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Ethical Tourism

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action the Government is taking to support ethical tourism schemes. [139397]

Mr. Caborn: The Government welcomes in principle the efforts of individual tourism businesses who promote themselves under an eco-tourism banner. We regard such businesses as an important element of the mix of tourism products available to consumers.

There are no plans to introduce a national, Government-sponsored, eco-tourism award scheme. However, several such schemes do operate independently in the UK, often aimed at a geographical or product niche. The Government supports their aims. Indeed on 12 November 2003 I met the operator of one such conservation scheme, targeted at caravan parks, for a discussion about environmental tourism.

Golf

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funds are available to develop young golfers through municipal golf courses. [140060]

Estelle Morris: Participation projects in golf are eligible for Sport England Lottery Funding, and golf received a total of 40 grants worth £8.9 million between 1995 and May 2003.

Sport England also provides £92,000 of Exchequer funding annually to the Golf Foundation for the development of Junior Officers. The role of Junior Officers is to encourage young people to participate in the sport, through schemes such as Tri-Golf which is now being delivered throughout primary schools and social inclusion partnerships bringing golf to young people in areas of social and economic deprivation.

Leisure Facilities

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what initiatives she has discussed to improve access to leisure facilities in disadvantaged communities. [140061]

Estelle Morris: We are investing £581 million through the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) in sports facilities for schools in England. The Space for Sport and Arts programme is putting £130 million into primary school sports facilities in 65 of the most deprived LEAs in the country. (This includes £25 million from NOF.)

We are investing £459 million in the national strategy for PE, school sport and club links. This includes a further £10 million to enhance primary-school playgrounds in 27 deprived areas and £60 million for the Community Club Development Programme to improve amateur club facilities. Distribution is a matter for governing bodies, but the programme is targeted at deprived areas and disadvantaged groups.

Licensing Act

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what fees she will introduce under the Licensing Act 2003; what estimate she has made of the cost of implementing the Act in each of the next

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three years; and what estimate she has made of the amount which will be raised from applications for licences. [139763]

Mr. Caborn: Proposed fee levels and the expected costs of compliance with the Act were set out in the Regulatory Impact Assessment which accompanied the Licensing Bill and is available from the House Library. Regulations setting out these fees will be laid before Parliament shortly. The Department is working closely with the Local Government Association to ensure that fees are set at a level to which provides for full cost recovery in respect of administration, inspection and enforcement.

Lottery Funding

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her policy is on the recovery of Lottery funding from projects awarded grants which subsequently fail. [140230]

Estelle Morris: Lottery distributing bodies are required, under their financial directions, to attach conditions to each Lottery grant, enabling the distributor concerned to seek repayment of the grant, in full or in part, in certain circumstances. These circumstances include a breach by the recipient of any of the grant conditions; a material change of purpose, ownership or recipient during the project or after its completion; and cases where the recipient ceases to operate, becomes insolvent, fails to apply the grant for the purpose for which it was awarded, fails to complete the project, is found to have completed its application form fraudulently, incorrectly or misleadingly, or acts fraudulently or negligently during the completion of the project. The Department has issued guidance to the distributing bodies on the matters to be taken into account when they are considering seeking recovery of a Lottery award.

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether Lottery distributors monitor the performance of successful Lottery bids against the criteria under which they were granted. [140231]

Estelle Morris: Each Lottery distributing body's financial directions require the body to institute a system for project monitoring in respect of capital and revenue projects supported with Lottery funds, to monitor whether the objectives and terms and conditions of grant are being met. The exact nature of monitoring will vary in individual cases depending on the size, nature and complexity of the project concerned.

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Lottery funding has been recovered from failed Lottery projects in each of the past five years for which figures are available, broken down by Lottery fund. [140232]

Estelle Morris: I regret that it has not been possible to provide an answer before Prorogation. I shall therefore write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my reply in the Libraries of both Houses.

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Market Research

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) market research in the last financial year; and if she will make a statement. [139981]

Mr. Caborn: I regret that it has not been possible to provide an answer before Prorogation. I shall therefore write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my reply in the Libraries of both Houses.

Meridian Station (New Hythe)

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement about the future of the Meridian station in New Hythe. [140010]

Estelle Morris: This is a matter for the Independent Television Commission, who I understand are currently considering Meridian's proposals.

Millennium Fund

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what assessment is undertaken of the use made of successful Millennium Fund bids; [140233]

(2) what assessment is undertaken of the financial viability of bids to the Millennium Fund; and if she will make a statement. [140234]

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.

NM Rothschild and Sons Ltd

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on services provided to her Department by NM Rothschild since 1997. [139965]

Mr. Caborn: I regret that it has not been possible to provide an answer before Prorogation. I shall therefore write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my reply in the Libraries of both Houses.

Olympic Bid

Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total cost to public funds was of running the competition for a logo for the UK Olympic bid for London 2012. [140209]

Tessa Jowell: London 2012 Ltd organised an open competition to design the logo with a prize of £10,000 and associated organisational costs of £18,000. The competition attracted 1,100 entries generating community involvement in the bid, and was judged by a panel including athletes, designers, a school sports co-ordinator and a London black cab driver. The winning logo, which will be used on all bid materials and communications, from advertising and building wraps through to badges and pens, was produced by Kino Design. London 2012 Ltd have estimated that using a private design agency would have led to considerably higher costs.

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Performance Monitoring

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total cost was of (a) setting, (b) monitoring and (c) measuring the performance targets for her Department in 2002–03; and how many and what grades of civil servants monitor these targets. [137955]

Estelle Morris: Performance targets for the department were agreed as part of Spending Review 2002. The monitoring and measurement of PSA targets forms part of departmental performance management. Performance management is an integral part of the day to day running of the department, and as such it is not possible to separate the specific costs out. The monitoring of progress towards, and performance against, the department's PSA targets is undertaken by a wide variety of staff at all levels of the organisation.

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the performance targets that (a) her Department and (b) its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are required to meet; and if she will specify for each target (i) who sets it and (ii) who monitors achievement against it. [137970]

Estelle Morris: Key performance targets for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are agreed as part of the Spending Review and the latest set were published in Spending Review 2002: Public Service Agreements 2003–2006 (Cm 5571). The department monitors progress towards the target along with HM Treasury and PMDU and progress is reported regularly.

Performance targets for the majority of the Department's non-departmental public bodies can be found in the 2003–2006 funding agreements between the Department and the relevant body, which were laid in the Library of the House on 25, 26 and 29 of September 2003. Performance targets for English Heritage and the Historic Royal Palaces are contained in these bodies annual reports which have been laid in the Library of the House. Performance targets for Sport England and Arts Council England are still being formulated.

Achievement against the targets is monitored by the department, including through meetings between the Secretary of State/Ministers and relevant Chief Executives.

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