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10 Oct 2005 : Column 399W—continued
Contractors
Mr. Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list contractors based in other EU member states that are providing services to her Department. [15456]
Mr. Lammy: DCMS has only one contractor from other EU member states currently providing services and that is our IT service provider—Atos Origin—a French company.
Creative Partnerships
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent on Creative Partnerships in each year since their creation. [15997]
Mr. Lammy: The table shows Government spending on Creative Partnerships in each year since 2001–02.
| Spending | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 0.24 |
| 2002–03 | 5.8 |
| 2003–04 | 23.7 |
| 2004–05 | 27.8 |
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the beneficiaries of the Creative Partnership programme, broken down by parliamentary constituency. [16118]
Mr. Lammy: To date (26 July 2005), the Creative Partnerships programme has provided over 318,000 opportunities for children and young people to engage in sustained work with artists and other creative professionals. I am arranging for a list of schools that have directly benefited from the programme, broken down by parliamentary constituency to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Cultural Connections Website
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture,Media and Sport what the purpose is of the Cultural Connections website; and if she will make a statement. [15980]
Mr. Lammy: The Cultural Connections website is a domain within the Improvement and Development Agency's Knowledge website. It is a resource providing good practice information for local government in relation to cultural and leisure services (for policy and decision makers as well as practitioners). It provides a focus for debate about performance and improvement.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people work on the Cultural Connections website. [15989]
Mr. Lammy:
The Cultural Connections website is managed within DCMS, using 20 per cent. of one member of staff and 5 per cent. of another member of staff at 26 July 2005. The technical maintenance of the site is carried out by the Improvement & Development Agency at a cost of £5,000 per annum.
10 Oct 2005 : Column 400W
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture,Media and Sport how many hits the Cultural Connections website has had in each month since its creation. [15993]
Mr. Lammy: The Cultural Connections website has had the following hits each month since it was created in October 2004:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2004 | |
| October | 1,684 |
| November | 1,397 |
| December | 208 |
| 2005 | |
| January | (131)n/a |
| February | 906 |
| March | 662 |
| April | 704 |
| May | 826 |
| June | 731 |
(131)All figures provided by Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA); they are unable to supply a figure for January due to a change in their statistical platform.
The Cultural Connections website is currently being restructured, and will be relaunched in September 2005.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the Cultural Connections website has cost in each month since its creation. [15994]
Mr. Lammy: The Cultural Connections website is a domain on the Improvement and Development Agency's Knowledge website. The domain was built at a cost of £10,000 in 2004 and has a maintenance cost of £417 per month (£5,000 per annum).
Culture Online
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent on Culture Online in each year since its creation. [15976]
Mr. Lammy: The following table shows annual departmental expenditure on Culture Online.
| Financial year | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 640,382.21 |
| 2001–02 | 1,019,236.22 |
| 2002–03 | 265,379.95 |
| 2003–04 | 1,439,034.38 |
| 2004–05 | 3,900,152.73 |
| 2005–06 spend to date | 1,876,137.29 |
Culture Online (COL) is an innovative initiative to increase access to, and participation in, arts and culture. It brings together cultural organisations with cutting-edge technical providers to create projects that delight adults and children of all ages and backgrounds. Eighteen projects have been commissioned so far. As the programme has developed, COL has attracted an increasing amount of public recognition, awards and nominations. The projects have won three BAFTA Interactives, one Webby, three Newspaper Society awards and an Association of Online Publishers award;
10 Oct 2005 : Column 401W
two projects have been nominated for British Interactive Media Association awards. COL was also cited as a best practice case study in the NAO's Managing Risks to Improve Public Services" report, published last year.
Digital Television
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) how many households do not have access to digital television in (a) the constituency of Bury St. Edmunds, (b) Suffolk, (c) Norfolk, (d) Essex and (e) Cambridgeshire; [15130]
(2) what steps are being taken to widen access to Freeview in (a) Suffolk and (b) the constituency of Bury St. Edmunds. [15132]
James Purnell: Digital Switchover will enable coverage of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) to reach the same level as that of the current analogue signals.
The vast majority of households in the areas mentioned above can, with the appropriate equipment, receive digital television services via at least one of digital satellite, digital terrestrial and cable.
Specifically, all of the main transmitters serving East Anglia: Tacolneston (Norwich), Sudbury, and Sandy Heath (Bedford), broadcast the full range of DTT—and hence Freeview—services. However, there are some restrictions due to spectrum overcrowding and proximity to the continent.
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the schedule is for the switchover to digital transmission in each region. [15162]
James Purnell: The position as of 26 July, is set out in the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to the House, on 21 July 2005, Official Report, columns 112–113WS.
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the number of households that will not be able to receive a digital television signal after the analogue switchoff, broken down by parliamentary constituency; and if she will make a statement. [15752]
James Purnell: Digital terrestrial coverage at switchover will match existing analogue coverage—around 98.5 per cent. of households.
While the vast majority of households not currently covered by analogue services can already receive digital television via satellite, cable or DSL, there are still a few areas in which reception is very poor. Therefore, we are considering with Ofcom how to extend further the reach of digital television.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will take steps to ensure that provision is made to help blind and partially-sighted people during digital switchover with (a) installation and aerial adjustments, (b) financing of accessible set-up boxes and (c) free telephone advice on the options they have, including advice on the availability of audio description; and if she will make a statement. [15947]
10 Oct 2005 : Column 402W
James Purnell: As stated in our Manifesto, we are committed to achieving digital switchover between 2008 and 2012 ensuring universal access to high-quality, free-to-view and subscription digital TV. The Government will confirm the region-by-region timetable once it is clear that the interests of elderly people and other vulnerable groups are protected. We recognise that there will be some people who need assistance to understand, install and use digital television equipment.
As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said in her Written Ministerial Statement of 21 July 2005, she expects to make a further announcement this autumn, and will report further progress to the House as appropriate.
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she will announce the regional targets for digital terrestrial television coverage. [16010]
James Purnell: The figures for predicted coverage for digital terrestrial television (DTT), at digital switchover, were set out by Ofcom in their announcement made on 1 June. We expect detailed coverage information to be made available once the timetable for switchover has been confirmed.
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what provisions have been made for households in Bedfordshire that will be unable to receive a digital signal by 2008; and if she will make a statement. [16624]
James Purnell: The vast majority of households in Bedfordshire can, with the appropriate equipment, receive digital television services via at least one of digital satellite, digital terrestrial and cable.
The Secretary of State confirmed the regional timetable in her statement of 15 September 2005. Digital switchover will take place in Bedfordshire in 2011; it will enable coverage of digital terrestrial television to reach the same level as that of the current analogue signals.
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