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CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Digital Switchover

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assistance she plans to provide for vulnerable groups in the move towards digital switchover. [20225]

Tessa Jowell [holding answer 24 October 2005]: Targeted support will be available to households where someone is aged 75 or over; and households with people with severe disabilities—defined as those people eligible for either disability living allowance or attendance allowance.

Assistance will consist of providing the necessary equipment to convert one TV set and the relevant support to install and use such equipment.

This help will be free for the poorest eligible households, those on income support, job seeker's' allowance or pension credit; other qualifying households will pay a modest fee.

We also propose to offer some additional support to those who are registered blind so they can benefit from the audio description facilities provided by digital technology.

The scheme will be established and funded by the BBC, as envisaged in the BBC Charter Green Paper published in March 2005.

London Olympics

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to promote the use of local businesses in the construction and development of the stadiums for the 2012 London Olympics; and if she will make a statement. [15585]

Tessa Jowell: All kinds of businesses, large and small, will be needed to deliver the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics games. Most of the contracts will not be let until after 2008 and tendering opportunities will be publicised by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) when it is established, and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG). Until then, the London Development Agency and Transport for London will invite tenders for all contracts in relation to the construction or transport requirements of the Olympic park via the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

The Olympic stakeholders will work to maximise the wide-ranging benefits of hosting the games to London and the whole of the UK.

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what mechanisms will be put in place to avoid (a) overspend and (b) construction delays on stadia for the 2012 London Olympics; and if she will make a statement. [15586]

Tessa Jowell: Subject to the legislation currently before Parliament the responsibility for the delivery of the Olympic stadia, to time and to budget, will rest with the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). This non-departmental public body will operate at arms length
 
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from Government. It will be overseen by a highly experienced and independent chair and board appointed fully in accordance with the requirements of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. It will be staffed by people who are skilled and experienced in project management and cost control. The ODA will put in place a range of measures which will include tight contract management, effective value engineering to keep costs down and stay within budget at every stage and daily and vigilant monitoring of costs and progress.

The ODA will be overseen by DCMS and will provide regular reports to the Olympic board (of which I am a member, together with the Mayor of London, the chair of the British Olympic Association and the chair of the London Organising Committee) and to me as the sponsor of the ODA. My aim will be to ensure rapid progress and effective cost control to deliver the games on time and within the present funding plans. Within those plans the aim is that the costs to band D London council tax payers will remain pegged at £20 a year for 10 years. I am optimistic that with the expertise, governance and controls that we are putting in place this plan can be achieved.

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 17 October 2005, Official Report, column 715W, on the London Olympics, whether companies involved in supplying goods and services in connection with the candidate city bid are being consulted on the procurement strategy. [21237]

Tessa Jowell: The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA)'s procurement strategy will be fully compliant with UK and EU procurement law, which is designed to ensure that all potential suppliers are treated fairly.

Companies involved with supplying goods or services in connection with the candidate city bid will be welcome, along with other potential suppliers, to comment when the draft procurement strategy is published. The interim ODA will particularly welcome comments and advice from representative bodies such as trade associations, professional bodies and trade unions.

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2005, Official Report, column 715W, on the London Olympics, how the procurement strategy will deal with (a) disposable or one-off goods and services and (b) contracts in respect of infrastructure. [21239]

Tessa Jowell: Detailed strategies for specific classes of goods will be dealt with in the Procurement Strategy. Disposable or one-off goods and services will be specified and acquired on the basis of best and sustainable procurement practice. This will include reuse wherever possible of both disposable products and end of life for non-disposables. Infrastructure contracts will be considered and implemented based on the criteria, which will also be set out in the Procurement Strategy.

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the likely impact on Haringey of London hosting the 2012 Olympic Games; and if she will make a statement. [21926]

 
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Mr. Caborn: We know from the experience of other host cities that the Games will have widespread economic and social benefits for communities' right across London and the rest of the UK. We and our partners in this project will work very hard to ensure that those benefits are maximised for all.

There has been no specific impact assessment of the London 2012 Games on the London borough of Haringey. However, we plan to use a number of existing venues there for training Olympic athletes. These include: Finsbury Park for athletics and Northumberland Park School for basketball, with consequent benefits for the borough.

As a neighbour to the Olympic Park area, people living and working in Haringey will also benefit from short travel times to the main venues during the Games themselves. The will also benefit from the wider improvements to transport infrastructure which will be in place before 2012, such as the upgraded North London Line.

Sport England

Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 18 October 2005, Official Report, column 1010W, on Sport England, if she will ask the British Weightlifting Association whether each of its members who has benefited from the Sport England World Class programmes has always been, and remains, a UK national. [22439]

Mr. Caborn: Sport England provides World Class programme funding to the British Weightlifting Association to support those athletes that are part of its 2006 Commonwealth Games programme.

Sport England would expect the British Weightlifting Association to confirm the eligibility of each athlete to compete in the Games prior to its nominating them for funding. Eligibility for the Games is dependent on nationality and, in the case of individuals who hold dual citizenship, a period of residency.

I am in the process of conferring with the British Weightlifting Association about how many of its members that have benefited from Sport England World Class programmes have always been UK nationals.

Stolen Antiquities (Iraq)

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture,Media and Sport what steps her Department istaking to help trace antiquities that were stolen from the Iraq National Museum; and if she will make a statement. [21486]

Tessa Jowell: Under the Iraq (United Nations) Sanctions Order 2003 any piece of cultural property illegally removed from Iraq after 6 August 1990 should be handed over to the police. Dealing in such material, which includes that which was stolen from the Iraq National Museum, is illegal.

My Department is undertaking a number of projects designed to combat the illicit trade in stolen cultural goods. We recently published guidelines to museums, libraries and archives on the acquisition of such items, to help them ensure that their acquisitions are both legal and ethical. We are also funding the Museums, Libraries and Archives
 
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Council to produce a website offering advice to anyone wishing to purchase art and antiquities, to help them avoid purchasing illegally traded cultural property.

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