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Sports Equipment
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) if he will make grants available to Rugby League clubs for renewing and replacing equipment; [105089]
- (2) if he will make grants available to cricket clubs for renewing and replacing cricket equipment. [105088]
Kate Hoey: Under the Millennium Festival Awards for All scheme, grants are already available to, among other things, provide opportunities for all clubs, including cricket and rugby league, to purchase new equipment. This scheme was introduced specifically to ensure that the widest possible range of projects benefit from the National Lottery.
Sport (Centres of Excellence)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will establish a centre of excellence for Rugby League and Rugby Union in the North West. [105101]
Kate Hoey: Sport England is currently in discussions with the governing bodies of Rugby League and Rugby Union about their requirements for developing performance to the highest level. Whatever is developed will be linked in to the services and facilities provided by the United Kingdom Sports Institute.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the centres of excellence for sport in England. [105107]
Kate Hoey: The United Kingdom Sports Institute in England will have 10 National Network Centres. These will be at Bath University, Bedford, Bisham Abbey, Crystal Palace, Gateshead, Holme Pierrepont/Loughborough, Lilleshall, Manchester, Southampton University, and Sheffield. Each will be supported by regional sites of expertise, ensuring best practice is harnessed for the benefit of athletes and coaches through a consortium approach. In October 1999, Sports England confirmed up to £120 million of Lottery funds towards project costs of £175 million to support the English element of the United Kingdom Sports Institute.
Cricket
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what support his Department provides to local cricket clubs to encourage wider participation in the game. [105087]
Kate Hoey:
Exchequer funding for cricket, via Sport England, is supporting development officers who are working to increase participation in the game, focusing particularly on junior players. Cricket is also benefiting from BT Top Sport delivered by the Youth Sports Trust and Sport England which is aimed at encouraging young
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people to participate in sport. In addition, local cricket clubs can apply for funding under the Millennium Festival Awards for All scheme whereby applicants must demonstrate, among other things, that they intend to use the funding to encourage wider participation at a local level.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to extend access to theatres for people living in rural areas. [105042]
Mr. Alan Howarth:
The Arts Council of England aims to increase access to theatres for people living in rural areas by continuing to fund the touring activities of our arts organisations. Significantly, the Arts Council will be announcing later this year details of the National Touring Programme, a new Lottery scheme. This Programme, which has initially been allocated £10 million over two years, will fund new and existing touring by supporting the distribution of work from across a broad range of arts disciplines and scales to audiences throughout England.
In addition, the New Audiences Fund is supporting over 100 projects with an annual budget of £5 million. The projects supported include those which aim to deliver more arts events and activities to more people throughout the country, primarily by extending existing 'tours' to increase their geographical reach and by exploring new methods and means of distribution. A selection of projects will also promote broader access by addressing practical barriers to attendance in rural areas, including transport.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the permissions granted, giving dates and organisations involved, for demonstrations to take place in each of the Royal Parks since 1 May 1997. [104650]
Mr. Alan Howarth
[holding answer 13 January 2000]: Responsibility for the subject of this question has been delegated to the Royal Parks Agency under its Chief Executive, David Welch. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
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Concessionary Television Licences
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he plans to respond to the review of concessionary television licences carried out by the Davies Panel. [104604]
Janet Anderson [holding answer 13 January 2000]: I intend to announce the Government's conclusions on all the Davies panel's recommendations shortly.
Nautical Archaeology
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action he is taking following the letters to him of 15 December 1999 from Valerie Fenwick, and of 17 December from Angela Groome, to update the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 and to provide resources for nautical archaeology. [104511]
Mr. Alan Howarth [holding answer 13 January 2000]: It is Government policy, as announced following our Departmental Spending Review, to grant English Heritage powers in respect of underwater archaeology. This will allow access to English Heritage grant funds currently unavailable to underwater archaeology projects. Expansion of English Heritage's remit in this way will require legislative changes, and we will continue to seek an early legislative opportunity for this purpose.
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