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Culture and Audiovisual Council

Mr. Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the outcome was of the Culture and Audiovisual Council held in Brussels on 23 May; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including their voting record; and if she will make a statement. [60491]

Dr. Howells: The culture and audiovisual Council held in Brussels on 23 May discussed future EU cultural co-operation, the preservation of digital content for future generations and proposals to revise the Directive on "Television Without Frontiers". A lunchtime discussion addressed the role of private sector cultural sponsorship.

Resolutions were agreed by unanimity on a work plan for future EU cultural co-operation and on the importance of ensuring that digital content is preserved so as to be accessible by future generations.

Discussions on the future of the current framework programme for cultural co-operation—Culture 2000—were of a preliminary nature only and there was no vote. The UK view was that the existing programme should be extended in order to allow sufficient time to review its impact to date and to discuss its successor. The Commission has agreed to produce a report on the existing scheme by the end of 2002 and will also put forward a number of proposals for further discussion.

All delegations agreed that the review of the "Television Without Frontiers" Directive should be preceded by detailed debate and reflection and the Commission agreed to produce a work programme by the end of 2002. There was no formal vote. The priority for the UK will be to ensure that discussions on the review of the Directive take into account the provisions outlined in the draft communications Bill, published by my Department earlier this month.

The lunchtime discussion reiterated the importance of private sector cultural sponsorship and it was agreed that Member States should discuss ways of sharing

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experiences and agreeing best practice. This was an informal discussion and there was no vote. The UK fully supported the outcome of the debate.

European Football Championships 2008

Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assistance is being given to support the bid of Scotland and Ireland to stage the 2008 European Football Championships. [60232]

Dr. Howells: The Government consider the Scotland and Ireland bid to be a strong one, and will give their full support. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met the Scottish Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport on 18 March to discuss how DCMS may best support the bid team's efforts. To date, central Government support has centred on the provision of the formal guarantees required by UEFA. As well as a statement of UK Government support for the bid, these included commitments from the Department for Work and Pensions, the Home Office, HM Customs and Excise and other Departments, covering issues of work permits, immigration control and value added tax.

Television Licence

Mr. Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost would be of removing the requirement for a TV licence for people between 70 and 75 years. [60482]

Dr. Howells: In 2001–02 total expenditure on free TV licences for people aged 75 and over was £369.57 million. If everyone aged 70 and over had been eligible for a free TV licence in 2001–02, the additional cost would have been £182 million.

Sport England

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of the sum given in each of the last three years to Sport England was allocated to model aircraft flying. [59781]

Dr. Howells [holding answer 10 June 2002]: None of Sport England's Exchequer income has been given to model aircraft flying in any of the last three years. The lottery funds awarded were as follows:

Lottery funding

Year	£	Percentage of total lottery income
1999–2000	0	0
2000–01	2,850	0.00127
2001–02	4,683	0.00160

Green Spaces and Sustainable Communities

Programme

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money has been granted under the Green Spaces and Sustainable Communities Programme, broken down by region. [59778]

Dr. Howells [holding answer 10 June 2002]: The total amount of funding committed to date in the United Kingdom under the New Opportunities Fund's Green

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Spaces and Sustainable Communities programme is £25,379,355. This comprises £17,432,146 in England, £6,058,366 in Scotland, £1,426,271 in Wales and £462,572 in Northern Ireland. The table breaks down funding in England by region, where such a breakdown is possible.

Region	Funding (£)	Number of projects
Eastern	1,041,989	32
East Midlands	1,061,908	49
London	1,687,502	58
North East	2,415,197	71
North West	3,112,983	100
South West	2,416,668	70
West Midlands	2,609,675	53
Yorkshire and Humberside	1,916,851	66
South East	1,114,525	56

Tourism (England)

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her proposals for the marketing of tourism in England. [60035]

Dr. Howells [holding answer 10 June 2002]: Proposals for the modernisation and reform of tourism were announced on 13 May and further details will be announced later in the summer.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which (a) individuals and (b) companies or organisations her Department consulted on the proposals for the marketing of tourism in England. [60034]

Dr. Howells [holding answer 10 June 2002]: Since the difficult events of 2001, we have consulted a wide variety of individuals and organisations about the future arrangements for domestic marketing. Our emerging proposals have been discussed with key industry stakeholders at the Tourism Forum, organised by the English Tourism Council, and at a special seminar chaired by the Secretary of State at Hartwell House. We have also worked closely with the Tourism Alliance and many national and regional tourism bodies.

Arts Development

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she will respond to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee's third report on arts development. [61137]

Tessa Jowell: The Government's response to the report was laid before Parliament earlier today.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Departmental Staff (Scotland)

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many and what percentage of (a) Civil Service, (b) executive agencies and (c) non-departmental public body jobs under the remit of his Department are located in Scotland; and how many of each have been relocated to Scotland since May 1997. [56303]

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Mr. Mike O'Brien: No civil service or executive agency jobs under the remit of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are located in Scotland.

For non-departmental public bodies, 34 jobs (3.11 per cent.) are located in Scotland. All these were located in Scotland prior to 1997. A further 20 British Council slots will be relocated to Edinburgh between now and summer 2003.

Disclosure of Interests

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what rules apply to

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the disclosure of interests on the part of those serving on public bodies which are responsible to his Department. [56452]

Mr. Straw: All advisory and executive non-departmental public bodies (NDPB) are required to adopt a board members' code, based on guidance produced by the Cabinet Office, and they should have registers of interests. The definition of interests is ultimately for individual Departments since they are best placed to decide what might be thought to influence members of their NDPBs.

The following table lists the NDPBs sponsored by this Department and in each cases indicates what the relevant code of practice is and where it is available.

Non-departmental public body	Present status	Information available
British Council	Code of best practice for board members adopted on 1 November 1994	Available on request from the secretariat of the British Council
Wilton Park Academic Council	Draft code of practice to be adopted on 13 June 2002. WPAC also hold 'conflict of interests' register	Once approved, will be on WPAC website www.wiltonpark.org.uk/
British Association for Central and Eastern Europe	Does not have a register of interest, though compliant with Companies Act requirement for board members to declare any other company directorships	—
Great Britain China Centre	Has a register of executive committee members' interests relevant to its activities	May be obtained by contacting GBCC in writing. Details also given on website (www.gbcc.org.uk)
Britain Russia Centre	No code of practice in respect of its disclosure of interest currently in place	Board members sign an annual declaration provided by the auditors that they have had no personal gain or financial interest from/in BRC activities. Website: www.briteastwest.org.uk/
Diplomatic Service Appeals Board	Code of practice currently being drafted. Register of interests covered in application forms	Information can be obtained from Secretary, DSAB, FCO, London SW1A 2PA
Westminster Foundation for Democracy	Code of practice under review. Do hold a register of interests. WFD also has code of conduct for board members which includes the obligation to declare any material interests	Held by company secretary. Website www.wfd.org/
Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine	Code of practice adopted	Published in annual report. Information can be obtained from the Head of Government Hospitality, Lancaster House, St. James's, London SW1
Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission	Code of practice adopted by commission on 25 April 1997	Documents available from commission secretariat at Association of Commonwealth Universities (not on website but details in ACU annual report)

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