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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 21 October 2004
LEADER OF THE HOUSE
Ministerial Travel
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Leader of the House what the total cost was of his journey to and from the North East on 11 October. [192973]
WALES
Priority Homelessness
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the level of priority homelessness in Wales was in each year from 1993 to the establishment of the Welsh Assembly. [190614]
Mr. Touhig: Priority homelessness in Wales between 1993 and 1999 was as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1993 | 7,757 |
| 1994 | 6,956 |
| 1995 | 5,811 |
| 1996 | 5,648 |
| 1997 | 4,297 |
| 1998 | 4,371 |
| 1999 | 3,695 |
Source:
Welsh Office/Welsh Assembly WHO12 returns.
HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION
Waste
Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what (a) weight and (b) volume of waste has been collected for each year since 1990; and what percentage has been (i) recycled, (ii) landfilled, (iii) incinerated and (iv) otherwise disposed of. [193102]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) on 13 October 2004, Official Report, columns 274–75W
Waste from the parliamentary estate is recorded by weight, not volume. Since 1998 all our waste has been either recycled, or recovered by incineration to generate electricity. Statistics were not kept before April 2002.
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CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Arts Funding
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the arts in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) the City of York have received in Government grants in each year since 1997. [192434]
Estelle Morris: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not fund the arts directly, but through Arts Council England, who are responsible for distributing public money from Government.
The following table supplied by Arts Council England provides a breakdown of the information requested.
| Yorkshire and the Humber | York | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grant in aid | Lottery | Grant in aid | Lottery | |
| 1997–98 | 13,352,100 | 13,933,000 | 806,072 | 86,000 |
| 1998–99 | 13,561,600 | 7,889,000 | 772,144 | 119,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 15,387,400 | 11,814,000 | 857,587 | 327,000 |
| 2000–01 | 17,859,200 | 5,203,000 | (1)1,032,613 | 104,000 |
| 2001–02 | 20,181,100 | 4,381,000 | (1)1,066,277 | 210,000 |
| 2002–03 | 21,110,438 | 12,425,000 | 686,136 | 65,000 |
| 2003–04 | 25,151,582 | 5,739,000 | 990,994 | 510,000 |
(1) Due to restructuring grant in aid allocated by the former Arts Council of England was not broken down by local authority in these years. Regional grants (i.e. to Yorkshire and the Humber) were apportioned across local authorities according to population.
British Grand Prix
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with Mr. Bernie Ecclestone over the future of the British Grand Prix. [192995]
Mr. Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with Bernie Ecclestone concerning the recent negotiations over the future of the British Grand Prix.
The East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) are currently leading discussions about the future of the British Grand Prix for the Government.
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the consortium headed by Mr. Nigel Mansell on the future of the British Grand Prix. [192996]
Mr. Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with the consortium headed by Nigel Mansell over the future of the British Grand Prix.
The ongoing negotiations over the future of the British Grand Prix are a matter between the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) and the Formula One Management (FOM).
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guarantees were obtained by the Government over the future of the British Grand Prix from the organisers of Formula One when improvements to transport links were made in 2002. [192997]
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Mr. Caborn: The improvements made to the transport links in 2002 were part of a long-term transport planning strategy of benefit to a range of events at Silverstone. Events that have benefited include the Walter Hayes Trophy, the 500 Summer Races and the Historic Sportscar Championships—all run by the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC).
In order to support the retention of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the Department for Transport provided additional funding of £8 million to speed up improvements to the A43 Silverstone bypass to allow better road access in time for the July 2002 British Grand Prix.
At the time, it would have been inappropriate for the Government to obtain any guarantees over the future of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. This was a commercial matter between the (BRDC), Octagon (the race organisers at the time) and Formula One Management.
The above-mentioned events held at Silverstone continue to benefit from the transport improvements made in 2002.
Children's Play
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) when she expects to respond to the report Getting Serious about Play: A Review of Children's Play published by the committee chaired by the right hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson); [191333]
(2) what plans her Department has made for distribution of the £200 million of national lottery funding earmarked for new and improved children's play facilities. [191355]
Estelle Morris: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State expects to be in a position to respond to the "Getting serious about play" review in the near future.
Culture (Definition)
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what definition her Department uses of British culture. [192615]
Estelle Morris: What encompasses British culture is diverse and constantly developing and is not something that can easily be put in a simple definition. However the cultural work of DCMS encompasses architecture and the historic environment, the Royal Parks and Royal Palaces, the performing and visual arts, museums, galleries, libraries and archives, creative industries and tourism.
I agree with the definition of the foundations of Britishness suggested by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in this year's British Council Annual Lecture. He described them as
'a passion for liberty anchored in a sense of duty and an intrinsic commitment to tolerance and fair play'.
Departmental Consultants
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the Department spent on outside information technology and communication specialists, consultants and engineers in the 2003–04 financial year. [192761]
Mr. Caborn: DCMS outsources all its IT provision, IT consultancy and engineering work.
In 2003–04 SchlumbergerSema (Atos Origin from January 2004) provided a full IT service for DCMS including IT specialists, software and hardware, consultancy and procurement. The costs for each are not separated out for accounting purposes. The total cost for IT provision, services, consultancy and procurement by SchlumbergerSema /Atos Origin was £3,576,737.
In addition IT security consultancy provided by Syntegra was £102,681.
The cost of engineers, JC Communications, was £19,211.
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