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Millennium Commission (Projects)

Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many projects supported by the Millennium Commission (a) are fully operational, (b) will be operational during the summer and (c) will not be completed by 1 July. [113438]

Janet Anderson: This is a matter for the Millennium Commission. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will reply in his capacity as Chairman of the Commission, and place copies of his reply in the Libraries of the House.

Trafalgar Square (Pedestrianisation)

Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action his Department has taken to identify potential sources of funding for proposals for the partial pedestrianisation of Trafalgar Square. [113445]

Mr. Alan Howarth: The partial pedestrianisation of Trafalgar Square forms part of the wider "World Squares for All" project, for which the new Mayor for London will take over lead responsibility. Substantial financial support

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could come from the Mayor. Additional funding could be sought from the Heritage Lottery Fund and private sector sponsorship.

National Lottery Grants (Tewkesbury)

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will investigate the reasons for the level of National Lottery grants given to organisations in Tewkesbury. [113185]

Kate Hoey [holding answer 6 March 2000]: Tewkesbury has received a lower level of Lottery grants than the UK average. The Government wish to see a more equitable distribution of National Lottery funds across the UK. We have introduced a number of changes through the National Lottery Act 1998 and revised Policy Directions to the distributors which have already begun to improve the geographical spread of funding. My Department, jointly with Lottery distributors, has commissioned research aimed at investigating the reasons for the low take up of Lottery grants in certain areas. While the research concentrates particularly on former coalfield areas, we expect that it will also provide a number of valuable lessons about low take up in other areas, such as Tewkesbury. The first phase of this research has been published and copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House; the second phase will be published shortly.

Free TV Licences

Mr. Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimates he has made of the number of families in the Elmet constituency who will benefit from the introduction of free TV licences for households with a member aged 75 years or over. [113415]

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will estimate for each Scottish and Welsh constituency the number of households which will be entitled to a free TV licence (a) in total and (b) as a percentage of total households. [112841]

Janet Anderson [holding answer 7 March 2000]: I refer my hon. Friend and the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mr. Jones) on 2 March 2000, Official Report, column 350W.

Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimates he has made of the number of new households which will become entitled to a free TV licence in each of the next 15 years. [112842]

Janet Anderson [holding answer 7 March 2000]: We estimate that there are currently over three million households which include a person aged 75 or over and will consequently benefit from the introduction of free television licences for the over-75s. Estimates for future years are not available.

Mr. Swinney: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has had with the Department of Social Security regarding the possibility of making a payment of the equivalent value to a TV licence to those aged over 75 years through the benefits system. [112850]

Janet Anderson [holding answer 7 March 2000]: My right hon. Friend has had no such discussions.

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Film Funding

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list all National Lottery-funded films to date, together with in each case (a) the value of lottery support, (b) the total production cost, (c) the date of lottery grant, (d) the planned or actual release date, (e) the number of screens on which they were released, (f) box office receipts and (g) repayment of lottery funds made. [113511]

Janet Anderson [holding answer 7 March 2000]: I have today placed the information requested in respect of Lottery awards made in England in the Library of the House. I will write to the hon. Member in due course about awards made by the Arts Council of Wales and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

In Scotland film policy is a devolved matter and is now the responsibility of the Scottish Executive.

Television Licence Fee

Mr. Michael Jabez Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when regulations will be laid to bring into effect the television licence fee increases announced on 21 February and due to come into force on 1 April. [113952]

Mr. Chris Smith: On 21 February 2000, Official Report, column 1241, I announced that, from 1 April 1999, the fee for a colour television licence would increase from £101 to £104; the black and white licence fee will rise from £33.50 to £34.50. I have today laid before the House the regulations necessary to bring these fees into force.

The regulations also contain provisions in consequence of our proposal to introduce free television licences for people aged 75 or over from 1 November this year. Anyone aged 75 or over who needs to renew their licence between April and October will be able to purchase a short term licence at a reduced rate, based on the number of months covered. Similar provisions are included for people who, after 1 November, need to renew a licence less than 12 months before their 75th birthday.

We have also included in the regulations a provision to remove an anomaly of the existing concessionary licence scheme, for people in residential homes and sheltered accommodation. The effect of this is to include within the scope of the provision retired persons, whether male or female, aged 60 years or more.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Foundation Schools

Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many foundation schools are within each of the education authorities identified as failing by the Schools Inspectorate. [112649]

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Ms Estelle Morris: There is no specific overall category of failure in inspection reports published by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) on the performance of local education authorities.

Funding Schemes

Mr. Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the funding

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schemes administered by his Department, indicating the total funds of each scheme and the administration costs of each scheme as a percentage of the total funds. [112492]

Mr. Wills [holding answer 2 March 2000]: Total cost of departmental objectives (including the teachers pensions scheme) and the percentage that relates to internal costs, prepared on a resource basis for 1998-99, are as follows:

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	Total cost	Internal cost
	£000	£000	Percentage
Objective 1
Ensuring that all young people reach 16 with the skills, attitudes and personal qualities that will give them a secure foundation for lifelong learning, work and citizenship in a rapidly changing world	1,701,020	82,930	4.88
Objective 2
Developing in everyone a commitment to lifelong learning, so as to enhance their lives, improve their employability in a changing labour market and create the skills that our economy and employers need	10,172,042	90,776	0.89
Objective 3
To help people without a job into work	1,704,859	960,435	56.34
Teachers Pension Scheme	(22)1,484,230	0	0

(22) Net cost

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Teacher Training

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what provision for training teachers in IT is being made from the New Opportunities Fund. [112977]

Mr. Wills: The New Opportunities Fund is making available £230 million to support the training of serving teachers and school library staff in the maintained sector in the effective use of information and communication technology. The training is available to all teachers in maintained schools.

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