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Gloucester Cultural Centre
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the funding available to bid for projects under the private finance initiative; and if she will make such funding available to build a Gloucester cultural centre. [222221]
Mr. Caborn:
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has 130 million private finance initiative (PFI) credits available to support new schemes in the latest joint bidding round, which is being run between the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Department of Health and the DCMS. DCMS priorities for this bidding round are projects that will promote the modernisation of the public library service and the creation of multi-sport facilities. The closing date for expressions of interest, which is the first stage in a two stage application process, was 12 March 2005. We have received Gloucestershire county council's and Gloucester city council's expression of interest for a new cultural centre, and we will be assessing it together with the other expressions of interest we have received. We hope that the process can be completed and authorities notified of theresults in June 2005. Further information about the latest bidding round, in the form of guidance to local authorities seeking to apply, can be found at www.local.odpm.gov.uk/pfi/bidguid.pdf
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Licence Fees
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate her Department has made of the number of premises licensed under (a) the Licensing Act 1964, (b) the London Government Act 1963 and (c) the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 which will fall into each of the rateable value bands for licence fees under the Licensing Act 2003 (Fees) Regulations; how many in each category will be required to pay the fee multiplier; and if she will make a statement. [221009]
Mr. Caborn: As at 30 June 2004, in England and Wales there were 113,370 on-licensed premises; 46,582 off-licensed premises; and 19,913 registered clubs. These figures can be found in the DCMS publication Statistical Bulletin Liquor Licensing (England and Wales, July 2003—June 2004)" which was deposited on 27 October 2004 in the House Libraries. This document is also available on the DCMS website at:
The total number of public entertainment licences issued under the London Government Act 1963 and the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 is not known. Licensing authorities hold figures for theirown authority areas and these are not collected centrally. However, surveys suggest that 46,000 public entertainment licences are issued in England and Wales annually.
We have not made any estimates of the distribution of these premises across the fee bands for the 2003 Act by category of existing licence. However, the Regulatory Impact Assessment that accompanied the finalised fees estimated the distribution of all licensed premises across the fee bands as follows:
| Band | Non-domestic rateable value (£) | Percentage of premises in band |
|---|---|---|
| A | 0–4,300 | 19 |
| B | 4,301–33,000 | 60 |
| C | 33,001–87,000 | 13 |
| D | 87,001–125,000 | 3 |
| E | 125,001 and over | 5 |
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The fee multiplier applies to premises primarily or exclusively engaged in the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises that fall into fee Bands D and E. Premises in Band D would pay twice the normal application fee and annual fee; and those in Band E would pay three times the normal application fee and annual fee. It is difficult to estimate precisely how many premises will meet these definitions. However, we believe there will be at least 2,000 such premises and, at most, 4,000.
Participation Survey (Children)
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she intends to begin collecting data for children under the Survey of Participation in Sport and Culture. [222826]
Mr. Caborn: The new DCMS survey of participation in sport and culture is scheduled to begin in July 2005. Initially information will be collected from adults and young people aged 16 and above, with data collection from children aged 11 to 15 currently planned to follow from January 2006.
Public Libraries (Internet)
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the number of local authorities that offer free internet access in their public libraries. [222836]
Mr. Caborn: The People's Network has been a huge success with 60 million internet hours made available and 11.7 million user sessions in 2002–03 across UK public libraries. The vast majority, 83 per cent. of English library authorities do not make a charge. In line with Government policy on access to the internet for all, when the People's Network was installed, those authorities who were intending to charge were required to have concessionary arrangements for disadvantaged groups of users.
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 maximise the contribution to the economy of the tourism, creative and leisure industries. [219962]
Mr. Caborn: The public service agreement target that underpins the Department's economy Strategic Priority is
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.
Southend-on Sea (Cultural Heritage)
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 8 March 2005, Official Report, column 1765W, on Southend-on Sea (Cultural Heritage), whether she intends to meet
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English Heritage to discuss the cultural and architectural heritage of Southend-on-Sea; and if she will make a statement. [222423]
Mr. Caborn: The Department has no plans to meet English Heritage to discuss the cultural and architectural heritage of Southend-on-Sea.
Sport England
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much Sport England spent on consultants in each of the last four years. [221435]
Mr. Caborn: Details of Sport England's spend on consultants in the last four years is in provided in the table.
| Total cost (£) | |
|---|---|
| 2004–05 | 1,187,697 |
| 2003–04 | 1,553,442 |
| 2002–03 | 788,537 |
| 2001–02 | 415,356 |
Sport England Plan
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what plans she has to meet representatives of the national governing bodies for sport to discuss Sport England's Whole Sport Plan funding process; [223052]
(2) what representations she has received from sports national governing bodies, or their representative bodies, about Sport England's Whole Sport Plan funding process; and what concerns they have raised. [223053]
Mr. Caborn: I have received representations about Sport England's Whole Sport Plan funding process from the Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR) on behalf of national governing bodies of sport. The CCPR raised concerns about levels of funding and the transition from the Active Sports programme to County Sports Partnerships. I have asked Lord Carter, Chair of Sport England, to meet national governing bodies of sport as a matter of urgency to discuss these issues.
Sports Institutes
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much lottery funding has been provided to the UK's network of sports institutes to date. [222556]
Mr. Caborn:
To date, Sport England has provided £132,085,049 of capital funding and £22,463,000 of revenue funding to the English Institute of Sport. Funding for the Scottish Institute of Sport, Sports Institute Northern Ireland, and the Welsh Institute of Sport, is a matter for the devolved administrations.
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