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14 Jul 2003 : Column 33W—continued

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Athletics

Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to promote increased participation in athletics in schools and sports clubs in England. [125324]

Mr. Caborn: Athletics is benefiting from the Government's investment of over £8 million on building new, and strengthen existing, links between schools and sports clubs. This investment will build on the existing physical education and sport opportunities available to all young people in schools and increase opportunities for participation in national governing body affiliated, or otherwise accredited, clubs offering high quality sporting experiences.

Digital Broadcasting

Mr. Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the proportion of homes in (a) the North West of England, (b) Cumbria and (c) South Lakeland which are unable to receive the Freeview service; and if she will make a statement. [119255]

Estelle Morris: The information is not available in the form requested. The Independent Television Commission has produced a UK digital terrestrial television (DTT) coverage update including a coverage map. I am arranging for copies to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The broadcasters have established databases which give coverage predictions by postcode for DTT across the UK. These can be consulted via the websites: www.dtg.org.uk; www.freeview.co.uk.

EnglandNet Project

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her estimate is of the total cost to her Department of the implementation of the EnglandNet project. [124770]

Mr. Caborn: The total cost of the EnglandNet project is as follows:

£

2001–022002–032003–04Total
DCMS grant-in-aid funding via ETC/ VisitBritain769,000265,000852,0001,886,000
Capital Modernisation Fund50,000550,0000600,000
Invest to Save Fund01,328,0002,077,0003,405,000
Total all funding819,0002,143,0002,929,0005,891,000

In addition, £300,000 from the capital modernisation fund has been spent to enable tourist information centres to get connected to the internet, and thereby be able to use the extranet provided by EnglandNet, and £150,000 from the invest to save budget has been used to support work on e-business awareness and training for tourism businesses in rural areas.


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Gambling

Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans the Government have to legislate on the gambling industry; and when she plans to publish a White Paper on this matter. [125028]

Mr. Caborn: The White Paper, "A safe bet for success" (Cm 5397), was published in March 2002.

We will bring forward legislation on the gambling industry as soon as Parliamentary time permits. We also intend that Parliament should have an opportunity to give our proposals pre-legislative scrutiny, and plan to publish draft clauses to that end.

IT Projects

Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what major IT projects with a value in excess of £10,000 she authorised expenditure on in each of the last three financial years. [125715]

Mr. Caborn: Decisions on authorisation of expenditure are taken by the appropriate project or programme board. The word "authorised" has been interpreted to mean having an approved business case.

The major IT projects which this Department took forward in each of the last three financial years are:















Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the Department spent on IT (a) licences, (b) maintenance, (c) software and (d) hardware in the last financial year. [125733]

Mr. Caborn: DCMS spent £284,885 on software, which includes the costs of any licences, £146,174 on maintenance and £223,116 on hardware in the last financial year.

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Lottery Awards

Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many lottery awards there were to organisations in the Poole constituency in each year since 1997; and what the average number of awards per constituency was in each year. [125036]

Estelle Morris: The number of lottery awards made in Poole, and as a constituency average across the UK, is shown in the table.

YearPooleConstituency average across UK
19971222
19981013
19992131
20002036
20012131
20022339
2003815

Note:

The figures for 2003 refer to the period between January 1 and June 30.


Major Sporting Events

Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the major sporting events hosted by the UK and funded by UK Sport in each year since 1996–97 to the provisional programme for 2003–04. [125560]

Mr. Caborn: The following events were hosted by the UK and funded by UK Sport in each year since 1996–97 along with the provisional programme for 2003–04.

1996–97

No events

1997–98

No events

1998–99

World Cross Country Championships

1999–2000


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2001–02


2002–03


2003–04


Millennium Commission

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her answer of 12 May 2003, Official Report, column 31W, on the Millennium Commission, which of the major projects have received money from local authorities; how much was spent on each of the projects; when the money was spent by the local authorities on those projects; and if she will make a statement. [125989]

Tessa Jowell: I will write to the hon. Member in my capacity as Chair of the Millennium Commission, and place copies of my reply in the Libraries of both Houses.

National Lottery

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how the revisions to the National Lottery system will affect the distribution of funds to seaside resorts. [124764]

Estelle Morris: The changes to the lottery announced on 3 July 2003 include proposals to make it easier to apply for funding, to involve the public in how lottery money is spent and to make sure it's spent wisely. This should encourage people to play the lottery which, in turn, will provide revenue for the good causes and benefit all areas. Since the introduction of the 1998 Lottery Act and changes to policy directions, distributors have increasingly focussed on areas of social and economic deprivation including seaside resorts. The National Lottery has funded, and continues

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to fund, numerous projects which bring widespread benefits to many seaside communities across the country.


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