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Pornographic Satellite Television

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent recommendations she has received from the ITC regarding the proscription of pornographic satellite television channels. [18152]

Mr. Caborn: The commission has made no such recommendations to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State since notification of Satisfaction TV.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will take action to proscribe the Satisfaction Channel. [18151]

Mr. Caborn: Following a recommendation from the ITC regarding the Satisfaction Channel, the necessary consultations under article 2a(2) of the EC broadcasting directive have taken place and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering whether to issue a proscription order or not.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action she plans to control pornographic satellite television channels; and if she will make a statement. [18150]

Mr. Caborn: Broadcasters with generally based programme remits may occasionally show adult-oriented films involving nudity and sex. Several dedicated "adult" subscription channels are licensed in the UK. Access to these is restricted through encryption, scheduling times and programme information warning viewers of the nature of their content.

Under section 177 of the Broadcasting Act 1990, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State may make an order proscribing a foreign satellite television service that repeatedly transmits programmes containing matter that offends against good taste or decency or is likely to offend public feeling, and might seriously impair the moral, mental or physical health of minors, as allowed in article 22.1 of the "Television without Frontiers Directive", 89/552/EC, amended by 97/36/EC.

Playing Fields

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) community and (b) school playing fields have been sold for development in Arundel and South Downs in each of the last five years. [18328]

Mr. Caborn: Information on the number of local authority-owned playing fields available to the local community and disposed of in the last five years is not collected. Sport England does however, monitor the number of planning applications concerning playing fields in its role as statutory consultee. The Government intend to publish, with Sport England, detailed national statistics on planning applications concerning playing fields when the data are finalised, in the new year.

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My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills has not approved any applications made by schools under section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to sell school sportspitch-sized areas or larger in the constituency of Arundel and South Downs.

Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) school, (b) community and (c) company playing fields have been sold for development in (i) the Loughborough constituency, (ii) Leicestershire and (iii) the east midlands in each of the last 10 years. [18493]

Mr. Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills has not approved any applications made by schools under section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to sell school sportspitch-sized areas or larger in the Loughborough constituency or in Leicestershire. In the east midlands Government office region, my right hon. Friend has approved two applications to sell school sportspitch-sized areas or larger in 1999; two in 2000 and one in 2001.

Information on the number of company-owned playing fields and local authority-owned playing fields available to the local community and disposed of in the last five years is not collected. Sport England does, however, monitor the number of planning applications concerning playing fields in its role as statutory consultee. The Government intend to publish, with Sport England, detailed national statistics on planning applications concerning playing fields when the data are finalised in the new year.

Football Foundation

Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding her Department will give the Football Foundation in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03. [18483]

Mr. Caborn: My Department does not fund the Football Foundation direct. However, under the current partnership arrangements, the Football Foundation should receive the following public funds in the three-year period 2001–02 to 2003–04: £18 million from the Sport England lottery fund, up to £30 million from the new opportunities fund PE and school sport programme, and donations from the pools companies of several million pounds in accordance with their agreement with the Government. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his pre-Budget report that the current agreement with Littlewoods and Vernons, which was due to end in March 2002, would be renewed for a further two years until 31 March 2004. The donations from the pools companies will be equivalent in those two years to 2 per cent. of their gross profits.

Sport and Crime

Ms Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what arrangements she has made to monitor the impact of the new opportunities for school and community sport has on the fight against crime and drugs. [18342]

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Mr. Caborn: The new opportunities fund is currently developing proposals for the evaluation of the new opportunities for PE and sport programme. The impact of the programme on levels of crime and drugs misuse will form part of the evaluative work.

Motorsport

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what representations she is making in advance of the FIA Motorsports World Council meeting on 13 December to secure the retention of the British Grand Prix on the 2002 Formula 1 calendar; [18457]

(2) what estimate she has made of the value to the UK economy of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix; [18456]

(3) if she will make a statement on her policy towards motorsports. [18458]

Mr. Caborn: Neither my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State nor I have made representations in advance of the FIA Motorsports World Council meeting on 13 December. That is the remit of the UK governing bodies for motorsport in the UK, primarily the Motor Sport Association. We hope that the British Grand Prix will retain its place in the global sports calendar.

Motorsport continues to be hugely popular across the UK. The British Grand Prix is a major event on the world's sporting calendar and the last FIA study estimated that the Grand Prix contributes approximately £28 million to the UK economy.

I am in regular contact with representatives of all aspects of motorsport.

Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many formal notices her Department has received in the last year from the parliamentary ombudsman expressing an intention to carry out an investigation; and in respect of each notice how long it took to respond. [18772]

Mr. Caborn [holding answer 27 November 2001]: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport received one such notification during 2000–01. A response was made after 28 working days.

Departmental Expenditure Limits

Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proposals she has to amend her (a) departmental expenditure limit and (b) administration costs limits for 2001–02. [19795]

Tessa Jowell: Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the departmental expenditure limit (DEL) for 2001–02 will be increased by £27,785,000 from £1,142,096,000 to £1,169,881,000 and the Department's gross administration costs limit will be increased by £691,000 from £31,546,000 to £32,237,000.

The changes are to provide additional resources under the end-year flexibility (EYF) arrangements, as set out in the public expenditure outturn White Paper, 2000–01 (Cm. 5243), of £134,000 for the Public Library Volunteer Scheme (together with a transfer of £134,000 from the

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Home Office); £115,000 for other libraries support measures; £246,000 for other arts support measures; £72,000 for other sport support measures; £230,000 for the Department's historic buildings programme; £1,705,000 for work on developing Culture Online; £595,000 to the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, £21,000 to the National Museum of Science and Industry, £100,000 to the Victoria and Albert Museum, £210,000 to the Royal Armouries, £7,907,000 to the British Library, £13,000 to the Public Lending Right, £14,000 to the Historic Manuscripts Commission, £95,000 for other museums support, £1,456,000 to the Designated Museums Challenge Fund; £1,663,000 to the DCMS/Wolfson Public Libraries Scheme; £250,000 to the Arts Council of England for work on Creative Partnerships; £20,000 to the Football Licensing Authority; £70,000 to Historic Royal Palaces for pensions; £61,000 to the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment; £1,000,000 to the English Tourism Council; £70,000 to the Broadcasting Standards Commission; £1,562,000 for research, surveys and other services of the Department; and to provide for additional capital expenditure under EYF arrangements of £350,000 for the Department's information technology, furniture and related expenses.

Other changes are to provide for a transfer of resources of £1,000,000 from English Heritage toward the costs of running the Listed Places of Worship Scheme together with additional resources of £10,000,000 from the Capital Modernisation Fund for grants under this scheme, the details of which were announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his 2001 Budget Statement to Parliament on 7 March 2001.

The changes on administration costs are to provide additional resources under EYF arrangements of £817,000 for the administrative expenses of the Department; to provide for the transfer of resources to Cabinet Office of £146,000 for the costs of fast stream recruitment and of the Department's share of Government Offices' expenses; and for the transfer of resources of £20,000 from the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions for the running costs of local public service agreements.

The increases will be offset by transfers or charged to the DEL Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

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