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9 Mar 2005 : Column 1816W—continued
Public Service Agreements
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent progress has been made towards the Public Service Agreement target to increase and broaden the impact of culture and sport to (a) enrich individual lives, (b) strengthen communities and (c) improve the places where people live, now and for future generations. [219970]
Estelle Morris:
The Public Service Agreement target that underpins the Department's communities Strategic Priority is 'to increase significantly the take-up of cultural and sporting opportunities by new users aged 20 and above from priority groups'.
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Information on the Department's performance against this Public Service Agreement target was published on 22 December 2004 in the DCMS autumn Performance Report (Cm 6435). Copies of the report are available in the House Library.
Regional Offices
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which (a) non-departmental public bodies and (b) Executive agencies within the remit of her Department have regional offices based on the Government offices for the regions' regional structure; and when the regional offices were established in each case. [219902]
Mr. Caborn: DCMS non-departmental public bodies which have regional offices based on the Government offices for the regions and the years in which those offices were established are:
The Department does not have any Executive agencies with regional offices.
1 The Big Lottery Fund has been the operating name of the administratively merged New Opportunities Fund and Community Fund since June 2004. The Community Fund was the operating name of the National Lottery Charities Board which established regional offices in 1995.
The UK Film Council does not have regional offices though it does invest in a network of partner agencies called Regional Screen Agencies which were established between 2002 and 2004. These are independent companies with their own boards and management structures entirely independent of the UK Film Council. They derive only part of their income from UK Film Council investment (in some cases less than half) and their remits are broader than that of the UK Film Council, including for example engagement with computer games and/or radio as well as film.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what regional (a) bodies, (b) institutions, (c) taskforces, (d) panels, (e) offices and (f) organisations the Government have established since May 1997 which are the responsibility of her Department. [219912]
Mr. Caborn: The only regional bodies for which DCMS is responsible which the Government have established since May 1997 are the Regional Cultural Consortiums for the eight regions outside Greater London.
The Department is not responsible for any other regional institutions, taskforces, panels, offices or organisations that the Government have established since May 1997.
UK Sport
Hugh Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many candidates applied
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for the post of Chair of UK Sport; how many were interviewed; and what criteria were used to select the appointee. [220560]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 7 March 2005]: 47 applications were received for the post of Chair of UK Sport and 10 candidates were interviewed. The selection panel assessed candidates against the criteria given in the role specification, which stated:
UK Sport is looking for someone with a passion for success at high performance sport, who can establish a position of leadership in the search for that success at national level;"
and that the successful candidate would:
Be able to win the respect of, negotiate with, and influence senior members of the Government and other key external stakeholders.
Have a proven track record of building and growing partnerships together with partnership working at the highest level.
Be able to promote the organisation and possess highly developed communication and representational skills and be skilled at chairing meetings.
Have strong interpersonal relations skills and be able to demonstrate a track record of leading and motivating people and building effective teams.
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who interviewed the candidates for Chair of UK Sport; and what role she played in the appointment. [220561]
Tessa Jowell [holding answer 7 March 2005]: Candidates were interviewed by Nicola Roche, Director of Sport at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; Professor Eric Saunders, Chair of the Sports Council for Northern Ireland; Nigel Walker, a former international athlete and Head of Sport at BBC Wales; and David Chesterton CB, an independent assessor as required by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
I was involved at three key stages. I approved the role specification and project plan; I approved the shortlist for interview; and I made a decision on whom to recommend to the Prime Minister for appointment from those candidates considered by the selection panel to be 'above the line'.
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the Chair of UK Sport is allowed to hold other public appointments; and what rules govern her conduct. [220562]
Tessa Jowell
[holding answer 7 March 2005]: There is no barrier to prevent individuals from holding more than one public appointment. An individual is also permitted to act as an adviser to Government Departments while holding a public appointment, provided there is no conflict of interest. The Chair's conduct in office is governed by the Cabinet Office publication Guidance on Codes of Practice for Board Members of Public Bodies and by UK Sport's own publication Chair: Competency Framework.
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DEFENCE
Cancer
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what policies his Department has in place for supporting employees with cancer. [218587]
Mr. Caplin: The Ministry of Defence has a comprehensive range of policies to support civilian employees with serious long-term illnesses, including cancer, these include:
Support of applications for medical retirement and access to early payments under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme;
We will also look sympathetically on any request received on an individual basis.
Forces Recruitment (Scotland)
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have been recruited by Scottish Infantry regiments in each of the last 10 years from (a) Scotland, (b) the rest of the UK and (c) outside the UK. [220169]
Mr. Caplin: The information requested is shown in the table:
(5) non-zero value, less than 5.
Note:
Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.
Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not appear to be the sum of their parts.
Figures do not include Full-Time Reserve Service (FTRS), Gurkhas or mobilised reservists. The information relates to the flows of UK Trained Regular Army personnel in the Scottish Regiments, regardless of whether they serve away from the main body of the Regiment.
Nationality data are not available before 1996 so totals are given for 1994 and 1995 with part data available for 1996.
Soldiers joining the infantry are not allocated to a particular regiment until completion of training at the Infantry Training Centre (Catterick). Therefore the table includes those soldiers who joined the Scottish Regiments on completion of training.
Officers join their Arm/Service at the beginning of the third term of their military training at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and therefore the table shows those who joined the Scottish Regiments on completion of training.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many domiciled Scots have joined the (a) Army, (b) RAF and (c) Royal Navy in each of the last 10 years. [220170]
Mr. Caplin: Data on the number of domiciled" Scots for the three Services are not available centrally.
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