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CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Policies

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the impact of her Department's policies on the constituency of Regent's Park and Kensington, North since 1997. [145419]

Mr. Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport seeks to improve the quality of life for everyone through improved access to the best in cultural and sporting activities. The Department also champions the tourism, creative and leisure industries. The Department's policies have had a significant impact on the constituency of Regent's Park and Kensington, North since 1 May 1997. For example, Arts Council England funds a diverse range of arts organisations and projects in the constituency. In 2005–06, regularly funded arts organisations in Regent's Park and Kensington North will receive a total of £813,278—an increase of 12 per cent. from 2003–04. These include:

The Union Dance Company and Trust, which will receive an Arts Council award of £250,065 in 2005–06—an increase of 22.1 per cent. from 2003–04;


The London Print Studio (LPS), which will receive an Arts Council award of £181,800 in 2005–06—an increase of 5.1 per cent. since 2003–04;


Paddington Arts, which will receive an Arts Council award of £50,000 in 2005–06—an increase of 5.9 per cent. since 2003–05.

The Regent's Park, one of the eight Royal Parks, lies within this constituency. The park provides a wide range of amenities, including sports pitches for cricket, hockey, softball, football and rounders, tennis courts, golf practice facilities, boating and a running track. The Royal Parks Agency, an executive agency of DCMS, has obtained grants of £780,000 from the Football Foundation and £500,000 from Sport England to reinstate the sports pitches and to build a new pavilion. Work is underway on reinstating the pitches and is expected to be completed by October 2004. This funding also provides for a Sports Development Officer to work with local authorities to involve children from deprived backgrounds from all over London in sporting activities.

The Royal Parks Agency also provides free entertainment every summer between June and September in The Regent's Park. This includes brass bands, music from the Caribbean and North Africa, opera, open air art and photography exhibitions.

In addition to Government spending, the constituency of Regent's Park and Kensington, North has received 398 National Lottery awards since 1 May 1997, with a total value of £39.865 million. The awards include:

A Sport England award of £8,778,720 to the North Kensington Amenity Trust for the extension of facilities at Westway Sports Centre (November 1999);

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A Sport England award of £1,536,069 to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for a new sports hall and the upgrading of changing and ancillary facilities (May 2000).

The residents of Regent's Park and Kensington, North also have ready access to a wealth of national cultural institutions in London, including the English National Opera, the National Gallery and the British Museum.

Departmental Relocation

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what assessment her Department has made of the benefits of re-location of staff to north Staffordshire; and if she will make a statement; [146872]

(2) what assessment she has made of the effect of proposals to relocate Government jobs on the Department's ability to meet (a) departmental policy objectives and (b) departmental public service agreements; [146888]

(3) what assessment her Department has made of the effect of possible relocation of staff in her Department to north Staffordshire on (a) job creation, (b) sustainable development, (c) the local economy and (d) tackling regional economic disparities; and if she will make a statement; [146903]

(4) what plans she has to establish procedures for assessing the impact of possible relocation of staff in her Department to the regions; and if she will make a statement. [146933]

Mr. Caborn: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 516W.

Euro

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in how many speeches during 2003 she declared support for the Government's policy on the euro. [147292]

Mr. Caborn: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 516–17W.

Historic Wrecks

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what proportion of those on the Advisory Committee for Historic Wreck Sites are (a) vocational divers and (b) archaeologists; [145776]

(2) who the members of the Advisory Committee for Historic Wreck Sites are; and what practical experience each member has in diving for historic wrecks. [145818]

Mr. Caborn: The Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites includes members and observers drawn from a wide constituency of interests related to historic shipwrecks.

Jonathan Adams a diver and archaeologist has been carrying out archaeological investigations on historic wrecks since 1979, including the Mary Rose, the Grace Dieu and the Amsterdam.

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Dr. Lucy Blue an archaeologist and diver has been working on submerged sites for 15 years.

Stuart Bryan is the Sub-Aqua Association's Nautical Archaeology Co-ordinator, and has widespread experience of vocationally diving on submerged archaeological sites.

Dr. Alexzandra Hildred a diver and archaeologist has been carrying out archaeological investigations on historic wrecks since 1979, including the Mary Rose.

Jonathan Parlour is a vocational diving member of a licensed team carrying out archaeological surveys of the Coronation sites off Plymouth, which are both designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973.

Dr. Mark Redknap is an archaeologist and the diving curator of the National Museum of Wales, and has extensive experience of diving on historic wrecks including leading a team of volunteers to carry out excavations on the Cattewater wreck. He also led an expedition to the Smalls Reef, and has dived on the Mary Rose and Stirling Castle wrecks.

Robin Daniels is an archaeologist and is the non-diving licensee of a designated wreck site. As this is in the intertidal zone, diving is not necessary.

Margaret Deacon is a non-diving representative of the oceanographic research community.

Patrick Griggs is a non-diving marine law specialist.

Wendy Robinson is a non-diving expert in the first-aid conservation of finds from the marine environment.

The Department intends to appoint an additional recreational diving representative on the Committee in early 2004.

Microsoft (Licensing Fees)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether a decision has been taken as to whether her Department intends to continue paying Microsoft for licensing fees in future years; and if she will make a statement. [147550]

Mr. Caborn: No decision has been taken yet on Microsoft licensing.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport why the amount paid by her Department to Microsoft in licensing fees rose from £9,500 in 2001–02 to £234,000 in 2002–03. [147551]

Mr. Caborn: The license fee increased because the Department moved to MS Office, implemented Microsoft's Content Management Server software as part of the redevelopment of the Department's website and took out upgrade protection on Microsoft products under the OGC agreement with the aim of reducing any costs that might accrue from Microsoft's new charging arrangements commonly known as Licensing 6.0.

Procurement (Outsourcing)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her Department's procurement policy with regard to offshore IT and call centre outsourcing; whether her Department is outsourcing IT and call centre jobs to

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offshore companies; to which countries her Department has outsourced these jobs; how much her Department has spent on this outsourcing in each of the last two years; and how much has been budgeted for this purpose for the next two years. [147581]

Mr. Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport follows central guidance from OGC on procurement policy. No IT jobs are outsourced to offshore companies and this Department does not operate any call centres. The Department spent £1.2 million on outsourcing in 2001–02, £1.3 million in 2002–03 and the budget for the next two years is in line with previous years.

Scottish Television

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to help introduce more viewing of Scottish television in Northern Ireland. [147043]

Estelle Morris: The BBC Scotland television service and ITV Scottish, Grampian and Border services are already available to those consumers in Northern Ireland with digital satellite receiving equipment. The extension of Scottish region television services to other areas in the UK is not possible on terrestrial television because of technical and licensing constraints.

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