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14 Sept 2004 : Column 1556W—continued
Name that Tag Campaign
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have been successfully prosecuted as a result of the "name that tag" campaign; and how much reward money has been paid out as a result. [187062]
Paul Goggins: No prosecutions have been brought as a direct result of "name that tag" as yet, but police investigations are well under way following information received.
Crimestoppers are not aware of any money at present having been paid out yet as a reward under the "name that tag" campaign.
Table 2e of the "Crime in England and Wales 2003–2004" Home Office Statistical Bulletin 10/04 shows that the proportion of people perceiving high
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levels of vandalism, graffiti and other deliberate damage to property in their local area has decreased from 35 per cent. according to the 2002–03 British Crime Survey, to 28 per cent. according to the 2003/04 BCS.
Operation Scrap-It
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how Operation Scrap-It affects the residents of Leyton and Wanstead. [187743]
Ms Blears: Operation Scrap-It started in October 2003 and will run until March 2006. It entails building up the infrastructure (pound space, removal trucks, skills and knowledge) across all London boroughs to meet the agreed target that nuisance vehicles will be removed within 72 hours of reporting by October 2004. The rest of the country will then be able to learn from this good practice.
This scheme is already proving successful in my hon. Friend's constituency.
LB Redbridge only started the removal of untaxed vehicles on 7 September 2004, nine vehicles from Wanstead were removed on the first day.
Between the period 1 May 2004 to 31 August 2004, LB Waltham Forest (Leyton) have removed 45 vehicles. This has included six untaxed vehicles, 39 abandoned vehicles and 10 surrendered vehicles.
Operation Scrub-It
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how Operation Scrub-It has affected the residents of Leyton and Wanstead. [187746]
Ms Blears: Graffiti can lead to an area becoming more and more run-down, with a corresponding increase in crime and fear of crime. Untackled graffiti undermines faith in the services that authorities provide.
That is why Sections 48–52 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 enable a local authority to serve a "graffiti removal notice" on the owners of street furniture, statutory undertakers and educational institutions whose property is defaced with graffiti. If the owner does not remove the graffiti in compliance with the notice, the local authority may do so and recover its costs.
In response to concerns about the regulatory impact of these powers, we are currently piloting the new powers in 12 areas of the country. The pilots began on 31 March 2004 and we will consider further roll-out once these are completed. The 12 authorities piloting these powers are:
Barnsley metropolitan borough council
Bristol city council
Cambridge city council
Dartford borough council
Doncaster metropolitan borough council
Epping Forest district council
Kirklees metropolitan borough council
London borough of Merton
London borough of Westminster
Northampton borough council
Southampton city council
Wansbeck district council (with Northumberland county council)
Transsexual People
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents were reported to the police in which hatred of transsexual individuals is involved in the most recent period for which figures are available, broken down by police authority. [187390]
Ms Blears: Information concerning the number of incidents reported to the police in which hatred of transsexual individuals was involved is not recorded.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Art Galleries
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which art galleries, broken down by region, have received funding from arts councils in each of the last five financial years for which figures are available; and how much funding was granted in each case. [187978]
Estelle Morris: Over 1,300 arts organisations receive funding from Arts Council England on an on-going basis. The Arts Council has a funding agreement with these organisations which is reviewed regularly to ensure the funds invested are meeting the terms of the agreement. Regular funding to arts organisations is paid out of grant-in-aid.
In total, 245 Visual Arts organisations receive core funding from Arts Council England. The full list is too long to be printed in Hansard, but copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. A breakdown of funding by region is provided in the following table. Regularly funded organisations are awarded funding towards core costs for the period mirroring the Treasury's spending review cycle. The most recent announcement of allocations to Regularly Funded Organisations was made in March 2003, and provides funding up to 2005–06.
| Region | 2003–04 (£) | 2004–05 (£) | 2005–06 (£) | Total number of organisations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | 1,077,076 | 1,214,727 | 1,349,332 | 13 |
| East Midlands | 604,850 | 809,688 | 952,036 | 17 |
| London | 10,973,477 | 12,392,161 | 13,809,144 | 60 |
| National | 395,570 | 392,000 | 526,382 | 5 |
| North East | 1,621,016 | 1,898,894 | 2,329,783 | 23 |
| North West | 2,025,674 | 2,618,336 | 3,008,199 | 24 |
| South East | 2,634,428 | 2,854,981 | 3,069,174 | 29 |
| South West | 1,644,667 | 1,895,411 | 2,191,050 | 22 |
| West Midlands | 2,330,717 | 2,825,232 | 2,892,737 | 30 |
| Yorkshire | 1,692,700 | 2,087,075 | 2,351,150 | 22 |
Source:
Arts Council England.
Ministerial Air Travel
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list for each year since 1997 the number of miles flown by each Minister in her Department on official departmental business. [181863]
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Mr. Caborn: Records on this issue are not held centrally and to gather figures would be at disproportionate cost to the Department.
However, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. These report information reaching back to 1995–96. Information for 2003–04 is currently being assembled and will be published shortly. All ministerial and civil service travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers, and Civil Service Management Code, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
Parks (London)
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans there are for the refurbishment of parks in London. [184282]
Mr. Caborn:
The only parks for which the Department is responsible are the eight Royal Parks. Plans for their upkeep and refurbishment are set out in the Royal Parks Corporate Plan 2004–05, copies of which will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses shortly.
14 Sept 2004 : Column 1560W
Recruitment Costs
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the recruitment costs of (a) the chairman of the Film Council, (b) the chairman of Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries and (c) the chairman of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment were; and what (i) the salary of each chairman and (ii) the combined salary cost of each chairman's staff was in the latest year for which figures are available. [185877]
Estelle Morris: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for North-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Moss) on 21 July 2004, Official Report, columns 303–04W. The chairs of the three bodies concerned do not have dedicated support staff.
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