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11 Feb 2004 : Column 1461W—continued
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's definition is of a weapon of mass destruction. [154249]
Mr. Hoon: As the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien), said on 28 January 2003, Official Report, column 769W, there is no universally
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accepted definition of the phrase "weapons of mass destruction", but it is generally held to refer to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Motoring Offences
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Solicitor-General in how many cases in the last five years initial charges of causing death by dangerous driving have been reduced to the charge of careless driving. [154332]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) holds no central records on particular charges, or on the amendments made to charges.
This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Sir Roy Meadow
Tim Loughton: To ask the Solicitor-General on what occasions Sir Roy Meadow has given lectures to judges and other court officials on the subject of infanticide and harm of children at the hands of their parents. [151029]
The Solicitor-General: Details of the lectures given by Sir Roy Meadow at seminars organised by the Judicial Studies Board appear in the following table.
| Seminar | Lecture | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Seminar for Potential Nominated Care Judges | The Paediatric Witness | 7–9 May 1997 |
| Seminar for Potential Nominated Care Judges | The Paediatric Witness | 6–8 May 1998 |
| Seminar for Potential Nominated Care Judges | The Paediatric Witness | 5–7 May 1999 |
| Seminar for Potential Nominated Care Judges | The Paediatric Witness | 9–12 May 2000 |
| Continuation Seminar for Nominated Care District Judges | Paediatric Reports | 22–24 May 2000 |
| Seminar for Potential Nominated Care Judges | The Paediatric Witness | 1–4 May 2001 |
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Benefit Fraud
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff in her Department have been (a) investigated, (b) suspended, (c) dismissed, (d) prosecuted and (e) convicted for involvement in benefit fraud in each of the last six years; and what amounts were involved in each case. [153868]
Mr. Caborn: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has had no reported cases of staff involved in benefit fraud in the last six years.
Digital Broadcasting
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the criteria are by which the sequence by region of digital switchover will take place; and if she will make a statement. [154174]
Estelle Morris: Digital switchover will be a phased process, with different regions switching at different times. Part of the work of the Digital Television Action Plan is to agree the order in which different regions are switched. The reports from the BBC and Ofcom and the Digital Television Consumer Expert Group expected at the end of March, will help inform our considerations.
Graffiti
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what initiatives her Department has undertaken to encourage communities to become involved in graffiti prevention. [153823]
Estelle Morris: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport works with other Government Departments and agencies, including the Home Office and Youth Justice Board, to deliver initiatives that seek to reduce antisocial behaviour, such as graffiti, by offering developmental sports and arts activities as an alternative. These include:
We are key partners in this national sports, based social inclusion programme targeted at marginalised 10 to 19-year-olds in the most deprived areas. It aims to build relationships between responsible adults and young people based on mutual trust and respect in order to create new opportunities for alternative lifestyles.
Positive Activities for Young People:
We are one of a number of Government Departments and agencies that work together to deliver Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP). PAYP is a three year cross Government and Lottery funded school holiday activity programme that aims to reduce street crime, build community cohesion and encourage children and young people to return to education or
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training by engaging them in high quality sport and art activities. It is targeted at young people most at risk of truancy or offending and areas with high levels of street crime or community cohesion problems.
Historic Buildings (Gift Aid Relief)
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with charity owners of historic buildings on the impact of the changes to gift aid relief against admission ticket revenues announced in the Pre-Budget Report. [154402]
Mr. Caborn: DCMS officials have been talking to Inland Revenue colleagues and representatives of a variety of associations and representative bodies about the implementation of changes to the Gift Aid Scheme announced in the pre-Budget report with a view to ensuring that the changes do not cause unnecessary problems for the charities affected.
Licensing Act
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the administrative costs to (a) local authorities, (b) individual licensees and (c) central government of the changes to the licensing regime resulting from the Licensing Act 2002; and if she will make a statement. [154061]
Mr. Caborn: Proposed fee levels and the expected costs of compliance with the 2003 Act were set out in the Regulatory Impact Assessment which accompanied the Licensing Bill and is available from the House Library. Regulations setting out the fees to accompany applications for licences, club premises certificates and other applications will be laid before Parliament shortly, showing the cost to individual licensees and applicants.
The Department is working closely with the Local Government Association to produce licensing fees which are set at a level to provide for full cost recovery in respect of administration, inspection and enforcement. In those cases where the Department has announced that there will be an exemption from the payment of fees in certain circumstances the costs will be met by central government.
Lottery Funding
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many applications for Lottery grant funding have been received in the last year from Cunninghame, South; what the total value was of these applications; and how many of these applications were successful. [153215]
Estelle Morris: This Department has never collected comprehensive information on either the number or value of applications for Lottery grants received by the Distributing Bodies.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many applications were made for Heritage Lottery funding in (a) Trafford and (b) Altrincham and Sale, West in each of the last five years. [153221]
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Estelle Morris: The number of applications that were made for Heritage Lottery Funding in (a) Trafford and (b) Altrincham and Sale, West in each of the last five years were:
| Financial year | Trafford | Altrincham and Sale West |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 4 | 3 |
| 1998–99 | 1 | 0 |
| 1999–2000 | 1 | 0 |
| 2000–01 | 1 | 1 |
| 2001–02 | 1 | 1 |
| 2002–03 | 2 | 1 |
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Heritage Lottery funding has been awarded in the Altrincham and Sale, West constituency in each of the last five years; and how many projects were awarded funding. [153222]
Estelle Morris: The amount of Heritage Lottery funding awarded to Altricham and Sale, West constituency in each of the last five years together with the number of projects funded was:
| Financial year | Heritage lottery funding | Number of projects |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 257,800 | 3 |
| 1998–99 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999–2000 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000–01 | 44,000 | 1 |
| 2001–02 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002–03 | 0 | 0 |
Repeat Offenders
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what programmes her Department has set up to encourage the reform of repeat offenders. [153824]
Estelle Morris: There are a number of ways in which the Department seeks to prevent offending, including repeat offending, through engagement by young people in arts and sports activities, for example:
We are key partners in this national sports—based social inclusion programme targeted at marginalised 10 to19-year-olds in the most deprived areas. It aims to build relationships between responsible adults and young people based on mutual trust and respect in order to create new opportunities for alternative lifestyles.
Funded through the Arts Council of England, the Unit for Arts and Offenders is a national umbrella organisation that supports the development of the arts within criminal justice settings.
Positive Activities for Young People:
We are one of a number of Government Departments and agencies that work together to deliver Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP). PAYP is a three year cross Government and Lottery funded school holiday activity programme that aims to reduce street crime, build community cohesion and encourage children and young people to return to education or training by engaging them in high quality sport and art
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activities. It is targeted at young people most at risk of truancy or offending and areas with high levels of street crime or community cohesion problems.
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