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CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Millennium Compliance
Mr. David Atkinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement of progress on the millennium readiness of his Department's computer systems, and those for which it is responsible in
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the provision of public services; if contingency plans are in place; and what slippage has occurred since the July Quarterly report to the House. [93569]
Mr. Chris Smith:
All DCMS computer systems have been tested and are now millennium ready. My Department provides no public services via any computer systems for which it is directly responsible. A millennium contingency plan has now been completed and will be tested shortly.
No slippage occurred following the July statement to the House. My Department's Year 2000 programme was completed at the end of July 1999. We will though continue to monitor the position until the end of the year.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in each year since the establishment of English Heritage, how much (a) his Department and its predecessors, (b) English Heritage, (c) other departments and (d) other agencies have spent on (i) public consultations, (ii) conferences, (iii) public exhibitions, (iv) public relations, design and other consultancy fees and (v) legal fees in connection with (1) the Stonehenge World Heritage Site, (2) proposals for a new visitors centre and (3) proposals for roads in the vicinity. [94153]
Mr. Alan Howarth:
Prior to 1990-91, English Heritage incurred no expenditure in respect of Stonehenge beyond that arising from its normal day-to-day responsibilities. Between 1990-91 and 1997-98, English Heritage spent some £3.7 million in relation to proposals for a new visitor centre and for improving the setting of the monument. However, the total expenditure cannot at this stage be readily apportioned to specific aspects of the project. From 1 April 1998 to date, English Heritage expenditure has been as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Stonehenge World Heritage Site Management Plan | |
| Public consultation | 47,678 |
| Public relations, design and other consultancy fees | 58,803 |
| Proposed new visitor centre | |
| Public exhibitions | 24,304 |
| Public relations, design and other consultancy fees | 48,966 |
| Legal fees | 96,237 |
Prior to 1 April 1996, the only expenditure by the Highways Agency that can be attributed solely to the Stonehenge element of the A303/Amesbury--Berwick Down scheme relates to a public consultation exhibition in 1993 costing £32,000 and a conference and exhibition in 1994 costing £78,000. Since then, they have spent £794,945 on the design of the Stonehenge part of the scheme. In addition to this, they mounted a public exhibition earlier this year (1999) at a cost of £48,000.
My Department, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and their predecessor Departments have not incurred any directly attributable costs in connection with Stonehenge. It is not possible meaningfully to apportion the cost of official time spent in respect of consultations and correspondence.
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Mr. Evans:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the levels of spending on (a) library services and (b) leisure services per head of the population in each county of England in each year since 1995-96. [94314]
Mr. Cash:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the levels of spending on (a) library services and (b) leisure services per head of population in (i) Staffordshire and (ii) each other county of England (1) in the current year and (2) in each of the last three years. [94017]
Mr. Alan Howarth:
The requested information is set out in the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy's annual publications "Public Library Statistics" and "Leisure and Recreation Statistics", which can be consulted in the House Library.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement about the (a) financial situation at the Royal Armouries Museum, (b) public funds made available to the museum and (c) the future of the museum and its management. [94381]
Mr. Alan Howarth:
Following the restructuring of the PFI arrangement at the end of July which enabled the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds to remain fully open, DCMS Ministers are keeping the financial situation under close scrutiny. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made an additional £1 million per annum available to the Royal Armouries, a 25 per cent. increase in its grant support. The additional grant support is conditional on improvements in management and efficiency which are essential to the future well-being of the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds.
Mrs. Organ:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on provision for performing arts for young people. [94428]
Mr. Alan Howarth:
Ensuring all children have access to the arts and to quality arts education opportunities are key departmental priorities. We are working closely with the Department for Education and Employment, the Arts Council of England and other partners on a range of policies to deliver this.
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the level of airport tax on the tourism industry in the United Kingdom. [94160]
Janet Anderson:
My Department has made no systematic assessment of the impact of Air Passenger Duty (APD). APD was introduced in November 1994, and there were 20.8 million overseas visits to the UK in 1994. In 1998, there were almost 26 million overseas visits to the UK.
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I am, however, aware of the travel and tourism industry's concerns about the APD and have passed these on to ministerial colleagues in the Treasury.
Mr. David Atkinson:
To ask the President of the Council if she will make a statement of progress on the millennium readiness of her Department's computer systems, and those for which it is responsible in the provision of public services; if contingency plans are in place; and what slippage has occurred since the July quarterly report to the House. [93575]
Mrs. Beckett:
The Privy Council Office (PCO) computer systems are part of the Cabinet Office network, which is millennium compliant. These systems are encompassed in the Cabinet Office returns.
PCO's own computer and other electronic hardware have been tested and are compliant. PCO has recently relocated to new premises, which have also been tested and are compliant. There has been no slippage in PCO's millennium bug programme.
PCO does not provide services to the general public.
PCO is in the process of finalising its business continuity plan and millennium operating regime and will be bound by the targets I set other Departments and Agencies of having robust and tested plans in place by the end of October.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the President of the Council if she will list (a) the reports published by her Department and its associated bodies, (b) the reports received from bodies set up by her Department, (c) the decisions her Department has taken and (d) events in the UK and elsewhere, since 27 July, which satisfied the criteria she uses for deciding whether to apply to make oral statements to the House when the House is sitting. [93981]
Mrs. Beckett:
Paragraph 27 of the Ministerial Code makes it clear that when Parliament is in session, Ministers will want to bear in mind the desire of Parliament that the most important announcements of Government policy should be made, in the first instance, in Parliament. This is considered in the light of other parliamentary business under consideration in the same week. It is therefore not possible to say with certainty whether any particular decision would be announced in an oral statement even when the House is sitting.
During Parliamentary recesses, the business of Government continues and outside events often require ministerial decisions which cannot await the end of recess. Many of the significant reports published and decisions made during the recess will come before Parliament in other ways--such as the annual reports of agencies or statutory instruments--and are laid on the day the House returns. A full list of these will appear in the Votes and Proceedings for Tuesday 19 October.
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