mr. Sproat: Yes. I remember the wonderful introduction that the hon. Gentleman gave me to the Liverpool Philharmonic a couple of years ago. If he can do as well with that chapel, I should be glad to meet any deputation that he cares to bring to me.
Tourism
4. Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what steps her Department is taking to promote tourism in the Isle of Thanet. [33661]
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: I welcomed the opportunity to visit the Isle of Thanet to reopen the Dreamland amusement park at Margate. This development is an excellent example of public and private sector partnership working to revitalise seaside resorts.
Mr. Gale: The people of Margate were extremely grateful that my right hon. Friend found time to give up a Sunday to open the new Dreamland complex. As she is aware, new Dreamland--unlike new Labour--is a stunning reality. She has also seen the need for more investment in Margate seafront to reinstate Margate as one of the country's premier family seaside resorts. Today a submission has been made for the regeneration of Margate sea front, both to my right hon. Friend and the national heritage memorial fund. I appreciate that she cannot write a cheque this afternoon, but will she ensure that the submission gets sympathetic consideration?
Mrs. Bottomley: My hon. Friend knows full well that I am a great believer in the British seaside holiday--[Interruption.] It is vital to the tourism industry which is, of course, denigrated by Labour Members, who are reckless in their attitude to the employment implications of the tourism industry. About 50 per cent. of the tourism spend in the domestic market is on seaside holidays, so the jeers and denigration of the Labour party bode ill for people in the seaside holiday industry. I will certainly give encouragement and cheers to my hon. Friend's approach of seeking further investment in a wonderful seaside town, which he represents so admirably.
Mr. Tony Banks: I hope that the Secretary of State will do all that she can to encourage tourism in Thanet and I hope that the English tourist board will do the same because it is important. How is it, then, that Mr. David
Quarmby, whom the right hon. Lady has just appointed as chairman of the English tourist board and the British Tourist Authority, will work only three days a week--one and a half days on each board--for which he will get £54,000 a year? Could this be the same Mr. David Quarmby who got £900,000 from Sainsbury following the management reshuffle when he quit? I do not know what he will be able to do for tourism; no doubt he could take us on a guided tour around some interesting bank accounts.
Mrs. Bottomley: New Labour never ceases to carp about the Government. New Labour so hates success and so hates profit that it would turn over the national lottery because it so despises the phenomenal success of Camelot. New Labour resents the fact that we have a chairman of the British Tourist Authority and of the English tourist board who is a person of authority and distinction, and who will lead the industry, which is likely to be responsible for 40 per cent. of new jobs, amounting to 1 million, in the next 10 years. Labour is interested only in the politics of envy, of misery and of denigration. Once again, that bodes ill for the tourism industry, but the industry knows that it is safe with this Government.
Tourism
5. Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what proposals she has to encourage tourism in London. [33662]
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: I want to improve the promotion overseas of London as a world city and as the gateway to Britain. This year, we have provided an additional £1.5 million for the "Focus London" campaign.
Mr. Marshall: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the way in which London helped to host Euro 96 demonstrates that it is a first-class tourist city and underlines the strength of Britain's case for hosting the world cup in 2006? Does she also agree that the case for London has been weakened by the irresponsible action of unions on London underground who seem oblivious to the hardship they cause and the jobs that they put at risk?
Mrs. Bottomley: I welcome the opportunity warmly to commend all those involved in Euro 96. It has been a phenomenal success and Britain has regained its reputation for being able to host world sporting events. I most certainly hope that that may lead to the World cup and many other international events coming here. I commend all those who participated, the arts events, the tourism industry and the security arrangements. Euro 96 has been a great source of joy and pleasure to many, and especially to all those who support football.
How right my hon. Friend is to condemn the dispute on the London underground. How typical it is that the Labour party cannot bring itself to condemn that action. Some 250,000 people come to Britain to have the opportunity to see Britain being prosperous and successful. For that experience to be marred by industrial disputes, as we had in the old days when the Labour party was in control, is shameful.
Mr. Ashton:
Is the Minister aware that we agree with what she said about Euro 96? It was a great success. However, is she aware that in the other 50 weeks of the year, what puts people off London is the flea-bitten, rat-trap hotels around King's Cross, Victoria, Paddington and other places? One of the problems is that the country has no statutory grading of small hotels or minimum standards such as many other countries have. As long as the right hon. Lady leaves the matter to the free-market economy--most of the cheaper hotels have gone over to providing accommodation for the homeless--she will display massive neglect in terms of doing something about health and hygiene standards, and prices, at small hotels in London.
Mrs. Bottomley:
The hon. Gentleman is right to focus on the importance of value for money and good standards in hotels in London in particular, and across the country. That is why so much work has gone into the preparation of the crown scheme in collaboration with the motoring industry's validation system. Work is also under way to encourage planning permission for hotels, particularly in London, and it is important that local authorities grant those permissions. A welcome number of new hotels have started in London and there has been a great deal more investment, but I am pleased to have Labour's support in driving up standards in the hotel sector. The excellent Mr. David Quarmby is certainly making that a priority as he takes on his new responsibilities.
Mr. Jacques Arnold:
Would not tourism in London be encouraged if far greater use were made of the River Thames, not only by tourists visiting London, but in future, by tourists visiting the millennium site in Greenwich and, above all, the historic town of Gravesend?
Mrs. Bottomley:
The opportunity for tourists to visit not only the centre of London, which is the gateway to Britain, but other parts of the country, including Gravesend, will undoubtedly be most welcome. However, I must take the opportunity to focus our minds on the phenomenal investment on the banks of Thames as a result of the national lottery. They include the developments at Bankside, the £50 million new Tate gallery, the Globe theatre, the Maritime hall at the Maritime museum and many other projects. There is now an unprecedented level of investment in London's cultural infrastructure.
Dr. John Cunningham:
For the record, let me remind the Secretary of State that we welcome the appointment of Mr. David Quarmby to the British Tourist Authority and English tourist board. She was quite wrong to suggest otherwise. Is she aware that, far from feeling safe in the Government's hands, the tourism industry feels ignored and neglected by her Department? As she has complimented the Football Association on the success of Euro 96, may I join her in extending those compliments and plaudits on behalf of the Opposition? Can we take it that the Government will support the FA's intention to bid for the world cup soccer championships to be held in London? Will the Government support that bid?
Mrs. Bottomley:
Undoubtedly, the Government will support that in every possible way. There have been most constructive and productive relationships in respect of
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