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Media Regulation and Ownership
28. Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to promote public confidence in his Department's political impartiality with regard to media regulation and ownership. [98994]
Mr. Chris Smith: Provisions on media ownership and regulation are set out in the Broadcasting Acts 1990 and 1996. The media industry is also subject to general competition law such as merger control under the Fair Trading Act 1973.
Implementation of these provisions is a matter for the relevant independent regulators, not the Government. Political impartiality in broadcast content is provided for by the regulators through a range of mechanisms such as the BBC Charter, licence conditions and programme codes.
Tourism
29. Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps the Government plan to take to improve the attractiveness to businesses of tourist areas. [98995]
Mr. Chris Smith: The Government are taking a number of steps to ensure that businesses are attracted to tourism areas. My Department's tourism strategy, "Tomorrow's Tourism" outlines many initiatives in, for example, training, improved access, more readily available information. Additionally, we now have the English Tourism Council, a more strategic body which leaves more money free for the support of tourism in the regions. Tourism areas also benefit from other spending such as lottery funding, the Single Regeneration Budget and European Regional Development Budget.
Departmental Asset Sales
Mr. Peter Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will publish a list of assets sold by his Department and the value realised in
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each case, in each year from 1991-92 to 1998-99, together with an estimate of the value of asset sales planned in the (a) current and (b) next financial year. [98646]
Mr. Chris Smith:
The National Asset Register for my Department covers the Government Art Collection (GAC), Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (RCHM), the Royal Parks Agency (RPA) and the ex-Royal Fine Art Commission (RFAC) (until 31 August 1999) and ex-Historic Royal Palaces Agency (HRPA) (until 31 March 1998), in addition to the Core Department (DCMS). The DCMS Asset register was introduced in March 1999 as a result of the need for improved assets records for the introduction of Resource Accounting and Budgeting. Information on assets sold prior to the introduction of the register may therefore be incomplete. The available information on assets sold is set out in the following table:
| Financial Year | Body | Asset(6) | Total Value £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991-92 | RPA | RPA "ground maintenance" was contracted out and the in coming contractor purchased various items of equipment, a breakdown is not readily available | 128,750 |
| 1992-93 | RPA | As above | 326,056 |
| 1993-94 | -- | None | Nil |
| 1994-95 | -- | None | Nil |
| 1995-96 | RPA | 2 horses | 5,300 |
| 1995-96 | RPA | 2 electric trucks | 2,500 |
| 1996-97 | DCMS | House originally providing accommodation for craftsmen working at Windsor Castle | 122,500 |
| 1996-97 | RPA | 2 horses | 5,400 |
| 1997-98 | DCMS | Computer equipment | 45,000 |
| 1997-98 | RPA | Radio and telecommunications equipment | 2,226 |
| 1997-98 | HRPA | Tractor | 2,500 |
| 1998-99 | DCMS | 2 houses originally providing accommodation for craftsmen working at Windsor Castle | 137,500 162,000 |
| 1998-99 | RPA | Horse | 2,800 |
| 1999-2000 | DCMS | Computer equipment | 7,000 |
| 1999-2000 | RPA | Building | 120,000 |
| 2000-01 | DCMS | Building (6 Burlington Gardens) | Under negotiation |
| 2000-01 | DCMS | Computer equipment | Unknown |
(6) A materiality minimum of £2,000 has been applied per item.
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Elgin Marbles
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations he has received from (a) Greece and (b) academic institutions in the UK regarding the Elgin Marbles. [99174]
Mr. Chris Smith:
In the last 12 months, the Department has received 70 representations on this subject originating from Greece, and representations from
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individuals in five academic institutions in the UK. This includes e-mails where we have been able to identify the source.
Mr. Loughton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has held with the Tate Gallery regarding the introduction of admission charges at its new London gallery. [99171]
Mr. Chris Smith:
There have been no discussions relating to admission charges at Tate Modern.