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10 May 2004 : Column 4W—continued

Green Minister

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) what work his Department's Green Minister has undertaken in the last three months in that capacity; [167738]

(2) what meetings his Department's Green Minister   has attended in the last 12 months in that capacity. [167739]

Mr. Alexander: Work has mainly focused on how the Cabinet Office is working towards taking a more strategic approach in embedding sustainable development into work disseminated to other Government Departments including our internal policies and operations. This work includes discussions with Ministerial colleagues and their officials.

As regards discussions in Cabinet Committees it is established practice under Exemption 2 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information not to disclose such information.

Recycled Paper

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what percentage of copying paper used by the Department in 2002–03 was from recycled sources; and   how much post-consumer waste this paper contained. [167732]

Mr. Alexander: Copying paper used by the Department in 2002–03 was from 'sustainably managed' sources.

Since May 2003 the majority of copying paper used by the Department is 100 per cent. recycled with a minimum post consumer waste content of 100 per cent.

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what measures he has put in place to ensure that his Department meets the quick win targets set by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
 
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to ensure that all copying paper bought by the Department is 100 per cent. recycled with a minimum of 75 per cent. post-consumer waste content. [167734]

Mr. Alexander: The Cabinet Office has already implemented in full the quick win target for copying paper. Performance is monitored for the purpose of   reporting progress in the annual Sustainable Development in Government report.

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what measures he has put in place to ensure that his Department meets the quick win targets set by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ensure that all paper for printed publications bought by the Department is 60 per cent. recycled of which a minimum is 75 per cent. post-consumer waste. [167735]

Mr. Alexander: The Cabinet Office has already implemented in full the quick win target for paper for printed publications. Performance is monitored for the purpose of reporting progress in the annual Sustainable Development in Government report.

Sustainable Development

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress has been made on his Department's Sustainable Development Strategy. [167742]

Mr. Alexander: The Cabinet Office's Sustainable Development Strategy is being reviewed in light of the "Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate" including looking at how best to consider the policy aspects in light of the principles of Sustainable development.

Cabinet Office progress towards meeting the commitments in the Framework is detailed in the Sustainable Development in Government's 2nd Annual Report published in November 2003. Copies of which are available in the Library.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts Council Visits (West Bromwich)

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) board members and (b) head office based staff of the Arts Council for England have visited projects in West Bromwich East in each of the last five years. [171596]

Estelle Morris: Arts Council England do not hold records of visits by council members and national office staff to projects. In April 2004, five members of the Arts Council, including the chair, visited the site of pUBLIC in the centre of West Bromwich. National office based staff are in frequent contact with Sandwell Borough Council, Jubilee Arts and pUBLIC.

Digital Television

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what percentage of homes in each of the regions of the UK has switched to digital television in the last 12 months. [172066]

Estelle Morris: OFCOM estimated digital penetration by ITV region in mid-2003, as follows.
 
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Region	Percentage
Wales	56
Channel Islands	55
South and South East	48
London	47
Central Scotland	47
North West	47
East	46
Midlands	44
North Scotland	44
West	44
North East	43
Yorkshire	42
Ulster	42
Border	40
South West	37

Libraries (Stockton, South)

Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money has been spent on the digitisation of content in libraries in Stockton South since 1997. [171460]

Estelle Morris: This information is not held centrally.

The New Opportunities Fund £50 million Digitisation of Learning Materials Programme has delivered 150 projects across the UK to enable resources which support learning of all kinds held in libraries as well as museums, archives and other public-sector institutions, to be made available online through the People's Network and the National Grid for Learning. This initiative has created a body of material containing over two million images, tens of thousands of sound and video clips and documents and over 1,000 learning packages. All projects can be accessed via the EnrichUK portal at http://www.enrichuk.net.

Information on grants awarded to individual local authorities and their expenditure can be obtained from the relevant authority.

Licensing Act

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her estimate is of the date for the first appointed day, as specified in the Licensing Act 2003; and if she will make a statement. [171396]

Mr. Caborn: The timetable for the first appointed day, when licensing authorities will be able to accept applications for the conversion of existing licences and club registration certificates, will be dependent on the date when, or if, Parliament approves the draft Guidance made under section 182 of the Act which has been laid before it.

Parliament will not be able to consider the draft Guidance until the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments have completed their scrutiny of it and reported to the Houses. We expect the first appointed day to be six months later than the date of Parliamentary approval. The timetable we hope for would see approval by Parliament at the end of this month which would therefore lead to a first appointed day in November.
 
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National Lottery (Stockton, South)

Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money from the New Opportunities Fund was allocated to Stockton, South in each year since 1997. [171462]

Estelle Morris: The New Opportunities Fund began making grants in 1999. The awards to Stockton, South are shown in the table.

Financial year	Amount (£)
1999–2000	267,764
2000–01	140,100
2001–02	461,842
2002–03	1,706,395
2003–04	1,185,453

The information is freely available from the Department's searchable Lottery award database at www.lottery.culture.gsi.gov.uk, which uses information supplied by the Lottery distributors.

New Opportunities Fund

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money from the New Opportunities Fund was allocated to Oldham West and Royton in each year since 1997. [170943]

Estelle Morris: The New Opportunities Fund began making grants in 1999. The awards to Oldham West and Royton are shown in the table, from the latest figures available.

Financial Year	Amount (£)
1999–2000	8,834
2000–01	205,919
2001–02	993,803
2002–03	798,785
2003–04	1,200,336
2004–05	525

The information is freely available from the Department's searchable Lottery award database at www.lottery.culture.gsi.gov.uk which uses information supplied by the Lottery distributors.
 
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