| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
7 May 2003 : Column 723W—continued
Servicemen's Insurance
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to ensure that the procurement process for the replacement schemes for PAX and RPAX do not penalise regulars and reservists deployed within the 30 day 'exclusion period' applied by many insurers at times of conflict. [111651]
Dr. Moonie: Exclusion periods enable underwriters to protect themselves from excessive risks by closing schemes to new applicants. Most insurance contracts contain arrangements for exclusion periods, which may often be applied retrospectively by up to 30 days, as is the case with the current PAX and RPAX policies.
These arrangements protect the scheme against those seeking short-term cover at the last minute and helps keep premiums affordable for prudent long-term members. Consequently it is planned that the replacement PAX and RPAX contract, which will come into effect on 1 July 2003, will continue to contain such arrangements.
We encourage service personnel to recognise the long-term nature of life insurance throughout their service and not just at times of more active duty—when they may seek cover too late, just as schemes are withdrawn.
WALES
Commemorative Plaques
Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the average cost was of erecting a blue commemorative plaque in the last 12 months. [111620]
Peter Hain: My Department does not erect blue plaques.
Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many blue commemorative plaques were erected in each of the last five years; and, for each year, what the cost was to public funds; and (2) what the policy criteria are for the erection of blue plaques to commemorate distinguished citizens in their native localities. [111623]
Peter Hain: My Department has no responsibility for the blue plaque scheme.
Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales who (a) sets the criteria of selection and (b) is responsible for the erection of blue commemorative plaques. [111626]
7 May 2003 : Column 724W
Peter Hain: There is no central blue plaque scheme in Wales. However CADW Welsh Historic Monuments operate the Civic Initiatives—Heritage Grant Scheme under which voluntary organisations could apply for support in erecting plaques.
EU Directives
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will list the EU Directives or Regulations which have been implemented by his Department since 17 April 2002. [106832]
Peter Hain: My Department has not implemented any EU Directives or Regulations since 17 April 2002.
Honours
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many officials in his Department have received honours; and how many honours are held by his officials, broken down by category of honour. [111482]
Rail Services
Dr. Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to his answer of 2 April, Official Report, column 733W, on rail services, if he will make a statement on the (a) scope and (b) outcome of his recent meeting with the Strategic Rail Authority and Wales and Borders Railways. [109407]
Peter Hain: The meeting formed part of an ongoing dialogue with the Strategic Rail Authority and with train operating companies about rail services in Wales and plans for the future.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Adventure Playgrounds
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the role of adventure playgrounds in reducing anti-social behaviour; and if she will make a statement. [109098]
Mr. Caborn: Good quality play opportunities can have a significant impact on children and young people, their families and the wider community. The wider benefits of effective play provision can include a reduction in crime—it can ensure children and young people are enjoying themselves and are therefore engaged in activities which do not lead them to antisocial behaviour.
No formal assessment of the role of adventure playgrounds has been carried out by my Department, but we in partnership with DfES are conducting a review of Children's Play which will report in the summer. This will identify how funding for children's play can be spent most effectively.
Archaeology
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with English Heritage on (a) the arrangements for
7 May 2003 : Column 725W
tendering archaeological work to accompany a major development and (b) the quality and expertise of the teams carrying out such work. [111695]
Dr. Howells: The Department has not held discussions with English Heritage on arrangements for tendering or the expertise of people and organisations carrying out such work. Planning permission for major development works is granted by the relevant local authority. It is for local authority archaeological officers to approve plans to carry out archaeological work associated with major developments to the appropriate standards, including approval of a specification which would include the competence and experience of those undertaking the work.
Buckmore Park Scout Centre
Jonathan Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with Sport England regarding the closure of Buckmore Park scout centre; and if she will make a statement. [111086]
Mr. Caborn: I understand that Sport England has been involved in discussions with all the interested parties in an attempt to ensure that the centre continues in operation. An action plan was agreed by all the parties which set out a series of steps to be completed. Once these have been done, Sport England believes that it will be possible to progress new arrangements for the management of the centre.
Cultural Activities
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps are being taken to evaluate strategies for promoting participation in art and cultural activities in schools and communities. [111134]
Mr. Caborn: The Government have already exceeded their target of establishing 12 creative partnerships between schools and creative organisations, by 2004. The National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) is conducting a major evaluation of the creative partnerships programme and will publish its findings in spring 2005. The Government's target to increase the number of people in communities experiencing the arts will be evaluated through Arts Council attendance surveys, due to be completed by March 2004. Findings from these surveys will be compared with baseline data from a pilot survey, carried out in 2001.
Film Tax Relief
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list (a) the films which have been certified by her Department since 1997 as a qualifying film for film tax relief, (b) the film production companies which have received film tax relief since 1997 and (c) how much film tax relief has been granted in each year since 1997. [111155]
Dr. Howells: DCMS certifies qualifying films as British under the terms of the Films Act 1985. Those certificates may be used in support of a claim for tax relief on the films to which they relate. Claims for
7 May 2003 : Column 726W
tax relief are made to the Inland Revenue and I am unable to provide details for reasons of taxpayer confidentiality.
I am arranging for the list of qualifying films for the period from 1997 to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Film production benefits from a number of tax reliefs that accelerate the deduction of expenditure on British qualifying films. The estimated tax cost of relief provided under Section 48 of the Finance (No.2) Act 1997 is £440 million for the period 1997–98 to 2001–02. The tax cost of the other reliefs is estimated to be an additional £70 million a year.
Great British Kitchen
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what financial support has been requested from her Department for the establishment of a national visitor attraction within the proposed Great British Kitchen development at Stafford. [111184]
Dr. Howells: The Department is not aware of any direct requests for financial assistance to support the Great British Kitchen development. However, I am aware that there have been a number of meetings between officials at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the British Food Trust to discuss this project.
Iraq (Cultural Heritage)
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures she is taking to ensure the identification and return of antiquities and cultural artefacts looted from Iraq. [110606]
Tessa Jowell: The current UN sanction requires State Parties to the UN to impose import controls on objects from Iraq, including antiquities. We welcome UNESCO's announcement that they will be proposing to the UN a continuing selective embargo on the movement of Iraqi cultural property so that there should be no diminution of control over the import of Iraqi cultural property. This is clearly an option, and we are very supportive of this aim.
Last year the UK acceded to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. Irrespective of whether UN sanctions are lifted, since these objects have been stolen from Iraqi museums, the UK now has an obligation to prevent their import and assist the legitimate authorities in Iraq to secure their return.
I have written to the British Art Market Federation and to the Antiquities Dealers Association to ask for their assistance in locating and identifying looted material should it surface on the legitimate market in the UK (despite the existence of a ban on the import of such material).
The legitimate art market will be helped by the announcement on 29 April that UNESCO intend to establish a database of items believed to have been stolen. We will work closely with UNESCO to ensure that this database is as comprehensive as possible. We also welcome and support the swift response of the UK
7 May 2003 : Column 727W
and international heritage sector to circulate the identity of antiquities looted from Iraqi museums, including the posting on its website by the Art Newspaper of details of more than 300 of the most prominent objects from the collection of the Baghdad Museum, and the plans announced on 29 April by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) to issue on the world wide web a fully illustrated Red List of the hundred most important antiquities looted from the Baghdad Museum.
I have also written to my hon. Friend the Member for Wentworth (John Healey), Economic Secretary to the Treasury, to ask him to alert Customs officers at all ports of entry in locating and identifying any Iraqi antiquities, with a view to prosecuting those who attempt to breach the import controls.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many illegally obtained objects of Iraqi cultural heritage, broken down by type, have been found entering the United Kingdom since 9 April. [110845]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
From 9 April 2003 to date Customs have not detected any illegally obtained objects of Iraqi cultural heritage entering the UK.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what steps she has taken to secure a ban in the international trade in objects of Iraqi cultural heritage; [110847]
- (2) what measures are in place to deal with the illicit trade of objects of Iraqi cultural heritage; [110848]
(3) what steps she is taking to encourage the return of cultural objects stolen or illicitly exported from Iraq. [110846]
Tessa Jowell: The current UN sanction requires state parties to the UN to impose import controls on objects from Iraq, including antiquities. The current ban on the import of antiquities from Iraq means that such antiquities can be seized if there is an attempt to import them illegally. However, there is a concern that when UN sanctions are lifted there should be no diminution of control over the import of Iraqi cultural property. UNESCO have announced that they will be proposing to the UN a continuing selective embargo on the movement of Iraqi cultural property. This is clearly an option, and we are very supportive of this aim.
Last year the UK acceded to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. Irrespective of whether UN
7 May 2003 : Column 728W
sanctions are lifted, since these objects have been stolen from Iraqi museums, the UK now has an obligation to prevent their import and assist the legitimate authorities in Iraq to secure their return.
We fully support the Private Member's Bill, which will make it illegal in this country to trade dishonestly in cultural objects unlawfully removed from another country. The Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Bill has both cross-party and cross-sectoral support among the UK art trade and heritage community. The Bill is due to go into Committee on 14 May and we shall be discussing with parliamentary business managers how best to progress the Bill through its remaining stages as fast as possible.
I have written to my hon. Friend the Member for Wentworth (John Healey), Economic Secretary to the Treasury, to ask him to alert customs officers at all ports of entry in locating and identifying any Iraqi antiquities, with a view to prosecuting those who attempt to breach the import controls.
I have also written to the British Art Market Federation and to the Antiquities Dealers Association to ask for their assistance in locating and identifying looted material should it surface on the legitimate market in the UK (despite the existence of a ban on the import of such material).
The legitimate art market will be helped by the announcement on 29 April that UNESCO intend to establish a database of items believed to have been stolen. We will work closely with UNESCO to ensure that this database is as comprehensive as possible.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she received, from whom and when, between 1 January and 20 April, regarding the threat of looting of antiquities in Iraq; what her response was; and if she will make a statement. [110614]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 1 May 2003]: I have received and responded to letters from the United Kingdom Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works on 8 April and the Society of Antiquaries of London on 13 April concerning the protection of Iraq's cultural heritage. I have also received copies of letters from ICOMOS sent on 13 March addressed to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and Ministers in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The Coalition consulted widely before the commencement of the military campaign on the risks to ancient historical and archaeological sites. We have stressed our commitment to protecting such sites. We want to protect resources for all Iraqis and will take what measures are necessary to do this.
7 May 2003 : Column 729W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |