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26 Mar 2004 : Column 1117W—continued

Mobile Phone Masts

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what monitoring his Department undertakes of the extent to which mobile phone companies share masts. [163358]

Keith Hill: The Mobile Operators' Association send statistics relating to site sharing to the Planning Minister every quarter.

Regional Funding

Ann Winterton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 11 March 2004, Official Report,

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column 1712W, on regional assemblies/government, if he will list the funding for the year 2002–03 from each central Government Department to (a) the Government offices for and (b) the non-departmental public bodies operating in the regions of (i) the North West, (ii) the North East and (iii) Yorkshire and the Humber. [163718]

Mr. Raynsford: The information requested is as follows.

(a) The funding for the year 2002–03 from each central Government Department to the three Government Offices was as follows:

Government Office	DTLR	DTI	DfES	Defra	HO	DCMS	DoH	Total
North East	4,472	2,671	2,043	323	592	63	58	10,222
North West	7,367	3,953	2,848	628	794	63	117	15,770
Yorkshire and the Humber	4,985	2,571	2,340	564	692	63	62	11,278

Note:

All figures are in £000. DTLR became the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Department for Transport during the year in question and so for the purposes of this table, it is assumed that DTLR was in existence for the whole year.

(b) Information on the funding allocated by each central Government Department to non-departmental public bodies operating in each region is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In terms of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's non-departmental public bodies, only two, English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation, allocate their funding on a regional basis.

English Partnerships' Departmental Expenditure Limit utilisation for 2002–03 for the three regions was as follows:

	£ million
North East	14.5
North West	28.5
Yorkshire and the Humber	16.0

Programme funding provided by the Housing Corporation to registered social landlords operating in the region in 2002–03 was as follows:

	£ million
North East	23.7
North West	95.6
Yorkshire and the Humber	56.2

Telecommunications Transmissions

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance is given to local planning authorities on the protection of wildlife and domestic animals from the adverse effects of telecommunications transmissions; and what his policy is on where the responsibility lies for the protection of wildlife from such transmissions. [164079]

Keith Hill: The Government's statutory adviser, the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), has published guidelines on limiting exposure to electromagnetic radiation for the protection of human health. Following the recommendation made in the Stewart Report on Mobile Phones and Health in 2000 the Government adopted the international guidelines on public exposure set by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) as a precautionary measure to limit electromagnetic radiation exposure from mobile phone base stations.

There is no separate advice for local planning authorities or policy on the exposure of wildlife and domestic animals to electromagnetic radiation.

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CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

BACS

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress her Department has made to manage the changeover from the Bank Automated Clearing System to the new BACSTEL-IP system for electronic payments. [164318]

Mr. Caborn: The Department's Payments and Receipts Contractor has obtained costs for the new hardware and software required for the upgrade, and made plans for the migration to BACSTEL-IP. The contractor's various sponsoring banks, who will drive the migration timetable, have stated that they are in the process of drawing up a timetable for the migration of all their customers.

Film Industry

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what steps she is taking to secure the financial future of the British Federation of Film Societies; [163381]

(2) what representations she has received from film societies concerning their funding from the UK Film Council; [163382]

(3) what steps she is taking to ensure that the British Film Institute actively supports the work of the British Federation of Film Societies and its constituent members; [163384]

(4) what discussions she has had with (a) the British Film Institute and (b) the British Federation of Film Societies concerning the Annual Films Viewing Weekend and its continuation on a financial basis that supports local film societies. [163385]

Estelle Morris: The UK Film Council, the Government's strategic adviser for film, 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 should continue to fund the British Federation of Film Societies (BFFS) at £100,000 per annum until 2006–07. This funding would form part of the council's substantial budget for its Distribution and Exhibition fund, which aims to promote accessibility to film across the country. This proposal is supported by the British Film Institute. The BFFS would be required to demonstrate the impact of its work in developing the diversity and range of cinema distribution and appreciation. Beyond continuation of funding, the UK Film Council has outlined plans for a fund for digital equipment for film societies, of direct benefit to constituent members of the BFFS.

The DCMS has received no representations from film societies within the last year, concerning funding from the UK Film Council. The UK Film Council has received one letter from BFFS, and will shortly meet the BFFS to discuss the issues raised.

Support for film societies, and thus the BFFS, has been a key consideration in the recent BFI Strategic Review, and is being addressed as part of broader plans to improve access to resources and collections. Stakeholders including the BFFS have been extensively

26 Mar 2004 : Column 1120W

consulted during this process, and the BFI is firmly committed to working more strategically with national bodies such as the BFFS in their advocacy of specialised film culture.

The UK Film Council and BFI will provide ongoing financial support for the Annual Films Viewing Weekend via a heavily subsidised rate for the use of the National Film Theatre (NFT), the event's venue. DCMS has not been involved in the discussions.

Department-Sponsored Activities

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding has been allocated to (a) Creative Partnerships, (b) Space for Sport and Arts, (c) Sports Action Zones and (d) Youth Music Action Zones in (i) 2004–05, (ii) 2005–06 and (iii) total. [163720]

Estelle Morris: The information is as follows:

(a) Creative Partnerships has been allocated: (i) £25 million in 2004–05; (ii) £45 million in 2005–06; and (iii) a total of £110 million over four years from 2002–06.

(b) Space for Sport and Arts has been allocated total funding of £134 million over the period 2000–05. £128.4 million has been awarded to date.

(c) Sport Action Zones have been allocated: (i) £1.9 million in 2004–05; (ii) £1 million in 2005–06; amounting to a total of (iii) £2.9 million over the two years.

(d) Youth Music Action Zones will receive: (i) £1.58 million in 2004–05; (ii) the allocation for 2005–06 has not yet been finalised; (iii) Youth Music have made available a total of £15 million to support Action Zones in England over the period 2002–06.

Departmental Buildings

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) renovation and (b) maintenance projects on buildings (i) owned and (ii) rented by her Department were undertaken in each of the last five years; and what the associated costs were of each. [163950]

Mr. Caborn: DCMS does not occupy any freehold buildings. During the financial year 2000–01 works to a value of £1.5 million were undertaken to link two adjoining buildings and reconfigure accommodation for greater operational efficiency and modernisation of facilities. In 2002 exterior stone cleaning was performed on the main buildings at a cost of £120,000 in compliance with the lease. In 2003 one previously vacant floor of a satellite building was refurbished, at a cost of £46,000 in order to facilitate and accommodate restructuring of part of the Department. In the same year two obsolete fire warning and alarm systems were replaced at a cost of £153,000.

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