House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 17 Dec 1998 (pt 19)

Publications

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how he plans to take forward policy on the legal deposit of publications following the report of the working group chaired by Sir Anthony Kenny. [64743]

Mr. Chris Smith: I am arranging for the working group's report to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament and published on both my Department's web site and that of the British Library.

The report recommends that there should be a single national published archive of non-print material. It proposes that a code of practice for voluntary deposit of electronic publications should be drawn up, but suggests that, in the longer term, only statutory deposit can secure a comprehensive national published archive.

The report proposes that the following should be deposited with the national published archive:

CD-roms to be deposited in a single copy only after 12 UK sales. The group has put forward alternative options for access:

accessibility on a stand alone basis at a single site (the preference of the publishers); or

dissemination among the legal deposit libraries using a secure ring fenced network (the preference of the libraries).

Microforms to be deposited in a single copy only after six UK sales.

For British films, a mint print to be deposited, plus a negative or equivalent after three years; for other films released in the UK, a best copy; for British videos, a mint condition duplicate; for other videos, a new condition reference copy.

For sound recordings, two copies to be deposited.

It concludes that it would not be feasible to include on-line publications and databases, although it suggests that provision be made to bring them into a statutory system in the future, subject to full consideration and consultation in each case.

For print publications, the report recommends that while the six existing legal deposit libraries be retained, in the light of the increasing move towards devolution and regional Government, more work should be done to reduce the number of copies claimed by the libraries, especially in the area of local magazines and periodicals. I regard this as important.

On the issue of improved access to deposited material in Northern Ireland, the report suggests that if an acceptable way can be found to allow secure networking of deposited electronic material, an access point in Northern Ireland could be included in a secure network.

Because the Government believe it is important to plug the growing gap in the national published archive, I have asked Sir Anthony Kenny to draw up, through a group of technical experts from the legal deposit libraries and

17 Dec 1998 : Column: 682

publishers, detailed guidelines for a voluntary code of practice. I have asked Sir Anthony to examine the scope for this to include a basis for the secure ring-fenced networking of CD-roms between the deposit libraries in a way that will satisfy the publishers that there would be no undue risk for licence holders.

However, I agree with the report's conclusion that a voluntary code will not be viable in the longer term and I believe the report makes a convincing case for moving towards legislation for the legal deposit of non-print publications on the basis of minimum burden on publishers and minimum loss of sales. It will be necessary to do further work on definitions and the impact on business and I have asked Sir Anthony Kenny to take this forward through the medium of the technical group of library and publishing experts. Once that is done, we shall move towards legislation.

Ministerial Visits

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many official visits (a) he and (b) the Ministers in his Department, have made to Buckinghamshire since 2 May 1997; and if he will list them. [64130]

Mr. Chris Smith: I have made no official visits to Buckinghamshire within that period. My hon. Friend the Minister for Sport visited Milton Keynes on 29 May 1998.

Departmental Staff

Mr. Robert Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people in his Department are currently on secondment from private companies; and if he will list them, their companies and their current responsibilities within Government. [62820]

Mr. Chris Smith: There are currently no staff on secondment from private companies within my Department. However, Bob Cotton will join DCMS on secondment from Gardner Merchant in January as my adviser on the Tourism industry.

English Sports Council

Mrs. Golding: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects to announce the appointment of the English Sports Council. [63265]

Mr. Banks: We advertised the posts of Chair and new Members of the English Sports Council in the summer. We received a large number of applications and we will announce the names of those who are to be appointed as soon as we have finished the selection process.

St. Kilda

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what date he intends to reply to the letters sent to him by Greenpeace on 15 July, 1 September and 30 October asking him to take action to protect St. Kilda World Heritage Site from the threat of offshore oil development. [64290]

Mr. Battle: I have been asked to reply.

I have replied to the Greenpeace letters.

17 Dec 1998 : Column: 683

SCOTLAND

Departmental Groups

Mr. Robert Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list (a) the (i) task forces, (ii) review panels and (iii) advisory groups his Department has, (b) the remit of each and (c) the members of each together with their principal employment and their level of remuneration. [62808]

Mr. Dewar [holding answer 14 December 1998]: A list of task forces, review panels and advisory groups follows. My Department does not hold centrally the information requested for these bodies and it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Task Forces

Action Group on Standards in Scottish Schools

Best Value Task Force

Borders Working Party

Coronary Heart Disease Task Force

Council Tax Collection Working Group

Higher Still Implementation Group

Higher Still Liaison Group

Inter Agency Forum on Female Offenders in Scotland

New Deal Advisory Task Force For Scotland

Prestwick Task Force

Protection Order Task Force