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Disabled Athletes (Lottery Funding)
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the national centres for disabled athletes which (a) have received Lottery funding and (b) are receiving grant-in-aid. [79434]
Mr. Banks [holding answer 30 March 1999]: The English Sports Council are currently considering an application for Lottery funding from the British Wheelchair Sports Foundation to support the redevelopment of facilities at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
The five National Sports Centres operated by the English Sports Council at Bisham Abbey, Crystal Palace, Holme Pierrepont, Lilleshall and Plas Y Brenin provide services for people with disabilities, including suitable accommodation. None of the Centres receives Lottery funding at present but they are all in receipt of exchequer grant-in-aid for both revenue running costs and capital maintenance costs.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations, and from whom, he has received calling for Lottery funding for the British Wheelchair Sports Foundation at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. [79435]
Mr. Banks
[holding answer 30 March 1999]: Ministers in this Department have received no such representations. However, the English Sports Council, distributors in England of the Lottery Sports Fund, have been in discussion with the British Wheelchair Sports Foundation and agreed that an application for Lottery funding should be made.
The British Wheelchair Sports Foundation have also been invited to take the development of the Stoke Mandeville site forward as part of a Southern Consortium Network site in the English Network of the UK Sports Institute. The Lottery application and UK Sports Institute development are currently being assessed.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will advise English Heritage that when an application is made for spot listing of a church or other place of religious worship it will suggest to the applicant that an application should first be made for a Building Preservation Notice to enable the owners of the building to enter into dialogue with English Heritage before a final decision is made. [78742]
Mr. Alan Howarth
[holding answer 31 March 1999]: Applications for listing buildings of special architectural or historic interest are made to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, who must consult English Heritage before he reaches a decision. A local planning authority may serve a Building Preservation Notice (BPN) where it considers that a building is of special architectural or
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historic interest and is under threat of demolition or alteration. When my right hon. Friend decides not to list a building which is the subject of a BPN, the local authority is liable to the payment of compensation for any loss or damage directly attributable to the effect of the notice. Local planning authorities tend therefore to serve BPNs only in exceptional circumstances and I do not believe that an extension of their use in the manner suggested would be appropriate.
Mr. McNamara:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list for each of the past 10 years and the current year the number of buildings listed, the spot listings and Building Preservation Notices issued by his Department for buildings for religious worship or former religious worship, indicating how many spot listings became Grade II or starred buildings. [78741]
Mr. Alan Howarth
[holding answer 31 March 1999]: The Department's records do not indicate whether buildings for religious worship which are listed are still in use. Details of listings in respect of such buildings are as follows:
| Year | Grade II | Grade II* | Grade 1 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 172 | 6 | 3 | 181 |
| 1990 | 80 | 3 | -- | 83 |
| 1991 | 65 | 3 | -- | 68 |
| 1992 | 74 | 4 | -- | 78 |
| 1993 | 127 | 8 | 1 | 136 |
| 1994 | 159 | 4 | -- | 163 |
| 1995 | 119 | 3 | -- | 122 |
| 1996 | 77 | 6 | -- | 83 |
| 1997 | 59 | 1 | -- | 60 |
| 1998 | 119 | 7 | -- | 126 |
| 1999 up to 24 March 1999 | 22 | 2 | -- | 24 |
Building Preservation Notices are served by local planning authorities; the Department's records do not indicate which of these received were in respect of buildings for religious worship.
Lobbyists
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will publish a list, including names and dates, of all meetings that (a) he, (b) his officials, (c) his advisers and (d) his PPS have held during (i) 1997, (ii) 1998 and (iii) 1999 with people who work for political lobbying firms or for businesses that are members of the Public Relations Consultants Association. [79653]
Mr. Chris Smith:
Ministers and civil servants meet many people as part of the process of policy development and analysis. All such contracts are conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code, the Civil Service Code and Guidance for Civil Servants: Contacts with Lobbyists. Some of these discussions take place on a confidential basis, and in order to preserve confidentiality, it is not the normal practice of Governments to release details of specific meetings with private individuals or companies. The requirements of the Ministerial Code also apply to Parliamentary Private Secretaries when attending any meetings in an official or semi-official capacity.
13 Apr 1999 : Column: 89
Mr. Truswell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what environmental appraisals of policy his Department has (a) completed, (b) started and (c) planned. [79633]
Mr. Chris Smith:
The available information is currently being collected by each Department to meet the Environmental Audit Committee's request for information on environmental appraisals as part of its second inquiry into the Greening Government Initiative.
Mr. Berry:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans his Department has to introduce an independent monitoring process for television subtitling for deaf and hard of hearing people across all forms of television broadcasting, including cable and satellite. [80081]
Janet Anderson:
None at present. The Independent Television Commission requires all Channel 3 licensees, Channel 4 and Channel 5 to provide information on provision of subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing to ensure that licence requirements are being met. There is no similar licence requirement on cable and satellite broadcasters. We will be taking into account their proposals to consider further how we might encourage the cable and satellite broadcasters to improve on a voluntary basis the current provision of subtitling on their services and if they can be independently monitored.
Dr. Tony Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will estimate the cost of providing half-price television licences for all pensioners over the age of (a) 70, (b) 75 and (c) 80 years. [80269]
Janet Anderson:
The estimated cost of providing half-price television licences for households where all members have reached the ages indicated would be:
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the blind person's television licence discount was last uprated; and how its value in real terms has changed since that uprating. [80394]
Janet Anderson:
The reduction in the television licence fee for blind people dates back to the time of radio licences, when registered blind people were entitled to a free radio licence or an equivalent reduction in the television licence fee. The reduction has remained unchanged at £1.25, the level of the radio licence on its abolition in April 1971. If the reduction had been increased in line with the All Items Retail Prices Index, it would now be £10.17.
Mr. Spring:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of the money allocated by the National Lottery to Sport England is unspent. [79202]
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Mr. Banks:
As at 28 February 1999, Sport England had received total income from the National Lottery of £1,116 million, of which £484 million (43 per cent.) had been spent. In addition, it had outstanding contractual liabilities of £518 million (which includes £103 million paid to the English National Stadium project during March) and had made further policy commitments totalling £271 million. Its total commitments therefore exceeded its income by £157 million, but because some of these commitments will not become due for some time, it will be able to meet them all.
Mr. Spring:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what amount of interest has been generated from unallocated Lottery money by English Sport. [79201]
Mr. Banks:
As at 28 February 1999, Sport England's share of interest on the National Lottery Distribution Fund was a total of £106,546,142. It is not possible to identify separately how much of this is attributable to funds which were unallocated at any particular time.
(a) 70 years--£125 million
(b) 75 years--£83 million
(c) 80 years--£43 million.
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