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SCOTLAND

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the impact of increases in stamp duty land tax on economic regeneration policies in Scotland; and if he will make a statement. [135612]

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.

The Government have introduced disadvantaged areas relief which provides an exemption from stamp duty land tax for transactions in non-residential land in Enterprise Areas. There are 135 areas in Scotland which qualify for this relief, selected by reference to the national index of deprivation. The measure provides a major boost to businesses investing in commercial premises in Scotland.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Alcohol Labelling

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received regarding bringing alcohol labelling in line with those placed on tobacco products. [132758]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I have been asked to reply.

The Department of Health has received a number of representations consisting of correspondence from right hon. and hon. Members and from members of the public. The Department has also received a petition from the British Association for the Study of the Liver, the British Society for Gastroenterology and the British Liver Trust. My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety at the Home Office (Ms Blears), has received similar representations in her role as Sponsor Minister for the Strategy Unit Project to develop an Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England.

Anti-doping Policy

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to recommend the classification of additional anabolic steroids. [135527]

Mr. Caborn: The Government have no plans to make recommendations on the classification of additional anabolic steroids. This is a matter entirely for UK Sport, the UK's national anti-doping agency, to ensure that all dope test samples are analysed in accordance with the Olympic Movement's Anti-Doping Code of prohibited

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substances and methods (January 2003), and from January 2004, the World Anti-Doping Code list of prohibited substances and methods.

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the efficacy of drug-testing procedures in sports, with particular reference to football. [135086]

Mr. Caborn: The UK is at the forefront of the international sporting community's fight against doping in sport The UK's national anti-doping policy is in line with the International Standard for Doping Control which requires sport's governing bodies to carry out a robust in and out of competition dope testing programme. This policy ensures that all sports in the UK have consistent anti-doping procedures and regulations that are transparent and fair to their athletes. It is a matter for the UK's national anti-doping agency, UK Sport, and sport's governing bodies to administer this policy.

UK Sport is working with sport's governing bodies, including the Football Association, on implementing the world anti-doping code into their drug testing programmes which will result in the harmonisation of anti-doping processes across countries by the 2004 Olympic games in Athens.

Bechtel

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the contracts for (a) consultancy and (b) other work carried out by Bechtel in each year since 1997, stating in each case (i) the nature of the work, (ii) the value of the contract and (iii) the duration of the contract; and if she will make a statement. [134731]

Mr. Caborn [holding answer 29 October 2003]: DCMS have no record of any contract with Bechtel over the period 1997 to 2003.

Fair Shares Programme

Mr. Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Lottery money has been distributed through the Fair Shares programme; and what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the programme. [135652]

Estelle Morris: The fair share initiative aims to ensure that those communities at greatest disadvantage do not lose out from Lottery funding. In its first year of operation, over £31 million has been distributed through the Community Fund's grants programmes targeted at fair share areas; grants of between £200,000 and £2.2 million have been committed under the New Opportunities Fund's 'fair share: transforming your space' programme; and a £50 million fair share Trust has been set up, to be delivered by the Community Foundation Network. The programme has achieved 90 per cent. of its projected funding target for 2002–03. Now that these building blocks are in place, I expect to see a steady increase in the flow of funding over the remaining two years of the programme.

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National Lottery

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money raised from the National Lottery has been spent in (a) East Yorkshire, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) Greater London, in each of the past four years for which figures are available. [135335]

Estelle Morris: The requested information is in the following table.

This information is derived from the Department's National Lottery awards database which contains information provided by the distributing bodies.

East Yorkshire is taken as the area of the hon. Member's constituency, West Yorkshire comprises Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield local authority areas.

£

	EastYorkshire	West Yorkshire	Greater London
1999	912,015	46,778,718	410,955,361
2000	440,600	35,725,974	229,659,961
2001	1,007,825	39,472,855	324,572,862
2002	286,344	68,784,738	357,138,602

Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the Lottery awards made by each funding body in Somerset in each year since 2000. [135420]

Estelle Morris: 811 Lottery awards have been made since 1 January 2000 in Somerset.

Dates of Lottery awards, name of recipients, and the Lottery distributor concerned will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the Lottery awards made by each funding body in (a) the North West, (b) Lancashire and (c) Chorley in each year since 2000. [135523]

Estelle Morris: 8,881 Lottery awards have been made since 1 January 2000 in the North West region. 1,721 Lottery awards have been made since 1 January 2000 in Lancashire. 179 Lottery awards have been made to Chorley since 1 January 2000.

The information concerning the North West region was placed in the Libraries of both Houses in response to a question from the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) on 29 October 2003, Official Report, column 274.

Olympic Games

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what estimate she has made of the percentage of the hotel rooms planned to be available in London by the time of the 2012 Olympics which will be of an inspected standard; [135830]

(2) what percentage of funding she estimates will be spent on improving hotel facilities in the event of a successful 2012 London Olympic bid. [135843]

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Tessa Jowell: The assessment of the cost and benefit implications of bidding for and staging the Olympics and Paralympic Games in London in 2012 undertaken by Arup in May 2003, drawing on London Tourist Board figures, projected up to 200,000 rooms in hotels/guest houses as potentially available within International Olympic Committee (IOC) visitor travel time requirements of one hour.

Detailed information on accommodation is required by the IOC for the applicant city questionnaire, and London 2012 Ltd., the company set up to prepare the Olympic bid, are undertaking further work to verify and refine these figures. We would look to the LDA, working in partnerships with local authorities, agencies and businesses, to consider what action or investment they might take, including the development of their existing tourism infrastructure, to capture the benefits from the Olympics.

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to involve (a) arts and (b) cultural organisations in developing the London Olympic Bid for 2012. [135832]

Tessa Jowell: The Olympics are not just about Sport; they will embrace the wider cultural life of the capital and of the country. One of the IOC requirements for the Games is for a Cultural Olympiad, a four year long cultural and educational programme around the Games which can be used to build community support and involvement. The plans for this Olympiad will form a part of the Candidature file which London 2012 Ltd. are preparing to submit to the International Olympic Committee in November 2004 and my Department will ensure that the relevant arts and cultural organisations are involved in their development.

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of hotel rooms in London were classified as substandard in the last year for which figures are available. [135842]

Mr. Caborn: We are not aware of any such classification. In November 2002, the London Development Agency (LDA) report 'Improving the Quality of Visitor Accommodation in London' (commissioned by DCMS) estimated that 38 per cent. of London's serviced accommodation establishments were covered by the National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) schemes for serviced accommodation. The LDA is working hard to encourage further subscription. The report also found that 57 per cent. of hotel rooms in London belonged to branded hotel chains.

This Department is committed to raising accommodation quality through the NQAS schemes, and through supporting skills and training in the industry. To tackle under-performing establishments that are ineligible for NQAS, we are currently piloting a 'Fitness for Purpose' initiative in six local authorities, including the London boroughs of Greenwich and Camden. The aim is to help failing accommodation providers to meet minimum legal requirements on health and safety, food hygiene, trading standards and fire safety.

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