| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Public Service Broadcasting
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received on the regional dimension to public service broadcasting; and if she will make a statement. [47932]
Dr. Howells: I have received representations from 25 hon. Members on the future of ITV regional programming. I understand that five members of the public have also raised this subject with my Department.
The Government's proposals to retain and to strengthen the regional dimension to public service broadcasting to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of different communities and cultural interests were set out in the White Paper "A New Future for Communications". The necessary provisions will be included in the forthcoming Communications Bill.
Youth Football
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received from (a) Sport England and (b) others in respect of the future funding of youth football associated with Football League clubs; and if she will make a statement. [47039]
Mr. Caborn: Nationwide Football League clubs face the prospect of reduced broadcasting revenues for the next two seasons, and it is possible that this will have consequences for the levels of funding they presently devote to youth development. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I are in regular contact with the League and the Football Association, and will discuss this issue with them in detail once the position is clearer. My Department has not received representations from Sport England on this subject.
ITV Digital
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with Granada plc and Carlton Communications plc over the future of ITV Digital; and if she will make a statement. [47041]
Dr. Howells: Over the past few weeks, I have been kept closely in touch by all sides involved in the ITV Digital negotiations. However, the decisions taken by ITV Digital are commercial decisions for them, and them alone, to take. An administrator has now been appointed and is in charge of finding a satisfactory outcome for all the parties.
Lottery Funding
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much National Lottery funding has been received by organisations within the Torbay Unitary Authority. [48196]
10 Apr 2002 : Column 326W
Mr. Caborn: Torbay has received grants from the National Lottery worth a total of £4,971,268.
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she made of the suitability of including Torbay in the list of areas under the targeted Lottery initiative. [48195]
Mr. Caborn: The selection of Fair Share areas was a matter for the Community Fund and the New Opportunities Fund, based on broad criteria set by the Government. Torbay was not selected because it is not one of the 100 most deprived Local Authority Districts in England.
Gaming Machines
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what estimate her Department has made of the impact on the (a) revenues and (b) viability of registered and proprietary clubs of implementing proposals to limit jackpots for gaming machines; and if she will make a statement; [48536]
- (2) what plans she has to implement proposals restricting jackpots on gaming machines in registered and proprietary clubs; and if she will make a statement. [48535]
Mr. Caborn: Consultations on the report of the Gambling Review Body established that its recommendation that registered clubs should lose their entitlement under the current law to install jackpot gaming machines would have a significant adverse impact on the revenue and viability of many. We have decided not to accept this recommendation, for the reasons set out in paragraph 4.17 of "A safe bet for success" (Cm 5397) which we laid before Parliament on 26 March, and as I explained in reply to a question from the hon. Member for Fareham on 25 March 2002, Official Report, column 549.
Gambling
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list all the proposals in A Safe Bet for Success-Modernising Britain's Gambling Laws, which will not require a change in primary legislation and for each proposal state (a) the method by which it will be implemented and (b) the date on which she expects the implementation to take place. [48379]
Mr. Caborn: Appendix B to Cm 5397 identifies which proposals require changes in primary legislation and which do not. Of the proposals in the latter category which the Appendix indicates that the Government has decided to accept, most will not be implemented in advance of primary legislation, because they involve either action by the proposed Gambling Commission which that legislation will establish, or substantial changes to the current balance of regulation which it would not be desirable to take forward ahead of the establishment of the Commission, with its new powers to supervise, monitor and enforce them.
10 Apr 2002 : Column 327W
The proposals which the Government proposed to implement in advance of primary legislation are as follows, as set out in Chapter 9 of Cm 5397.
| Recommendation | Method of implementation |
|---|---|
| 12 | Administrative action by Gaming Board |
| 56 | Industry code of practice or Regulations under the European Communities Act 1972 |
| 73 | Order under the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 |
| 77 | Code of practice issued on behalf of the Gaming Board and BACTA |
| 81 | Order under the Regulatory Reform Act 2000 |
| 93 | Order under the Gaming Act 1968 |
| 94 | Advice from Gaming Board to licensing justices |
| 98 | Order under the Gaming Act 1968 |
| 102 | Order under the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 |
| 118 | Order under the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 |
| 134 | Advice from DCMS to local authorities and pools companies |
Recommendations 12 and 73 were implemented on 1 March 2002. Recommendations 93, 94, 98, 102, 118 and 134 should be implemented, subject to Parliament's approval where subordinate legislation is concerned, before the Summer Recess. I intend that the remaining recommendations should be implemented in the course of this financial year.
10 Apr 2002 : Column 328W
Television Licences
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the (a) number and (b) total cost of television licences paid for by her Department. [48334]
Dr. Howells: The DCMS core functions are in a single building and that building alone requires the single television licence that is purchased annually by the Department at a cost of £109.00.
Television Licensing
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the number of prosecutions undertaken by Television Licensing in each of the last five years, stating for each prosecution (i) whether the defendant was convicted, (ii) where convicted, the punishment the defendant received and (iii) the age of the defendant. [48373]
Dr. Howells: The available information relates to prosecutions for all offences under the Wireless Telegraphy Acts of 1949 and 1967 (though the great majority of these involve licence fee evasion) and distinguishes only between people aged under 21 and those aged 21 or over. The figures for England and Wales for each of the years from 1996 to 2000 are shown in the table.
| Sentence breakdown | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proceeded against | Found guilty | Sentenced(86) | Absolute/ conditional discharge | Fine | Community sentence | Otherwise dealt with | |
| 1996 | 188,108 | 164,848 | 164,851 | 2,703 | 161,984 | 7 | 157 |
| 1997 | 92,728 | 76,984 | 76,985 | 1,331 | 75,600 | 16 | 38 |
| 1998 | 96,616 | 76,605 | 76,604 | 902 | 75,621 | 8 | 73 |
| 1999 | 68,778 | 55,813 | 55,813 | 919 | 54,799 | 10 | 85 |
| 2000 | 121,124 | 105,714 | 105,715 | 2,149 | 103,542 | 4 | 20 |
(85) These data are on the principal offence basis.
(86) In some years the number sentenced may exceed the number found guilty as these may include cases where a person is found guilty at the magistrates court and committed for sentence at the Crown Court, but the sentencing at the Crown Court does not take place until the following year.
Digital Television
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will publish statistics on the take up of digital television by age group. [48369]
Dr. Howells: Research commissioned by my Department into consumer attitudes towards digital television will include take-up figures for digital television by age group and is due to be published in May. We published similar research in June 2001. The Report is available on the DCMS website at http:// www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk/pdfs/digtv_final_report.pdf
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on access by (a) the BBC and (b) all other broadcasters to the (i) digital terrestrial, (ii) digital satellite and (iii) digital cable television platforms in the United Kingdom. [48375]
Dr. Howells: In the White Paper "A new Future for Communications", the Government made a commitment to ensure that the public service broadcasting channels (those of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) are available on all the main platforms, both before and after switchover. The forthcoming Communications Bill will give us the opportunity to include any provisions necessary to achieve this objective. The access of other channels to the digital platforms is a commercial matter for them and the platform operators, subject to fair competition rules.
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what (a) date and (b) grounds the recent change in the affordability element of the digital switchover tests was made. [48370]
Dr. Howells: There has been no such change.
10 Apr 2002 : Column 329W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |