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CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Advertising Costs

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the (a) Department and (b) non-departmental bodies for which the Department is responsible has spent on advertising, broken down by media type in the last three years. [9497]

Mr. Caborn: A breakdown of the Department's spend on advertising over the past three years broken down by media type is as follows:

	Campaign	Media type	£
2003–04	BBC Charter review	Press	4,855
	BBC Charter review	Radio	16,132
2004–05	BBC Charter review	Press	37,085
2005–06	Licensing	Press	29,422
	1st phase
	Licensing	Press	(39)100,000
	2nd phase

⁽³⁹⁾Estimated.

The amount spent on advertising by our non-departmental bodies over this period can be answered only at disproportionate cost.

Audio Recordings

Mr. McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to increase the duration of copyright on audio recordings to 100 years; and if she will make a statement. [13509]

Alan Johnson [holding answer 19 July 2005]: I have been asked to reply.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Maldon and East Chelmsford (Mr.Whittingdale) on 27 June 2005, Official Report, column 1228W.

Awards for All Grants

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which community organisations in Paisley and Renfrewshire North have received awards for all grants since 1999. [14149]

Mr. Caborn: Data regarding the new constituency boundaries in Scotland are not yet available to the Department. As soon as it becomes available I shall write to my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire North with the information requested and place copies in the Libraries of both Houses.

BBC

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations
 
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she has received about effects on the coverage of parliamentary affairs of changes in job numbers at the BBC. [12411]

James Purnell: I have not received any representations about the effects of the BBC's value for money plans on its coverage of parliamentary affairs. However, I understand that the BBC does not expect its plans to adversely affect its parliamentary coverage.

Best Practice Guidance for Tourism

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received from industry on the draft best practice guidance for tourism. [14415]

James Purnell: My Department has actively sought representations from the tourism, attractions, and hospitality sectors, on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's, planning for tourism, good practice guidance. These representations have been made through the tourism review and implementation group which I chair.

Following our engagement, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has recently indicated that it will re-work the guidance over the summer taking into account industry views.

Bike Trails

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to encourage tourists to visit mountain bike trail sites. [14746]

James Purnell: My Department supports the English and British tourism sector through VisitBritain. VisitBritain regularly highlights Britain's off-road cycling facilities to all tourists through its promotional materials and campaigns. Mountain biking features strongly in VisitBritain's new Outdoor England" campaign, which encourages domestic tourists to take advantage of Britain's countryside offer. Further information can be found on the website www.enjoyengland/outdoor.

Canoeing

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to promote the sport of canoeing in England and Wales. [14868]

Mr. Caborn: The Government, though Sport England, is playing a key role in promoting canoeing by its continued investment in the sport. Also, Sport England, Defra and its agencies, are continuing to work with the British Canoe Union, the sport's National Governing Body, to promote canoeing and have put in place a number of measures to increase both the profile of the sport and improve the opportunities for people to participate.

These include Defra commissioning four demonstration projects to develop and pilot best practice for access agreements for canoeists on key stretches of water in England and Ministers from both DCMS and Defra writing to members of local access
 
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forums throughout England inviting their views on improving recreational access for sport and recreational activities such as canoeing.

Casinos

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the merits of including the north east of England in the regional casino pilot study. [13982]

Mr. Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is currently establishing an independent casino advisory panel to assist her in the exercise of her order making powers under section 175(4) of the Gambling Act 2005 to determine the geographical distribution of the new casino premises licences. The casino advisory panel will consider submissions from local authorities wishing to issue premises licences for regional, large or small casinos. Any local authority in the north east that wants to, will have the opportunity to put its case to the panel in due course.

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects to decide on the location of the regional casino pilot; and what the relationship is between the regional spatial strategies of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and decisions on regional casino pilots. [13983]

Mr. Caborn: The regional planning bodies, as part of their revision of regional spatial strategies, will need to identify a list of possible broad locations for regional casinos in their region. The primary requirement for the advisory panel is to ensure that the locations chosen are suitable for testing the social impact of the new style casinos. Subject to that, the Secretary of State will expect the casino advisory panel to ensure that its recommendations are compatible with the broad locations identified in the regional spatial strategies.

The panel is expected to complete its work towards the end of 2006. The current intention is that the Secretary of State will bring an order before Parliament determining the geographical distribution of casino premises licences during the first half of 2007. The order will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what research her Department has conducted on the regeneration impact of regional casinos; and what assessment she has made of in which region the impact would be greatest. [13991]

Mr. Caborn: One of the criteria that the casino advisory panel will consider in finalising its recommendations to the Secretary of State is the need to include areas in need of regeneration (as measured by employment and other social deprivation data) and which are likely to benefit in these terms from a new casino.

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what issues she will consider when making her assessment of the regional casino pilot. [14159]

Mr. Caborn: We will principally want to consider, with the advice of the Gambling Commission, whether the introduction of the new regional, large and small
 
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casinos has led to an increase in problem gambling or is increasing that risk. We will also want to assess what the regeneration and other economic outcomes have been.

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the range of different types of location of casinos that need to be considered in undertaking a trial of the potential advantages and disadvantages of regional casinos. [14161]

Mr. Caborn: We will ask the independent casino advisory panel, when recommending areas for new casinos, to identify those which will provide a good range of types of areas, and a good geographical spread. The types of location might, for example, include urban centres and seaside resorts which need regeneration.

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has held with the Gambling Commission concerning the Commission's duty to advise the Government on the effect on problem gambling of the introduction of new types of casinos; and what advice she has received regarding the suitability of the single regional casino pilot for an assessment of the effect of such casinos on problem gambling. [14162]

Mr. Caborn: Officials are in regular contact with the Gaming Board of Great Britain, who are developing plans for the establishment and operation of the Gambling Commission. These plans will reflect the Commission's duty to advise the Secretary of State about the effects of gambling generally, and my right hon. Friend's specific request for advice on whether the introduction of new types of casinos has led to an increase in problem gambling or is increasing that risk.

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the evidential basis is for her policy of testing the regional casino idea with a single pilot study. [14419]

Mr. Caborn: The Government have made it clear that they wish to take a cautious approach to the development of new casinos, in order to assess whether their introduction leads to an increase in problem gambling. The decision to reduce the number of regional casinos permitted by the Gambling Act 2005 from eight to one was consistent with this cautious approach. But we have not ruled out the possibility of asking Parliament to agree to a larger number if further evidence is needed for the purposes of a more reliable final assessment.

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