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6 Feb 2006 : Column 847W—continued
Television Reception (Wales)
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) how many people in Wales are unable to receive analogue television reception; [47648]
(2) if she will make a statement on the liability for the television licence fee of those who cannot receive analogue services. [47649]
James Purnell: Approximately 2.6 per cent. of households in Wales cannot receive analogue television services. Those who receive digital services are subject to the normal television licensing requirements, since a licence is required to install or use a television receiver to receive any television programme service, whether analogue or digital. The level of the television licence fee does not vary according to the type or range of services that can be received.
Tourism
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what plans she has to restructure the delivery mechanism for tourism policy in England; [49361]
(2) whether regional tourist boards have a role under her Department's plans for marketing tourism in England. [49362]
James Purnell: My Department established a coherent structure for tourism in England in 2003. VisitBritain is responsible for marketing Britain overseas, and England to the British. The regional development agencies have strategic responsibility for promoting and developing tourism in their regions, and may nominate tourist boards or other bodies as regional delivery partners.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no plans to alter the general shape of that structure. I have, however, recently had discussions with VisitBritain, the England Marketing Advisory Board, and representatives of the regional development agencies, with a view to improving the co-ordination of tourism policy and funding at national, regional, and local levels in England. Those discussions will continue, and any proposals which result from them will be subject to full and wide consultation across the tourism sector.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what was the date of each meeting she has had with the Chairman of VisitBritain in 2005; what was the agenda of each meeting; and if she will make a statement. [48587]
James Purnell:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met Lord Marshall on 17 October and 15 November 2005. Discussion at the first meeting covered the role of VisitBritain in promoting domestic and inbound tourism, and the better co-ordination of tourism funding activities across England. The second meeting was held at Downing Street, where Lord Marshall acted as industry chairman during a tourism breakfast meeting hosted by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister. A wide range of tourism issues were discussed on that occasion.
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I have held regular meetings with Lord Marshall, and the chief executive of VisitBritain, since May 2005 to discuss VisitBritain's marketing and other activities.
Vehicles (Pollution Targets)
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what reduction her Department has made in (a) road transport vehicle carbon dioxide emissions and (b) single occupancy car commuting against baseline years of (i) 2003–04 and (ii) 2004–05. [46889]
Mr. Lammy: As the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is situated in central London on a site with very limited facilities for car parking, the great majority of staff travel by public transport. We have no plans to increase the very limited number of parking spaces, which are primarily for staff with disabilities. We also encourage those staff who wish to travel by bicycle to do so, and provide showers and changing facilities. Ministerial cars are provided by the Government Car and Dispatch Service. Currently four out of the five cars we use are dual fuelled and thus low in carbon emissions.
Youth Activities
Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to create diversionary activities for younger people to prevent antisocial behaviour. [47745]
Mr. Lammy: Diversionary activities have an important role to play in tackling antisocial behaviour. The Respect Action Plan commits us to
Working with regional sports, arts and culture bodies to ensure that within target areas current funding is more effectively channelled into community sport and cultural activities that support Respect principles and provide a hook for engaging those young people most at risk of antisocial behaviour.
Providing a new £1 million investment over the next three years to develop and expand the Sports Champions mentoring programme into arts, culture and creative industry sectors.
Our sectors will be working with local providers and Children's Trusts to support outcomes of the kind currently delivered through the Positive Activities for Young People programme. We are also working with the Department for Education and Skills on implementation of Youth Matters, particularly on the Youth Offer.
CABINET OFFICE
Cabinet Procedures
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of whether the principles set out in (a) the Code of Corporate Governance 2003 and (b) the Companies Act 1985 are relevant to the conduct of (i) cabinet and (ii) cabinet committees; and what account was taken of such principles in drafting cabinet procedures. [48029]
Mr. Jim Murphy:
I have made no such assessment. The work of Cabinet and Cabinet Committees is governed by the Ministerial Code (available at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/propriety_and ethics/publications/pdf/ministerial_code.pdf).
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Guidance on working with Cabinet and Cabinet Committees is produced by the Cabinet Office (available at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/secretariats/cabinet_ committee_business/index.asp).
Both documents contain well established rules for the conduct of Cabinet government.
Government Communications
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will publish figures for the total spend by his Department on (a) public relations and press offices and (b) advertising in each year since 1996–97; and what the estimated spend for 2005–06 is. [47197]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Details of the Cabinet Office's press office staff costs and expenditure on advertising since 1997–98 and estimated spend for 2005–06 are shown in the table.
| Press office staff costs | Advertising(15) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 454 | 206 |
| 1998–99 | 512 | 166 |
| 1999–2000 | 753 | 327 |
| 2000–01 | 782 | 514 |
| 2001–02 | 798 | 2,776 |
| 2002–03 | 529 | 423 |
| 2003–04 | 416 | 345 |
| 2004–05 | 439 | 443 |
| 2005–06(16) | 407 | 480 |
(15) This includes the National School of Government.
(16) Estimated spend shown for 2005–06 is based on actual expenditure incurred up to and including December plus an estimate of expenditure from January to March 2006.
Financial information prior to 1997–98 is not held on the Department's accounting system and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The increase in advertising expenditure from 1998–99 to 2000–01 is due to expenditure on recruitment advertising for posts within the Department. These posts ranged from administration and junior management level through to the senior civil service. Also included are expenditure on recruitment advertising for specialist placements within the Government Information and Development Centre.
The advertising figure for 2001–02 includes expenditure of £2,491,000 incurred by the Office of the E-Envoy (now known as the e-Government Unit) for the UK Online advertising campaign, offering help to people wanting to use the internet.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what changes have been made to the structure of (a) the Government Communications Group, (b) the Government Communications Network, (c) the Government News Network and (d) the Central Office of Information since May 1997. [47198]
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Mr. Jim Murphy: The Government Communication Group (GCG) and the Government Communication Network (GCN) were set up in 2005 as part of implementing the recommendations of the independent Phillis Review of government communications.
The GCG is a small strategic team within the Cabinet Office, headed by the Permanent Secretary Government Communication. It focuses on cross-government co-ordination, strategic communication, standards and professional development. It absorbed the former Government Information and Communication Service (GICS) centre, which focused more on recruitment and promotion of government communicators. Both GCG and GICS include the Media Monitoring Unit.
The GCN is a professional network which differs from its predecessor, the GICS (established in 1997) in that it includes all those working in communication across government. GCN provides them with personal, practical and professional support to enable them to do their jobs better.
The structure of COI was unchanged between 1997 and 2002, when the GNN was transferred to the GICS (from 1 April 2002). In April 2005 the GNN was transferred back to COI to enable the delivery of a more strategic and coordinated communications function in the regions.
Apart from these GNN moves, COI created a Client Account Team on 1 April 2004 to provide a more focused approach to overall client needs and policy themes and to facilitate cross-departmental communication activity.
Some specialist publishing activities were transferred to COI from the Home Office (September 2004), the Department of Health (October 2004) and NHS Estates (September 2005) in order to reduce duplication across government, in line with the Gershon agenda.
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