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CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Analogue Switch-off

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the Government's time scale for switching off analogue television. [1163]

 
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Tessa Jowell: We will achieve digital switchover between 2008 and 2012 ensuring universal access to high-quality, free-to-view and subscription digital TV. This will happen region by region, and we will make sure that the interests of elderly people and other vulnerable groups are protected.

Cinemas (Digital Subtitling)

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps the Government are taking to support digital subtitling in cinemas. [925]

James Purnell: The UK Film Council, the Government's strategic agency for film, set up the Cinema Access Programme in September 2003 to improve disabled peoples' experiences of cinema. Through the programme, funding of £500,000 has been allocated to equip 78 cinemas with subtitling and audio description equipment (£350,000); develop a web-based information service to raise awareness of subtitled and audio-described screenings (£50,000); assist UK distributors with producing subtitled and audio-described film prints (£60,000); and conduct research into the ongoing needs of disabled audiences, both technically and in terms of awareness of available films and cinemas (£40,000). The programme has so far been rolled out only across England, as the funding is an initial allocation from Arts Council England. However, the UK Film Council is working with Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission, Scottish Screen and Sgrîn Cymru Wales to set up similar schemes.

Freeview

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the availability of Freeview in (a) Bexhill-on-Sea and the surrounding area and (b) the UK. [1162]

James Purnell: We do not have a breakdown of coverage by constituency but Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) coverage maps have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Freeview also provide a comprehensive postcode database (www.freeview.co.uk) that gives availability of DTT throughout the UK.

At least a quarter of UK households cannot currently receive the DTT service; this figure cannot be increased before switchover. The current availability of Freeview is particularly severely restricted in Bexhill-on-Sea, because of its proximity to continental Europe which means that, until switchover, the Heathfield transmitter can only broadcast digital signals at low strength.

London Eye

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions (a) she, (b) her Ministers and (c) her officials have had in the past six months with (i) the Chairman and (ii) representatives of the South Bank Centre in relation to the lease of land for the London Eye. [1198]

Tessa Jowell: I have been in discussion with the South Bank Centre Chair, Lord Hollick, over this matter. My officials have been in regular contact with colleagues at the South Bank Centre about this issue over the last six months.
 
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Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what role her Department played in the negotiations on the original lease of land on London's South Bank for the London Eye. [1199]

Tessa Jowell: My Department consented to the original lease following the completion of commercial negotiations between the South Bank Centre and the London Eye, and will similarly be required to give consent to the new lease.

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when her Department was first informed of the breakdown in negotiations on the lease of land between the South Bank Centre and the London Eye. [1200]

Tessa Jowell: There has been no breakdown. Negotiations are ongoing.

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of whether the eviction notice served on the London Eye by the South Bank Centre is in the public interest. [1227]

Tessa Jowell: No "eviction notice" or "notice to quit" has been served and no legal proceedings have been commenced.

The South Bank Centre wrote to British Airways London Eye on 14 December 2004 to advise them that their lease expired on 31 December 2004. The letter pointed out that under the terms of the original lease previously agreed, the site was to be vacated six months after that lease expired (i.e. by 1 July 2005).

However, subsequent to this letter, the South Bank Centre agreed a "standstill agreement" with the London Eye under which it committed to not apply to the court for possession of the site for an agreed period while negotiations over a new lease were ongoing. Negotiations are still continuing.

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the contribution the London Eye makes to UK (a) tourism and (b) cultural heritage. [1229]

Tessa Jowell: The London Eye was visited by 3.7 million people in 2004, and clearly plays an important role in London's tourism economy. The Greater London Authority (GLA), which has responsibility for the development of tourism in London, is currently working to produce a modeling system that will be capable of estimating the economic impact of such major attractions.

Sign Language

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the Government provided to support sign language interpreted programmes in (a) 1997 and (b) 2004; and what proportion of programmes were signed in each year. [929]

James Purnell: The Government are committed to extending access to broadcasting services for people with sensory impairments and have placed the responsibility for the provision of signing on individual broadcasters. No direct Government funding is provided for such services.
 
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Comprehensive data for the proportion of signed television programmes for 1997 and 2004 are not available.

Following the implementation of the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom published their code on Television Access Services in July 2004, which came into effect for most broadcasters on 29 December 2004. Targets for signing are set by Ofcom and were previously set by the Independent Television Commission and the BBC.

The relevant dates for the purpose of determining when provision of signing must begin are 1 January 1997 in the case of BBCs 1 and 2, 1 January 1998 for Channel 5 and 1 January 2000 for Channels 3 and 4 and S4C Digital. In the case of digital television programme services, the relevant date is the date on which the provision of that service began. The BBC are required to sign 4 per cent. of their programmes. The remaining PSB's are required to sign 3 per cent. Requirements on signing increase to 5 per cent. of programming within 10 years of the relevant date.

From December 2004, 60 additional digital channels have been required to sign 1 per cent. of programmes. Again this figure will rise by the tenth anniversary of the relevant date to the statutory target of 5 per cent.

Welsh Language Television Programmes

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the Government provided to support the production of television programmes in the Welsh language in (a) 1997 and (b) 2004. [949]

James Purnell: The Welsh Fourth Channel Authority, S4C, received grant in aid of £72.223 million in 1997 and £85.729 million in 2004, under its statutory funding formula. Under the provisions of the Broadcasting Act 1990, S4C also receives Welsh language programmes from the BBC free of charge. These were valued at £16.7 million in the financial year 1997–98 and £20.3 million in 2003–04.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Equal Pay Act

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what plans the Government has to review the Equal Pay Act 1970. [546]

Meg Munn: The Government has announced an independent Equalities Review, led by Trevor Phillips, to improve our understanding of the long-term and underlying barriers to opportunity. Alongside this, the Discrimination Law Review, led by the Women and Equality Unit in the Department of Trade and Industry, will examine the current anti-discrimination legislative framework, by developing proposals for a more modern, coherent and effective legal framework for tackling discrimination.
 
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