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WALES
Coal Compensation Committee
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the names and affiliations of the members of the coal compensation monetary committee which he chairs. [145323]
Mr. Paul Murphy: It was agreed at the 29 November meeting of the GB-wide coal health claims monitoring group to set up a specific Welsh monitoring group, which will bring together all those involved in the process in Wales to discuss ways of speeding up payments to our ex-miners.
The membership of this Welsh sub-group of the coal health claims monitoring group include:
- Secretary of State for Wales (chairman)
- National Assembly for Wales Minister for Health and Social Services
- Members of Parliament representing the area of the South Wales coal field.
- NACODS (National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shot-firers) in Wales;
- NUM (National Union of Miners) of Wales; and the British Coal Respiratory Disease Claimants Solicitors Group.
Departmental Surveys
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list for (a) 1992-93, (b) 1993-94, (c) 1994-95, (d) 1995-96, (e) 1996-97, (f) 1997-98, (g) 1998-99, (h) 1999-2000 and (i) 2000-01, (I) his Department's total
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spending on quantitative and qualitative surveys of policy issues by focus groups, opinion polling, task forces or other means and (II) the cost of each individual project. [146585]
Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office has not carried out any surveys of policy issues either through focus groups, opinion polling, task forces or any other means since it was established on 1 July 1999.
Reliable, comparable and complete statistics are not available for the former Welsh Office for the period from 1992-93 until the end of June 1999. However, all public opinion research by Government is subject to strict rules, which ensure that spending represents good value for the taxpayer.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Unlicensed Televisions
Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many homes in the UK are estimated to have television sets but no TV licence. [144940]
Janet Anderson: The estimated number of households in the United Kingdom with television sets but without a valid television licence is 1.95 million.
BBC
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on the total funds received by the BBC in 2000 from the European Union. [145014]
Janet Anderson [holding answer 15 January 2001]: In common with other broadcasters, regulators and broadcasting research bodies across Europe, the BBC takes part in a range of technical research projects which attract funding from the European Commission. According to the latest information provided by the BBC, during the financial year 2000-01 the corporation has received a total of £444,000 in connection with such projects, as detailed in the following table.
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Millennium Dome
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when audited attendance figures for the Millennium Dome will be available; and if he will publish them. [145386]
Janet Anderson [holding answer 16 January 2001]: Total visitor attendance at the Dome was 6,517,116 million as announced by the New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) on 3 January 2001. In terms of the breakdown of that total (for example tickets sold and free entry) NMEC is in the process of reconciling ticket sales data across the various outlets (including train operating companies and river boat services), and visitor attendance data. The external audit of NMEC's operational year finances and ticket sales data are intended to commence in February and should be concluded by the end of March. The audited information will be incorporated in the company's next annual report and financial statements covering the period 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2000 which, under non-departmental public body requirements, will be published within six months of 31 December 2000.
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many tickets for the Millennium Experience had been sold in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland by 1 December 2000. [145893]
Janet Anderson [holding answer 16 January 2001]: The New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) has advised that the information sought is not available in the format requested. The nature of NMEC's ticket sales channels and the data arising from them do not allow definitive regional breakdowns covering all tickets sold. While postcode identification data are available from the call centre and national lottery outlets (which indicates that by 1 December 2000, 13,934 tickets had been sold in Northern Ireland, 52,053 in Scotland, 50,283 in Wales, and 3,634,272 in England), these figures do not include tickets purchased at the gate on the day of visits, nor do they include tickets sold as part of travel/visit packages by train operating companies or one-off coach company bookings.
Also, not included in the call centre and national lottery statistics are those Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish schools who enjoyed visits to the Dome as part of the free school programme, and those schools and communities from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who visited the Dome as part of the "Our Town" story initiative. In addition, many of the other outreach initiatives (under the national programme and the learning experience), developed and implemented by NMEC as an integral
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part of the millennium experience, involved schools and communities across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Jean Corston: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to his oral answer of 22 January 2001, Official Report, column 646, if he will make a statement on the involvement of Ministers in the sponsorship of the Faith Zone at the Millennium Dome by the Hinduja brothers. [147442]
Mr. Chris Smith: In reply to the hon. Member for Lewes (Mr. Baker) on 22 January 2001, Official Report, columns 645-46, I stated that the sole involvement of my right hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Mandelson) in Mr. S. Hinduja's application for British citizenship was for his then Parliamentary Private Secretary to inform Mr. Hinduja that his application would be dealt with in the normal way.
As has now been made clear publicly, my right hon. Friend made inquiries about how an application might be viewed given the Government's wider policy of encouraging citizenship from long-standing residents who fulfilled the criteria, but did not make representations that an application be granted.
New Millennium Experience Company
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what criteria (a) current and (b) former members of the Board of Directors of the New Millennium Experience Company will be judged when deciding (i) whether these individuals will receive a bonus and (ii) the level of any bonus. [145413]
Janet Anderson [holding answer 16 January 2001]: The non-executive directors of the board of the New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) have never received remuneration and have never, therefore, been eligible for bonus payments. Among current executive directors, only Mr. P. Y. Gerbeau is eligible to be considered for a bonus. The past executive directors of the board have contracts which describe certain circumstances under which bonuses might be payable subject to the board's discretion. As is conventional in any contractual relationship between employer and employee, the criteria for such bonuses are confidential. However, as NMEC's annual report and financial statements for the period ended 31 December 1999 (published July 2000) stated:
- "The performance related bonus scheme for executive directors includes critical success factors for the company covering the achievement of specified targets as well as an assessment of the personal contribution the individual has made to the success of the project. The total payable under the scheme to any director serving up to the end of 1999 is a maximum of 30 per cent. of contract earnings. The total payable to Mr. P. Y. Gerbeau is under review. Determination of the bonus payable will be entirely at the board's discretion and is based on its determination of performance against agreed criteria."
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