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Travel Costs

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the travel costs were of civil servants in (a) his Department and (b) its related agencies in each year since 1997. [183900]

Mr. Caplin: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost. I can confirm that all civilian travel is conducted in compliance with Civil Service Management Code, and in the most cost-effective manner.
 
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Windows 2000 Combat Management System

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what systems have been put in place to cope with a failure in the planned Windows 2000 operating system in the Type 45 Destroyers; [191620]

(2) whether there has been an external review of the Windows 2000 Combat Management System Type 45 Destroyer Project; [191621]

(3) what the proposed cost was of implementing Unix as the operating system for the Combat Management System in the Type 45 Destroyers; [191622]

(4) what the cost is of implementing Windows 2000 as the operating system for the Combat Management System in the Type 45 Destroyers; [191623]

(5) what steps he has taken to ensure that the Windows 2000 Combat Management System in the new Type 45 Destroyers is reliable. [191643]

Mr. Ingram: The Type 45 prime contractor, BAE Systems, and their sub-contractor, are responsible for selecting an operating system that meets the requirements placed on them by the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA). Industry's decision to use Windows 2000 was in any case the subject of a review conducted by the Ministry of Defence which included specialist representatives from QinetiQ and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). The review concluded that the choice of Windows 2000 represented the lowest risk choice of operating system. In particular, the review concluded that any residual risks associated with reliability were well understood by the contractor and that the normal process of regression and integration testing would quantify and reduce these risks before Type 45 is accepted into service.

The system design has built-in redundancy, with automatic, and transparent, switch-over to a back-up system if the primary system has a problem. This would provide continuity of operation and ensure that no data were lost. The system design also ensures that comprehensive hardware mechanisms will be in place to avoid any other safety or technical issues.

The cost of implementing an operating system for the Combat Management System in the Type 45 is a matter for the prime contractor, BAE Systems, and their sub-contractor. The Department does not have, or require, visibility of costs at that level of detail.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Analogue Switch-off

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate her Department has made of the number of television aerials that will need to be upgraded to allow analogue switch-off to proceed. [195605]

Estelle Morris: A small number of viewers are likely to be using a roof-top aerial which is in poor condition and delivering substandard analogue signals. They may have to replace their aerial in order to continue receiving
 
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the public service channels after digital switchover. However, we do not have a reliable figure of the number of households who may be affected in this way.

British Grand Prix

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the British Grand Prix; and whether she expects public money to be made available to secure the future of the British Grand Prix. [195610]

Mr. Caborn: We desire and support a British Grand Prix at Silverstone, but the current commercial negotiations between the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) and Formula One Management (FOM), to reach an agreement to secure the British Grand Prix on the 2005 Formula One Calendar, are a matter for them. However, where appropriate, Derek Mapp, Chair of the East Midlands Development Agency and I have done everything we can to help bring the parties together to broker a suitable outcome. There is no prospect of the Government entering into the current commercial negotiations as a direct financial participant.

Correspondence

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Woking, dated 14 October, concerning Skanska UK Plc. [194507]

Estelle Morris: The letter was received in the Department on the 18 October and I wrote to the hon. Member on 3 November.

We aim to reply to all departmental correspondence within 18 working days.

Departmental Policy (South Dorset)

Jim Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to the South Dorset constituency, the effects of changes to departmental policy since 1997 on the South Dorset constituency. [194972]

Mr. Caborn: Since 1997 the Government have introduced a range of initiatives and increased the funding available to develop the cultural, sports and tourism sectors and improve access to cultural and sporting opportunities across the country. There is evidence that these policies are benefiting the South Dorset constituency.

A number of arts organisations in Dorset, which are active in the South Dorset constituency, are receiving significant increases in their public funding. For example, Artsreach and Dorset Dance Forum will each receive over £50,000 from Arts Council England in 2005–06, representing increases of 73 per cent. and 55 per cent. respectively compared with 2002–03. Ten feature films and television programmes have been filmed in and around South Dorset in the past two years and a number of film projects have received Lottery funding, including the Purbeck Film Festival. Museums in Dorset are receiving support from the South West Museums, Libraries and Archives Council under the Government's Renaissance in the Regions initiative.
 
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This support is aimed at helping smaller museums develop their documentation and funding a second museum development officer post for the county. The Tank Museum has received over £350,000 since 1999 under the Government's Designation Scheme to recognise outstanding collections in non-national museums.

Tourism in Dorset has increased with the assistance of Government-funded marketing activity. The latest available data are for 2002, when expenditure by staying tourists in Dorset rose to £768 million from £664 million in 2001. In April 2003, the Government established VisitBritain with a new domestic marketing remit for England, and we gave strategic responsibility for tourism development to the Regional Development Agencies. Tourism in South Dorset benefits from these changes, as does the rest of England, and will benefit further if London's bid for the 2012 Olympic Games is successful as Weymouth and Portland have been chosen to host the sailing events.

Information from the Lottery distributors indicates that since 1997 South Dorset has benefited from over 300 awards totalling over £10 million. Of these 40 awards worth £2.3 million were made by the New Opportunities Fund which was established by the Government in 1999.

Departmental Recruitment

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many full-time equivalent staff her Department has employed in the (a) corporate services, (b) tourism, libraries and communities, (c) creative industries, broadcasting, gambling and the Lottery, (d) arts and culture, (e) sport, (f) strategy and communications and (g) legal advisors' directorate in each year from 1997; and if she will make a statement. [194659]

Mr. Caborn: The Department has undergone a number of reorganisations since 1997. We are currently organised into three Directorates General and one Directorate with full-time equivalent staff as follows:

	Number
Economic Impact	135
Children, Young People and Communities	207.5
Corporate Services and Modernisation	141.9
Strategic Communications	26

DCMS contracts out its legal service to the Treasury Solicitor's Department, who employ staff on our behalf. Information for previous structures for earlier years could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

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