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Overseas Tourist Offices
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many tourist offices the UK has overseas; where they are located; and what plans she has to extend the UK tourist offices overseas. [66084]
Dr. Howells: The British Tourist Authority is responsible for marketing Britain overseas as a tourist destination. It has 30 offices overseas located in Austria, Germany (Frankfurt, Berlin), Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, India, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, USA (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles), Canada, Brazil and Argentina. We have no plans to extend these offices but the BTA keeps this matter under review.
Regional Television
Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received from ITC on ITC's new Charter for Broadcasting in the Nations and Regions. [66448]
Dr. Howells: The Independent Television Commission kept the Department informed of progress as they negotiated the Charter for Broadcasting in the Nations and Regions with the ITV companies.
Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her policy is in respect of promoting and encouraging regional television; and what further plans she has in this respect. [66447]
Dr. Howells: The Government's policy is to retain and strengthen the regional dimension to public service broadcasting to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of different communities and cultural interests. The draft Communications Bill contains detailed provisions designed to achieve this.
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Under the Bill, Channel 3 companies will have targets for programmes produced in the regions for the regions, programmes made regionally for national audiences and investment in programme production in the regions. They will also have targets for the provision of high quality regional programmes, including news, a sufficient proportion of which will have to be shown at or around peak time. OFCOM will be required to publish a review of the regional obligations in each Channel 3 licence whenever ownership changes hands and to change licence conditions to meet any concerns arising.
Channel 4 will have targets for programme production and investment in the regions. Obligations in this area will also be applied to the BBC, through the Agreement with the Secretary of State.
Television Licence
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many pensioners over 75 years old in (a) the North West, (b) Lancashire and (c) Burnley receive free television licences. [65546]
Dr. Howells: TV Licensing, which administers the free television licence scheme for the BBC as Licensing Authority, is not able to provide geographical breakdowns of the number of free licences issued. However, estimates based on the 1991 Census indicate that there were approximately 368,000 people aged 75 or over in the North West Government Office Region, 97,000 in Lancashire and 6,400 in the Burnley constituency.
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many prosecutions undertaken by Television Licensing in each of the last five years resulted in a custodial sentence; and what was the length of the sentence in each case. [65460]
Dr. Howells [holding answer 1 July 2002]: Custodial sentences are not available for television licence evasion, the maximum penalty being a fine. However, custodial sentences can be imposed for non-payment of such a fine. The number of people in England and Wales received into prison for non-payment of fines for TV Licence evasion, by sentence length and year, in each of the last five years was as follows:
| Sentence Lengths | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to and including three months | 235 | 167 | 180 | 37 | 28 |
| GT 3 LE six months | 1 | 2 | — | — | — |
| GT 12 LE 18 months | — | 1 | — | — | — |
| GT 18 months LE three years | — | — | — | 1 | — |
| Total | 236 | 170 | 180 | 38 | 28 |
Departmental Energy Use
Mr. Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the estimated (a) level and (b) cost of energy use in her Department and associated agencies was in each year since 1997; what proportion of energy was generated from renewable sources; and if she will make a statement. [65958]
Dr. Howells: The Department did not retain details of energy levels until 2000–01. Energy costs since 1997–98, and levels from 2000–01 are as follows.
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| Year | kilowatt hours | £000 |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 311 | |
| 1998–99 | 107 | |
| 1999–2000 | 133 | |
| 2000–01 | 3.9 | 146 |
| 2001–02 | (10)2.6 | 112 |
(10) Reflects release of a building
The Department has not bought from renewable sources in the past but is planning buy a proportion of energy from such sources when contracts are re-let later in the year.
Figures for the Royal Parks Agency are:
| Year | kilowatt hours | £000 |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 7.9 | 311 |
| 1998 | 7.9 | 305 |
| 1999 | 6.5 | 313 |
| 2000 | 7.6 | 247 |
| 2001 | 7.3 | 211 |
Note:
None of the energy consumed in the above periods by the Royal Parks Agency was procured from renewable sources.
Digital Television
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the BBC about their bid for a multiplex licence. [65459]
Dr. Howells [holding answer 1 July 2002]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with the BBC about their bid. This is a matter for the ITC.
The Dome
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the names and amounts paid by (a) sponsors and (b) contributors to the Dome who did not make confidentiality a condition of their donation; and (i) how much money and (ii) how many donations remain subject to confidentiality. [65570]
Dr. Howells: Official sponsors of the Millennium Experience were: Boots (supported by L'Oreal and Roche), BskyB, BT, City of London (a consortium of Corporation of London, Barclays, CGU, NatWest, Prudential), Ford, Manpower, Marks and Spencer, McDonalds and Tesco.
Official partners were: BAA, BAE, British Airways, Camelot and Marconi.
Official suppliers were: 3Com, Coca-Cola, Compaq, Daily Mail, Kodak, Mars, Thames Water, Typhoo and Walls.
Sponsorship for the Faith zone came from the Laing Family Trusts, the Hinduja Foundation and other Christian trusts including the Jerusalem Trust.
Other contributors, in various ways, were: De Beers, Halifax, London borough of Greenwich, Reuters and Woolwich.
The total amount of sponsorship obtained by the New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) was £120 million cash and value in kind, not including direct funding by BT and Ford of the costs of their zones or extra funding for marketing and promotion spent by a
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number of sponsors over and above the requirements of their contracts. Actual payments of cash and value in kind following negotiations are subject to various confidentiality requirements of the contracts and agreements between the NMEC and contributors.
DEFENCE
Entertainment Costs
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list for 1997–98 and for each subsequent financial year, including the current year to date, the amount spent by (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies on (i) food and (ii) alcohol, indicating how much was spent on guests, and how much in respect of (A) Ministers and (B) staff, broken down to show how much was provided directly by his Department and how much reclaimed. [34446]
Dr. Moonie: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Part-time Employees
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of the staff of his Department are part-time employees. [47154]
Mr. Ingram [holding answer 10 April 2002]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 10 April 2002, Official Report, column 49W, by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mr. Leslie).
Regulatory Impact Unit
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of his Department have been employed in its Regulatory Impact Unit in the past five years; and if he will make a statement. [65964]
Mr. Ingram: As a non-regulatory Department, the Ministry of Defence does not have a dedicated Regulatory Impact Unit. Five years ago the MOD's focal point was a civilian in the MOD Procurement Executive (now Defence Procurement Agency). From early 1999 issues relating to regulatory impact have been addressed by two civilian members of staff, as part of their wider remit to assess the potential impacts of EU legislation on the Ministry of Defence.
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