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Millennium Awards
17. Mr. McNulty: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many communities have received Millennium awards. [72108]
Mr. Chris Smith: Thousands of communities throughout the UK are benefiting from awards from the Millennium Commission. Work is underway on capital projects on over 3,000 sites. Nine hundred and fifty communities across the UK have benefited so far from the awards scheme for individuals and last week I announced over 1,000 celebratory events as part of the Millennium Festival.
BBC (Free Television Licences)
18. Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will assess the benefits of using advertisements as a means to fund free television licences for pensioners as part of the review of future funding of the BBC. [72109]
Janet Anderson:
The current review of the future of the BBC licence fee after 2002 includes a consideration of the structure of the existing concessionary television licence scheme and whether a suitable alternative structure could be available. The independent review panel has invited written submissions on a number of matters, including possible alternative concessionary
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arrangements and how they might be funded. The panel will report to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State by the end of July this year. There will then be a period of public consultation on the panel's recommendations. It would not be right for the Government to preempt the outcome of the review.
19. Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans he has to promote the designation of chess as a sport. [72111]
Mr. Banks:
I am very supportive of chess and have impressed on the Sports Councils the need for them to review their recognition criteria. My Department provides some £49,000 each year to the British Chess Federation (BCF) and I am looking very carefully at the ways in which chess can benefit from additional sources of funding.
21. Mr. Grogan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations he has received regarding the effect on tourism in England and Wales of liberalising the liquor licensing laws. [72113]
Janet Anderson:
We have received a number of representations from organisations and individuals in the tourism, hospitality and leisure industry. These have arisen in correspondence, in the course of meetings I have held with trade organisations, and during visits to industry events. I have also met my hon. Friend the Minister with responsibility for fire and emergency planning, liquor, drugs and local elections to make him aware of the importance of this issue to the tourism industry.
23. Judy Mallaber:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department will take to ensure that growth in tourism is sustainable and does not damage the countryside or built heritage. [72115]
25. Laura Moffatt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department will take to ensure that growth in tourism is sustainable and does not damage the countryside or built heritage. [72117]
Janet Anderson:
The long-term success of our tourism industry depends upon our safeguarding the best of our countryside and built heritage for future generations. The Government's new Tourism Strategy, Tomorrow's Tourism: A growth industry for the new Millennium, places sustainability at its core. It contains specific proposals for action to help tourism move towards a more sustainable future.
24. Mr. Wyatt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of the Sports Council's Lottery grants have been directed to the council's priority areas. [72116]
Mr. Banks:
Since the introduction of the Lottery Sports Fund, over £880 million has been awarded to over 2,700 projects. Of these, over 400 grants have
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been made to areas of identified deprivation, totalling over £240 million. This accounts for 15 per cent. of all awards and 27 per cent. of the total amount awarded.
29. Mr. McWalter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans he has to include exhibits in the millennium experience relating to the brain's capacity to make ethical distinctions. [72121]
Janet Anderson:
As the New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) announced in November 1998, the MIND zone within the Dome will combine art and technology in its exploration of many aspects of the human mind--celebrating the unique creativity of the human brain. In addition, the Body and the Spirit zone will provide an opportunity to explore wider ethical issues.
30. Mr. Gray:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list those who have agreed to sponsor the spirit zone. [72124]
Janet Anderson:
The New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) is in positive discussion with a number of charitable organisations affiliated to major faith groups about support for the Spirit Zone. The company will confirm the involvement of particular organisations at an appropriate stage in those discussions.
31. Mrs. Virginia Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions the New Millennium Experience Company has had with the Royal Naval college, Greenwich, about co-operation during 2000. [72125]
Mr. Chris Smith:
The New Millennium Experience Company's very successful Visitor Centre is located at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich and working relationships between the two organisations are excellent. These include discussions about plans for co-operation during the year 2000.
32. Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the dome is insured for. [72126]
Janet Anderson:
The New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) has a range of insurance cover relevant to different aspects of its legal and other responsibilities--and that includes building insurance. As is normal practice, the maximum sum payable under certain circumstances would enable the Dome to be rebuilt should that be necessary.
Mr. Caplin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress he has made on the establishment of the UK Sports Institute. [74117]
Mr. Chris Smith:
The English Sports Council is announcing today, Monday 1 March, with the Government's support, the United Kingdom Sports Institute's (UKSI's) network of centres around England.
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The English Sports Council is prepared to commit, in principle, up to £100 million of Lottery funding to help British athletes achieve future gold medals.
The provision of Lottery funding for the English network will, of course, remain a matter for the English Sports Council to decide on the basis of a full and proper assessment of suitable applications from the sites that have been identified, in line with the Policy and Financial Directions I have given them, and in line with advice from the UK Sports Council and UK Sports Institute when operational.
The Government are determined to ensure our leading sportsmen and women--now and in the future--have access to the very best sporting facilities and services to enable them to compete successfully against the world's top athletes. We have listened to their needs and concerns. The package announced today will deliver the right blend of local provision and central co-ordination. This is what sports want, it is what competitors want and I am confident we have got it right.
The network centres are central to delivering the UKSI's objectives. They will enable our sportsmen and women to have access to the most modern training facilities and methods in the world, near where they live. Competitors will in future be able to spend more time and energy in improving performance and less on struggling to find and get to the right place to train.
Facilities, expertise, resources and services will be sport specific and delivered where, when and how athletes want them. All sports will be able to make use of the facilities and services. There will be a mix of private and public investment. The public investment will be through Lottery funding. The UKSI will concentrate on the Olympic sports and those minority sports lacking a commercial element.
The UKSI will consist of a Headquarters in Sheffield, already announced, supported by network centres across England in 10 areas of England, as well as centres in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In England these will be at Bath University, Bedford, Bisham Abbey, Crystal Place, Gateshead, Holme Pierrepont/Loughborough, Lilleshall, Manchester, Southampton University and Sheffield. These will be supported by regional sites of expertise; ensuring all best practice is harnessed for the benefit of athletes and coaches through a consortium approach.
The investment of £100 million of Lottery Funds into the network in England brings with it a commitment from the sports in the programme to make use of the services and facilities for a significant amount of time. Therefore the Sports Councils will expect the commitment to the network by the governing bodies of sport to be linked to the Lottery funding they receive through the World Class Performance Plans they produce.
Each of the networks in England, plus those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, will have access to specialist science and medical advice from the UKSI's headquarters in Sheffield. The HQ will also co-ordinate research and other athlete services and training support to ensure that the UK's top athletes, wherever they may live, have access to the very best facilities and services through UKSI, with an emphasis on making the facilities easily
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accessible throughout the country. A separate announcement has already been made in respect of Scotland.
The UKSI's headquarters in Sheffield is also moving forward and announcements will be made at each key stage, as appointments are made and designs finalised.
Today's announcement adds another dimension to the extensive support now being provided to the UK's leading athletes. It will build on the success of the World Class performance programme and the English Sports Council's recent announcement extending this Lottery support to programmes for World Class Start and World Class Potential.
Sporting success brings with it an enormous sense of pride. Pride for the individual competitor; pride for those close to them; and pride for those of us who support the endeavours of British athletes. The UKSI is not a quick fix. It is a long term investment in the future performance of British sportsmen and women.
Work has already been undertaken in full consultation with Performance Directors, coaches, athletes and service providers to develop a menu of 40 UKSI services to be delivered directly to athletes by the network. The list has been further refined to indicate those which would be provided from the HQ and those services which must be provided via each of the network locations.
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