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21 Jul 2004 : Column 302W—continued
Libraries
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to extend the Lending Time project to other library services using volunteers. [185498]
Estelle Morris: The Framework for the Future Action Plan contains a strategic objective to develop an inclusive library service that reflects and helps build cohesive communities. Volunteering is an integral component of this. Lessons will be drawn from the Community Service Volunteers (CSV) Lending Time project along with other experience of community engagement and used to develop a work programme which will take a wider approach to community engagement. The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) are currently considering a proposal from CSV to provide expert advice and support through a national post funded by Framework for the Future. This person would work with a group of key partners as an advisory group to the work programme.
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to implement the recommendations made in Shared Intelligence, the evaluation report of the Lending Time project. [185510]
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Estelle Morris: The recommendations from the Shared Intelligence evaluation report will be used by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) to develop a work programme widening the library approach to community engagement. The experiences from the Lending Time project will be used to ensure that volunteering will be an integral part of this work programme. Funding will come from the Framework for the Future Action Plan and a plan is currently being considered to include a national post at MLA for a member of Community Service Volunteers (CSV), who led the Lending Time project, to provide expert advice and support to the work programme alongside an advisory group of experts.
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has for a second phase of the Lending Time: Volunteers in Libraries initiative. [185769]
Estelle Morris: Lending Time was an agreed three-year project and has now come to an end. The lessons drawn from the project and the recommendations from the evaluation report will be used by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) to support the development of a wider strategy of community engagement for libraries. This will encompass volunteering within a range of initiatives and will be funded through the Framework for the Future Action Plan. In order to utilise the experiences from the Lending Time project further, MLA are currently considering funding a national post for a member of Community Service Volunteers (CSV) to support and advise the development of this strategy.
Recruitment and Employment Costs
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will publish the (a) recruiting and (b) salary and other employment costs associated with the post of (i) Chairman of the UK Film Council, (ii) Chairman for the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment and (iii) Chairman of the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council. [184372]
Estelle Morris: The direct costs associated with the three public appointments referred to are set out as follows. The average cost of officials' time in running an appointments process, based on 2003–04 figures, was £2,500 per campaign.
Cost of advertising—£14,491.74
Chair's remuneration—The post is unpaid. However, £198 per day may be claimed, plus travel and subsistence. The time requirement for the post is four days on average per month.
(ii) Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment
Cost of advertising—£14,093.81
Chair's remuneration—£45,000 per annum plus reasonable expenses.
(iii) Museum, Libraries and Archives Council
Cost of advertising—£12,477.06
Chair's remuneration—£32,640 per annum plus reasonable expenses.
School Athletics
Mr. Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what support her Department gives to the English Schools' Athletic Association; [185878]
(2) what representations her Department has received regarding the future of the English Schools' Athletic Association; [185879]
(3) what action her Department has taken to promote athletics in schools. [185880]
Mr. Caborn: This Department provides no funding support to any schools sport association. It is Government policy that schools sport associations work closely with, and receive their core funding from, the governing bodies for their sports. DCMS officials and Ministers have held regular discussions with officers of the English Schools Athletic Association and UK Athletics over the past year about the future of competitive schools athletics. This is an issue that will be taken forward over the coming months by UK Sport and Sport England as part of the Foster Review implementation.
DCMS, the Department for Education and Skills and Sport England are supporting the secondment of a Development Manager to the National Council for School Sport. He is working with schools sport associations—including athletics—to embed competitive school sport in governing body one-stop/whole sport plans and to ensure that schools competition structures dovetail with the new infrastructure being established under the national strategy for PE, School Sport and Club Links.
The results of the 2003/04 PE, School Sport and Club Links Survey showed that athletics is the fourth most popular sport in school sport partnership schools (provided in 90 per cent. of schools) and the fourth most popular in terms of links between schools and clubs (32 per cent. of schools with links to clubs). Athletics is one of 22 sports receiving funding from the Club Links programme to increase the number of such links.
Special Advisers
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many of the reductions in the numbers of civil servants in her Department announced in the Spending Review will be of special advisers. [185478]
Mr. Caborn [holding answer 20 July 2004]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 20 July 2004, Official Report, column 190W.
Tourism
Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the work of regional development agencies in developing tourism in Manchester Central. [184170]
Mr. Caborn:
The North West Development Agency (NWDA) is working closely with Marketing Manchester, the nominated Destination Management
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Organisation (DMO) for Manchester. DMOs are effectively mini tourist boards that will ensure a strong visitor and market focus to all that is done within the region, and aim to strengthen the connection that exist within the region between businesses and other organisations that make up the tourism sector.
Marketing Manchester also has a key role in securing funds for tourism development from the NWDA. Hence any funding for Manchester Central would need to be secured via that route. During 2003–04 Marketing Manchester received £898,000 to promote and develop tourism within the sub region. A similar amount has been identified to support their work during 2004–05.
Unfortunately at this stage NWDA cannot show a specific breakdown of funding provided to Manchester Central but the impact of NWDA funding to Marketing Manchester will certainly have been beneficial to the Manchester Central tourism product.
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many visitor attractions have signed up to the Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme. [186034]
Mr. Caborn: The Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Service (VAQAS) has accredited 510 visitor attractions.
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the rate of productivity in the tourism industry has been in each of the last 10 years; and what criteria are used to measure these rates. [186036]
Estelle Morris: The Department estimates the rate of change of labour productivity in Tourism.
Data is derived from the Annual Business Inquiry, carried out by the Office for National Statistics. This takes the form of estimates of Gross Value Added and numbers in employment. Productivity is estimated as the ratio of Gross Value Added to numbers in employment, and the rate of change from one year to the next is calculated.
Information has been collected in its present form only since 1998. The latest figures are those for 2002.
| Percentage | |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | + 3.1 |
| 1999–2000 | + 4.0 |
| 2000–01 | + 2.5 |
| 2001–02 | + 4.6 |
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