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NATIONAL HERITAGE
D'Oyly Carte
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement about the future funding arrangements for the Gilbert and Sullivan D'Oyly Carte opera company. [13145]
Mr. Sproat: I am pleased to inform the House that the Arts Council of England announced on 23 January a significant new step in its relationship with the D'Oyly Carte company, by offering the company a grant of
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£100,000 immediately, and the opportunity to apply for further funds to mount a national tour. In making the announcement, the Arts Council drew attention to the strong case that had been made for the council to support a touring light opera company, and to the demand for it on the part of audiences throughout the country. I hope that both parties will now be able to build on this, to develop a productive long-term relationship.
Accounts of Exempted Charities
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage to which format the accounts of exempted charities are required to conform in order to comply with the requirements of section 47(2) of the Charities Act 1993. [12860]
Mr. Sproat: Section 46(1) of the Charities Act 1993 requires charity trustees of any exempt charities to keep proper books of account with respect to the charity and, if not required by or under the authority of any other Act, to prepare consecutive statements of account consisting of an income and expenditure account relating to a period of not more than 15 months and a balance sheet relating to the end of that period. The statement of recommended accounting practice accounting by charities, published by the Charity Commission, applies in relation to all charity accounts unless a more specific statement of recommended practice applies. Section 47(3)(d) of the Act provides that the statement of accounts of an exempt charity to be provided on request is the most recently audited, if the accounts are required to be audited, or otherwise the most recently prepared accounts.
National Lottery Outlets
Mrs. Bridget Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many representations she has received from independent newsagents concerning the distribution of national lottery outlets. [12367]
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Mr. Sproat: The Department has received a total of 29 representations from independent newsagents concerning the distribution of national lottery outlets, including 19 accompanied by letters from hon. Members.
Digital Transmissions
Mrs. Ray Michie: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will meet the costs of self-help groups converting their analogue receivers to accept digital transmissions before the introduction of the new BBC digital service; and if she will make a statement. [12544]
Mr. Sproat: Under section 33 of the Broadcasting Act 1996, the Government will consider how long it would be appropriate for television broadcasting services to continue to be provided in analogue form after the new digital terrestrial television services begin to be broadcast. The conversion of analogue self-help installations to the digital format and the basis for that conversion are among the issues which will be considered during the course of that review.
National Lottery Charities Board
Sir Andrew Bowden: To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what amount and what percentage of the total awarded by the National Lottery Charities Board since its inception has been allocated to organisations representing older people and pensioners; and if she will list the recipients and the amounts received. [12992]
Mr. Sproat: The National Lottery Charities Board has so far made 6,925 grants worth £478 million. Of these, 620, 9 per cent. of grants, worth £33.7 million, 7 per cent. of the money, have been to charities and voluntary organisations for projects working specifically with older people and pensioners. The list of awards has been placed in the Libraries of the House. Many other grants will benefit people of all ages, including older people and pensioners.
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EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
Sight and Sound
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she has received the report from the National Council for Vocational Qualifications into the alleged irregularities in the award of qualifications at Sight and Sound, south London; what further investigations are continuing; and if she will make a statement. [13054]
Mr. Paice [holding answer 27 January 1997]: As a police investigation is currently being undertaken in relation to alleged irregularities at Sight and Sound, it would be inappropriate to make a statement about any aspect of these allegations or NCVQ's or other inquiries.
Manufacturing Apprenticeships
Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate she has made of the number of apprenticeships in British manufacturing industry; and if she will make a statement. [12995]
Mr. Paice: In summer 1996, there were around 44,000 people doing apprenticeships in manufacturing industry in Great Britain, according to the labour force survey.
Further Education
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations she has received from further education colleges regarding the funding of the further education sector. [12945]
Mr. Paice: Twenty-one representations have been received between the announcement in the Budget on 26 November 1996 and 27 January 1997.
International Labour Organisation Conference
Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what will be the Government's objectives and priorities for the forthcoming ILO conference in Geneva. [12553]
Mr. Paice: The Government's objective will be to promote UK employment and labour market interests in all conference discussions, and particularly in the
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formulation of possible new international standards on contract work and on job creation in small and medium-sized enterprises.
EU Funding
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful attempts have been made by United Kingdom organisations in the last four years to obtain funds from (i) the EU's promotion of training and mobility of researchers, (ii) Youth for Europe, (iii) Leonardo da Vinci, (iv) Socrates, (v) NOW, (vi) Youthstart, (vii) Integra, (viii) Adapt and (ix) Horizon schemes; and what funds have been allocated to the United Kingdom under each of these schemes. [12339]
Mr. Paice: The information is not available in the exact form requested. The tables set out the information that is available for each scheme. However, full information on projects funded in individual member states by the framework programme, including the training and mobility of researchers programme, is held only by the Commission. Thus, information on the numbers of successful and unsuccessful applications and the precise funds allocated to each member state are not available.
| Year | Successful groups | Successful participants | Unsuccessful groups | Total groups |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | YFE III | |||
| Decentralised Actions | 801 | 11,176 | 40 | 841 |
| Centralised Actions | 48 | Not applicable | 35 | 83 |
| 1996 | YFE III | |||
| Decentralised Actions | 522 | 7,725 | 26 | 548 |
| Centralised Actions | (5)-- | Not applicable | (5)-- | (5)-- |
(5) Interim figures not available at short notice. Funding: Decentralised part of the programme.
1995: 1.273 MECU for youth exchange activities; .158 MECU for youth worker training.
1996: 1.290 MECU for Youth Exchange activities; .174 MECU for youth worker training.
| Programme year | Total applications | Successful projects | Unsuccessful projects | Percentage funded | UK receipts(6) (ECU) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 825 | 219 | 606 | 27 | 15,967,783 |
| 1996 | 667 | 284 | 383 | 43 | 18,784,071 |
| Combined totals | 1,492 | 503 | 989 | 34 | 34,751,854 |
(6) The majority of funds are allocated on the basis of successful projects being approved. A small proportion of the funding is allocated as a block grant.
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| Programme funding | Total applications | Successful projects | (7)in £000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | |||
| Centralised | (8)134 projects | 68 | 2,962 |
| Decentralised | (9)2,429 participants | 1,795 | 1,741 |
| Decentralised | (10)26,933 mobility grants | 11,734 | 7,668 |
| 12,371 | |||
| 1996 | |||
| Centralised | 145 projects | 84 | 4,301 |
| Decentralised | 3,507 participants | 2,824 | (11)4,403 |
| Decentralised | 26,259 mobility grants | (12)-- | 7,447 |
| 16,151 |
SOCRATES projects are transnational and can be divided into centralised and decentralised actions. For decentralised actions the UK is allocated a block sum by formula to distribute amongst UK participants. For centralised actions there is no separate UK allocation, rather the funding for the projects is shared between participant organisations. The figures shown for SOCRATES centralised actions represent the funding made available for transnational projects co-ordinated by UK organisations.
(7) In January 1997 1 ecu = £0.7373.
(8) Includes ERASMUS Thematic Networks, COMENIUS 2 and 3(i), LINGUA actions A and D, Open and Distance Learning, and Adult Education.
(9) Individual participants in LINGUA, ARION and COMENIUS 1 and 3(ii) projects.
(10) Individual student mobility grants under ERASMUS.
(11) 1996 figures still provisional.
(12) Figure not yet available for 1996-97.
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| Programme | Successful projects | Unsuccessful projects | GB budget allocation (ECU) 1990-1994 | GB budget allocation (ECU) 1995-1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HORIZON | 219 | Not Available | 15,670,468 | -- |
| NOW | 96 | Not Available | 5,415,658 | -- |
| ADAPT | 80 | 131 | -- | 313,282,000 |
| EMPLOYMENT | 230 | 400 | -- | -- |
| HORIZON Disability | (66) | Not Available | -- | 44,710,000 |
| HORIZON Disadvantaged/Integra(13) | (14)(33) | Not available | -- | 38,146,000 |
| NOW | (79) | Not Available | -- | 48,781,000 |
| YOUTHSTART | (52) | Not Available | -- | 42,245,000 |
In 1995 the new EMPLOYMENT Community Initiative was launched with HORIZON, NOW strands and a new YOUTHSTART strand. For the first round (1995-1997) there were these three strands with the HORIZON, strand being further divided into Disadvantaged and Disability. For the second round (closing date for applications 11 April 1997) the HORIZON Disadvantage strand has been replaced by INTEGRA.
(13) HORIZON Disadvantaged round 1/INTEGRA round 2.
(14) Round 1 only.
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Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful attempts have been made by his Department in the last four years to obtain funds from the European social fund; and what funds have already been allocated to the United Kingdom under this fund. [12418]
Mr. Paice: The Department obtains funds from the European social fund within the overall allocations for the structural funds agreed in advance with the European Commission. In the years 1993 to 1996, 729 separate payments were received. There has been only one occasion in the last four years when we were not sent the money requested, due to a misunderstanding with the Commission: the sums have since been received.
| 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total: million ecu, 1996 prices | 866 | 795 | 986 | 1,037 |
| £/ecu rates | 1.285 | 1.292 | 1.221 | 1.229 |
| Total: £ million, 1996 prices | 675 | 615 | 808 | 844 |
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