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National Lottery

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many grant applications to the National Lottery have been received from organisations within the Mitcham and Morden constituency; and how many have been successful. [107946]

Kate Hoey: The following table shows the number of applications and awards for each of the National Lottery distributing bodies to organisations in the Mitcham and Morden constituency, based on information provided by the National Lottery distributing bodies. The figure for applications received includes applications that have not yet been processed.

Distributing body	Number of applications received	Number of awards made
Arts Council of England	6	4
Heritage Lottery Fund	6	1
Film Council	0	0
Millennium Commission	Not known	2
National Lottery Charities Board	115	27
New Opportunities Fund	1	0
Sport England	4	1
UK Sport	0	0

Sport England

Mr. Faber: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brent, North (Mr. Gardiner), of 24 January

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2000, Official Report, column 87W, on what date the Football Association proposed that £20 million be returned to Sport England; what form this proposal took; and where the proposal was made. [107296]

Kate Hoey [holding answer 28 January 2000]: An informal proposal was made by David Richards, Chairman of the FA Premier League on 16 December 1999 in the margins of a meeting at No. 10 to discuss the proposed Football Foundation. This was relayed to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State by DCMS officials and followed up by more formal discussions between my Department and the Football Association. These concluded with the meeting between my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and Mr. Ken Bates on 22 December 1999 at which it was agreed that £20 million would be returned over the next five years, with best endeavours to repay the money more quickly if possible. The precise details of the repayment are matters for Sport England and the Football Association.

Irish Culture

Mr. McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action his Department is taking to promote Irish (a) culture, (b) arts and (c) sports in Britain. [107587]

Mr. Chris Smith: It is my Department's job to promote all cultural and sporting activities in the UK. Irish culture is just one of the many diverse cultures that are promoted by, for example, the Arts Council of England and the Regional Arts Boards. My Department is also in close touch with its counterpart in Dublin on a number of issues. Gaelic games such as football, hurling and camogie are all recognised by Sport England and are eligible for lottery funding. Recently St. Albans' Irish Association received a grant of £51,617 towards improving their facilities to benefit Gaelic football.

Playing Fields

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had with the Department for Education and Employment about increasing the provision of sports playing fields available to schools. [108132]

Kate Hoey: My right hon. Friend and I are in regular contact with ministerial colleagues in the Department for Education and Employment on a wide range of issues of mutual interest including the important issue of increasing the provision of playing fields available to schools.

Athletics

Mr. Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations he has received on the level of public subsidy required if Britain hosts the International Amateur Athletics Federation World Championships in 2005. [108073]

Kate Hoey: The Chief Executive of Manchester City Council has written to my officials enclosing a copy of a paper written by a firm of Canadian consultants dated 23 January 2000, which suggests that the net event costs of staging the World Athletics Championships would be

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in the region of £15 million. UK Athletics have in principle agreement from Sport England of £15 million Lottery funding towards event costs for the 2005 World Athletics Championships and this is the figure included in the UK Athletics outline bid submitted to the International Amateur Athletics Federation on 31 January 2000.

Mr. Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the necessary additional spending required by his Department in order for Britain to host the International Amateur Athletics Federation World Championship in 2005. [108074]

Kate Hoey: Following the decision to remove athletics from Wembley, my Department is now co-ordinating urgent work between the Government Office for London, Sport England, UK Sport, UK Athletics and the British Olympic Association on further developing the bid for the 2005 World Athletics Championships which takes account of a possible future Olympic bid, including the level of public or Lottery funding that may be required.

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World Class Programme

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement about funding the World Class Programme from National Lottery funds. [107967]

Kate Hoey: To date approximately £90 million of National Lottery funds has been committed by Sport England and UK Sport to over 40 sporting activities, helping over 2,200 elite athletes under the World Class Programme.

School Sports

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many schools in the Government's action zones have received National Lottery funds to develop sporting opportunities. [107969]

Kate Hoey: Five schools located within the recently announced Sport Action Zones have received National Lottery awards from Sport England. The details are as follows:

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School	Local authority	Amount awarded (£)	Scheme
Newquay Tretherras School	Restormel	136,073	Artificial hockey pitch
Fowey Community School	Restormel	1,190,339	Sport and leisure complex
Callington School and Community College	Caradon	75,000	Phase 11 of college sports facilities project
Liskeard School and Community College	Caradon	259,624	Artificial hockey pitch
Cape Cornwall Community	Penwith	578,473	Sports hall and car park

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A further six schools located in areas where Sport Action Zones have been set up have also received awards. However, in these areas the boundaries of the

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Zones have not been finalised and some of those schools may not be in the eventually designated Zone. Details are as follows:

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School	Local authority	Amount awarded (£)	Scheme
Rossington High School Boat Club	Doncaster	18,640	Purchase of boats
Thomas Rotherham College	Rotherham	491,941	Construction of new sports hall
St. Bernard's RC School	Rotherham	13,800	All weather cricket pitch and practice nets
Small Heath GM School	Birmingham	1,605,083	All weather playing surfaces
Arthur Terry School	Birmingham	732,965	Sports hall refurbishment
Baverstock Grant Maintained School	Birmingham	14,124	Table tennis development project to include disabled people

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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Lebanon

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent talks he has had with the Israeli Government concerning the withdrawal of Israeli troops from South Lebanon. [108065]

Mr. Hain: We have regular high-level contact with the Israeli Government. We discuss all aspects of the peace process. The Government support the implementation of UNSCR 425. There is now a real prospect of Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon. It is the responsibility of all those involved to ensure that any Israeli withdrawal is orderly and carried out within a framework that ensures stability.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has

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made concerning the welfare of the Christian population of South Lebanon in the event of an Israeli withdrawal from the region. [108064]

Mr. Hain: Stability will be crucial to ensuring that the rights of all communities in Lebanon are safeguarded. It is the responsibility of all those involved to ensure that any Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon is orderly and carried out within a framework which ensures stability.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his international colleagues concerning (a) the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and (b) the protection of a Christian enclave until that has occurred. [108063]

Mr. Hain: I discuss the Middle East Peace Process regularly with EU and other colleagues. The Government support United Nations Security Council Resolutions 520 and 425. We look forward to the Lebanese Government's

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full exercise of its authority throughout the country. We monitor the human rights situation in Lebanon, as in the rest of the Middle East and elsewhere.

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