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7 Feb 2005 : Column 1304W—continued
Goodison Review
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions her Department has had with the Treasury about implementing the recommendations of the Goodison review. [213935]
Estelle Morris: The Department's discussions with the Treasury are reflected in the Spending Review 2004 announcements that:
the Renaissance in the Regions programme for regional museums will be extended to all nine English regions; and
the free access commitment, which currently covers the main national museums and galleries, and the VAT refund scheme that helps deliver free access, will be extended to university museums and galleries.
The two Departments also discussed our plans for the transfer of functions between DCMS and MLA: these are now well under way.
Iraq
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her recent discussions with the Iraqi Minister of Culture on (a) Babylon and (b) Itatra. [211697]
Tessa Jowell: I spoke to the Iraqi Culture Minister on 26 January about the damage done to the site of Babylon. I expressed my sympathy and was able to outline the assistance that the UK is able to provide. My Department will be providing funding for three interns to come to the UK to learn the skills that will be necessary in the reconstruction and management of the Babylon site. I will be writing to the Minister shortly confirming that offer of assistance.
I have not spoken to the Minister directly on the subject of Hatra. However, I will raise this issue in my letter to him.
Liquor Licences (Essex)
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many liquor licences were revoked from (a) public houses, (b) wine bars and (c) nightclubs in (i) Southend-on-Sea and (ii) Essex in each year since 1997. [213727]
Mr. Caborn: We do not have the breakdown of figures in the categories requested, but we can provide figures for all premises with justices' on-licences which include public houses, nightclubs and wine bars.
We do not collate numbers of nightclubs specifically. However under the Licensing Act 1964, a special hours certificate is required to permit the sale and consumption of alcohol during specified times on particular days outside the permitted hours up to 2.00 am, and 3.00 am in the West End of London. These certificates apply to on-licensed premises and registered clubs which have a music and dancing licence and provide substantial refreshment. We can supply the figures for the number of special hours certificates refused, but not the numberof special hours certificates revoked.
Statistics on the number of justices' on-licence revocations in England and Wales are collected on a triennial basis. The figures for years 1995, 1998, 2001 were collated by the Home Office and we unable to break these down by county (see table 1 which shows the total numbers of justices' on-licence revocations and the number of special hours certificates refused in England and Wales).
The figures for justices' on-licences revoked in Essex and the number of special hours certificates refused in 2004 are shown, as well as the number of justices' on-licences revoked in South East Essex (see table 2). Figures are for the year to 30 June.
7 Feb 2005 : Column 1306W
Year to 30 June | Total of justices' on-licences revoked | Total number of special hours certificates refused |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 262 | 211 |
| 1998 | 215 | 146 |
| 2001 | 132 | 301 |
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Total number of justices' on-licences revoked in: | |
| Essex | 11 |
| South East Essex | 4 |
| Total number of special hours certificates refused in: | |
| Essex | 4 |
| South East Essex | 1 |
Lottery Funds
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on her policy on ring-fencing lottery funds for children's play. [213889]
Tessa Jowell: We have made clear our commitment that the Big Lottery Fund will operate with much less Government intervention than its predecessor, the New Opportunities Fund. Within a framework of broad themes, outcomes and priorities agreed with Government, the Big Lottery Fund will be responsible for designing programmes, choosing delivery mechanisms, identifying partners and selecting projects. Like other lottery distributors, the fund will not have Government defined, ring-fenced programmes but will engage more with local communities and respond to their aspirations and needs. We expect funding for children's play projects to continue to come from across all lottery distributors, and to reach £200 million between 2006 and 2012.
Official Residences
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the official residences for which her Department is responsible; who occupies each one; what the annual cost is of running each property; what contribution the occupants of each make towards running costs; what the total capital and refurbishment expenditure has been on those properties in each of the past five years; how much money was spent in each property on (a) flowers and plants, (b) wine and entertaining, (c) food, (d) telephone bills and (e) electricity and gas in 2003–04; how many (i)domestic and (ii) maintenance staff are employed at each property, broken down by post; and what the total cost of staff employment was in 2003–04. [213564]
Mr. Caborn: DCMS does not have responsibility for any official residences.
Olympic Games 2012
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will press London 2012 to use the ground of Gloucester RFC for Olympic events if London's bid for the 2012 Games is successful. [213462]
7 Feb 2005 : Column 1307W
Tessa Jowell: The Candidature File, submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 15 November 2004, contains detailed proposals for all sports venues that will be used in the event of London winning the right to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. The venues were selected using the technical guidelines provided by the IOC and have been agreed by the International Sports Federations.
Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on compensation to businesses which would be displaced by a successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic games. [213521]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 3 February 2005]: The London Development Agency (LDA) is responsible for assembling the land required to deliver the Olympic games in London in 2012. As part of this process of land assembly, the LDA is responsible for ensuring that any business that needs to be relocated receives compensation in line with the current legislation and is given the opportunity to relocate to an alternative site. The LDA has gone beyond its statutory obligations by making sure that each business has already received an offer making clear what compensation would be payable in the event that they need to be relocated. This compensation offer ensures that every business with a compensatable interest will receive the market value of their property interest and will also receive payments in respect of costs incurred in relocating their business, including any loss of profits directly attributable to the relocation. All of these payments will be made as though the property had been compulsorily acquired, even though no compulsory purchase order is currently in place and there is no obligation to offer compensation on this basis.
In addition, for the past twelve months, the LDA has been offering to meet the professional adviser costs reasonably incurred by businesses affected by London's Olympic bid.
Stonehenge
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who will bear the cost of (a) the Stonehenge visitor centre project, (b) the Countess roundabout A303(T) flyover and (c) the Stonehenge tunnel and Winterbourne Stoke bypass project. [214209]
Mr. Caborn: The cost of the Stonehenge visitor centre project will be borne by English Heritage from Exchequer funding and fund raising. The Heritage Lottery Fund and the National Trust have committed to contributing toward the cost of the project and DCMS contributed £3 million towards the purchase of the site. The A303 Stonehenge Improvement, which consists of the Countess Roundabout junction, the Stonehenge Tunnel and the Winterbourne bypass, will be from transport funds with a contribution from heritage funds.
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether it is her policy that the Stonehenge visitor centre project should proceed if the A303(T) tunnel project is (a) cancelled and (b) postponed. [214210]
7 Feb 2005 : Column 1308W
Mr. Caborn: The Government are committed to improving the setting of Stonehenge and providing appropriate facilities for one of the United Kingdom's iconic historic sites. Removal of the roads around Stonehenge is a crucial element in these improvements.
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