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Tourism

Mr. Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the level of Government grant in aid was to each regional tourist board in England for each of the last 10 years (a) per head of population and (b) in real terms; and what the proportion was of (i) overseas and (ii) domestic tourists in England in each regional tourist board area in the same period. [138889]

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Janet Anderson: We have contacted the Office for National Statistics for some of the information relating to this question. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as we have received it, placing copies of my answer in the Libraries of both Houses.

Mr. Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the level of Government grant-in-aid was to (a) the English Tourism Council, (b) the Welsh Tourist Board, (c) the Scottish Tourist Board and (d) the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, per head of the population, for each of the last five years. [138888]

Janet Anderson: The information is set out in the following table.

	GIA (£m)	Population	£ per head
English Tourist Board(5)
1995-96	10.0	48.90	0.20
1996-97	10.0	49.09	0.20
1997-98	9.9	49.28	0.20
1998-99	9.7	49.44	0.20
1999-2000	11.8	49.75	0.24
Scottish Tourist Board
1995-96	16.9	5.14	3.29
1996-97	18.3	5.13	3.57
1997-98	19.3	5.12	3.77
1998-1999	20.3	5.12	3.97
1999-2000	19.3	5.11	3.78
Wales Tourist Board
1995-96	14.7	2.92	5.03
1996-97	14.7	2.92	5.03
1997-98	14.6	2.93	4.98
1998-99	14.7	2.93	5.02
1999-2000	15.4	2.94	5.24
	Northern Ireland Tourist Board
1995-96	12.6	1.69	7.46
1996-97	14.2	1.69	8.40
1997-98	14.0	1.69	8.28
1998-99	13.5	1.69	7.99
1999-2000	13.9	1.70	8.18

⁽⁵⁾ Known as the English Tourism Council with effect from July 1999

Mr. Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total value of National Lottery grants to support tourism-related projects has been since the launch of the Lottery. [139596]

Kate Hoey: According to the latest information supplied by the distributing bodies, a total of £8,302,765,870 of National Lottery money has been awarded to 72,730 projects since the Lottery began, many of which could be considered to have relevance to tourism. It is not possible to identify separately tourism- related projects.

The parliamentary constituency of Weston-Super-Mare has received 95 National Lottery awards since the Lottery began, amounting to a total of £5,249,194, including, for example, £334,500 for the development of a Helicopter Museum.

Swimming

Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on his plans to improve swimming facilities and coaching for the 2004 Olympic Games. [139282]

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Kate Hoey: UK Sport is currently undertaking a review of long-term performance funding for individual sports following the Sydney Olympics. As part of the review and post-Sydney analysis, UK Sport will be considering a four year funding programme for swimming, with Lottery awards agreed in February 2001.

In addition, I have met with the Performance Directors of all the Olympic Sports, including swimming, to discuss ways of building on the success of Sydney and to see what lessons can be learned as preparations are made for Athens.

Sportsmanship

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make it his policy to identify sportsmen to promote, in schools, the merits of good sportsmanship and healthy living. [139491]

Kate Hoey: In "A Sporting Future For All", the Government recognise the potential of elite performers to act as role models and to inspire young people to participate in sport. I personally am very keen to see all involved in sport, particularly the governing bodies, take the issue of good sportsmanship seriously.

Millennium Commission

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of major capital projects funded by the Millennium Commission in meeting local need and as catalysts for regeneration. [139013]

Janet Anderson [holding answer 22 November 2000]: This is a matter for the Millennium Commission. I will write to my hon. Friend in my capacity as Chairman of the Commission, and place copies of my reply in the Libraries of both Houses.

Lottery-funded Tourist Attractions

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on the impact of lottery-funded tourist attractions on their non-funded counterparts across the United Kingdom. [139014]

Janet Anderson [holding answer 22 November 2000]: The impact of lottery-funded tourist attractions on their non-lottery-funded counterparts across the UK is one of a wide range of issues which will be considered at the forum for attractions which the Government plan to hold early next year. The forum will bring together the attractions industry and the departmental bodies with an interest in it. The English Tourism Council's publication Actions for Attractions published on 16 November identifies new opportunities for action and will help to inform the forum.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Basic Skills Deficit

16. Dr. Desmond Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to reduce the number of adults who lack basic literacy and numeracy skills. [138375]

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Mr. Wicks: The Government are committed to tackling poor literacy and numeracy among adults. In September my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced a target to reduce the number of adults with weak literacy and numeracy skills by 750,000 by 2004. He also announced an increase in annual spending on measures to improve literacy and numeracy skills from £241 million this year to £403 million in 2004. A detailed strategy will be issued shortly.

Schools (Nottingham)

17. Mr. Heppell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the impact on schools in Nottingham of measures announced in the Chancellor's pre-Budget statement. [138377]

Jacqui Smith: Schools in Nottingham City Local Education Authority received £992,000 in total at the start of this year for devolved formula capital allocations. The extra £200 million funding announced by the Chancellor in his recent pre-Budget Report will allow this amount to be almost doubled for this year.

UK schools will share £200 million. Every maintained school in England will get a share of £167 million in the current financial year (2000-01) for capital projects to address the needs of their school buildings. This means that a typical secondary school will get direct capital of £36,000 and a primary school £12,000.

Details of how the extra £5 million for the National e-Learning Foundation will be distributed at local level have not yet been finalised.

Job Action Team Pilots

18. Mr. Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement about the job action team pilot projects. [138379]

Ms Jowell: Action Teams for Jobs are now operating in 40 deprived areas of England, Scotland and Wales. Three pathfinder Teams started work at the end of June and the remaining 37 on 16 October. Action Teams are helping jobless people back to work by using their funds flexibly and imaginatively to overcome the barriers that prevent people from getting jobs.

Class Sizes

19. Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what progress has been made in reducing infant class sizes for five, six and seven-year-olds in Leicestershire. [138380]

Ms Estelle Morris: For the huge majority of infants our pledge to limit infant classes to 30 has been delivered early. In January 1998, 485,000 were in classes over 30. This September there were as few as 30,000. Leicestershire has made steady progress towards meeting the pledge. In September, over 94 per cent. of Leicestershire's five, six and seven-year-olds were in infant classes of 30 or below, compared with 89 per cent. in September 1999. The figure in January 1998 was 78 per cent.

Mr. David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proposals he has to reduce class sizes in middle and secondary schools. [138367]

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Ms Estelle Morris: We are delivering our pledge to reduce infant class sizes--only 2 per cent. of infants are now in classes with more than 30 pupils. The average size of primary and middle schools classes has fallen in the last two years. Secondary classes have, on average, five fewer pupils than primary classes.

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