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Benefit Payments (Costs)

Mr. Alasdair Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the annual cost of his Department's and its agencies administration of benefit payments (a) in total and (b) as a percentage of spending on benefit payments. [124254]

Mr. George Howarth: The estimated cost of administering the social security benefit system in Northern Ireland in 1998-99, the latest year for which information is available, was £125.6 million. This equates to 4 per cent. of benefit expenditure which amounted in total in that year to £3,168.8 million.

Responsibility for this subject has been devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly and is therefore no longer a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Departmental Staff (Technology)

Mr. Alasdair Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what staff and technology are shared between his Department and its agencies and the Department of Social Security and its agencies; what work is undertaken (a) on behalf of the DSS and its agencies by his Department and its agencies and (b) by the DSS and its agencies on behalf of his Department or agencies in the last year; and what payments have been made in each case. [124255]

Mr. George Howarth: The Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland does not share staff with the Department of Social Security (DSS) in Great Britain. The Department's Child Support Agency provides child support services for those DSS clients living in Eastern England. The Department receives £25.5 million from DSS in respect of this business. The Social Security Agency also provides benefit processing and administration services to DSS for clients living in the Lewisham, Neasden and Brixton areas of London, for which it receives an annual payment of £10.4 million from DSS. The Department also provides a storage and retrieval service to DSS for social security order book foils for which it receives an annual payment of £4.9 million.

The Department for Social Development uses the DSS computer systems to administer social security benefits and to deliver Child Support services. The Department pays DSS £7.7 million for the use of these systems and for the installation and maintenance of the equipment on which they run.

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The DSS also provides the Department with a number of other ancillary services, such as publishing and distribution, fraud inspection, work measurement and Child Support decision making. DSS receive £510,000 for these services.

Responsibility for this subject has been devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly and is therefore no longer a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Leisure Centres and Libraries (Access)

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of the population lives (a) within one mile of and (b) over three miles from (i) a leisure centre and (ii) a library in (A) rural and (B) urban areas. [124497]

Kate Hoey [holding answer 5 June 2000]: This information is not available. For leisure centres, analysis carried out by Sport England in 1998 using the Facilities Planning Model developed in association with the Scottish Sports Council and Edinburgh University estimated that 96.6 per cent. of people living in England live within 15 minutes drive of a sports hall with at least three courts, and 85.1 per cent. of people in England live within 15 minutes drive of an indoor swimming pool. I have placed a copy of the Facilities Planning Guide published by Sport England in the Library.

No information on travelling distances or travel times is available in respect of libraries.

Millennium Experience (Ticket Sales)

Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if his Department will conduct an internal review under the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information into the non-provision of the information requested by the hon. Member for Cardiff, Central on regional ticket sales to the Millennium Experience. [124365]

Mr. Chris Smith [holding answer 5 June 2000]: My hon. Friend the Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting wrote to my hon. Friend on 6 December 1999. Following an investigation by the New Millennium Experience Company into the pattern of ticket sales, it was discovered that most were purchased from central sales points, including the Dome call centre, and it is therefore impossible to provide any meaningful statistical breakdown of visitors by region. I am satisfied that the reason for the non-provision of information in this respect is that the information does not exist, rather than that it is being deliberately withheld.

Local Authority Funding

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the funds which are available to local authorities on application, indicating those for which the Torbay Unitary Authority has successfully applied in each of the last two years. [124193]

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Mr. Chris Smith: The following funds are available to Local Authorities on application:

DCMS/Wolfson Public Libraries Challenge Fund--£3 million a year to enhance facilities and services of English Public Libraries, of which DCMS makes available £2 million and the Wolfson Foundation £1 million.


English Heritage--Grants are available to local authorities for the conservation of Grade I and II* listed buildings and scheduled ancient monuments. Funding is also available to local authorities under EH's Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme (HERS), under which a three year programme of grant aid is targeted at heritage-based economic regeneration.


Arts Council of England--Local authorities can have access to project funds from Regional Arts Boards.


National Lottery

Arts Council of England--A number of capital and revenue schemes for which organisations can apply with a view to developing and sustaining access to, and participation in, the arts.

Lottery Sports Fund--Lottery Sports Fund provides grants for sports facilities and sports provision.

Heritage Lottery Fund--Grants for works to buildings, structures and areas that are of historic or architectural importance and for action to widen and enhance popular access to the heritage. HLF also supports improvements to the housing and presentation of collections in museums and galleries.

New Opportunities Fund

The Information Communication and Technology for Librarians--a £50 million programme that aims to digitise a wide range of material to support lifelong learning needs and education in its broadest sense.

Out of School Hours Learning--a £205 million grant programme that aims to create regular out-of-school hours learning activities, and new summer school places.

Community Access to Lifelong Learning Programme--a £200 million grant programme that aims to improve access to lifelong learning for adults through the use of ICT with a particular focus on socially excluded adults and those in disadvantaged communities.

Successful Awards to Torbay Council

English Heritage

A grant of £150,000 has been offered by EH under the HERS towards conservation work in the Paignton Conservation Area between April 2000 and March 2003.

New Opportunities Fund

An award of £408,500 through the Out-of-School Hours Learning Programme. The Fund has also allocated funding to schools in Torbay amounting to £421,234 under a programme for ICT training for teachers and school librarians.

Arts Council of England

Over the last two years there has been one Grant in Aid award from the Arts Council to Torbay Borough Council:

a grant of £2,500 as part of the Capital Art Strategy.

Millennium Dome

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will publish the letter of direction for the payment of £29 million to the Dome. [123980]

Mr. Chris Smith [holding answer 5 June 2000]: This is a matter for the Millennium Commission. I will write to the right hon. Member in my capacity as Chairman of the Commission, and place copies of my reply in the Libraries of the House.

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Tourism Summit

Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he will report on the outcome of the first Tourism summit held in London on 1 March. [124922]

Mr. Chris Smith: Copies of a full report on the summit, and of other documents tabled at the meeting, have been deposited in the Libraries of the House. A further summit will be held next year to review progress and decide further action.

Welsh Assembly

Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects to publish the bilateral concordat between his Department and the Cabinet of the National Assembly for Wales. [124923]

Mr. Chris Smith: I am pleased to announce that the Concordat between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Cabinet of the National Assembly for Wales has now been agreed. Copies of the Concordat have been placed in the Libraries of the House, and the text will also be available on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's website http://www.culture.gov.uk.

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