House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 31 Oct 2002 (pt 1)

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Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 31 October 2002

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

2012 Olympics

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what commitment she has received from the Mayor of London to provide support for the staging of the 2012 Olympics in London; [78565]

(3) what commitment she has received from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to provide public funds to support the staging of the 2012 Olympics in London. [78564]

Mr. Caborn: The summary of the Arup report on the costs and benefits of bidding for and staging an Olympic games in London 2012 will be published on 1 November 2002. Copies will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

The report estimates the cost of staging the Olympic games at #2 billion and the cost of bidding at #13 million. We have learnt that the risk associated with hosting an event of the magnitude of the Olympic games is significant and it is our responsibility to the tax payer that this risk is properly assessed.

All stakeholders and relevant Government Departments, including the GLA and the Treasury, are analysing this report and the Government will give careful consideration to the costs, benefits and risks involved before we announce our decision on whether to support a bid to host the games in 2012. We aim to make that decision by the end of the year.

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects to publish the ARUP report on the costs and benefits of staging the 2012 Olympic games in London; and if she will make a statement. [79204]

This report has been commissioned jointly by my Department, the London Development Agency, the British Olympic Association and UK Sport.

The report estimates the cost of staging the Olympic games at #2 billion, and the cost of bidding at #13 million. We have learnt that the risk associated with hosting an event of the magnitude of the Olympic games is significant and it is our responsibility to the tax payer that this risk is properly assessed.

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All stakeholders and relevant Government Departments are currently analysing this report and the Government will give careful consideration to the costs, benefits and risks involved before we announce our decision on whether to support a bid to host the games in 2012. We aim to make that decision by the end of the year.

Departmental Logo

Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the design of her Department's logo. [78346]

Dr. Howells: The logo, and the visual identity of which it is a part, was introduced in February 1999 following the Department's name change. The identity was designed to improve the consistency and distinctiveness of DCMS communications and to achieve better value for money in design and print purchasing.

The introduction of the identity resulted in year on year savings of over 25 per cent. on the procurement of the Department's printed stationery.

Gambling

Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent estimate she has made of the level of problem gambling in the UK. [77517]

Mr. Caborn: The most recent authoritative estimate remains that noted in the report of the Gambling Review Body (Cm 5206), that between 0.6 per cent. and 0.8 per cent. of the adult population of Great Britain are problem gamblers.

Job Advertisements

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many non-devolved posts were advertised in the press in each year from June 1999; and what percentage of them were advertised in the Scottish press. [76850]

Dr. Howells [holding answer 24 October 2002]: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not advertised any post in the press since June 1999 which deals exclusively with departmental responsibilities which extend to Scotland.

Radio Industry

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her assessment of the impact of the Communications Bill on the independent radio industry. [76428]

Dr. Howells: Our general approach to the radio industry, and to communications markets in general, is deregulatory. Format controls and ownership restrictions will both be relaxed. However, we recognise the importance of maintaining the distinctive local basis of commercial radio. We therefore propose to retain key local ownership rules, and to give Ofcom a duty to protect and promote local content.

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Rate Relief

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions she has had with (a) charities and (b) sports clubs on rate relief; and if she will make a statement. [78410]

Mr. Caborn: The Government announced in April that community amateur sports clubs will now be eligible to apply for charitable status, under which they would receive mandatory 80 per cent. rate relief and other tax advantages. The recent Finance Act 2002 also included a package of tax reliefs available from the Inland Revenue that will benefit such clubs.

In July, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met several of sport's governing bodies, as representatives of community amateur sports clubs, to discuss these measures and other issues. In September, my Department arranged a seminar which was designed to give sport's governing bodies the chance to discuss the tax and charitable status options available to amateur clubs. Since the Budget, my Department has met representatives from Sport England, the Central Council of Physical Recreation and the National Playing Fields Association on a number of occasions to discuss these issues. I will continue to work with these organisations and with governing bodies to agree the best way forward for helping these clubs.

Tourism

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proposals she has for the reform of Government support for tourism; and if she will make a statement. [79130]

Tessa Jowell: I announced new arrangements for support for tourism in the English regions on 13 May. Since then I have agreed with the Regional Development Agencies that they are ready to implement this, corporate planning guidance has been issued about how the RDAs should plan for the new tourism responsibilities and further planning work is in hand.

I also proposed changes for the English Tourism Council and to improve the co-ordination of marketing activity for England. I have decided to achieve this by a radical reform of the existing support structures, and there are two aspects to the announcement that I make today.

The first will result in a strengthening of the marketing of Britain in overseas tourism markets. This will be of direct benefit not only to England but also to Scotland and Wales. I had already asked the new Chief Executive of the British Tourism Authority, Tom Wright, to carry out a fundamental review of strategy and structure of support for British tourism overseas. The emerging conclusions point to increasing effectiveness with a structure based on dedicated new hubs for each major market and less emphasis on central services. More resource will be concentrated where it is needed most, that is in the overseas markets served by

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the BTA. I will also improve the accountability arrangements for BTA in co-operation with other GB Tourism Ministers.

The second aspect of my announcement concerns the need for better co-ordination of the marketing of England as a tourism destination in the GB market. We wish to combine some of the day-to-day operations of the English Tourism Council with the BTA. These two organisations have served tourism well, but combining their resources and strengths allows us to develop more quickly the marketing team for England we need. This will also enable us to put more resource into direct support for tourism and less into overheads. We will take this opportunity to develop more effective partnerships with private industry investors to support tourism. We will pursue our commitment to the sustainable development of tourism, particularly in rural areas, some of which are still in recovery following the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

Accordingly, I am today asking Tom Wright to broaden the BTA reform programme and to draw up detailed plans for a further unit to lead and co-ordinate the marketing of England, promoting destinations to customers within our own country. Funding for this activity, and other activities of the relaunched national organisation in support of English tourism, will be accounted for and reported to Parliament separately from action in overseas markets on behalf of all three parts of Britain.

In England, I see a major leadership role for both the private sector and the Regional Development Agencies in developing a coherent marketing agenda across the industry. The new marketing team for English tourism within the relaunched national organisation will be guided by a slimmed down English Tourist Board, drawing on support from the private sector and regional and local government. The broad remit for its work has been drawn up by a group drawn from the private and public sectors, which was fully endorsed at a meeting I chaired of a wide range of tourism bodies at the beginning of August. The team will have responsibility for working closely with RDA and other partners to make the most of the public funds available to support marketing and promotion.

I have asked Alan Britten and David Quarmby, the chairs of the existing boards, to work closely together to ensure the new arrangements are implemented quickly and effectively. Staff from both organisations will be treated on an equal and fair basis, taking full account of their own skills and experience and the requirements of the new arrangements. I have asked them to make recommendations about the new name when they have made further progress on the reforms.

I am also announcing additional funding for tourism services in England. #10 million over three years is available, but will only be released on the effective implementation of reform, on industry rising to the challenge by coming together with matching funds, and the delivery of increased productivity we are looking for in the tourism industry.

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