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8 Nov 2004 : Column 508W—continued
Press Officers
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many press officers the Department has employed in each of the past five years. [196045]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 4 November 2004]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Charnwood (Mr. Dorrell) on 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1057W.
Royal Lodge, Windsor
Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the accommodation consists of at Royal Lodge, Windsor. [193943]
Mr. Timms: The accommodation consists of:
(a) Royal Lodge consisting of the main house including staff accommodation, gardens and grounds of 40.3 hectares including tennis court and the Miniature Welsh Cottage;
Somalia
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Somalian nationals are resident in the UK. [195301]
Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Ian Gibson, dated 8 November 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about Somalian nationals. (195301)
It is estimated that, for the three months ending in August 2004, there were 60,000 Somalian nationals resident in the United Kingdom.
This estimate from the Labour Force Survey is, as with any statistical sample survey, subject to sampling variability.
Unclaimed Assets
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value of unclaimed gilts was in each of the last five years. [196108]
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Mr. Timms: The following figures have been extracted from the Government Stock register currently maintained by the Bank of England:
The moneys unclaimed in respect of British Government Stock are:
| As at 1 November | Unclaimed redemption moneys | Unclaimed dividend payments | Total unclaimed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 23.7 | 20.9 | 44.6 |
| 2003 | 22.9 | 20.4 | 43.3 |
| 2002 | 33.1 | 21.1 | 54.2 |
| 2001 | 24.3 | 23.0 | 47.3 |
| 2000 | 24.6 | 24.8 | 49.4 |
Efforts have been, and continue to be, made to reunite unclaimed funds with their rightful recipient.
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on progress on the proposal in the 2004 Budget to apply unclaimed assets for charitable purposes. [196109]
Mr. Timms: We plan to assess and report on progress in this year's PBR.
VAT (Charities)
Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on VAT as applied to charities. [197375]
Mr. Gordon Brown: The Government will make a one-off donation to the Band Aid Charitable Trust equivalent to the VAT collected on sales of the new Band Aid record and the Live Aid DVD, so that all of the money will benefit the people that need it most in the poorest African countries.
Working Women
Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what industry the largest proportion of women in the UK are employed. [196019]
Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Keith Vaz, dated 8 November 2004:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about which industry employs the largest proportion of women in the UK. I am replying in his absence. (196019)
The industry grouping with the largest proportion of women in employment is Health and social work. In June 2004, 83 per cent. of the jobs in this area were held by women.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Big Lottery Fund
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will ensure that provision is made by the Big Lottery Fund for the funding of children's play facilities across the country. [196105]
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Estelle Morris: We are reforming the lottery to make it more responsive to community needs and more flexible in its delivery. The fund is now consulting on themes, outcomes and suggested priorities, which include play. The Big Lottery Fund will be responsible for designing programmes, identifying the most appropriate means of delivery and selecting projects. We will be discussing with the fund how they can best achieve the spirit of the Government's commitment to play, within the framework of funding priorities.
British Library Music Collection
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to require music companies to provide a copy of each CD or DVD that they produce for the British Library collection. [196327]
Estelle Morris: There are no plans to make the deposit of sound recordings a statutory obligation. The existing scheme of voluntary deposit is working well.
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what rationale underlies the policy of not requiring music companies to provide a sample copy of each CD or DVD produced for the British Library collection. [196343]
Estelle Morris: DCMS's policy is to support the successful voluntary deposit arrangements that exist between the music industry and the British Library. Under the voluntary scheme 85 per cent. of the total UK output of sound recordings are deposited in the Sound Archive of the British Library.
The voluntary deposit arrangement between the music industry and the British Library is working well.
Children's Play
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she will respond to the Dobson review of children's play; and if she will make a statement. [196363]
Mr. Caborn: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 21 October 2004, Official Report, column 821W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Mr. Dhanda).
Departmental Offices
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost of (a) decoration and (b) refurbishment of the London office of the Department was in each of the last four years. [196153]
Mr. Caborn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) on 26 March 2004, Official Report, column 1118W. Since that date £26,000 has been spent on redecoration in two of the four buildings occupied by the Department.
Departmental Publications (Accessibility)
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many and what proportion of publications issued by her Department are available in (a) Braille, (b) autoprint, (c) large print and (d) easy read format. [194289]
8 Nov 2004 : Column 511W
Mr. Caborn: All DCMS publications are available in disability versions on demand. Additionally, all DCMS publications are on the DCMS website which is available by phone.
Departmental/Lottery Spending
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much (a) departmental and (b) Lottery funding has been spent on (i) sport, (ii) museums, galleries and libraries, (iii) arts, (iv) historic buildings, monuments and sites, (v) the Royal Parks, (vi) tourism, (vii) broadcasting and media, (viii) commemorative services and (ix) administration and research in each year from 1997; how much was unallocated; and if she will make a statement. [194660]
Mr. Caborn: Information on departmental spending in these categories from 1998–99 is available in the departmental report 2004 (Cmd. 6220, pages 67 to 73 refer). Copies of the departmental report are placed in the House of Commons Library and it is also available on the DCMS website. Information on departmental spending in 1997–98 is not available on a comparable basis because of the change to resource accounting.
Tourism and broadcasting/media are not direct beneficiaries of Lottery funding. Information on Lottery spending (i.e. the amount authorised for payment out of the National Lottery Distribution Fund to the distributing bodies for grant payments) for the good causes, including sport, the arts and the national heritage, can be obtained from the National Lottery Distribution Fund Annual Accounts for the years 1997–98 to 2002–03 inclusive. In each year's Accounts, a table headed "Reconciliation of amounts available to distributing bodies" gives the amounts "Authorised for payment to distributing bodies". This equals the amount drawn down (and is equivalent to spending from) the NLDF by the distributors. Copies of the NLDF accounts are available in the House of Commons Library.
The NLDF annual accounts for 2003–04 are currently being audited prior to publication.
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