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Central Railway

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a further statement on (a) the Government's policy on the Central Railway project and (b) the timescale for Ministers to consider and decide upon the request by Central Railway plc for the Government to support a hybrid bill. [153144]

Mr. McNulty: No timetable has been set. We are considering Central Railway's proposals carefully and will respond in due course.

M20

Jonathan Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the Highways Agency last assessed the skid resistance of the M20 from junctions 3 to 5; and whether the results determined when future resurfacing would take place. [152511]

Mr. Jamieson: The skid resistance of the M20 from junctions 3 to 5 was reassessed in 2003 and results indicated that the surfacing meets the skidding resistance standard. This section of the M20 was resurfaced in 1999 with a new thin surface, as part of the Highways Agency's quieter surfacing programme on concrete carriageways. The Highways Agency would expect the surface to have a life in excess of eight years.

Ministerial Meetings

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what dates Ministers in his Department have held meetings with members and officials of the United States Administration since 1 January 2003; where each meeting was held; which Ministers were involved in each meeting; which United States Administration department attended each meeting; and which members and officials from the United States Administration attended each of these meetings. [152961]

Mr. McNulty: Ministers in the Department for Transport have not had any meetings with members and officials of the United States Administration since 1 January 2003.

Railways

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of train rolling stock leasing expenditure goes to profit. [153114]

Mr. McNulty: The contractual terms agreed between the rolling stock leasing companies (ROSCOs) and the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) do not cover profit levels. The reporting of profits is a matter for the ROSCOs themselves.

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Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what representations he has received on (a) financing methods for and (b) the cost of new train rolling stock; [153120]

(2) what changes he plans to the supervision of the train rolling stock leasing market. [153121]

Mr. McNulty: The review of the railway industry announced by the Secretary of State on 19 January is directed specifically at the control of costs and the possibility of structural change. Rolling stock leasing arrangements will be among the issues to be considered as part of the review.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

British Federation of Film Societies

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what funding was received by the British Federation of Film Societies from the UK Film Council in each year from 1997; [152774]

(2) what the planned funding to the British Federation of Film Societies from the UK Film Council is for each year until 2006; and if she will make a statement. [152775]

Estelle Morris: The UK Film Council has awarded the British Federation of Film Societies (BFFS) £100,000 for each of the years 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04. Prior to this, the BFFS received funding from the British Film Institute.

The UK Film Council has recently completed an extensive consultation on its funding and policy priorities for April 2004 to March 2007. The consultation document, "Three Years On", proposes that the UK Film Council continues to fund the BFFS at £100,000 per annum until 2006–07. The continuation of this funding would be dependent on a year-by-year assessment of the BFFS' performance against agreed performance targets relating to diversity and inclusion.

Golden Jubilee

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much public money was spent on the Golden Jubilee celebrations. [150389]

Mr. Caborn: The provisional figure for the amount of public money spent on the Golden Jubilee celebrations is £14.9 million.

Licensing Act

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when her Department will issue working guidelines on the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003. [153453]

Mr. Caborn: Statutory Guidance is to be issued to licensing authorities under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003. This section requires that a draft of the Guidance must be laid before, and approved by resolution of, each House of Parliament before it is issued. The statutory Guidance will be laid before Parliament shortly for its approval.

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Lotteries

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the rationale was for the decision not to abolish the maximum stake for lotteries. [153018]

Estelle Morris: The draft Gambling Bill removes restrictions on the size of stake in society lotteries, subject to the overriding principle that every ticket in the same lottery should cost the same, as recommended by the Gambling Review Body. In 2002 we doubled the legal limits on the size of prizes and on the maximum proceeds in society lotteries. But the draft Bill provides for such limits to remain, since removing them altogether would allow society lotteries to compete head-to-head with the National Lottery, which would potentially reduce both the overall size of prize pools and amounts raised for good causes.

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to bring the regulation of prize competitions into line with that of society lotteries. [153019]

Estelle Morris: We announced the outcome of our consultation about the law on prize competitions and lotteries on 5 June 2003. We do not intend that prize competitions should be regulated in the same way as society lotteries. The law must however provide for a clear and enforceable distinction between the two and the draft Gambling Bill that we published in November contains legal tests that should enable this distinction to be made.

Copies of our statement, of the draft Bill and its accompanying documents are in the Libraries of both Houses.

Olympic Games Bid

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will discuss with Sport England the use of Rivington in the Chorley constituency for (a) cycling, (b) road racing, (c) mountain biking and (d) individual time trials as part of the 2012 Olympic Games bid. [153854]

Tessa Jowell: The bidding company, London 2012, is responsible for selecting the venues for the bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games and these were announced on 16 January. They were chosen to best fit the needs of the athletes, the Olympic Sports Federations and the requirements of the International Olympic Committee. Should the bid succeed, sporting facilities across the UK will have the opportunity to be used by national teams for training camps.

Public Service Broadcasting

Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what plans she has to hold meetings with broadcasters to encourage them to provide viewing cards for digital access to public service broadcasting channels; and if she will make a statement; [153322]

(2) what plans her Department has to monitor the availability of free-to-view channels to satellite customers who do not subscribe to pay-to-view services; and if she will make a statement. [153323]

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Estelle Morris: This is primarily a matter for the broadcasters. Until May last year, the BBC paid for 'solus' viewing cards enabling customers who did not wish to pay a subscription to receive the public service broadcasting channels by satellite. However, following the move of its broadcast services to a new satellite, all of the BBC's digital channels are now available via satellite without the need for a viewing card. It has therefore stopped paying for the provision of solus cards.

Following representations from the Government, an agreement was reached between the other main broadcasters and BSkyB to ensure that existing solus card viewers could continue receiving the other public service channels after their current cards expired in 2003. Viewers were able to purchase a new card, valid until at least 31 December 2005, for a one-off fee of £20 + VAT. This offer was extended until 31 January 2004.

We understand that the broadcasters have no current plans to provide solus cards to new satellite customers. However, the Government remain committed to ensuring that analogue terrestrial broadcasting signals are maintained until everyone who can currently get the main public service broadcasting channels (BBC1 and 2, ITV1, Channel 4/S4C and Five) can receive them free-to-view via at least one of the digital platforms.

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