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Boundary Commission
Ms Rosie Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Boundary Commission for England intends to start the next general review of constituencies in England. [111226]
Mr. Straw: The Commission has given notice of its intention to commence a general review forthwith. It is required to report between April 2003 and April 2007.
Departmental Expenditure Limit
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has for changes to the 1999-2000 Departmental Expenditure Limits and running costs limits within his responsibility. [111227]
Mr. Straw: Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, the Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL), which covers Class IV Vote 1 (Home Office administration, police, probation, immigration and other services, England and Wales) and Vote 2 (Prisons, England and Wales), will be decreased by £71,496,000 from £7,763,444,000 to £7,691,948,000. The running cost limit will be decreased by £1,141,000 from £2,137,953,000 to £2,136,812,000. A separate running cost limit of £163,000 has been established for expenditure on Welfare to Work.
The changes are the net effect of the following transfers: £60,000 to the Department of Health (Class II Vote 2) towards the cost of the Teenage Pregnancy Implementation Unit; £500,000 to the Department of Health (Class II Vote 2) for the publicity campaign costs on teenage pregnancy; £200,000 from the Lord Chancellor's Department (Class V Vote 1), £93,000 from the Crown Prosecution Service (Class V Vote 4) in relation to contributions towards the costs of the Integrated Business and Information Systems Unit; £1,000,000 from the Department for Education and Employment (Class I Vote 1) and £1,500,000 from the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Class III Vote 1) in support of the Youth Inclusion Programme; £411,000 from the Welsh Assembly (Class XIV Vote 1) to support Closed Circuit Television projects in Wales; £20,000 to the Department of Health (Class II Vote 2) for the development of a handbook for drug service commissioners; £25,000 from the Cabinet Office (Class XVII Vote 1) in relation to the transfer of posts from the security facilities division; £600,000 to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Class VII Vote 1) as contribution towards two overseas drug prevention projects; £9,612,000 from the DEL Reserve in respect of costs arising from the Kosovan humanitarian evacuation programmes; £176,000,000 from the DEL Reserve in respect of asylum support costs; £3,980,000 to the Scottish Executive for asylum seekers support arrangements; £233,000 to the Northern Ireland Office (Class XV Vote 1) in respect of legal services provided to the Northern Ireland Office; £56,000 from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Class VII Vote 1) to cover the short-term attachment of the former Director of Operations (North) to the South African
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Department of Correctional Services; £45,000,000 from the DEL Reserve to fund the payment of special grant to local authorities for Kosovan evacuees. In addition, £300,000,000 in the DEL for asylum support costs has been reclassified as Annually Managed Expenditure.
The decrease in the department's running costs limit is the net effect of the following transfers: £60,000 to the Department of Health towards the costs of the Teenage Pregnancy Implementation Unit; £200,000 from the Lord Chancellor's Department and £93,000 from the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to contributions towards the costs of the Integrated Business and Information Systems Unit; £25,000 from the Cabinet Office in relation to the transfer of posts from the security facilities division; £8,500,000 from the DEL Reserve in respect of asylum support costs; £233,000 to the Northern Ireland Office in respect of legal services provided to the Northern Ireland Office; £56,000 from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to cover the short term attachment of the former Director of Operations (North) to the South African Department of Correctional Services; £6,000,000 from the Prison Service's running costs to fund the issue of long term loans to the Forensic Science Service; £3,722,000 from the Departmental Unallocated Provision (running costs element) to other current expenditure to fund the purchase of DNA services from the Forensic Science Service.
These changes will be offset by transfers or a charge on the Reserve and will not, therefore, add to the planned total of public expenditure.
Dr. Harris:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to her answer of 21 December 1999, Official Report, column 573W, what restrictions were placed on contractors carrying out research projects funded by her Department in 1999 in respect of them discussing their findings with journalists (a) before and (b) after publication. [108195]
Mr. Ian McCartney:
All research contracts placed using Cabinet Office standard terms and conditions of contract include the requirement for departmental consent to be granted prior to the disclosure of any information to journalists, both before and after publication. A copy of the standard Cabinet Office terms and conditions, which include the relevant conditions, has been placed in the Library.
Subtitling
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if it is his policy to ensure parity of subtitling across BBC1 and BBC2 and the new BBC digital channels before analogue switch-off. [106972]
Janet Anderson
[holding answer 26 January 2000]: The provision of subtitling on BBC services is a matter for the BBC Governors and their policy is at least to match the targets set for any other broadcaster.
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I understand from the BBC that they have concentrated on subtitling their most popular analogue services and this has inevitably led to a disparity between BBC1 and BBC2. As a result, 63 per cent. of BBC1 is currently subtitled and 53 per cent. of BBC2. On digital services, 60 per cent. of output on digital BBC1 and BBC2 and 30 per cent. on BBC Choice is subtitled. The BBC has recently increased its targets for its new digital channels to 50 per cent. of subtitling within five years and 100 per cent. within ten years.
Mr. Pendry:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on the future role of Exercise England in setting standards and regulations. [110088]
Kate Hoey:
I understand that Exercise England is currently in the hands of the liquidator. Sport England is now looking to safeguard standards by buying out Exercise England's register of members and the rights to its standards and regulations database. Sport England is also considering which organisation would be most suitable to take on this responsibility in future.
Mr. Caton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what Remploy products his Department has purchased in the last three years. [109937]
Mr. Chris Smith:
My Department has no records of purchasing any Remploy products in the last three financial years.
Mr. Paul Marsden:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what was the average amount of National Lottery grant awarded (a) per region and (b) per parliamentary constituency in each year since 1995; and if he will make a statement. [109923]
Kate Hoey:
The tables show the average amount of National Lottery grant awarded (a) by English region and (b) by UK parliamentary constituency in each year since 1995. These figures have been taken from the National Lottery Awards database which has been compiled using information supplied by the lottery distributing bodies. The tables exclude lottery awards not attributed by the distributing bodies to a particular constituency or region. The constituency or regional information relates to the address to which the lottery award was sent.
| Year | Average amount of grant awarded per English region |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 108,548,057 |
| 1996 | 185,166,968 |
| 1997 | 267,196,685 |
| 1998 | 139,391,778 |
| 1999 | 102,335,368 |
| 2000(5) | 5,224,042 |
(5) Correct to 11 February 2000
17 Feb 2000 : Column: 627W
| Year | Average amount of grant awarded per parliamentary constituency |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 1,480,532 |
| 1996 | 2,529,394 |
| 1997 | 3,647,867 |
| 1998 | 1,902,230 |
| 1999 | 1,387,355 |
| 2000(6) | 69,723 |
(6) Correct to 11 February 2000
Welsh and Gaelic Language Television
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations he has received on broadcasting Welsh and Gaelic language television programmes throughout the United Kingdom; and what proposals his Department has in this area. [110285]
Janet Anderson: My Department does not keep a separate record of such representations. S4C has already made its Welsh programmes more widely available on its digital satellite platforms while, in relation to Scottish Gaelic broadcasting, a task force established by the Scottish Executive is currently considering future provision; my Department is keeping in touch with its work.
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