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3 Mar 2003 : Column 808W—continued
National Lottery
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money has been distributed by the National Lottery in each year since it was established; and if she will make a statement. [99837]
Mr. Caborn: The following table, which is based upon information supplied to us by the distributing bodies for the National Lottery awards database, shows how much money has been awarded in each calendar year since 1995.
| Year | Total amount awarded |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 983,462,994 |
| 1996 | 1,715,239,248 |
| 1997 | 2,380,203,184 |
| 1998 | 1,099,279,154 |
| 1999 | 1,548,634,247 |
| 2000 | 1,242,308,699 |
| 2001 | 1,310,094,043 |
| 2002 | 1,094,087,046 |
Note:
Although the first National Lottery draw was in November 1994, Lottery award were made from 1995 onwards
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the take-up of National Lottery grants in the Yeovil constituency since 1997. [99842]
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Mr. Caborn: According to the information supplied to us by the distributing bodies for the National Lottery awards database, the Yeovil constituency has been awarded a total of £6,974,537 in lottery funding between 1 January 1997 and 31 January 2003.
Playing Field Sales
Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will place in the Library a statement of the (a) criteria applied and (b) circumstances surrounding the playing fields which have been sold since May 1997, and those in relation to which sale was prevented. [100329]
Mr. Caborn: Sport England is a statutory consultee on all planning applications which affect playing fields. I am arranging to place in the Libraries of both Houses, an annex which summarises the legislative measures and criteria applied to proposals to dispose of school playing fields and to planning applications affecting playing fields since 1997.
The collation centrally of information detailing the circumstances surrounding both playing fields sold and those for which sale was prevented would incur disproportionate costs.
Rugby Union
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will meet a delegation from Rotherham Rugby Football Union Club to discuss rugby union. [100242]
Mr. Caborn: I met representatives of Rotherham Rugby Football Union Club at the Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield on 31 October 2002. We discussed matters relating to the rugby club and general rugby union issues.
I would be happy to meet representatives of the club again to discuss any further developments at Rotherham.
Tourism
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many visitors made visits to British tourist attractions in 2002. [99684]
Dr. Howells: Statistics for the number of visits made to visitor attractions in 2002 will not be available until the summer of 2003.
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of expenditure on non-domestic tourism in 2002. [99755]
Dr. Howells: Expenditure by overseas visitors to the UK in 2002 is estimated to have been £11.8 billion.
Welsh Fourth Channel
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority (S4C) in each year since 1980–81; how many viewers the channel had in each of the last 10 years; what plans there are to transfer the funding of S4C to the Welsh Assembly; and if she will make a statement. [99838]
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Dr. Howells: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport was created in 1992, as the Department of National Heritage. Prior to this, grant payments to S4C were made by the Home Office. The amount of grant in aid paid under S4Cs statutory funding formula since 1980–81 was:
| Year | Amount |
|---|---|
| January 1981 to March 1982 | 2.009 |
| Year ending 31 March | |
| 1983 | 18.107 |
| 1984 | 25.119 |
| 1985 | 28.000 |
| 1986 | 31.900 |
| 1987 | 33.880 |
| 1988 | 40.000 |
| 1989 | 45.453 |
| 1990 | 51.738 |
| 1991 | 55.902 |
| April to December 1991 | 43.666 |
| Year ending 31 December | |
| 1992 | 58.571 |
| 1993 | 55.705 |
| 1994 | 57.971 |
| 1995 | 63.942 |
| 1996 | 68.416 |
| 1997 | 72.223 |
| 1998 | 74.895 |
| 1999 | 77.134 |
| 2000 | 78.218 |
| 2001 | 80.745 |
| 2002 | 81.468 |
The total number of viewers, based on average weekly reach, for each of the last 10 years for which figures are available, was:
| Year | (8)Total number of viewers |
|---|---|
| 1992(9) | 1,470,720 |
| 1993 | 1,531,860 |
| 1994 | 1,547,040 |
| 1995 | 1,559,240 |
| 1996 | 1,594,560 |
| 1997 | 1,544,320 |
| 1998 | 1,491,450 |
| 1999 | 1,533,260 |
| 2000 | 1,432,020 |
| 2001 | 1,268,370 |
(8) Viewing figures are based on the average over the year of the total number of viewers in Wales aged four or over who watched S4C for at least three consecutive minutes during the course of each week.
(9) The figure for 1992 is based on data for September to December, due to a temporary HTV viewing panel being used for the period January to August 1992.
Source:
Broadcasters' Audience Research Board figures provided by S4C.
The Government has no plans to transfer the funding of S4C to the Welsh Assembly.
DEFENCE
International Terrorism (British Forces)
16. Mr. Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make a statement on his plans for the
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future involvement of British forces in combating international terrorism. [99865]
Mr. Hoon: The Armed Forces have a significant role in the Government's counter-terrorist strategy, which includes the capability to take military action in self-defence when necessary. The New Chapter of the Strategic Defence Review set out the types of tasks which they might be directed to undertake, in terms of prevention, deterrence, coercion, disruption and destruction.
Army Numbers
18. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the approved strength of the Army is; and how many vacancies there are. [99867]
Dr. Moonie: As at 1 January 2003, whole Army strength stood at 102,800, representing a shortfall of 4,180 personnel against the current requirement.
United Kingdom armed forces full time strengths and trained requirement figures are contained in the Defence Analytical Services Agency's Tri-Service Publication 3, which is available in the Library of the House.
Deepcut Barracks
20. Mr. Eric Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make a statement on the deaths which have occurred at Deepcut barracks. [99870]
Mr. Ingram: The deaths of Privates Sean Benton, Cheryl James, Geoff Gray and James Collinson at Deepcut remain the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Surrey police. The Army has always co-operated fully with the police in the course of their enquiries, and continues to do so. It would be inappropriate to comment on the specific circumstances surrounding the deaths, or hold any further inquiry, whilst current investigations continue.
Defence Fire Service
Ms Julia Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to pursue a private finance initiative for the Defence Fire Service. [99866]
Mr. Ingram: The Airfield Support Services Project is seeking to achieve the most viable and cost effective solution for the provision of airfield support and wider fire services to the Ministry of Defence world wide without compromising operational effectiveness. It includes both PPP and in-house solutions.
The bids will be compared against a taut public sector comparator. Main Gate approval is planned for October 2003 while the eventual decision will be based on best value for money—no decisions have been taken at this stage.
Red Dragon Project
Mr. John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he next plans to visit the Defence Aviation Repair Agency at RAF St. Athan to discuss the Red Dragon project. [99868]
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Mr. Ingram: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence currently has no plans to visit DARA. However, I visited DARA at RAF St Athan last week to launch the Red Dragon project.
Aircraft Carriers
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what he calculates to be the taxpayer's liability under the contractual arrangements he is proposing between his Department, BAE Systems and Thales for the construction of the two new aircraft carriers. [98580]
Mr. Ingram: We are now in discussion with BAE Systems and Thales UK to confirm that the proposed alliance partnership offers the best means of delivering the future aircraft carrier programme and will be capable of operating effectively. We also intend that the Ministry of Defence should take up a formal role within the Alliance. The precise roles and responsibilities of the alliance members will be determined through negotiations. At the conclusion of the negotiations, theMinistry of Defence will be required to demonstrate that it has completely bounded the Government's liabilities under the terms of the prime contract, which we plan to award in the spring of 2004.
Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress in negotiations on construction of the new aircraft carriers. [99860]
Mr. Ingram: Discussions with BAE Systems and Thales UK on the Alliance structure for the aircraft carrier programme are progressing. Although I cannot go into the detail of the commercial negotiations, both companies are engaging positively in the process and we anticipate moving forward to the next phase of assessment work in the next few months.
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