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19 Dec 2005 : Column 2524W—continued
Children's Play
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on children's play and leisure facilities in 2004–05; and what this figure is as a percentage of her Department's total budget. [38982]
Mr. Lammy: The Department does not directly fund services or facilities and has therefore spent no money on children's play and leisure facilities in 2004–05.
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many local authorities have (a) a local play strategy and (b) a framework for children's play. [38983]
Mr. Lammy: The Department does not hold this information centrally. I understand, however, that the Big Lottery Fund has awarded a development grant to the Children's Play Council (CPC) to develop a proposal to deliver the England wide support and development infrastructure for the fund's new play programme. CPC will undertake an audit of local authority play strategies as part of this work.
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which Departments are represented on the official interdepartmental group on children's play; what the work programme of the group is; and when it will report. [38981]
Mr. Lammy:
Departmental membership of the cross-departmental officials' group on children's play is as follows: Culture, Media and Sport (Chair); Education and Skills; Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Health; Transport; Home Office; Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; and the Treasury.
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The group's aim as defined in its terms of reference is:
To develop a coherent and strategic cross departmental approach to play policy; and to maximise the contribution that play can make to DCMS priorities and to those across Government, while recognising the importance of play in its own right."
The group has met three times and has considered a number of topical issues. The group reports to me on an ongoing basis.
Ann Coffey : To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport What recent progress her Department has made in improving play facilities in parks. [38080]
Mr. Lammy: We are working closely with other Government Departments through our cross-departmental group on play, to improve opportunities for play in England. Thanks to the £155 million play programme announced by the Big Lottery Fund earlier this year, a huge number of existing play facilities across England will be improved and new ones created. This will include those based in parks and open spaces.
Child Sports Trainees (China)
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the International Olympic Committee about prevention of cruelty to and exploitation of child trainees for Olympic sports in China. [38073]
Mr. Caborn: The Secretary of State has made clear on several occasions that the Government expects child athletes to be trained and treated in an acceptable manner, consistent with the spirit and values of the Olympic movement.
We also welcome the recent announcement by Jack Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, who has said the IOC will look into allegations of mistreatment of child gymnasts in China.
Correspondence
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for St. Albans dated 25 October 2005; [32362]
(2) what the reasons are for the time taken to answer (a) the question tabled by the hon. Member for St.Albans on 22 November 2005, reference 32363 and (b) the letter referred to in the question; and if she will make a statement. [36878]
James Purnell: I apologise for the delay in replying to (a) the question 32362 and (b) the letter of 25 October 2005. I will reply to the hon. Members letter shortly.
The Department has received a large volume of correspondence both from hon. Members and members of the public in the run-up to and immediately following the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 on 24 November 2005 this year.
Every effort is made to handle all correspondence effectively and efficiently. Correspondence from hon. Members is handled in accordance with the principles set out in 'Handling Correspondence from Members of
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Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies: Guidance for Departments'.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the average time taken for her to reply to letters from hon. Members was in the last period for which figures are available. [36808]
Mr. Lammy: Every effort is made to handle all correspondence effectively and efficiently.
All correspondence from hon. Members and peers is handled in accordance with the principles set out in Handling Correspondence from Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies: Guidance for Departments". The same principles apply when handling correspondence from members of the public.
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. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) letters from hon. Members, (b) letters from members of the public and (c) parliamentary questions from (i) hon. Members and (ii) Lords were dealt with by her Department in each year since 1995; in respect of the percentage her Department took (A) more than one month and (B) more than three months to provide a substantive answer; and if she will make a statement. [37401]
Mr. Lammy: Every effort is made to handle all correspondence effectively and efficiently.
All correspondence from hon. Members and Peers is handled in accordance with the principles set out in 'Handling Correspondence from Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies: Guidance for Departments'. The same principles apply when handling correspondence from members of the public.
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. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.
The information we hold on letters from the public refers only to the period from 1997, and whether or not we were late in responding. See table.
| Public total | Percentage late | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 (after 1 May 1997) | 9,239 | 39 |
| 1998 | 19,794 | 39 |
| 1999 | 15,244 | 35 |
| 2000 | 14,380 | 29 |
| 2001 | 11,216 | 29 |
| 2002 | 9,051 | 35 |
| 2003 | 8,359 | 41 |
| 2004 | 8,177 | 43 |
| 2005 (to 30 September 2005) | 9,355 | 41 |
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DCMS has set up a new Central Information and Briefing Unit, which will help ensure that replies to correspondence from the public are dealt with in a prompt, accurate and helpful manner.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport aims to ensure that hon. Members receive a substantive response to their named day questions on the named day and endeavour to answer ordinary written questions within a working week of being tabled. We also aim to
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answer Lords written questions within two weeks of being tabled. Unfortunately, this is not always possible but we do make every effort to achieve these time scales.
The figures for the total number of written parliamentary questions tabled by (i) hon. Members and (ii) Lords and answered in each year since 1995 1 are given in the table together with the number for those years that took (A) between one-three months and (B)more than three months to provide a substantive answer.
(48)Accurate figures for years prior to 1999 are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Source:
Information derived from the DCMS parliamentary questions database.
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey on behalf of Superintendent Alasdair Hope dated 13 October. [38429]
James Purnell: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 12 December in reply to his letter of 13 October.
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