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Departmental Staff (Home Working)

Mr. Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to encourage staff to work from home; and how many staff do so on a regular basis. [21837]

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Dr. Howells: The Department is committed to the work-life balance of its staff and supports a range of flexible working patterns including part-time working, job-sharing and homeworking. Staff are encouraged to make use of the Department's formal home working policy for regular home working. Staff are also facilitated

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and supported to work from home with their manager's agreement. There are currently seven staff working from home on a regular basis, with resources available to support a further six opportunities. A number of staff throughout the Department also work from home on an occasional basis.

The Department publicises its policy on flexible working and encourages managers to respond positively to requests as part of its commitment to the diversity agenda.

Youth Services (Ilford)

Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what initiatives her Department (a) has implemented and (b) plans to implement that encourage youth participation in sports and cultural activities in the Ilford, North constituency. [22292]

Mr. Caborn: The Government are committed to the development of sport and increasing opportunities for participation throughout the country, particularly among young people. The strategy for sport—A Sporting Future

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for All—and the Government's Plan for Sport set out an action plan on how we intend to achieve those objectives. Responsibility for developing sport for young people at the local level rests with a number of organisations including Sport England, local authorities, local education authorities, schools, sports governing bodies, sports clubs and volunteers.

A number of national programmes which will provide better sports facilities and improve sports provision are being implemented in the London borough of Redbridge including lottery funding where around £4.5 million has been committed to community sports facilities in the borough, the School Sport Co-ordinators programme where a bid is currently being worked up by the local authority and NOF Round three under which £2.1 million has been allocated to the borough. A secondary school in the borough is also showing interest in designation as a specialist sports college.

The Arts Council has made six lottery awards in Ilford, North totalling £26,309 (details as follows). London Arts Board has made five awards benefiting Ilford, North, totalling £100,352 (details as follows), through the Regional Arts Lottery Programme.

Recipient/project name	Award amount (£)	Award date	Local authority	Distributing body
	Avigdor Primary School Parents' Association
Avigdor Cultural Club	4,700	6 November 1997	Redbridge	Arts Council of England
	The New Redbridge Wind Orchestra
Music in the community—The New Redbridge Wind Orchestra	3,750	6 November 1997	Redbridge	Arts Council of England
	Take Away Productions Ltd.
The Take Away Project	5,000	19 March 1997	Redbridge	Arts Council of England
	Triple's Show Gang
This group produce an annual amateur drama production. The award will pay for their first production which will raise funds for Haven House hospice	2,859	25 July 2001	Redbridge	Arts Council of England
	Wanstead and Woodford Cine and Video Club
Video equipment, portable screen and sound equipment	5,000	13 May 1997	Redbridge	Arts Council of England
Quadraphonic
'Quadraphonic' CD	5,000	19 March 1997	Redbridge	Arts Council of England

Note:

According to the information supplied by the Arts Council of England

RALP awards benefiting Redbridge

Organisation	Postcode	Awarded (£)	Artform	Borough(s) of
Arts Initiative Ltd.(21)	E1 6LS	30,000	Combined Arts	Hackney, Redbridge, Waltham Forest
para active theatre(22)	IG3 9SX	12,102	Drama/Theatre/Combined Arts/Dance	Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Redbridge (went on to tour other boroughs)
Pascal Theatre Company(23)	WC1H 9AR	25,000	Drama/Theatre	Barnet, Camden, Harrow, Redbridge
Shruthi Laya Shangam(24)	SE26 4ES	17,330	Music/Dance	Lambeth, Lewisham, Redbridge
The Lions Part(25)	E11 4HB	15,920	Drama/Theatre	Camden, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Redbridge, Southwark

⁽²¹⁾ Linked: a two mile long multi-media, sound and music site-specific art installation by Graeme Miller w/support from Museum of London, about the history of the M11 Link Road and residents of the 400 houses which once stood there.

⁽²²⁾ Al-Daakan: towards the costs of a devised performance piece which will tour London venues, integrating Indian classical dance, Filmi dance, physical theatre, mask and puppetry and supported by a series of related educational workshops.

⁽²³⁾ London-Continental: The development and production of a new play which will be based on interviews with over 60s who lived in the East End as young people, and their grandchildren.

⁽²⁴⁾ Unique music and dance fusion: a series of performances of new work by Prasanna Ramaswamy by Western and Indian artists at Royal Festival Hall, developing a fusion of Western and Indian Classical music and dance, and including involvement of London-based students.

⁽²⁵⁾ Land Girls/A Sleep of Prisoners Double Bill: a theatre double bill commemorating World War 2 (a play from 1951 and a new devised work) to be performed in London churches including outreach and workshop programmes for older people as part of the research process.

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Boxing Centres

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding her Department provided to local boxing centres in the last 12 months. [22077]

Mr. Caborn: In the year up to 30 November 2001, Sport England has made awards under the Lottery Sports Fund of £81,250 to the Finchley and District Amateur Boxing Club and £36,206 to the Riverside Leisure Centre in Bristol for the purchase of boxing rings and equipment. In addition nine awards totalling £30,929 have been made under the Awards for All programme for boxing equipment or to boxing clubs.

Historic Environment

Mr. Mike O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she will publish the Government's statement of policy towards the historic environment. [22961]

Tessa Jowell: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and I will publish our statement "The Historic Environment: A Force for Our Future" tomorrow. Copies will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and will be available at my Department's website at www.culture.gov.uk.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Electoral Database

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to make the national registry and voting data electronic; and if he will make a statement. [22440]

Dr. Whitehead: I have been asked to reply.

The LASER (Local Authorities Secure Electoral Registers) project has been established by my Department, in conjunction with the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), the Office of the e-envoy, the Electoral Commission, the Local Government Association and electoral administrators. Its aim is to provide electronic access for authorised users to electoral registers on a national basis. Tenders have been sought for work on the preliminary stages of the project, which will benefit from £12 million Capital Modernisation Funding.

Magistrates Courts

Mr. Hurst: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proposals he has to facilitate geographic access to magistrates courts in the county of Essex. [21752R]

Mr. Wills: I have no proposals in respect of geographic access to magistrates courts in Essex. It is the Government's policy that decisions concerning the number, location and future of magistrates courts in

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Essex, as with each of the 42 magistrates courts committee areas, are for the local courts committee to determine, in consultation with its local paying authority or authorities.

Mr. Hurst: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on the future of Witham magistrates court. [21751R]

Mr. Wills: I am not aware of any agreed plans that the Essex magistrates courts committee may have in respect of the Witham magistrates court.

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