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27 Mar 2003 : Column 363W—continued
Noise Pollution
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what work her Department is undertaking to monitor and act against noise pollution from public houses; [105041]
(2) if she will list those organisations and individuals contracted to undertake research and analysis of noise pollution from public houses on her behalf; and when those contracts were agreed. [105042]
Dr. Howells: DCMS does not monitor noise from public houses and has not contracted any organisations or individuals to undertake research and analysis of noise pollution from public houses. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the lead Department for policy relating to the control of noise pollution and nuisance and my right hon. Friend the Minister for Rural Affairs and Urban Quality of Life answered questions on this subject on 13 January 2003, Official Report, column 375W, and 20 January 2003, Official Report, column 104–5W.
The Licensing Bill currently before the House of Commons will allow licensing authorities to attach conditions to premises licences and club premises certificates if they are necessary to address noise nuisance. Local residents and others will be able to make representations about applications for licences and certificates which they believe will lead to noise problems and to request reviews of licences and certificates where noise problems exist.
Regional Cultural Consortiums
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 14 March, Official Report, column 429W, on regional cultural consortiums, if she will estimate the administrative costs for each consortium for (a) January to April 2003 and (b) financial year 2003–04. [104701]
Mr. Caborn: (a) Each consortium has the following funds available for the period January to April 2003.
| Regional cultural consortium | £ |
|---|---|
| Eastern | 87.116 |
| East Midlands | 106,936 |
| North East | 88,386 |
| North West | 88,497 |
| South East | 84,084 |
| South West | 96,185 |
| West Midlands | 95,543 |
| Yorkshire | 86,656 |
It is not possible to detail the exact expenditure by each consortium for the period in question until the end of the period.
(b) For the financial year 2003–04, each Consortium has a budget of £125,000 and will continue to receive support from staff based within the Government Offices in the regions. As stated in my answer of 14 March, the Regional Development Agencies and the various regional cultural agencies have all been encouraged to help with funding and other means of support.
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Sports
Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action she is taking to encourage the (a) Football Association, (b) Rugby Football Union, (c) Lawn Tennis Association and (d) England and Wales Cricket Board to (i) increase participation in their sports, (ii) increase participation in their sports by those of Asian origin and (iii) increase participation in their sports by those living in inner city areas; and if she will make a statement. [104750]
Mr. Caborn: Sport's governing bodies are essential to the Government's plans to increase levels of sporting participation.
(i) £40 million in new Lottery funding has recently been made available to national governing bodies to improve their mechanisms for delivering improvements in participation levels. In addition, the Government has taken steps to assist governing-body affiliated, and other, Community Amateur Sports Clubs in offering opportunities for people of all ages to participate in healthy recreation. DCMS worked closely with the Charity Commission on the revised guidance issued in March 2002, which will make many more local clubs are eligible for the financial benefits of charitable status;
(ii) The Government have worked closely with the Football Association, the Rugby Football Union, the Lawn Tennis Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board increase participation among Asian people. I fully support the efforts of these governing bodies in this area, which include FA projects in Leicester and elsewhere, the RFU's social inclusion programmes including its work at the Islamic High School for Girls in Central Manchester, the LTA's inner city tennis projects and the ECB's Racial Equality Intermediate Level Award-approved coaching projects;
(iii) all four of these governing bodies run sporting access schemes for children in inner urban areas, which complement Sport England's Sport Action Zones initiative in some of the most socially and economically deprived areas of the country. The Government will be investing £60 million over the three years from 2003–04 through the Community Clubs Investment Programme, the focus of which will be on increasing participation levels in deprived areas and among disadvantaged groups. The Government have funded additional and complementary sporting initiatives in deprived areas through the Positive Futures and Splash projects.
Sports Facilities (Refurbishment)
Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many public sports facilities in (a) Harrow, (b) London and (c) England are in need of refurbishment; and if she will make a statement. [104831]
Mr. Caborn: Figures on the number of public sports facilities in Harrow, London and England, which are in need of refurbishment are not available. Local authorities are the key providers of sport and recreation facilities in their areas and significant investment from the National Lottery has helped to create new state of the art community facilities. DCMS, in partnership with Sport England is developing an England-wide database
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of sports facilities, which will enable more strategic Government investment in those areas and facilities that are most important.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
International Law
Sir John Stanley: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps the Government is taking to encourage states who have acceded to the Hague conventions also to become members of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. [102502]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I apologise for my late reply, which is due to an administrative error. As part of its consistent support for the Hague Conference, the Government has encouraged the rapid and recent world-wide expansion of the Conference's membership; in particular, it routinely endorses applications to join from individual countries. In 2000 my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor wrote to the Ministers of Justice in South Africa, New Zealand and India to advocate membership of the conference; the first two of these countries have subsequently joined. He will continue to promote the advantages of membership on his visits to countries which have yet to join.
Judgment Debtors
Mr. Chope: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make it the policy of the Government to allow postal service of form N39 requiring a judgment debtor to attend an oral examination at the county court. [104773]
Yvette Cooper: No. The order must be served on the debtor personally and the creditor must file an affidavit by the person who served the order giving details of how and when it was served. This is because non-attendance at court by the debtor may be treated as contempt of court and result in his imprisonment.
Not-for-profit Agencies
Dr. Naysmith: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if the Lord Chancellor will ensure that Legal Services Commission funding for not-for-profit agencies continues to guarantee RPI increases in salary scales; and if he will make a statement. [104505]
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what inflation increase has been awarded to not-for-profit agencies providing general civil contracts from 1 April 2003; and if she will make a statement. [104738]
Ms Rosie Winterton: From April 2003, not for profit organisations offering legal services as part of the community legal service will be issued with a replacement contract by the Legal Services Commission (LSC). The new 'Not for Profit Contract', in common with the contract for solicitors, contains no guarantee of annual remuneration increases. However, my Department and the LSC are monitoring actively the provider base in all areas of law and will consider as
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matters develop whether measures to enhance remuneration rates are possible within available resources.
My right hon. and Learned Friend the Lord Chancellor and I recognise that people working in not for profit organisations are dedicated, efficient and caring individuals, providing important services to the socially excluded and disadvantaged, for rates of remuneration that will inevitably fall short of what they can earn in the private sector. However, our scope for improving the position with regard to remuneration is limited by resource constraints.
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