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Green Ministers

Mr. Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when the last meeting of green ministers took place; what was discussed; and which Departments were represented by (a) Ministers and (b) officials. [137484]

Mr. Meacher: Green Ministers held their final meeting of this year on 2 November. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Green Minister for that Department, spoke about directing development and promoting agricultural practices to protect and enhance the countryside and wildlife. The meeting also received a presentation on the Work-Life Balance campaign by the

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Green Minister for the Department for Education and Employment, and discussed how this initiative had implications for many departments.

The Committee also reviewed the handling of sustainable development considerations in the Spending Review 2000 and environmental aspects of Government procurement. The purchase of renewable energy was discussed, with considerable progress noted.

The next meeting will be held in the new year.

The Departments represented by Ministers were: Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions; Department for Culture, Media and Sport; Department of Health; Department for International Development; Law Officers' Departments; Department of Social Security; Home Office; Ministry of Defence; Chancellor's Departments; Cabinet Office; Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Department for Education and Employment; the Welsh Office; and Northern Ireland Office.

Those represented by officials were: Department of Trade and Industry and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Flooding (Shrewsbury)

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the performance of local partnerships in coping with emergency planning during the floods in Shrewsbury. [136950]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 6 November 2000]: I have been asked to reply.

Partnerships between the Environment Agency, local authorities and the emergency services worked very well in the recent bout of flooding. It is encouraging that the exercising of emergency plans in many areas played an important part in achieving a good response.

SCOTLAND

Small Businesses

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the First Minister on the level of regulations on small businesses. [136479]

Dr. Reid: I have regular discussions with the First Minister on a range of issues affecting business in Scotland.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

National Lottery

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the National Lottery funding was to (a) the English Sports Council, (b) UK Sport, (c) the Arts Council of England and (d) the Heritage Lottery Fund in (i) 1997-98, (ii) 1998-99 and (ii) 1999-2000; and what the forecast level is for the current year in each case. [134592]

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Mr. Chris Smith [holding answer 26 October 2000]: The amount of Lottery funding (including interest ¹ ) to (a) the English Sports Council, (b) UK Sports Council, (c) the Arts Council of England and (d) the Heritage Lottery Fund in 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 and the forecast level for 2000-01 based on our most recent Lottery income forecast is set out in the table. For the

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purposes of comparison, the table includes a column (6) which shows the annual share of Lottery proceeds which it was originally thought that each distributing body would receive over the lifetime of the licence. These figures have been adjusted to reflect changes in functions when the UK Sports Council and Film Council were established.

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					£ million
(1)	(2) 1997-98	(3) 1998-99	(4) 1999-2000	(5) 2000-01 (forecast)	(6) Share of annual projected lottery proceeds as anticipated at the start of the current licence(5)
English Sports Council	307	256	211	202-244	(6)194
UK Sports Council	--	--	(6)19	22-25	n/a
Arts Council of England	298	235	201	182-203	183
Heritage Lottery Fund(7)	371	315	288	290-319	(7)257

⁽⁴⁾ Interest has been included in the data in columns (2) and (5), but not in the anticipated income figures in column (6). Also, the amount of interest earned by the distributing bodies varies according to the level of their balances in the NLDF. This explains why some distributors' income has diverged from projections more than others.

⁽⁵⁾ This is based on the originally projected Lottery proceeds of £9 billion evenly spread over the seven years of the licence. The figures for individual bodies reflect their notional annual share of total projected Lottery proceeds based on the original allocation of 20 per cent. to the original five good causes adjusted to take into account the establishment of the Film Council and UKSC as Lottery distributing bodies.

⁽⁶⁾ UK Sport became a Lottery distributor with effect from 1 July 1999, taking 1.53 per cent. of Lottery income. As a consequence, the share allocated to the English Sports Council was reduced from 13.88 per cent. to 12.6 per cent.

⁽⁷⁾ The Film Council became a Lottery distributor with effect from 1 October 1999, taking 2.03 per cent. of Lottery income. As a consequence, the share allocated to ACE was reduced from 13.88 per cent. to 11.85 per cent.

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Sydney Olympics

Mr. Faber: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the dates of attendance of (a) ministers and (b) officials of his Department at the Sydney Olympic Games and the total cost of attendance in each case. [134846]

Kate Hoey [holding answer 26 October 2000]: As Minister for Sport, I visited the British Olympic Team Holding Camp on the Gold Coast and attended the Sydney Olympic Games between 9-29 September 2000. I was accompanied by a Private Secretary. The total cost of this visit is not currently available as some invoices have yet to be received, but the flight costs for both of us totalled £8,021.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State attended the Games in Sydney on 15-17 September 2000 as part of a wider trip which also included official Government visits in Auckland, Wellington and Canberra. He was accompanied by his Principle Private Secretary. Again, the total cost of these visits is not currently available as some invoices have yet to be received, but the flight costs for the entire visit totalled £11,022.20

The Permanent Secretary of the Department was in Australia on Departmental business from 13-17 September 2000. He attended the Olympic Games with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State from 15-17 September 2000 and accompanied him on official engagements in Sydney and Canberra. His flight costs were £5,946.

In addition, I also attended the Paralympic Games between 14-22 October 2000 accompanied by my Assistant Private Secretary. The flight costs for this visit were £10,670.

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New Millennium Experience Company

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the design companies which have secured contracts from the New Millennium Experience Company together with the number of contracts in each case. [135411]

Janet Anderson [holding answer 30 October 2000]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 23 March 2000, Official Report, column 622W.

Sports Lottery Fund

Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to ensure that funding from the Sports Lottery fund is targeted on the communities that need it most. [135219]

Kate Hoey: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State has issued directions to Sport England under the National Lottery Acts requiring it to take into account a range of issues in formulating its criteria for Lottery funding and in assessing applications for such funding. In particular, the directions require Sport England to take into account the scope for reducing social and economic deprivation, and the promotion of sport for people from all sections of society. All of the requirements of these directions were taken into account by Sport England in the development of its Lottery Strategy published last year. The Strategy commits Sport England to allocating at least 50 per cent. of its Community Capital Projects Fund to areas of greatest need. Projects in these areas may also be eligible to receive higher proportions of Lottery funding. All projects submitted for Lottery funding must be of benefit to the local community and must show a demonstrable need for the facility.

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