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Thalidomide Trust

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with (a) Diageo and (b) the Thalidomide Trust about the funding of the Trust; and if he will make a statement. [119663]

Dawn Primarolo: The Chancellor of the Exchequer has not had any discussions with either Diageo or the Thalidomide Trust about the funding of the trust. I however met the trustees of the Thalidomide Trust on 18 December 2002 and discussed funding (among other things) with them.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Amateur Sports Clubs

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been provided in funding to community amateur sports clubs since July 2002, broken down by (a) region and (b) sport. [119142]

Mr. Caborn: Through Sport England, community amateur sports clubs in England have received awards from the National Lottery since July 2002, as follows:

Region	Award Amount
East Midlands	1,790,734
Eastern	1,063,485
London	1,884,299
North East	4,157,684
North West	2,953,210
South East	3,141,963
South West	4,720,592
West Midlands	358,554
Yorkshire	2,571,732
Total	22,642,253

Sport	Award Amount
Association Football	2,179,307
Badminton	3,137,976
Bowls	1,974,633
Boxing	169,327
Canoeing	744,613
Cricket	3,108,946
Croquet	15,761
Equestrian	334,582
Exercise and Fitness	720,079
Gliding	95,634
Golf	303,752
Gymnastics	230,152
Hockey	230,459
Lawn Tennis	1,528,085
Mountaineering	45,000
Multi Sports	1,683,736
Roller Skating	139,341
Rowing	1,286,271
Rugby League	562,880
Rugby Union	2,686,318
Sailing and Yachting	1,340,254
Skateboarding	114,892
Sub-aqua	10,255
Total	22,642,253

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Community Fund

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make it her policy to allow the Community Fund to support organisations that are neither registered charities nor essentially philanthropic. [119484]

Mr. Caborn: Under existing legislation, the Community Fund is able to support organisations which are registered charities, and those which are deemed to be charitable, philanthropic and benevolent. The Government have no plans to amend the Community Fund's current remit.

Cultural Events

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which large cultural events staged by ethnic minority organisations were supported financially by her Department and its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last 10 years; and if she will list the amount each of those events received. [119140]

Mr. Caborn: This information is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Local Authority Sports Expenditure

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact of the change in local authority expenditure on sport and physical recreation from 1998 to 2002. [119578]

Mr. Caborn: According to statistics provided by the Office of National Statistics, local authority spending on sport and physical recreation has increased slightly during the period between 1998 and 2002.

The Government recognises the importance of local delivery of sport and the impact it can have on levels of participation in physical recreation. The December 2002 joint Department for Culture Media and Sport/Strategy Unit report, 'Game Plan: A Strategy for Delivering Government's Sport and Physical Activity Objectives', assesses local authority delivery of Sport and makes a number of recommendations to improve delivery at that level.

The Department is currently considering how best it can take forward the commendations made in the Game Plan report.

National Lottery

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations her Department has received from Sport England about a reallocation of lottery funds from the New Opportunities Fund to sports lottery funds. [119574]

Mr. Caborn: The New Opportunities Fund, given its responsibilities for health and education, are also actively engaged in providing additional opportunities for active recreation in and around schools and in the community. We require the closest cooperation and collaboration between them. Sport England has suggested that the New Opportunities Fund might help do even more in this area and I am considering this.

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Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the (a) budget allocated for playing fields, (b) amount spent on playing fields and (c) new playing fields created by the New Opportunities Fund Green Spaces and Sustainable Communities Initiative in (i) 2000–01, (ii) 2001–02, (iii) 2002–03 and (iv) 2003–04. [119576]

Mr. Caborn: Under the New Opportunities Fund's Green Spaces and Sustainable Communities programme allocations are not made for each year, but the total budget for playing fields is £19,595,102. Total awards made and amount spent in each year are detailed in the following table:

(£s)

	Awards made	Amount spent
2000–2001	421,007	Nil
2001–2002	8,014,079	106,928
2002–3003	10,621,839	55,976
2003–2004	538,177	Nil (although remaining £192,432,198 will be spent by the end of this financial year

We have contacted the New Opportunities Fund to request the information requested on the number of new playing fields created by the initiative and I will write to the hon. Member a soon as it is available, placing copies of my letter in the Libraries of both Houses.

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the (a) budget allocated, (b) amount spent and (c) projects funded by the (i) Space for Sport and the Arts project and (ii) New Opportunities Fund's PE and Sport Programme in (A) 2000–01, (B) 2001–02, (C) 2002–03 and (D) 2003–04. [119577]

Mr. Caborn: Under the New Opportunities Fund's PE and Sport programme allocations are not made for each year, but the overall budget for local education authorities in England is £495,163,000. Awards under the programme commenced in 2002–2003, when 161 awards were made worth £32,281,739. In 2003–2004, NOF has so far made 48 awards with a value of £10,953,863.

We have contacted Sport England to request the information requested on Space for Sport and the Arts and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as it is available, placing copies of my letter in the libraries of both Houses.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the forced repatriation of Afghans from Pakistan. [118578]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We welcome the return of two million refugees to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran. The successful returns programme is a testament to the work of the UN High Commission for Refugees. We also recognise that Pakistan and Iran have in recent

16 Jun 2003 : Column 44W

years shouldered the burden of more than five million Afghan refugees, fleeing from more than two decades of civil war, the Taliban, and four years of drought.

The Afghan Government has limited capacity to absorb returns. Afghanistan therefore needs the support of host countries seeking to return refugees to ensure that those returns are sustainable. This includes ensuring returns to Afghanistan are compliant with the terms of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, and are carried out with the consent of the Afghan Government.

EU Directives

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many regulations originating from EU directives have been introduced in each of the last five years. [119204]

Mr. MacShane: This information is not held centrally by the Government; to compile the information would incur disproportionate costs.

Iraq

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps have been taken to ensure that water and electricity supplies and essential public services in Iraq have been maintained. [118977]

Hilary Benn: I have been asked to reply.

DFID has so far committed £115 million towards humanitarian assistance in the current crisis. We have set aside a further £95 million for additional needs as they emerge. We are working with UN agencies, NGOs and the Coalition Provisional Authority to ensure that water and electricity supplies and essential public services in Iraq are restored and maintained.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and others, including the UK military in Basra, have done good work to repair water and electricity facilities, and to supply water and power by alternative means while supplies are disrupted.

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