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Isle of Wight (Trunk Road Access)
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will urge the highway authorities for Portsmouth and Southampton to consult with the Isle of Wight council on highway projects on trunk road access to the Isle of Wight. [11097]
Mr. Jamieson: The Government's Guidance on Full Local Transport Plans, published in March 2000, advises all local highway authorities to have effective liaison arrangements with neighbouring authorities and to agree a common or complementary approach to cross-boundary issues. I am aware that there are regular consultation meetings on transport issues between the Isle of Wight council, Portsmouth city council, Southampton city council and Hampshire county council.
Light Rapid Transit Scheme
(Fareham-Gosport-Portsmouth)
Mr. Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on progress with the Light Rapid Transit scheme for Fareham-Gosport-Portsmouth, with particular reference to (a) costings and (b) the timetable to completion. [10714]
Ms Keeble: We understand that the promoting authorities, Hampshire County Council and Portsmouth City Council, hope to commence construction in 2003 with completion in 2006–07. The scheme is estimated to cost £190 million but the precise amount will not be known until tendering process has been completed.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Al Jazeera Television Channel
Harry Cohen: To ask the Chairman of the Information Select Committee if he will make arrangements for the
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al-Jazeera television channel to be available on television monitors in hon. Members' offices; and if he will make a statement. [10422]
Michael Fabricant: [holding answer 26 October 2001]: There are at present no spare channels on the Parliamentary Video Network as the 24th channel, earmarked for the Scottish Parliament when a transmission becomes available, is being used for technical purposes. It may be helpful to add that the al-Jazeera channel is an Arabic-speaking channel with no English spoken and no English subtitles.
Family Friendly Hours
Mr. Burns: To ask the President of the Council what proposals he has for making the dates of parliamentary Sessions more family friendly. [10484]
Mr. Robin Cook: Like Leaders of the House before me, I recognise the practical arguments for more closely aligning adjournments with school holidays. There are obvious difficulties in that half-term holidays vary accordingly to region and the Scottish school summer holidays differ markedly from those in England and Wales. However, I hope we can make progress on this issue through the Modernisation Committee.
I also hope that we will announce the dates of parliamentary recesses further in advance than has been usual in the past. The dates of the Christmas recess were announced during the first business statement in October. I hope to continue and extend this practice so as to allow MPs to plan their constituency work and family engagements more effectively.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Departmental Accounts
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the annual administration costs were in the last financial year of (a) each of the national
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museums and galleries sponsored by her Department, (b) the Arts Council of England, (c) Sport England, (d) UK Sport, (e) the regional arts boards, (f) English Heritage, (g) the Heritage Lottery Fund, (h) the New Opportunities Fund, (i) the Football Foundation, (j) the Communities Fund, (k) the English Tourism Council, (l) the British Tourist Authority, (m) regional tourist boards and (n) the Film Council; and what proportion of employees of these organisations are (1) from ethnic minorities and (2) registered disabled. [7567]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 15 October 2001]: Comprehensive figures for the last financial year are not yet available, so the figures given, taken from published accounts and the Departmental Annual Report, are for the 1999–2000 financial year. The calculation of the figures depends on how each body presents its published financial information, and therefore the figures are not directly comparable. Where possible administration costs figures are given, but in some cases (asterisked) the published information only covers total operating expenditure. As Museums and Galleries are direct service providers, the operating expenditure covers their entire income.
The Football Foundation is not sponsored by DCMS, so the Department does not hold information on its expenditure. Nor does it hold the information requested on the employees of all of the organisations listed in the question.
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Al-Qaeda Broadcasts
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the policy relating to broadcasts in the UK of statements by al-Qaeda through the al-Jazeera network. [8275]
Tessa Jowell: Al-Jazeera is a Qatar-based broadcaster licensed by the French authorities for transmission within the European Union. I understand that it is the only TV broadcaster allowed by the Taliban to operate on a permanent basis out of Afghanistan. We have urged broadcasters to be cautious in their use of material from Afghanistan and to ensure that viewers are aware of the source of material and how reliable it might be.
Under the Television Without Frontiers Directive, 89/552/EEC, as amended by 97/36/EC,
- "Member states shall ensure that broadcasts do not contain any incitement to hatred on grounds of race, sex, religion or nationality".
It is open to the UK Government, on the advice of the ITC, to proscribe a television broadcaster which broadcasts from another member state, where the broadcasts contain material which manifestly, seriously and gravely infringes this prohibition, on at least two occasions in a twelve month period. The ITC's monitoring of al-Jazeera has not led it to conclude that proscription would be justified. UK established broadcasters must comply with obligations to maintain due impartiality and accuracy in their reporting of news and current affairs.
Galleries and Museums
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much new Government investment funding was given to galleries and museums in each of the last three years. [10266]
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Dr. Howells: In 1998–99 the Government provided £203 million in grant-in-aid for DCMS's sponsored museums and galleries in England. In 1999–2000 we increased this to £219 million. In 2000–01 the figure rose to £229 million, and in 2001–02 the figure will rise to £246 million.
These figures do not include Resource, the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, and the Designated Museums Challenge Fund awards, both of which are funded by DCMS. Figures for these are as follows.
| Resource(5) | DMCF | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 9.8 | — |
| 1999–2000 | 13.0 | 2.5 |
| 2000–01 | 13.5 | 4.5 |
| 2001–02 | 12.5 | 8.0 |
(5) Also for archives and libraries.
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