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16 Feb 2006 : Column 2197W—continued

Gambling Addiction

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to increase awareness of the dangers of gambling addiction in (a) Romford, (b) Havering and (c) England. [52408]

Mr. Caborn: My Department is working closely with the Gambling Commission, the Responsibility in Gambling Trust, the Department of Health and others to address problem gambling through research, education and treatment.

The Gambling Act 2005 places a duty on gambling operators to behave in a socially responsible manner. 'Social responsibility' will be an explicit licence condition, and operators will be expected to contribute to work on the prevention, identification and treatment of problem gambling through their own policies and practices and through their support for other bodies working on research, education and treatment.

We plan to bring the Act fully into force with effect from September 2007.

International Sporting Events

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people from (a) her Department, (b) UK Sport, (c) Sport England
 
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and (d) the English Institute of Sport (i) have attended and (ii) are planning to attend the Turin Winter Olympics for (A) all and (B) part of the Games. [52628]

Mr. Caborn: The information requested is set out in the tables.
Number of people from each organisation who have either attended, or are planning to attend, the entirety of the Turin Winter Olympics to carry out their professional duties

Organisation	Number of attendees
Department for Culture, Media and Sport	0
UK Sport	1
Sport England	0
English Institute of Sport	7

Number of people from each organisation who have either attended, or are planning to attend, part of the Turin Winter Olympics to carry out their professional duties

Organisation	Number of attendees
Department for Culture, Media and Sport	6
UK Sport	4
Sport England	0
English Institute of Sport	2

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people from (a) her Department, (b) UK Sport, (c) Sport England and (d) the English Institute of Sport will attend all or part of the Commonwealth Games. [52629]

Mr. Caborn: The information requested is set out in the tables.
Number of people from each organisation who have either attended, or are planning to attend, the entirety of the Commonwealth Games to carry out their professional duties

Organisation	Number of attendees
Department for Culture, Media and Sport	0
UK Sport	3
Sport England	0
English Institute of Sport	24

Number of people from each organisation who have either attended, or are planning to attend, part of the Commonwealth Games to carry out their professional duties

Organisation	Number of attendees
Department for Culture, Media and Sport	6
UK Sport	4
Sport England	6
English Institute of Sport	5

Libraries

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the overall level of library books stocked in England was at 1 January in each of the past 10 years. [52124]

 
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Mr. Lammy: The Public Library Statistics, published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy for the past 10 financial years shows the following level of public library book stock held over the last 10 years:

	Public Library Book Stock (England)
1995–96	105,384,000
1996–97	103,305,000
1997–98	99,576,000
1998–99	98,101,000
1999–2000	96,644,000
2000–01	94,372,000
2001–02	92,434,000
2002–03	90,637,000
2003–04	87,091,000
2004–05	84,546,000

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many library books have been purchased in England in each of the past 10 years. [52125]

Mr. Lammy: The Public Library Statistics, published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy for the past 10 financial years shows the following level of public library book acquisitions in England over the last 10 years:

	Public Library Books Purchased (England)
1995–96	9,527,757
1996–97	8,814,444
1997–98	8,503,131
1998–99	8,965,849
1999–2000	8,936,896
2000–01	9,184,597
2001–02	9,193,571
2002–03	9,943,280
2003–04	9,943,384
2004–05	9,931,344

The figures show that public libraries are acquiring more books than they were 10 years ago with, as more factual and reference material becomes available on the internet, a bias towards more fiction works. There was a significant increase in acquisitions from 2002–03 onwards coinciding with the introduction of the public library standards in England.

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to assist local authorities in maintaining library assets. [52126]

Mr. Lammy: Library assets are part of an authority's estate in the same way as any other council service. DCMS has no special funding available for maintaining such assets.

Nevertheless, in recent years, around £130 million of Government PFI credits have been allocated to projects that are wholly or partly public library based. These will help to create assets of real community value.
 
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I also welcome the Big Lottery Fund's £80 million public library strand of its new community learning programme that will create new and improved libraries for local people to enjoy and to become involved with.

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on the management and running of local libraries. [52127]

Mr. Lammy: Framework for the Future, published by DCMS in February 2003, was the first ever national public library strategy document. It aimed to encourage public libraries geared to the needs of 21st century users.

In September 2003, the Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) published a three-year action plan intended to address some of the issues identified in the Framework" document. MLA issues detailed guidance material on public library matters as and when it thinks it appropriate.

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what targets her Department set for local authorities for the management of local libraries in 2005–06. [52128]

Mr. Lammy: In 2005–06 the 149 public library authorities are being asked to report on their conformity with, or on their progress to meet, the 10 Public Library Service Standards. Coinciding with the introduction of the standards, we have seen significant improvements in core library provision particularly in the areas of opening hours, material acquisitions and ICT provision.

The standards form part of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment's Culture Block along with four additional library indicators on the number of active borrowers; resident satisfaction with the library service; stock level/stock-turn, and cost per visit.

In addition, for the first time in 2005–06, those authorities are being asked to report on their position against 16 indicators which make up the Public Library Impact Measures. This baseline information will be used to set targets for 2006–07 for those indicators that prove to be robust. The Impact Measures help to highlight libraries' contribution to wider community agendas as reflected in the shared priorities of central and local government.

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department has issued best value targets to local authorities on the management of local libraries. [52129]

Mr. Lammy: The Public Library Service Standards have been adopted as part of the suite of Best Value Performance Indicators. Authorities were asked to work towards a score of 18 or more points out of 20 to move into the four" category.

Previously issued BVPIs relate to the numbers of library visits; satisfaction with finding or reserving a particular item or piece of information and, general satisfaction with a library service as part of an authority's overall cultural and recreational activities. The aim of these BVPIs is to encourage year on year performance improvement.
 
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Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what best value performance indicators her Department uses for local authorities with regard to local libraries. [52130]

Mr. Lammy: DCMS's primary assessment of the performance of the 149 library authorities in England is through the Public Library Service Standards. The standards have now been incorporated into a Best Value Performance Indicator within the national suite of BVPIs as well as becoming part of the libraries data feeding into the Comprehensive Performance Assessment Framework.

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