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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 14 May 2003
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
National Lottery
Mr. Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many organisations in the Birmingham, Erdington constituency have (a) applied for and (b) claimed awards from the Community Fund in each year since the National Lottery began. [112992]
Mr. Caborn: Comprehensive information on applications for Lottery grants is not centrally held at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The following table, which is based upon information supplied to us by the distributing bodies for the National Lottery awards database, shows the total number of awards made by the Community Fund to applicants within the constituency of Birmingham, Erdington.
| Number of awards within the constituency of Birmingham, Erdington | |
|---|---|
| 1 May 1994 to 30 April 1995 | 0 |
| 1 May 1995 to 30 April 1996 | 3 |
| 1 May 1996 to 30 April 1997 | 2 |
| 1 May 1997 to 30 April 1998 | 2 |
| 1 May 1998 to 30 April 1999 | 6 |
| 1 May 1999 to 30 April 2000 | 12 |
| 1 May 2000 to 30 April 2001 | 5 |
| 1 May 2001 to 30 April 2002 | 4 |
| 1 May 2002 to 30 April 2003 | 0 |
Mr. Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans are in place to strengthen local advertising campaigns in order to encourage more successful applications for National Lottery funding, with particular reference to regions where there is a record of failing to secure them. [113000]
Mr. Caborn: The consultation paper on Lottery distribution (published July 2002) sought views on a number of issues, including raising awareness of Lottery funding and application mechanisms. Ideas included a National Lottery Day, One Stop Shops, to provide a single point of access for advice and a single promotional body, which would raise awareness of the achievements of the Lottery nationally, regionally and locally.
Proposals from the review will be published in the summer.
Mr. Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list (a) the average grant given for all constituencies, (b) the average grant given for West Midlands constituencies and (c) the average
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grant given for Birmingham, Erdington under the National Lottery Awards For All scheme in each of the last three years for which statistics are held. [113001]
Mr. Caborn: The following table, which is based upon information supplied to us by the distributing bodies for the National Lottery awards database, sets out the average grant given for all constituencies, the average grant for West Midlands constituencies 1 and the average award to Birmingham, Erdington under the National Lottery Awards For All scheme in each of the last three years.
- 1 Using the definition of the West Midlands (as provided by the House of Commons website) comprising the following constituencies:
- Birmingham, Edgbaston; Birmingham, Erdington; Birmingham, Hall Green;
- Birmingham, Hodge Hill; Birmingham, Ladywood; Birmingham, Northfield
- Birmingham, Perry Barr; Birmingham, Selly Oak; Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath
- Birmingham, Yardley; Sutton Coldfield; Coventry North East; Coventry North West;
- Coventry South; Dudley North; Dudley South; Halesowen and Rowley Regis; Stourbridge
- Halesowen and Rowley Regis; Warley; West Bromwich East; West Bromwich West; Meriden;
- Aldridge-Brownhills; Walsall North; Walsall South; Wolverhampton North East;
- Wolverhampton South East; Wolverhampton South West.
| 1 May 2000 to 30 April 2001 | 1 May 2001 to 30 April 2002 | 1 May 2002 to 30 April 2003 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average grant given for all UK constituencies | 3,324 | 3,537 | 3,617 |
| Average grant given for West Midland constituencies | 3,544 | 3,876 | 4,009 |
| Average grant given for Birmingham, Erdington | 3,234 | 4,115 | 4,276 |
Sport (Young People)
Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what support her Department gives to sporting activities for the young outside of the formal school environment. [113018]
Mr. Caborn: This Department is committed to increasing and improving opportunities for young people to participate in sporting activities both within and beyond the curriculum. Initiatives beyond the curriculum include: the Community Club Development programme (£60 million); the New Opportunities Fund's Out of School Hours Learning/School Sport Co-ordinators programme (over £19 million); the School to Club Links programme (£9 million) and Step into Sport (£15 million). These complement or directly support delivery of the joint DCMS/DfES national
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strategy for PE, school sport and club links, in which we are investing a total of £459 million over the next three years.
TRANSPORT
Driving Licences
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many claims for lost driving licences the DVLA has received in each of the last five years. [113035]
Mr. Jamieson: An application for a duplicate driving licence is appropriate where licences have been lost, stolen or defaced after being held by the driver for a certain length of time. From the statistics available it is not possible to state specifically how many applications are for lost licences only. However, during the past five years applications for duplicate driving licences have been.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 661,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 467,000 |
| 2000–01 | 510,000 |
| 2001–02 | 584,000 |
| 2002–03 | 700,000 |
DVLA does not meet claims for lost licences.
Railways
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria the Strategic Rail Authority used in deciding to award the Greater Anglia Franchise to the successful bidder; and what representations he received on that decision. [113096]
Mr. Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) has not yet awarded the Greater Anglia franchise. It issued Invitations to Tender (ITTs) to three bidders—and a consultation document to stakeholders—on 15 April. That followed a process of "Qualification to receive an ITT document", in which applicants were ranked on their responses to a questionnaire.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on the re-opening of (a) the Matlock to Buxton railway line and (b) the Bletchley to Bicester line. [113199]
Mr. Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority is currently undertaking a feasibility study on the proposal to re-open the Matlock to Buxton line. The study is expected to be completed in two stages. The first stage will look at options to re-instate the link that formerly existed. This is expected to be completed in September 2003. If the partners agree to continue, stage two would develop the preferred option in detail. Stage two will be completed in April 2004. The Strategic Rail Authority is also currently examining the case for reopening the section of line between Bicester and Bletchley for freight and diversionary purposes. This would potentially enable the introduction of passenger services on the
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eastern section of the route. For these projects to be taken forward, they would have to represent value for money and be affordable.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Age Discrimination
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to address the issue of age discrimination. [109440]
Beverley Hughes: The Home Office has continued to integrate age into its equal opportunity policies and to apply its commitments that there should be no unfair discrimination on the basis of age and that staff of all ages and backgrounds should be provided with opportunities to maximise their skills and achieve their potential. Action on diversity will continue to tackle any negative attitudes towards older staff, particularly through the training and development of managers and through the monitoring of recruitment, selection and appraisal statistics.
Since 1 April 2002, following a review of the Department's age retirement policy, Home Office staff in all grades below the Senior Civil Service have been allowed to retire at any point between the ages of 60 and 65. From the same date, the Home Office changed its recruitment policy to allow the recruitment of staff up to the age of 64 subject to their meeting normal standards of health and provided that there is an expectation of a reasonable period of employment and return on recruitment and training.
The Prison Service is carrying out a separate review of its age retirement policy. However, on 16 December 2002 a temporary relaxation of its policy was issued, applicable to all non-operational staff below the Senior Civil Service, effective until 1 July 2004. This allows staff covered by the policy to apply for an extension of service beyond 60, subject to health and efficiency considerations.
In making these various changes, the Home Office has been implementing recommendations of the Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) report 'Winning the Generation Game'.
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