| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
5 Jan 2004 : Column 127W—continued
Arts (Deprived Areas)
18. Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her policy regarding development of the arts as a means of regenerating deprived areas. [145844]
Estelle Morris: The arts have an important part to play in regenerating areas of urban and rural deprivation. My Department is currently examining evidence of the contribution of the arts to regeneration, and we will publish a policy statement in the spring.
British Film Industry
19. Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the support for the British film industry in the pre-Budget report. [145845]
Estelle Morris: The Chancellor's commitment to consider the extension of fiscal support for the film industry through the tax system is very good news for the industry. It reinforces this Government's commitment to the development of a flourishing and sustainable film industry which brings with it huge cultural and economic benefits for the UK. Over the next few months, DCMS will be working closely with the industry and with the Treasury to identify the best means of delivering the support.
Olympic Bid
20. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the latest state of preparation is for the Olympic bid in 2012; and if she will make a statement. [145846]
5 Jan 2004 : Column 128W
Tessa Jowell: The Olympic bid company, London 2012 Ltd., is making excellent progress, working closely with the Government, the Mayor of London and the British Olympic Association. The reply to the International Olympic Committee's Applicant Questionnaire, which is the first stage of the bidding process, will be delivered on 15 January.
Audio Description
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what targets she has set for the roll-out of audio description; [145578]
- (2) if she will make a statement on the issues that prevent a faster roll-out of audio description. [145579]
Estelle Morris: The Communications Act 2003 sets audio description targets for broadcasters. 10 per cent. of non-excluded programmes are to be audio described for the blind and partially sighted by the tenth anniversary of the start of the service. The Act extends this requirement to digital cable and satellite broadcasters for the first time.
At present, the widespread availability of audio description modules needed to receive the service has been delayed owing to technical, manufacturing and distribution difficulties. However, we understand from discussions with manufacturers that receivers compatible with audio description on the digital terrestrial platform have recently come onto the market. We hope this will increase the take-up of the audio description service.
BBC
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will estimate the cost of the BBC Charter (a) review process and (b) public consultation. [145462]
Tessa Jowell: No estimate for the total cost for the BBC Charter review process is currently available. The final cost of the review will depend, among other factors, on the scale of the public's engagement with the process and on the issues that emerge from public consultation.
The cost of the first phase of public consultation, launched on 11 December, is estimated to be approximately £300,000 for the remainder of the financial year, excluding staff costs.
Departmental Expenditure
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on information literature, advertising and campaign material in each financial year since 2000–01. [145224]
Mr. Caborn: The Department's spend on information literature in each financial year since 2001–02 is detailed in the table.
5 Jan 2004 : Column 129W
| Spend (£000) | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 538 |
| 2001–02 | 318 |
| 2002–03 | 393 |
| 2003–04 | (30)494 |
(30) budgeted outturn
No advertising or publicity expenditure was incurred by the Department during this period.
Departmental Budget
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total departmental budget was for each year since 1997; and what the projected figures are for the next five years. [145598]
Mr. Caborn: Information on the departmental budget for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport from 1998–99 to 2005–06 is published in Volume 1 of the Departmental Report 2003, (CM 5920). Copies were laid before Parliament on 15 May 2003. Updated figures will be published in the spring.
Departmental Gifts
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent by her Department on gifts to foreign governments (a) in the last year and (b) since 1997. [145597]
Mr. Caborn: The following table shows departmental expenditure on gifts. A breakdown of gifts to foreign governments is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| Financial year | Expenditure |
|---|---|
| 2003–04 to date | 295.35 |
| 2002–03 | 452.26 |
| 2001–02 | 433.75 |
| 2000–01 | 904.84 |
| 1999–2000 | 2,660.96 |
| 1998–99 | 1,251.41 |
| 1997–98 | 227.79 |
Departmental Staff
Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of staff employed within her Department are over 55 years of age; and what (a) number and (b) percentage of staff recruited over the last 12 months are over 55 years of age. [145771]
Mr. Caborn: The percentage of staff currently employed over 55 years of age is 5.8 per cent. The number of staff recruited over the last 12 months over 55 years of age is 4 which represents 4.2 per cent. of staff recruited.
Departmental Travel
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent by her Department on taxis for officials in each year since 1997. [145591]
5 Jan 2004 : Column 130W
Mr. Caborn: In DCMS travel and subsistence administration is contracted out and there is no electronic record maintained regarding mode of travel. To provide this information would involve a manual check of each travel and subsistence claim, which could only be undertaken at disproportionate costs.
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent by her Department on train tickets (a) in the last year and (b) since 1997. [145592]
Mr. Caborn: In DCMS travel and subsistence administration is contracted out and there is no electronic record maintained regarding mode of travel. To provide this information would involve a manual check of each travel and subsistence claim, which could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost.
Digital Television
Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what information she has collated about the take-up of digital television broadcasting in (a) Dudley North, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England; and if she will make a statement. [143884]
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of households are converted to digital broken down by (a) ITV region and (b) constituency. [145507]
Estelle Morris: Take-up statistics are not presently collected for these areas. The ITC produces quarterly reports on take-up for the UK. Their most recent report stated that 45.5 per cent. of the UK had digital television as of 30 June 2003. OFCOM will now produce these reports.
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) analogue and (b) digital transmitters there are in the UK. [145504]
Estelle Morris: There are currently 1,154 analogue transmitters in the UK, 80 of which have been converted to receive digital signals.
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the timescale is for achieving full analogue switch-off; and if she will make a statement. [145505]
Estelle Morris: The criteria set for switchover are that: everyone who can currently get the main public service broadcasting channels in analogue form must be able to receive them on digital systems; switching to digital is an affordable option for the vast majority of people; and as a target indicator of affordability, 95 per cent. of consumers must have access to digital equipment. The objective of the Digital Television Action Plan Project is to ensure these criteria are met so that we can, if we choose, take the decision to proceed to full switchover by ordering the switching off by 2010 of analogue terrestrial transmissions.
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made in the switchover to digital in the last five years. [145506]
5 Jan 2004 : Column 131W
Estelle Morris: Since digital television services were first launched in 1998, nearly 50 per cent. of households have switched at least one set to receive digital television broadcasts. The Government are working closely with broadcasters, manufacturers, retailers, consumer groups and other stakeholders through the Digital Television Action Plan to determine a firm timetable for digital switchover.
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will estimate (a) the number of households that have access to digital television, (b) the total number of television sets in use and (c) the proportion of television sets in use that have access to digital services. [145508]
Estelle Morris: The information is as follows:
(a) The ITC produce quarterly reports on take-up for the UK. Their most recent report stated that 45.5 per cent. (11,286,961) of UK households had digital television as of 30 June 2003.
(b) The Household Technology Survey 2003, carried out for the ITC in spring 2003, estimated that there were 55.4 million televisions in use in UK homes.
(c) Indications are that around 30 per cent. of all televisions are converted to digital television, but no assessment has been made as to how many of those not yet converted are in use as a monitor (e.g. with a games console, VCR, DVD player) and not to receive broadcasts.
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which organisations have paid for the conversion of analogue transmitters; and how much each has spent in the last 10 years. [145509]
Estelle Morris: The transmission companies ntl and Crown Castle (who own the transmitter sites and provide transmission services to the broadcasters) have paid for the development of the current network of digital terrestrial transmitters around the UK. The digital multiplex operators (BBC, Digital 3 and 4, SDN and Crown Castle) pay these operators an annual fee for the use of these facilities. The exact amount paid both to develop the network and in broadcasters fees are commercially confidential.
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many households have transferred from analogue to digital television in each of the last five years. [145510]
Estelle Morris: Figures for digital take-up are as follows:
| Digital households | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| June 2003 | 11,286,961 | ITC Multichannel Quarterly |
| December 2002 | 10,232,829 | ITC Multichannel Quarterly |
| December 2001 | 9,256,326 | (31)— |
| December 2000 | 6,577,364 | (31)— |
| December 1999 | 2,722,000 | (31)— |
(31) Figures up to December 2002 are estimates from information on subscriber figures from platform operators to give an indication of the take up figures of digital pay television for different platforms, and from sales of terrestrial non-subscription reception equipment.
5 Jan 2004 : Column 132W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |