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Licensing Act

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made in implementing the Licensing Act 2003; and if she will make a statement. [21470]

James Purnell: Good progress has been made in implementing the Licensing Act 2003. It has been estimated that close to 97 per cent. of expected applications for premises licences and club premises certificates have been submitted. The local authorities believe that the remaining 3 per cent. include a small number of businesses who have not yet applied and those premises who may not, in the event, want to obtain a licence (e.g. small guest houses). The Government are confident that the Act is now ready for final implementation on 24 November.

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what contribution her Department is making to the Government's measures totackle binge drinking; and if she will make a statement. [21471]

James Purnell: The Government believe that current fixed opening hours encourage patrons to binge drink and the Licensing Act 2003, which takes effect on 24 November, will enable a greater variety of premises to adopt flexible hours and so remove the need for some patrons to drink as much as possible before the pubs and bars close.

The Act also provides the police with a raft of new powers for tackling disorderly and criminal behaviour on licensed premises and to apply for reviews of licences where drunkenness and disorderly behaviour are prevalent.

The Licensing Act is part of a wider strategy on binge drinking, including the Violent Crime Reduction Bill and the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy.

My Department will closely monitor and evaluate the impact of the Act on crime and disorder to ensure that the Act delivers on our promise to provide a more civilised late night society.

Music Lessons

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the provision of music lessons in maintained schools. [21463]

Jacqui Smith: I have been asked to reply.

The National Curriculum provides all children aged 5–14 with a statutory entitlement to music lessons, giving them the opportunity to sing, to play musical instruments, to hear live and recorded music from a range of traditions and styles, to compose and to perform. Music can then be taken as an option at GCSE.
 
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Ofsted reports, over several years, show an improvement in teaching and learning across all key stages.

Parliamentary Counsel

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what occasions since 1997 Ministers from her Department have (a) authorised parliamentary counsel to assist in preparing amendments to private Members' Bills on behalf of other private Members and (b) authorised officials to instruct parliamentary counsel to prepare amendments which were subsequently passed to private Members. [20106]

Mr. Lammy: The information requested is not collected.

Stolen Antiquities

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to prevent stolen antiquities being sold in the UK; and if she will make a statement. [21485]

Mr. Lammy: My Department is currently undertaking a number of projects designed to help combat the illicit trade in stolen antiquities.

We recently published guidelines for museums, libraries and archives on the acquisition of cultural property, to help them ensure that their acquisitions are both legal and ethical. We are also funding the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council to produce a website offering advice to anyone wishing to purchase art and antiquities, to help them avoid purchasing illegally traded cultural property.

Television Licences

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many unpaid television licences there were in each year since 1997 in (a) Lancashire and (b) Ribble Valley. [21686]

James Purnell [holding answer 25 October 2005]: The BBC has responsibility for the administration of the television licensing system and TV Licensing carries out the day to day administration under contract to the Corporation. I have therefore asked the BBC's head of revenue management to consider the questions raised by the hon. Member and to write to him direct. Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people in each constituency have been (a) prosecuted and (b) jailed for failure to pay the television licence fee in the last 12 months. [21355]

James Purnell: Information on prosecutions and imprisonment by parliamentary constituency is not held centrally. Television licence evasion is not punishable by imprisonment but only by a fine, although the courts have the power to imprison fine defaulters.

The available data relates to all offences under the Wireless Telegraphy Acts of 1949 and 1967 in England and Wales, and to all offences under the 1949 Act in Scotland, most though not all of which involve television licence evasion. The number of people proceeded against for such offences in England,
 
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Scotland and Wales in 2003, the latest year for which information is available, was 96,872. The number of people imprisoned for default on fines imposed for such offences was 46 in 2004.

SCOTLAND

Correspondence

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many letters to his Office from hon. Members in session (a) 2004–05 and (b) 2005–06 remain unanswered, broken down by those which are (i) one month old, (ii) two months old, (iii) three months old, (iv) four months old and (v) over six months old. [13847]

David Cairns: The numbers of letters to the Scotland Office from hon. Members that remain unanswered are as follows:

	Number of unanswered letters
2004–05:
One month old	0
Two months old	0
Three months old	0
Four months old	0
Over six months old	1
2005–06:
One month old	0
Two months old	0
Three months old	1
Four months old	0
Over six months old	0

The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. The report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 137–40WS.

Drugs Approval

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how many drugs approved by the EU Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use await approval of the Scottish Medicines Consortium; [19895]

(2) how many cancer drugs approved by the EU Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use await approval of the Scottish Medicines Consortium. [19896]

David Cairns: Responsibility for the work of the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) lies with Scottish Ministers. I understand the SMC is currently working towards production of a definitive list of drugs cleared by the EU Committee but not yet through the consortium's approval process.

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he anticipates Herceptin will be available to patients in Scotland for the treatment of early stage breast cancer. [19904]

David Cairns: This is a devolved matter, however I understand that the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) expects to receive a submission from Roche, the manufacturer of Herceptin, once the licence has been
 
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approved. On receipt of a submission SMC will begin their assessment process. Normally this process would take 18 weeks.

Volunteering

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many volunteering positions his Department has offered in each of the last five years. [17880]

David Cairns: The Scotland Office has not offered any volunteering positions in the last five years but the office participates in the pupil work placement schemes operated by the Scottish Executive.

Through their parent Departments—the Scottish Executive or the Department for Constitutional Affairs—staff in the Scotland Office may take one day's paid leave each year to undertake voluntary work.

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