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Culture (Improved Access)

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to improve accessibility to (a) sports and (b) arts for older people. [186450]

Mr. Caborn: My Department fully recognises the benefits participation in activities like sport and the arts can bring to older people.

Arts Council England funds a number of arts organisations which aim to encourage older audiences and engage older people in artistic opportunities. Older people were also a focus of the Arts Council's recent New Audiences pilot project. Over £250,000 was awarded to projects targeting older people. Projects designed for older people addressed barriers such as lack of transport, price and having no one to go with. Information about successful New Audiences projects will be disseminated to arts practitioners and arts organisations across the country.
 
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On Sport, Game Plan, our strategy for delivering Sport and Physical Activity Objectives, identified older people as one of the key priority groups for increasing physical activity. Following discussions with the British Heart Foundation, Sport England's 9 Regional Plans for Sport are providing the framework for regional action. Older people are also one of the target groups for Local Exercise Action Plans (LEAPs). The Public Health White Paper due in the autumn will set out the Government's proposals for increased activity across the population.

Designated Accommodation

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many rooms are set aside for (a) the use of smokers, (b) worship, broken down by religion and (c) nursing mothers and pregnant women in each building and set of offices for which her Department is responsible. [187313]

Mr. Caborn: DCMS leases all or part of four buildings. Two of those have a room set aside for smokers. One building has a room available to an Islamic worshipper. There are no discrete facilities for nursing mothers as children are not brought to work and pregnant women have the facility of a first aid/medical rest room in each building.

Digital Television (Bridgwater)

Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people in the Bridgwater constituency do not have access to digital television. [186499]

Estelle Morris: Digital television in the UK can be accessed through Satellite, Cable or Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT).

The BBC calculate that, of the 40,800 households in the Bridgwater constituency, around 19 per cent. (7,600) do not have access to DTT services (including Freeview). Therefore 81 per cent. (33,200) of households should be able to receive DTT from either the Mendip or Stockland Hill transmitter, compared with 73 per cent. nationwide.

According to Ofcom figures, Digital Satellite television is available to the vast majority (96–98 per cent.) of households in the UK. Unfortunately, it is not possible to give a breakdown of Digital Satellite coverage in individual areas.

Digital Cable is not currently available to any households in the Bridgewater constituency.

English Institute of Sport

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the budget for the English Institute of Sport is for (a) 2004–05, (b) 2005–06 and (c) 2006–07. [186932]

Mr. Caborn: The English Institute of Sport (EIS) is funded by a grant from Sport England.

For the financial year 2004–05 the budget for EIS is £8.5 million.
 
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For each of the financial years 2005–06 and 2006–07 the budget currently agreed by the EIS and Sport England is also £8.5 million for each year.

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) full-time and (b) part-time staff are employed at each English Institute of Sport Hub. [186933]

Mr. Caborn: The number of full-time and part-time staff employed (as of 30 July 2004) at the nine regional English Institute of Sport Hubs are as follows:

	Full-time	Part-time	Total
East	4	0	4
East Midlands	13	2	15
London	2	3	5
North East	7	1	8
North West	11	1	12
South East	11	1	12
South West	7	1	8
West Midlands	4	1	5
Yorkshire	8	1	9

Freeview

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many more Freeview broadcasting licences the Government are planning to grant. [186858]

Estelle Morris: Digital television services, except those provided by the BBC, S4C and TeleG, are licensed by the Office of Communications (Ofcom) under the powers granted to it by the Broadcasting Acts of 1990, 1996 and the Communications Act 2003. With the exception of the public service channels (Channel 3, 4 and 5), the choice of whether a licensed television programme service is available free of charge or as part of a subscription package is for the broadcaster to decide. Where services are to be broadcast via satellite, Ofcom does not limit the number of licences available to either pay-TV or free channels and it will issue licences to any eligible organisation wishing to broadcast television programme services provided they meet the relevant regulatory requirements, for example as to content, advertising and sponsorship issues. In relation to the digital terrestrial platform, however, spectrum capacity is a key factor in determining how many services may be licensed at any one time.

Gaming Machines

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions her Department has held with owners of category D gaming machines in relation to the proposed ban on them in the Government's response to the Joint Select Committee on Gambling, broken down by (a) mini-cab offices, (b) fish and chip shops, (c) kebab shops, (d) other take-away food outlets and (e) others; and if she will make a statement. [187181]

Mr. Caborn: Many, if not most gaming machines, are owned by machine suppliers who have rental agreements with retail outlets. While the Department has had no recent discussions with trade associations representing any of the above categories of outlets, it
 
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meets regularly with trade associations who represent suppliers and manufacturers of gaming machines to discuss a range of matters relating to the Gambling Bill.

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessments her Department has made of the likely impact of the ban on category D gaming machines proposed in the Government's response to the Joint Select Committee on Gambling on (a) mini-cab companies, (b) fish and chip shops, (c) kebab shops, (d) other take-away food outlets and (e) others; and if she will make a statement. [187182]

Mr. Caborn: The Department will publish a full Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) for the Gambling Bill when publishing it. In the meantime, consultations on the RIA continue.

The Department's policy on the siting of Category D gaming machines acknowledges that their removal from unlicensed premises may reduce the turnover which they would otherwise have had; but we take the view that it is necessary to give more weight to the difficulties of ensuring that children are adequately supervised when using gaming machines in unlicensed premises and ensuring that unlawful machines are not sited there. We do not intend to cut back on entitlements to install machines conferred by current permits prior to their expiry.

Government Policies

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the Government's policy on (a) sport, (b) culture and (c) art. [186951]

Mr. Caborn: The Government's policy is to improve the quality of life for all through cultural and sporting activities and to support the pursuit of excellence and to champion the creative and leisure industries.

To achieve this we have developed four strategic priorities:

Strategic Priority 1: Children and Young People

Further enhance access to culture and sport for children and give them the opportunity to develop their talents to the full and enjoy the full benefits of participation.

Strategic Priority 2: Communities

Increase and broaden the impact of culture and sport, to enrich individual lives, strengthen communities and improve the places where people live, now and for future generations.

Strategic Priority 3: Economy

Maximise the contribution which the tourism, creative and leisure industries can make to the economy.

Strategic Priority 4: Modernising Delivery

Modernising delivery by ensuring our sponsored bodies are efficient and work with others to meet the cultural and sporting needs of individuals and communities.
 
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